rhetorical terms

Imagery

Using words and phrases to appeal to the five senses

Simile

Comparison between 2 different things using “like” or “as”

Metaphor

One thing is referred to as another (no like or as)

Personification

Attributing human qualities to non-human things

Anecdote

Short, simple narrative of an incident; often used for humorous effect or to make a point

Hyperbole

Overstatement; exaggeration for effect

Understatement

Minimizing something for effect

Irony

When the actual outcome/meaning of something is opposite to what is expected

Paradox

Seemingly contradictory statement with underlying truth

Allusion

Reference to another work or famous figure well-known enough to be recognized by the reader

Denotation

Dictionary definition of a word

Connotation

Implied or suggested meaning of a word because of its association in a reader’s mind

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines.

Speaker

The voice of a poem (the author is not the speaker)

Stanza

The sections of a poem, made up of any number of lines

Couplet

Grouping of two lines

Quatrain

Grouping of four lines

Iambic Pentameter

Grouping unstressed (u) and stressed (/) syllables within a line of poetry ( five groupings/ten syllables per line)

Prose vs. Poetry

Sentence vs. line

Antithesis

Balancing contrasting ideas

Colloquialism

The use of informal words, phrases, or even slang

Parallelism

Technique of using words (phrases/clauses/sentences) by placing them side by side and making them similar in structure   (also referred to as parallel structure)

Repetition

Repeating the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer

Logos

When a writer uses logic to persuade an audience

Ethos

When a writer uses credibility to persuade an audience

Pathos

When a writer appeals to an audience’s emotions

*Asyndeton

Omission of conjunctions between words/phrases

*Polysyndeton

Use of conjunctions rather than commas to connect words/phrases

*Metonymy

Substitute symbol for whole

Synecdoche

A part of something use to represent the whole

*Litotes

(a form of understatement); Saying the opposite of what we mean; often ironic or affirmation by using the negative