APLANG Rhetoric Vocab #2

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Hyperbole

1. Overstatement; gross exaggeration for rhetorical effect.

Juxtaposition

1. a stylistic choice whereby a writer places two ideas/images close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.

Metaphor

1. A figure of speech that compares unlike objects. When several characteristics of the same object are compared, the device is called an extended metaphor. A metaphor referring to a particular person, place, or thing is called a metaphorical allusion; for example, referring to someone as “a Hercules.”

Mood

 The emotional time or prevailing atmosphere in a piece of literature or other discourse. In grammar, mood refers to the intent of a particular sentence. The indicative mood is used for statements of fact; subjunctive mood is used to express doubt or a conditional attitude; sentences in the imperative mood give command

Motif

A phrase, idea, or event that through repetition serves to unify or convey a theme in an essay or other discourse.

Fallacy

1.  An incorrect belief or supposition based on faulty data, defective evidence, or false information.

Figurative Language

In contrast to literal language, figurative language implies meanings. Figures of speech include, among many others, metaphor, simile, and personification.

Frame

A structure that provides a premise or setting for a narrative or other discourse

Genre

A term used to describe literary forms, such as novel, play, and essay.

Image

1. A word or phrase representing that which can be seen, touched, tasted, smelled, or felt; imagery is the use of images in speech and writing.

Narrative

1. A form of verse or prose (both fiction and nonfiction) that tells a story. A storyteller may use any number of narrative devices, such as skipping back and forth in time, ordering events chronologically, and ordering events to lead up to a suspenseful climax. Also see frame.

Non sequitur

a statement or idea that fails to follow logically from the one above.

Paradox

1. A statement that seems self-contradictory but is nevertheless true.

Personification

A figure of speech in which objects and animals are given human characteristics

Rebuttal

1. The part of discourse wherein opposing arguments are anticipated and answered.

Repetitions

Reuse of the same words, phrases, or ideas for rhetorical effect, usually to emphasize a point.

Rhetoric

1. The language of a work and its style; words, often highly emotional, used to convince or sway an audience.

Rhetorical mode

rhetorical mode A general term that identifies a distinct pattern of writing used to achieve a specific purpose, Modes include exposition (to explain, analyze, or discuss an idea), argumentation (to prove a point or to persuade), description (to recreate or present with details), and narration (to relate an anecdote or story).

Essentially, rhetorical modes are different ways a writer can organize information to convey their message effectively.