Rhetorical Analysis Test

Ethos (credibility)

Convincing an audience of an argument based on the character or credibility of the persuader. When appealing to ethos, the speaker/writer portrays themselves as a moral and trustworthy character by establishing common values with an audience.

Pathos

Convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response.

Logos

Convincing an audience of an argument based on logical facts and reasoning. 

Alliteration 

The repetition of initial consonant letters or sounds in two or more different words across successive sentences, clauses, or phrases. 

Example of Alliteration

No one standing in this house today can pass a puritanical test of purity that some are demanding that our electrical leaders take. 

Anaphora

The repetition of the initial words over a successful phrase or clause.

Example of Anaphora

We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national community.

Assonance

Two or more words with similar vowel sounds sandwiched between different consonants.

Example of Assonance

The gloves didn't fit. If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.

Epistrophe

The opposite of anaphora; it is the repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive sentences, phrases, or clauses.

Example of Epistrophe

There is not a Black America and a white America and a Latino America and an Asian America; there's the United States of America. 

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration to emphasize a point.

Example of Hyperbole

So first of all, let me assess my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Imagery

Language that evokes one or all of the five senses: sight, sound, taste, smell, touch.

Example of Imagery 

We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the land grounds we shall fight in the fields and in the streets.

Metaphor

An implied comparison between two different things.

Example of Metaphor

Why this country is a shining city on a hill.

Parallelism/Parallel Structure

Successive words, phrases, or clauses with the same or very similar grammatical structure.

Example of Parallelism/Parallel Structure

Let every nation know whether it wishes us well or ill that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

Simile

A comparison between two unlike things as though they were similar, usually with words like or as.

Example of Simile

It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one, it's like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark and thinking that there's one more stair than there is, your foot falls through the air, and there's a sickly moment of dark surprise.

Slippery Slope → something that might happen in the future

This is a conclusion based on the idea that if A happens, then Z will eventually happen too. Therefore, if we don’t want Z to occur, A must not be allowed to occur either. 

Hasty Generalization

This is a conclusion based on not enough evidence or biased evidence. In other words, a general conclusion based on one or several atypical instances. 

Faulty Cause and Effect 

This is a conclusion that assumes that if ‘A’ occurred after ‘B’, then ‘B’ must have caused ‘A.’

Genetic Fallacy 

This conclusion is based on an argument that the origins of a person, idea, institute, or theory determine its character, nature, or worth. 

Circular Argument

This restates the argument rather than actually proving it.

Either/Or Fallacy

This is a conclusion that oversimplifies the argument by reducing it to only two sides or choices. 

Ad Hominem → means to the person

This is an attack on the character of a person rather than his or her opinions or arguments.

Red Herring

This is a tactic that avoids the key issues, often by avoiding opposing arguments rather than addressing them.

Moral Equivalence

This fallacy compares minor misdeeds with major atrocities. In other words, Thing 1 and Thing 2 both share characteristic A. Therefore, things 1 and 2 are equally bad.

Ad Populum → means to the people

This is an appeal that presents what most people, or a group of people, think to persuade one to think the same way. Getting on the bandwagon is one such instance of an ad populum appeal.