rhetorical terms post-test

yay

active voice

subject of the sentence performs the action

ex: Anthony drove

Passive voice

Subject of the sentence receives the action

ex: the car was driven by Anthony

allusion

indirect reference to smth

alter-ego

character used by the author to speak author’s own thoughts

anecdote

brief recounting of relevant episode

antecedent

word, clause, or phrase referred to by a pronoun

classicism

art or literature characterized by realistic view of people and world

colloquial

ordinary or familiar type of conversation

connotation

associations suggested by word…implied

denotation

literal explicit meaning

jargon

diction used by group which practices similar profession or activity

vernacular

language/dialect of specific regions, or plain everyday speech

adage

folk saying with a lesson

allegory

story where characters/things/events represent qualities or concepts

ex animal farm

aphorism

terse statement that expresses general truth or moral principle

ellipsis

deliberate omission of word or phrase from prose done for effect by author

euphemism

more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts

analogy

comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set

hyperbole

exaggeration

idiom

expression that is not literal

extended metaphor

implied comparison continues throughout work

metonymy

replace actual word with a related word

synecdoche

kind of metonym, whole is represented by naming one of its parts

ex: check out my new wheels

gothic

gloom, mystery, fear, death

invective

long emotionally violent attack using strong abusive language

verbal irony

say smth, mean opposite…sarcasm

dramatic irony

audience knows smth character doesn’t

oxymoron

contradictory terms grouped together, suggest paradox

parallelism

sentence construction places equal grammatical constructions near each other, repeat identical grammatical patterns

chiasmus/antimetabole

same words used twice in succession, but second time, order is reversed

ex fair is foul and foul is fair

antithesis

two opposite or contrasting ideas with parallel structure

zeugma/sullepsis

single word governs or modifies two or more other words, and meaning of first word must change for each of the other words

ex i dressed myself and the salad

persona

fictional mask/narrator that tells a story

assonance

repetition of identical vowel sounds

consonance

repetition of same consonant sounds at end of words or within

iambic pentameter

poetry written in lines of 10 syllables, alternate stresses

sonnet

14 line poem in iambic pentameter

polysyndeton

writer creates list of items separated by conjunctions

romanticism

art/literature characterized by idealist/unrealistic view

appositive

word/group of words placed beside a noun substitute to supplement its meaning

balanced sentence/parallelism

two parallel elements set off against each other like equal weights on scale

complex sentence

only one independent clause and at least one dependent

cumulative/loose sentence

writer begins with independent clause, then adds subordinate elements

periodic sentence

main idea is not complete until end of sentence

simple sentence

one independent clause

declarative sentence

states idea

imperative sentence

issues command

litotes

form of understatement, deny opposite of statement which otherwise would be used

premises

statements offered as reasons to support conclusion

concession

accept part or all of opposing viewpoint

multiple perspectives

contradiction

one asserts two mutually exclusive propositions

counterexample

example that runs counter to generalization, falsifying it

deductive argument

argument in which it is thought that premises provide guarantee of the truth of conclusion

fallacy

attractive but unreliable reasoning

ad hominem

against the man

attack opponents

appeal to authority

someone famous supports idea, must be right

appeal to bandwagon

claim as evidence that many people believe smth/used to believe

cliche thinking

use evidence as if it is proven

false cause

sequence is not causation

non sequitur

conclusion that does not follow its premises, invalid

slippery slope

once started, situation will continue to its most extreme outcome

inductive argument

thought that premises provide reasons supporting probable truth of conclusion

sound argument

deductive argument is sound if: line of reasoning from premises to conclusion is valid, premises are true

unstated premises

not fully expressed

allegory

symbolic story

ex: animal farm

ambivalent/ambivalence

feeling two ways at the same time, conflicting feelings

analogy/analogous

use well-known idea to simplify a more difficult unfamiliar one.

anecdote

brief, amusing or interesting story that makes a point

anthology

collection of selected literary pieces, compilation

aphorism

short phrase that expresses a wise idea, saying, proverb

contrived

having an unnatural or false appearance/quality, forced, fake, insincere

diatribe

angry speech, tirade, rant

didactic

overly instructional, lecturing

enthymeme

form of reasoning, 1 or more statements of syllogism are left out

eponym

similar to allusion, refer to specific famous person to connect atributes with someone else

euphemism

present potentially offensive word in a more positive light

explicate/explication

to analyze or explain, in detail

exposition

comprehensive description or explanation of idea of concept

invective

emotionally violence, verbal denunciation

inversion

reverse natural word order for a poetic effect

like yoda

kairos (greek for supreme moment)

opportune moment for a speech, considering time, place, social atmosphere

post hoc ergo propter hoc

assumes that if A occurred after B, then B caused A

Ad populum

emotional appeal, speaks to positive or negative concepts

ex, patriotism, religious, terrorism

ornamental/ornate

excessively flowery, complex, big words

parable

simple didactic story to illustrate moral lesson

paralipsis

idea is deliberately suggested through brief treatment of subject, while most of significant points are omitted

pedantic

adjective that describes words, phrases, that is overly scholarly

polemic

strong verbal or written attack against someone

predicate

part of sentence that contains verb and says smth about subject

pocatalepsis

refuting anticipated objections or counterarguments

ribald

crude, offensive, coarse indecent humor

rogerian argument model

arguer wants to convince another person by minimizing any possibility of hostility

toulmin argument model

argument has: data, claim, warrants, qualifiers, rebuttals, backing