Rhetorical Devices: Advanced

warrant

warrant

The assumption on which the claim and the evidence depend; it explains why the data supports the claim. 

maxim

a short, pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct

litotes

ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary.

cliche

a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought

epithet

an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned

idiom

a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words

formal register

(Acrolect) - The variety of speech that is considered most suitable for formal occasions (typically using only standard forms)

neutral register

(Mesolect) - an intermediate dialect or variety of a particular language

informal register

 (Basilect) -a less prestigious dialect or variety of a particular language, often including slang and contractions

tropes

an idea, phrase, or image that is often used in a particular artist's work, in a particular type of art, etc.

denotation

the literal or primary meaning of a word

connotation

an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal meaning

zeugma

a figure of speech in which a word applies to two others, but in different senses

appeal to authority

Insisting that a claim is true simply because a valid authority or expert on the issue said it was true, without any other supporting evidence offered.

appeal to patriotism

attempts to persuade by calling on one’s community spirit, specifically on love of or pride of one’s country; sometimes called “appeal to nationalism” or “jingoism”

appeal to popularity

a bias that makes people think something is true or correct because popular public opinion says so; also known as its Latin name “ad populum”

narration

The purpose is to tell a story or relate an event. It is an especially useful tool for sequencing or putting details and information into some kind of logical order, usually chronological. Literature uses it heavily, but it also can be useful in non-fiction, academic writing for strong impact.

description

The purpose is to recreate, invent, or visually present a person, place, event, or action so that the reader can picture that which is being described. It is heavily based on sensory details: what we experience through our five senses.

exemplification

It’s common to see examples used in all kinds of situations—an idea can be considered too general or abstract until we see it in action. An _____ essay extends this idea even further: it carries one or more examples into great detail, in order to show the details of a complex problem in a way that’s easy for readers to understand

comparison and contrast

____ focuses on similarities​ between things, and ____ focuses on their differences​. We innately make these all the time, and they appear in many kinds of writings. The goal in academic essays is generally to show that one item is superior to another, based on a set of evaluations included as part of the writing.

classification and division

This takes one large concept, and divides it into individual pieces. A nice result from this type of writing is that it helps the reader to understand a complex topic by focusing on its smaller parts. This is particularly useful when an author has a unique way of dividing up the concepts, to provide new insight into the ways it might be viewed.

definition

In the vocabulary section we talked about word _____ in depth. A ______ essay takes the concept more broadly, moving beyond a dictionary to deeply examine a word or concept as we actually use and understand it.

process analysis

Analyzing can also be thought of as “how-to” instruction. Technical writing includes a lot, for instance. Academic writing can incorporate this to show how an existing problem came to be, or how it might be solved, by following a clear series of steps.

cause and effect

If narration offers a sequence of events, essays offer an explanation about why that sequence matters. This writing is particularly powerful when the author can provide a relationship that the reader wasn’t expecting, and as a result see the situation in a new light.

argument

used to convince others of an opinion, belief, or the merits of a course of action (??)