English Rhetoric Vocab Season 3

Syntax

The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences.

Pacing

The speed or tempo of an author’s writing

Clause

A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb.

Independent clause 

expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence 

dependent clause

cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by and independent clause.

subordinate clause

a word group containing a subject and a verb (plus any accompanying phrases or modifiers), but unlike the independent clause, it does not express a complete thought.

simple sentence

contain one independent clause

compound sentence 

contain two independent clauses, joined together by a coordinating conjunction or a semicolon. 

complex sentece

contain at least one independent clause and one dependent clause, joined together by subordinating conjunction.

exclamatory sentence

exclaim an idea can be invective or celebratory.

declarative sentence

state and idea. it does not give a command or request anything

imperative

issue a command 

interrogative

ask a question

Loose/Cumulative Sentence

when the writer begins with an independent clause/the main idea and then adds in subordinate elements.

periodic sentence

when the writer ends the sentence with an independent clause. the main idea. The opposite construction of a loose/ cumulative sentence.

hypophora 

figure of reasoning in which one or more question is/are asked and then answered, often at length, by the a paragraph and then use the paragraph to answer it. 

rhetorical question

differs from hypophora in that it is not answered by the writer because its answer is obvious or obviously desired, and usually just a yes or no answer would suffice. It is used for effect, emphasis, provocation, or for drawing a concluding statement from the fact at hand

asyndeton

the absence of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses to speed up the pace of a sentence.

polysyndeton

the use of many conjunctions to overwhelm the reader/draw attention to one part of passage/to slow down the pace of a sentence.

parallel structure

using the same grammatical structures for fluency, emphasis or to create balance.

chiasmus

from the Greek word for “crisscross” this is a figure of speech in which two successive phrase or clause are parallel in syntax but reverse the order of the analogous words.

antithesis

A syntactic strategy in which two contrasting ideas are intentionally juxtaposed (placed next to each other) in the structure of sentence through parallel structure; contrasting of opposing ideas in adjacent phrases clauses or sentences.

anaphora

one of the devices of repetition in which the same expression (word or words) is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses or sentences.

epistrophe

One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression (word or words) is repeated at the ending of two or more lines, clauses or sentences

Active Voice

when the subject of the sentence receives the action. This is a more direct and preferred style of writing.

appositive

A word or group of words placed beside a noun or pronoun to supplement its meaning, or add more description

antecedent

The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun

modifiers

a word, phrase or clause that functions as an adjective or adverb to give more information about another word of phrase in a sentence.

prepositional phrases

show direction or the relationship between two things.

adverbial phrases

modify verbs

parenthetical elements

interrupt a sentence to provide information that, though not completely necessary, adds useful insights, example, or another materials that may advance the understanding of an audience and the purpose of the writer/speaker. commas and dashes.