Everything I Never Told You Vocab + Rhetorical Strategies

Dai

1. innocuous

not harmful or offensive.

2. tenure

give (someone) a permanent post, especially as a teacher or professor.

3. whorl

a pattern of spirals or concentric circles.

4. impale

pierce or transfix with a sharp instrument.

5. filch

pilfer or steal (something, especially a thing of small value) in a casual way.

6. frivolous

not having any serious purpose or value.

7. dawdle

waste time; be slow.

8. wistful

showing or evoking a sad longing for an often idealized past

9. obstinate

stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or chosen course of action, despite

attempts to persuade one to do so.

10. demure

reserved, modest, and shy (typically used of a woman).

11. plaintive

showing or expressing sorrow

12. solicitous

showing attentive care or protectiveness

13. insolent

showing a rude and arrogant lack of respect.

14. kowtow

act in an excessively subservient manner.

15. umbrage

offense or annoyance.

16. coterie

an intimate and often exclusive group of persons with a unifying common interest or

purpose

17. talisman

an object, typically an inscribed ring or stone, that is thought to have magic powers

and to bring good luck.

18. lithe

(especially of a person's body) thin, supple, and graceful.

19. unabashed

not ashamed, embarrassed, or shy about something

20. peremptory

(especially of a person's manner or actions) insisting on immediate attention or

Ethos

The Power and

Credibility of the Speaker

Pathos

The Power of the Audience’s Emotions and Values

Logos

The Power of Logic and Reason

“The police think—” James pauses. “They don’t think there was anyone else

involved.”

Exemplification

Provides specific examples to support the assertion (examples directly connected to

the subject. High fat foods: fries, Twinkies, deep fried Twinkies . . .)

Enumeration

Organizes by listing categories or details (There are three basic principles that

govern . . .). The action of mentioning a number of things one by one. An example

of enumeration is when you list all of an author's works one by one.

He doesn’t like Stan—a florid ham hock of a man who talks to him loudly and

slowly, as if he’s hard of hearing, who makes stupid jokes that start George

Washington, Buffalo Bill, and Spiro Agnew walk into a bar . . .

Analogy

making direct comparisons between the subject and similar circumstances (Just like

in the 1920s, when liquor was illegal under Prohibition . . .)

Asyndeton

Lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

I came, I saw, I Conquered. – JC

Please come back, please let me start over, please stay. P248

Cause to Effect

Presents the source that led to the problem (The banks lent to unworthy borrowers

. . . The mortgage market collapsed)

Effect to Cause

Presents the problem and then what caused it (The mortgage market collapsed . . .

this was directly connected to the banks lending to unworthy borrowers)

Process

Process – Organized in step-by-step order (A few banks developed complex loan

instruments . . . They began pushing these on consumers . . . They packaged them

as mortgage-backed securities to investors . . . High-risk loans ballooned . . . High-

risk loans began to default in large numbers . . . Mortgage-backed securities

collapsed in value . . . Major corporations went bankrupt.)

Repitition

The conscious and purposeful replication of words or phrases in order to make a

point. There are many forms of repetition.

Anaphora

Anaphora (an-NAF-ruh) the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of

successive phrases, clauses or lines.

Please come back, please let me start over, please stay. Please. P248 Everything

Epistrophe

The last word or set of words in one sentence, clause, or phrase is repeated one or

more times at the end of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

Polysyndeton

The repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases, or clauses.

We have ships and men and money and stores.

“And Joshua, and all of Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the

silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his

daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he

had.”

Anadiplosis

Figure of repetition that occurs when the last word or terms in one sentence, clause,

or phrase is/are repeated at or very near the beginning of the next sentence, clause,

or phrase.

"They call for you: The general who became a slave; the slave who became a

gladiator; the gladiator who defied an Emperor. Striking story.”

Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator

Parallelism

To give two or more parts of the sentences a similar grammatical form so as to give

the whole a definite pattern.

The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not

eat too much, and that they should do some warm-up exercises before the game.

Paradox

An assertion seemingly opposed to common sense, but that may yet have some

truth in it.

"The next time I have a daughter, I hope it's a boy.”

Paul Lynde in Bye, Bye Birdie

“How suffocating to be so loved.”

Euphemism

Substitution of an agreeable or at least non-offensive expression for one whose

plainer meaning might be harsh or unpleasant.

Will: “We’re going to steal the ship? That ship?

Jack: “Commandeer. We’re going to commandeer that ship. Nautical term.”

PotC2

“She cannot bring herself to use the word suicide; the mere thought of it sets her

aboil again.”

Antimetabole

Figure of emphasis in which the words in one phrase or clause are replicated,

exactly or closely, in reverse grammatical order in the next phrase or clause. (A-B, B-

A).

"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what

you can do for your country." JFK

Expletive

Figure of emphasis in which a single word or short phrase, usually interrupting

normal speech, is used to lend emphasis to the words on either side of the

expletive.

"I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey."

Epizeuxis

Figure of emphasis in which the same word is repeated two or more times over in

immediate succession; repetition of the same word, word, word...."The rich

nations and the poor nations have different responsibilities, but one responsibility

we all have -- and that is action. Action, action, action. The current stalemate

between the developed and the developing worlds must be broken. It is time to

come together in a new international agreement that can be embraced by rich and

poor nations alike." - Arnold Schwarzenegger in an address to the UN