rhetoric ethos pathos logos fallacy syntax diction tone connotation paradox euphemism anecdote parallelism antithesis rhetorical question hypophora ellipses oxymoron anaphora epistrophe aphorism straw man ad hominem slippery slope

rhetoric

the art of persuasive speaking or writing.

ethos

an appeal to ethics, establishing credibility or authority.

pathos

an appeal to emotion to persuade the audience.

logos

an appeal to logic and reason.

fallacy

a flaw in reasoning or logic.

syntax

the arrangement of words to form sentences.

diction

the choice of words in speech or writing.

tone

the writer’s attitude or mood conveyed in writing.

connotation

the emotional or cultural meaning of a word, beyond its literal definition.

paradox

a seemingly contradictory statement that may reveal truth.

euphemism

a mild or indirect word used in place of something harsh.

anecdote

a short personal story used to illustrate a point.

parallelism

using similar grammatical structures for effect.

antithesis

placing opposite ideas in parallel structure.

rhetorical question

a question asked for effect, not requiring an answer.

hypophora

a figure of speech where the speaker poses a question and immediately answers it.

ellipses

a series of dots (…) indicating a pause or omitted text.

oxymoron

a figure of speech combining contradictory terms.

anaphora

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

epistrophe

repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses.

aphorism

a concise statement of a general truth.

straw man

a fallacy in which someone misrepresents an opponent's argument to easily refute it.

ad hominem

an attack on the person rather than their argument.

slippery slope

a fallacy that assumes one event will inevitably lead to another, often worse event.