Rhetorical Terms 151-179

satire

literary style used to poke fun at, attack, or ridicule an idea often for the purpose of inducing change.

sentence structure  

The arrangement of the parts of a sentence. A sentence may be simple (one subject and one verb), compound (two or more independent clauses joined by a conjunction), or complex (an independent clause plus one or more dependent clauses).

sentiment

A synonym for view or feeling; also a refined and tender emotion in literature.

sentimental

A term that describes characters’ excessive emotional response to experience; also nauseatingly nostalgic and mawkish.

setting  

An environment that consists of time, place, historical milieu, and social, political, and even spiritual circumstances

stream of consciousness

A style of writing in which the author tries to reproduce the random flow of thoughts in the human mind.

simile

A figurative comparison using the words like, as, or than.

Example: She sings like a canary.

style

The manner in which an author uses and arranges words, shapes images, forms sentences, and creates structure to convey ideas.

stylistic devices

A general term referring to diction, syntax, tone, figurative language, and all the other elements that contribute to the “style,” or manner of a given piece of discourse.

subject complement

The name of a grammatical unit that is comprised of  predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives.

subjective (adj.)

Of or relating to private and personal feelings and attitudes as opposed to facts and reality. Its opposite is objective.

subtext

The implied meaning that underlies the main meaning of an essay or other work.

syllogism

A form of deductive reasoning in which given certain ideas or facts, other ideas or facts must follow, as in All men are mortal; Mike is a man; therefore, Mike is mortal.

symbolism

The use of one object to evoke ideas and associations not literally part of the original object. 

EXAMPLE: The American flag may symbolize freedom, the fifty states, and the American way of life, among many other things.

synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part signifies the whole (fifty masts for fifty ships) or the whole signifies the part (days for life, as in “He lived his days under African skies).

syntax

The organization of language into meaningful structure; every sentence has a particular syntax, or pattern of words

theme

The main idea or meaning, often an abstract idea, upon which an essay or other form of discourse is built

thesis

The main idea of a piece of discourse; the statement or proposition that a speaker or writer wishes to advance, illustrate, prove, or defend.

tone

The author’s attitude towards the subject being written about. The tone is the characteristic emotion that pervades a work or part of a work--the spirit or quality of that is the work’s emotional essence.

tragedy

A form of literature in which the hero is destroyed by some character flaw and by a set of forces that cause the hero considerable anguish.

transition

A stylistic device used to create a link between ideas. Transitions often endow discourse with continuity and coherence. 

trope  

The generic name for a figure of speech such as an image, symbol, simile, and metaphor.

understatement

A restrained statement that departs from what could be said; a studied avoidance of emphasis or exaggeration, often to create a particular effect.

verbal irony

A discrepancy between the true meaning of a situation and the literal meaning of the written or spoken words.

verse

A synonym for poetry; also a group of lines in a song or poem; also a single line of poetry.

verisimilitude

Similar to the truth; the quality of realism in a work that persuades readers that they are getting a vision of life as it is.

voice

The real or assumed personality used by a writer or speaker. In grammar, active voice and passive voice refer to the use of verbs. A verb is in the active voice when it expresses an action performed by its subject. A verb is in the passive voice when it expresses an action performed upon its subject or when the subject is the result of the action.

ACTIVE: The crew raked the leaves.

PASSIVE: The leaves were raked by the crew.

Stylistically, the active voice leads to more economical and vigorous writing.

whimsy  

An object, device, or creation that is fanciful or rooted in unreality.

wit 

The quickness of intellect and the power and talent for saying brilliant things that surprise and delight by their unexpectedness; the power to comment subtly and pointedly on the foibles of the passing scene.