Rhetorical Terms Quiz

Ethos

appeal to credibility

Logos

Appeal to logic and reason

Pathos

appeals to emotion

Anaphora

the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

Antithesis

contrast with parallel phases

Allusion

brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance

Diction

an authors word choice, particularly as an element of style

Connotation

the associations suggested by a word. Implied meaning rather than literal meaning.

Denotation

the literal, explicit meaning of a word without its connotations.

Tone

the writer's attitude or feeling (positive, negative, or neutral)

Mood

the atmosphere or emotion the writer creates for the reader.

didactic

A term used to describe fiction, nonfiction or poetry that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.

Emotive language

the deliberate choice of words to elicit emotions

Parallelism

a balance within one or more sentences of similar phases or clauses that have the same grammatical structure.

repetition

Repeated use of sounds, words, or ideas for effect and emphasis

rhetorical question

asking a question merely for the effect with no answer expected

restatement

a key idea in different words

Formal/Academic Language

characterized by the use of standard English, more complex structures, lack of slang terms

Jargon Language

is the language peculiar to trade, professions, or a group

Colloquialism Language

the use of casual, or informal conversation.

Slang

the use of vary informal words and expressions

Vernacular Language

the dialect, commonly spoken by people in a particular country or region

verbal irony

A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant

dramatic irony

when the audience knows something that the character does not

situational irony

found in the plot or a book, story, or movie