APLAC Rhetorical Terms & Glossary

Abstract

Refers to language that describes concepts rather than concrete images. The observable or “physical” is usually described in concrete language

Allegory

An extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and setting represent abstract qualities and in which intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface of the story; the underlying meaning may be moral, religious, political social, or satirical

Anecdote

A short, simple narrative of an incident; often used for humorous effect or to make a point

Annotation

Explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources, or give bibliographical data

Antithesis

Two contrasting ideas in which they are balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraphs

Aphorism

A short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life

Apostrophe

The device of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person or to a place, or personified abstraction

Argumentation

Writing that attempts to prove the validity of a point of view or an idea by presenting reasoned arguments

Cacophony/Dissonance

Harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately

Caricature

Descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a person’s apperance or a facet of personality

Colloquialism

A word of phrase used in everyday conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing

Coherence/Unity

Quality of a piece of writing in which all the parts contribute to the development of the central idea, theme, or organizing principle

Concrete Language

Language that describes specific, observable things, people, or place rather than ideas or qualities

Connotation

Implied meaning of a word because of its association in the reader’s mind

Consonance

Repetition of identical consonant with two or more words in close proximity as in boost/best

Conundrum

A riddle whose answer is or involves a pun; it may also be a paradox or difficult problem

Deduction

The process of moving from a general rule to a specific example

Denotation

Literal meaning of a word as defined

Description

The picturing in words of something or someone through detail observation of color, motion, sound, taste, smell, and touch

Diction

Word choice, an element of style; creates tone, attitude, and style as well as meaning

Didactic

Writing whose purpose is to instruct or to teach, a didactic work is usually formal and focuses on moral or ethical concerns

Discourse

Spoken or written language, including literary works

Pathos (Emotional)

When a writer appeals to the readers’ emotions to excite and involve them in the argument

Epigraph

The use of a quotation at the beginning of a work that hints at the theme

Ethos (Ethical)

When a writer tries to persuade the audience to respect and believe them based on presentation of images of self through the text

Euphemism

A more pleasant and acceptable way of saying something that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable

Euphony

A succession of harmonious sounds used in poetry or prose

Example

An individual instance taken to be representative of a general pattern

Explication

The art of interpreting the meaning of a text

Exposition

The immediate revelation to the audience of the setting and other background information necessary to the plot

Generalization

When a writer bases a claim upon an isolated example or asserts that a claim in certain rather than probable

Genre

A type of literary work

Humor

Anything that causes laughter

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration in order to create humor

Image

A word for word used to describe a sensory experience or an object

Induction

The process that moves from a given series of specifics to a generalization

Inference

A conclusion one can draw from the presented details

Invective

A verbally abusive attack

Inversion

Reversing the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase

Jargon

The special language of profession or group

Logos (Logic)

When a writer tries to persuade the audience based on statistics, facts, and reasons

Lyrical

Songlike; characterized by emotion, subjectivity, and imagination

Mode

The method or form of a literary work

Mood

Similar to tone, its the primary emotional attitude of a work

Narration

The telling of a story

Objectivity

An impersonal presentation of events and character

Oversimplification

When a writer obscures the complexity of issues in an argument

Oxymoron

A firgure of speech of contradictory words or phrases

Pacing

The movement of a literary piece from one point to another

Parable

A short tale that teaches a moral

Paradox

A statement that seems to contradicts itself but turns out to have a rational meaning

Parallelism

A technique of arranging words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures by placing them side by side and making them similar in form

Parody

A work that ridicules the style of another work by imitating and exaggerating it’s element

Pathetic Appeal (Pathos)

When a writer tries to persuade the audience by appealing to their emotions

Pedantic

A term used to describe writing that borders on lecturing

Persuasion

A form of argumentation, one of the four modes of discourse

Regionalism

An element in literature that conveys a realistic portrayal of a specific geographical locale

Repetition

Word or phrases used two or more times in close proximity

Rhetorical Question

One that does not expect an explicit answer

Sarcasm

Harsh, caustic personal remarks to or about someone

Satire

A work that reveals a critical attitude towards some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way

Speaker

The voice of a work

Stereotype

A character who represents a trait that is usually attributed to a particular social or racial group and who lacks individuality

Style

An author's charateristic manner of expression

Subjectivity

A personal presentation of even and characters, influenced by the author's feelings and opinions

Syllogism

A form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent a whole

Syntactic Fluency

Ability to create a variety of sentences structures

Syntactic Permutation

Sentence structures that are extraordinary complex and involved

Syntax

The grammatical structure of a sentence

Theme

The central idea or “message” or a literary work

Thesis

The main idea of a piece of writing

Tone

The characteristics emotion or attitude of an author towards the character, subject, and audience

Transition

A word or phrase that links one idea to the next and carries the reader from sentence to sentence

Understatement

The opposite of exaggeration

Voice

Refers to 2 different areas of writing, relationship between a sentences’ subject and verb, and the total “sound” if a writer's style