Term Quiz: Syntax and Diction

Periodic sentence

A sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end (list)

Cumulative sentence

Sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on

Hortative sentence

A sentence that exhorts, urges, entreats implores or calls the action

Imperative sentence

A sentence use a command or enjoin

Declarative sentence

A sentence that declares something

Exclamatory sentence

A sentence that ends with an !

Interrogative sentence

A sentence to ask a question

Inversion

Inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the subject:verb:object order)

Connotation

Meanings or associations that readers have of a word beyond its dictionary definition or denotation. Connotations are often positive or negative and greatly affect tone

Denotation

the literal or primary meaning of a word

Didactic

From the Greek, meaning “teaching”; didactic words have the primary aim of teaching or instruction

Polemic

Greek for “hostile”, an aggressive argument that tries to establish a security or one opinion or idea over all others