Rhetorical Terms Quiz

alliteration

repeated consonant sound

allusion

reference to a person, event, place, or work of art

audience

the people being addressed

concession

an acknowledgment that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable

counter argument

an argument opposing the argument of the writer/speaker

diction

the particular choice of words by the author

ethos

an appeal to credibility

exigence/exigency

• what called the writer to write in the first place

• the purpose the writer wants to achieve

Imagery

sensory language used to evoke emotion

juxtaposition

contrasting two things to accentuate the differences

logos

appeals to logic

metaphor and simile

comparisons between two unlike things

occasion

the context that prompts a writer to write

parallelism

using parallel structures for emphasis

pathos

appeals to emotion

persona

a mask/character that the speaker puts on

personification

giving human qualities to anything non human

purpose

what the author hopes to achieve

syntax

the structure and organization of words and sentences

tone

the mood or atmosphere the speaker wants to create