Lang Rhetorical Terms Review

Ad hoc

Created for a special purpose.

Allegory

Narrative demonstrates multiple levels of meaning.

Antecedent

The word which came before to which the pronoun refers.

Apostrophe

Figure of speech addressing someone or something as though they were there.

Aside

Character speaks directly to audience; others do not hear.

Chiasmus

Reversal of grammatical structure in successive phrases or clauses.

Colloquial

Common language.

Conceit

Elaborate and often surprising comparison between two dissimilar things.

Consonance

Repetition of final consonance sound following different vowels.

Deductive reasoning

Reasoning from general to specific.

Discourse

Conversation between text and reader.

Elegy

Tribute to someone deceased, usually in poetic form.

Epistrophe

Repetition of phrase at the ends of successive lines, sentences, phrases, clauses.

Epithet

Adjective or phrase applied to a noun to accentuate a certain characteristic.

Euphemism

Use of a word or phrase that is less direct but more tasteful.

Homily

Sermon.

Inductive reasoning

Reasoning from specific to general.

Isocolon

Parallel structure similar in structure, length.

Litotes

Understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite.

Metonymy

Figure of speech in which one thing is represented by another.

Oxymoron

Figure of speech juxtaposing opposite or contradictory words.

Paradox

Statement seems contradictory but may be true.

Stream of consciousness

Narrative technique that places the reader in thought processes of narrator.

Subjective

Produced by the mind.

Syllogism

An argument in which two statements and a logical conclusion is drawn.

Synecdoche

Figure of speech where a part signifies the whole.

Trope

Figure of speech that turns or twists to change meaning.

Alter-ego

A character that is used by the author to speak the author’s own thoughts.

Anecdote

A quick story about something of interest, usually with a singular theme or lesson.

Classicism

Sticks to traditional themes and structures.

Comic relief

A humorous scene inserted into a serious story to lighten the mood.

Jargon

The diction used by a group.

Vernacular

Language or dialect of a particular country or regional group.

Didactic

Teaches a specific lesson or moral.

Adage

A folk saying with a lesson.

Aphorism

A short statement that expresses an important truth about life.

Ellipsis

Omitting a portion of the sequence of events, allowing the reader to fill in the narrative gaps.

Synesthesia

A description involving a 'crossing of the senses.'

Foreshadowing

When an author gives hints about what will occur later in a story.

Invective

A long, emotionally violent attack using strong, abusive language.

Verbal Irony

Sarcasm.

Situational Irony

Found in the plot (or story line) of a book, story, or movie.

Pacing

The speed or tempo of an author’s writing.

Chiasmus/Antimetabole

When the same words are used twice, but in reverse order the second time.

Zeugma/Syllepsis

A figure of speech where a single word is applied to two or more words, with different meanings in each context.

Persona

The fictional mask or narrator that tells a story.

Assonance

The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds.

Slant rhyme

When a poet creates a rhyme that is not exact.

End rhyme

When the last words of two different lines of poetry rhyme.

Meter

A regular pattern to the syllables in lines of poetry.

Free verse

Poetry that doesn’t have much meter or rhyme.

Iambic pentameter

Poetry written in lines of 10 syllables, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables.

Sonnet

A 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter, usually in three quatrains and a couplet.

Polysyndeton

When a writer creates a list of items all separated by conjunctions.

Pun

A humorous use of a word with two or more meanings.

Romanticism

Art or literature characterized by an idealistic, unrealistic view of people.

Appositive

A word or group of words placed beside a noun to supplement its meaning.

Concession

Accepting at least part or all of an opposing viewpoint.

Ad hominem

Attacking opponents personally instead of their arguments.

Appeal to the bandwagon

Claiming an idea is true because many people believe it.

Cliche thinking

Using a well-known saying as evidence as if it has no exceptions.

False cause

Assuming causation from correlation.

Unstated premises

Not every argument is fully expressed.