Video notes: Rhetorical Terms & Glossary

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering key rhetorical terms from the lecture notes.

Abstract

Language that describes concepts or qualities rather than concrete, observable things; ideas rather than images.

Allegory

An extended narrative where characters, events, and settings symbolize abstract qualities; often has a second, deeper meaning (moral, religious, political, social, or satirical).

Anecdote

A short, simple narrative of an incident, often used for humor or to make a point.

Annotation

Explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources, or provide bibliographical data.

Antithesis

The presentation of two contrasting ideas balanced by structure (words, phrases, clauses, or sentences).

Aphorism

A short, witty statement of a principle or truth about life.

Apostrophe

A device (often in poetry) that calls out to an imaginary, dead, absent person, or to a nonliving thing or abstraction.

Argumentation

Writing that tries to prove a point of view by presenting reasoned arguments; a form of persuasive writing.

Cacophony

Harsh, awkward sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose; the opposite of euphony.

Dissonance

Harsh, dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose; the opposite of euphony.

Caricature

Descriptive writing that exaggerates a facial feature or personality trait for comic or critical effect.

Colloquialism

A word or phrase used in ordinary conversation (often slang) that may be inappropriate in formal writing.

Coherence; Unity

A quality of writing where all parts contribute to the central idea, theme, or organizing principle.

Concrete Language

Language describing specific, observable things rather than abstract ideas.

Connotation

Implied or suggested meaning of a word based on associations in the reader's mind.

Consonance

Repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximity.

Conundrum

A riddle whose answer involves a pun; can also be a paradox or difficult problem.

Deduction

Moving from a general rule to a specific example.

Denotation

Literal meaning of a word as defined.

Description

Picturing something in words through detailed observation of color, motion, sound, taste, smell, and touch.

Diction

Word choice; affects tone, attitude, and style and hence meaning.

Didactic

Writing whose purpose is to instruct or teach; often formal and moralistic.

Discourse

Spoken or written language; four traditional modes: description, exposition, narration, persuasion.

Emotional Appeal; Pathos

Appeal to readers' emotions to excite and involve them in the argument.

Epigraph

A quotation at the beginning of a work that hints at its theme.

Ethical Appeal; Ethos

Persuasion based on the writer's credibility or character to gain the audience's trust.

Euphemism

A more acceptable or pleasant way of saying something that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable.

Euphony

A sequence of harmonious sounds; the opposite of cacophony.

Example

An individual instance used to illustrate a general pattern; arguments by example should be verifiable and relevant.

Explication

The act of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text, often via close reading.

Exposition

The immediate revelation of setting and background information; one of the four modes of discourse.

Generalization

Claim based on isolated examples; sweeping generalizations apply to all instances rather than some.

Genre

A type of literary work (e.g., novel, poem) with subgenres (e.g., science fiction, sonnet).

Humor

Anything that causes laughter; historically, a person’s temperament.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration for humor or emphasis.

Image

A word or words that describe a sensory experience or object; a concrete representation.

Imagery

Language that uses sensory details to create a mental picture.

Induction

Reasoning that moves from specific cases to a generalization.

Inference

A conclusion drawn from presented details.

Invective

A verbally abusive attack.

Inversion

Reversing the usual word order (subject first, then verb, then complement) for emphasis.

Jargon

Specialized language of a profession or group; often seen as obscure to outsiders.

Logical Appeal; Logos

Persuasion based on statistics, facts, and reasons; the process of reasoning.

Lyrical

Songlike; characterized by emotion, subjectivity, and imagination.

Mode

The method or form of a literary work; the manner in which it is written.

Mood

The emotional atmosphere or attitude of a work; influenced by syntax and pacing.

Narration

Telling a story in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama; one of the four modes of discourse.

Objectivity

Impersonal presentation of events and characters; attempting to avoid personal bias.

Oversimplification

When complexity is obscured or denied in an argument.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech with contradictory words or phrases (e.g., 'jumbo shrimp').

Pacing

The movement of a literary piece from one point or section to another.

Parable

A short tale that teaches a moral; shorter than an allegory.

Paradox

A statement that seems self-contradictory but reveals a rational meaning (e.g., Thoreau on solitude).

Parallelism

Arranging words/phrases/clauses in a similar structure to create balance and rhythm.

Parody

A work that ridicules another by imitating and exaggerating its style; can be mocking or humorous.

Pathos

Emotional appeal intended to elicit sorrow or pity; can lead to persuasive impact.

Pathetic Appeal

An appeal to emotions designed to persuade; similar to pathos; can contribute to over-emotionalism.

Pedantic

Writing that is overly scholarly or lecturing in tone; often difficult and distant.

Persuasion

A form of argumentation aimed at convincing the audience through reason or emotion.

Regionalism

Portraying a realistic regional setting and its influence on plot and characters.

Repetition

The use of a word or phrase two or more times in close proximity.

Rhetorical Modes

The four basic kinds of writing: exposition, description, narration, and argumentation.

Rhetorical Question

A question asked for effect that does not require an explicit answer.

Sarcasm

Harsh, caustic remarks; more biting than irony.

Satire

A work that critiques human behavior by exaggeration or ridicule, targeting groups or large concepts rather than individuals.

Speaker

The voice of a work; the author may speak as themselves or as a fictional persona.

Stereotype

A fixed, oversimplified image of a group or trait; lacks individuality.

Style

The author's characteristic manner of expression across diction, syntax, imagery, structure, and content.

Subjectivity

A personal presentation of events influenced by the author’s feelings and opinions.

Syllogism

A formal argument where a major premise and a minor premise lead to a conclusion (e.g., All tragedies end unhappily; Hamlet is a tragedy; therefore Hamlet ends unhappily).

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part represents a whole (e.g., All hands on deck).

Syntactic Fluency

Ability to create a variety of sentence structures with appropriate length and complexity.

Syntactic Permutation

Sentence structures that are extraordinarily complex and may be difficult to follow.

Syntax

The grammatical arrangement of words in a sentence; includes sentence length and types.

Theme

The central idea or message of a literary work.

Thesis

The main idea or claim of a piece of writing, supported and developed throughout.

Tone

The author's attitude or emotional stance toward the subject, audience, or characters.

Transition

A word or phrase that links one idea to the next and guides the reader.

Understatement

The opposite of exaggeration; a technique for irony or humor by downplaying.

Voice

Two aspects: (1) the relationship between a sentence’s subject and verb (active vs passive); (2) the overall sound and personality of a writer’s style.