VDLHS AP LANG 11 rhetorical terms

Alliteration

•  Repetition of the same sound beginning several words or syllables in sequence. 

  • Let us go forth to lead the land we love…  -- John F. Kennedy 

Allusion

• Brief reference to a person, event, or place (real or fictitious) or to a work of art. 

  • Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah… -- John F. Kennedy

Ambiguity

• The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence or passage.

Analogy

• A comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things. Often, an analogy uses something simple or familiar to explain something unfamiliar or complex. 

  • As birds have flight, our special gift is reason. -- Bill McKibben

  • If I have unjustly wrestled a plank from a drowning man, I must restore it to him though I drown myself… But he that would save his life, in such a case, shall lose it. This people must cease to hold slaves and to make war on Mexico, though it cost them their existence as a people. -- Henry David Thoreau

Anaphora

• Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines. 

  • … not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need -- not as a call to battle, though embattled we are… -- John F. Kennedy

Anecdote

A brief story used to illustrate a point or claim.

Aphorism

 A terse statement of known authorship that expresses a general truth and moral principle.

Argument

• A process of reasoned inquiry. A persuasive discourse resulting in a coherent and consideration movement from a claim to a conclusion. 

Claim

•  Also called an assertion or proposition, a claim states the argument’s main idea or position. A claim differs from a topic or subject in that a claim has to be arguable. 

Audience

• The listener, viewer, or reader of a text. Most texts are likely to have multiple audiences. 

  • Gehrig’s audience was his teammates and fans in the stadium that day, but it was also the teams he played against, the fans listening on the radio, and posterity -- us. 

Colloquialism

 Words or phrases that have a conversational feel and are not generally used in formal written English.

Connotation

•  Meanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition, or denotation. are often positive or negative, and they often greatly affect the author’s tone. Consider the of the words below, all of which means “overweight.”

Context

The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text.

Denotation

he strict, literal dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude or color.

Diction

A speaker’s choice of words.

Emphasis

allows the writer to place importance on a particular idea. By positioning an idea in a certain place structurally, by proportioning a greater amount of words, by isolating a key word or phrase, or by repeating the wording, the writer creates

Ethos

 Greek for “character.” Speakers appeal to ethos to demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy to speak on a given topic.

Euphemism

 more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts. May be used to adhere to political correctness or to add humor or ironic understatement.

Figurative Language

Nonliteral language, sometimes referred to as tropes or metaphorical language, often evoking strong imagery, figures of speech often compare one thing to another either explicitly (simile) implicitly (metaphor).

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic or ironic effect; an overstatement to make a point. 

Imagery

A description of how something looks, feels, tastes, smells, or sounds. Imagery may use literal or figurative language to appeal to the senses.

Irony

 A figure of speech that occurs when a speaker or character says one thing but means something else, or when what is said is the opposite of what is expected, creating a noticeable incongruity. 

Jargon

Specialized terminology used by a particular group of people. Obscure and often pretentious language.

Juxtaposition

•  Placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences. 

  • The nations of Asia and Africa are moving at jet-like speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. — Martin Luther King 

Logos

• Greek for “embodied thought.” Speakers appeal to, or reason, by offering clear, rational ideas and using specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to back them up. 

  • Gehrig starts with the thesis that he is “the luckiest man on the face of the earth” and supports it with two points: (1) the love and kindness he’s received in his seventeen years of playing baseball, and (2) a list of great people who have been his friends, family, and teammates.

Metaphor

- Figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as.

Mood

The feeling or atmosphere created by a text. 

Narration

 In classical oration, the factual and background information, establishing why a subject or problem needs addressing; it precedes the confirmation, or laying out of evidence to support claims made in the argument.

Oxymoron

• A paradox made up of two seemingly contradictory words. 

Paradox

• A statement or situation that is seemingly contradictory on the surface, but delivers an ironic truth. 

Parallelism

• similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses. 

Pathos

•  Greek for “suffering” or “experience.” Speakers appeal toto emotionally motivate their audience.

Persona

• Greek for “mask.” The face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience. 

  • Lou Gehrig is a famous baseball hero, but in his speech he presents himself as a common man who is modest and thankful for the opportunities he’s had. 

Personification

• Attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea. 

  • . . . with history the final judge of our deeds . . . — John F. Kennedy 

*Purpose

The goal the speaker wants to achieve.

Rhetoric

Aristotle defined “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.” In other words, it is the art of finding ways of persuading an audience.

Rhetorical Appeals

 techniques used to persuade an audience by emphasizing what they find most important or compelling. The three major appeals are to ethos (character), logos (reason), and pathos (emotion).

Rhetorical Question

• - Figure of speech in the form of a question posed for effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer. Will you join in that historic effort? — John F. Kennedy

Satire

• The use of irony or sarcasm to critique society or an individual. 

Simile

A figure of speech used to explain or clarify an idea by comparing it explicitly to something else, using the words like, as, or as though.

Style

 - A writer’s specific way of saying things.

Syntax

• he arrangement of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. This includes word order (subject-verb-object, for instance, or an inverted structure); the length and structure of sentences (simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex); and such schemes as parallelism, juxtaposition, antithesis, and antimetabole.

Theme

• A writer’s thoughts on a topic. It is not JUST the topic, but what the author develops in terms of what he believes about the topic.

Tone

A speaker’s attitude toward the subject conveyed by the speaker’s stylistic and rhetorical choices.

Understatement

• A figure of speech in which something is presented as less important, dire, urgent, good, and so on, than it actually is, often for satiric or comical effect. Also called litotes, it is the opposite of hyperbole. 

Vernacular

The speech patterns of a particular group of people or region

Voice

• The unique flavor of a piece based upon the author. An author adds his or her voice to a piece by creating a tone with diction, syntax, imagery, etc. The author’s voice is what makes his or her writing personal and unique.