Rhetorical and Literary Terms

Vocabulary flashcards covering key literary and rhetorical terms from the study guide.

Colloquial

A term identifying the diction of the common, ordinary folks, especially in a specific region or area

Conceit

A comparison of two unlikely things that is drawn out within a piece of literature, in particular an extended metaphor within a poem

Connotation

The implied, suggested, or underlying meaning of a word or phrase

Consonance

The repetition of two or more consonants with a change in intervening vowels

Critique

An assessment or analysis of something, such as a passage of writing, for determining what it is, what its limitations are, and how it conforms to the standard of the genre

Deductive reasoning

The method of argument in which specific statements and conclusions are drawn from general principles; movement from the general to the specific

Dialect

The language and speech idiosyncrasies of a specific area, region, or group

Diction

The specific word choice an author uses to persuade or convey tone, purpose or effect

Didactic

Writing or speech that has an instructive purpose or a lesson; often associated with a dry, pompous presentation

Elegy

A poem or prose that laments, or meditates upon the death of a person

Epistrophe

In rhetoric, the repetition of a phrase at the end of successive sentences

Epitaph

Writing in praise of a dead person, most often inscribed upon a headstone

Ethos

In rhetoric, the appeal of a text to the credibility and character of the speaker, writer, or narrator