Rhetorical Devices, Choices, and Appeals

Vocabulary practice flashcards defining core rhetorical appeals, sentence structural choices, tropes, engagement strategies, and logical fallacies based on the provided text.

Ethos (Authority)

Building trust by establishing your credibility, character, and expertise.

Ethos (Shared Values)

Aligning with the audience’s moral code, culture, or community standards.

Logos (Induction)

Using specific, factual examples to build toward a general conclusion.

Logos (Deduction)

Starting with an accepted general truth to prove a specific point.

Logos (Syllogism)

Presenting a three-part formal argument (e.g., $A=B$, $B=C$, therefore $A=C$).

Pathos (Empathy)

Inspiring compassion or pity to make the audience care about a victim or cause.

Pathos (Fear/Ad Baculum)

Warning of negative consequences to motivate protective action.

Kairos

Seizing opportune timing and emphasizing why an argument matters right now.

Telos

Clarifying ultimate purpose.

Anaphora

Repeating a word or phrase at the start of successive clauses to build rhythm and urgency.

Epistrophe

Repeating a word at the end of successive clauses to hammer home a final takeaway.

Symploce

Combining anaphora and epistrophe.

Asyndeton

Omitting conjunctions to create a fast, breathless pace or an overwhelming list.

Polysyndeton

Using multiple conjunctions in close succession to slow the pace and emphasize scale.

Chiasmus

Reversing the grammatical structure of two parallel phrases.

Antimetabole

Repeating words in reverse order.

Anadiplosis

Repeating the last word of a sentence at the start of the next to show cause and effect.

Epanalepsis

Repeating the initial word of a sentence at the very end of that same sentence to create symmetry.

Anastrophe

Inverting standard word order.

Periodic Sentence

A sentence that places its main clause at the end.

Loose Sentence

A sentence that places its main clause at the start.

Zeugma

Using one word to modify two different words in different ways (e.g., "He broke her heart and her window").

Litotes

Using an understatement by affirming a point through denying its opposite (e.g., "He is no fool").

Synecdoche

Using a small part of something to represent the whole structure (e.g., "all hands on deck").

Metonymy

Substituting a concept with a closely related object (e.g., using "the Oval Office" for the President).

Oxymoron

Pairing two contradictory words (e.g., "deafening silence") to reveal a deeper truth.

Paradox

A self-contradictory, truthful statement.

Hypophora

Asking a question and immediately answering it yourself to control the narrative direction.

Procatalepsis (Preemption)

Anticipating an opponent's objection and answering it before they can voice it.

Apophasis

Claiming you won't bring something up, thereby bringing it up and planting the seed in minds.

Aporia

Simulating doubt or helplessness to look humble, relatable, or open-minded.

Epiplexis

Asking questions not for answers, but to express grief, outrage, or sharp reproach.

Anacoenosis

Asking the audience or opponents for their opinion to make them feel complicit in the dilemma.

Antanagoge

Placing a positive point next to a negative one to balance a criticism or soften bad news.

Ad Hominem

Attacking the opponent's character instead of their argument (often used as a deliberate distraction).

Aetiologia

Giving a clear cause or reason for a statement immediately after making it.

Expeditio

Listing all possible solutions, rejecting all but one, leaving yours as the only logical choice.

Metanoia

Stopping mid-sentence to correct your own wording, making your statement sound more precise or urgent.

Paradiastole

Reframing a negative trait as a positive one (e.g., calling "reckless" behavior "brave").

Reductio ad Absurdum

Carrying an opponent's logic to its extreme conclusion to show how ridiculous it is.

Red Herring

Introducing an irrelevant topic to divert attention away from a weak spot in your case.

Straw Man

Misrepresenting an opponent's position to make it flimsy and easy to knock down.

Tu Quoque (Appeal to Hypocrisy)

Countering criticism by pointing out that the opponent does the same thing.

Slippery Slope

Arguing that a relatively small first step will inevitably lead to a chain of catastrophic events.

False Dilemma (Either/Or)

Forcing the audience to choose between two extremes, ignoring any middle ground.

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

Arguing that because Event B followed Event A, Event A must have caused Event B.

Epiphonema

Ending a narrative or argument with a punchy, one-sentence summary or moral maxim.

Paralipsis

Stating that you will pass over a topic, which ironically directs intense focus onto it.

Sententia

Quoting a well-known proverb or wise saying to wrap up your argument with timeless authority.

Poisoning the Well

Priming the audience with negative information about an opponent before they speak.

Texas Sharpshooter

Clustering random pieces of data together to invent a false pattern or argument.