Rhetorical Terms Set 1

Alliteration

repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close to one another: Mickey Mouse; Donald Duck, etc.

Analogy

comparison of two similar but different things, usually to clarify an action or a relationship, such as comparing the work or a heart to that of a pump. An analogy is a comparison to a directly parallel case.

Apostrophe

usually in poetry but sometimes in prose, the device of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person or to a place, thing or personified abstraction.

Colloquialism

a word or phrase (including slang) used in every conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing. Examples: y’all, ain’t.

Connotation

implied or suggested meaning of a word because of its association in the reader’s mind.

Denotation

literal meaning of a word as defined.

Ethical Appeal

when a writer tries to persuade the audience (often through ethos) to respect and believe her/him based on a presentation of image of self through the text. Reputation is sometimes a factor in ethical appeal, but in all cases the aim is to gain the audience’s confidence.

Euphemism

a more acceptable and usually more pleasant way of saying something that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable. Examples: “He went to his final reward” is a common euphemism for “he died.” Euphemisms are also often used to obscure the reality of a situation. For example, the military uses the phrase “collateral damage” to indicate civilian deaths in a military operation.

Extended Metaphor

a sustained comparison often referred to as a conceit. The extended metaphor is developed throughout a piece of writing.

Genre

a type of literary work, such as a novel or poem; there are also subgenres, such as science fiction or sonnet, within larger genres.

Hubris

the excessive pride of ambition that leads a tragic hero to disregard warnings of impending doom, eventually causing his or her downfall.

Hyperbole

deliberate exaggeration in order to create humor or emphasis. Example: I’m so hungry I could eat a horse!

Image

a word or words, either figurative or literal, used to describe a sensory experience or an object perceived by the sense. An image is always a concrete representation.

Metaphor

a figure of speech in which one thing is referred to as another. Example: “My love is a fragile flower.”

Mood

similar to tone, mood is the primary emotional attitude of a work (the feeling of the work; the atmosphere). Syntax is also a determiner of mood because sentence strength, length, and complexity affect pacing.

Motif

the main theme or subject of a work that is elaborated on in the development of the piece; a repeated pattern or idea.

Onomatopoeia

the use of words that sound like what they mean, such as “hiss,” “buzz,” “slam,” and “boom.”

Paradox

a statement that seems to contradict itself but that turns out to have a rational meaning, such as Henry David Thoreau’s statement: “I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”

Parody

a work that ridicules the style of another work by imitating and exaggerating its elements. It can be utterly mocking or gently humorous. It depends on the allusion and exaggerates and distorts the original style and content.

Pathos

the aspects of a literary work that elicit sorrow or pity from the audience; an appeal to emotion that can be used as a means to persuade. Over-emotionalism can be the result of an excess of pathos.

Protagonist

the main character of a literary work.

Rhetoric

the art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse; rhetoric focuses on the interrelationship of invention, arrangement, and style in order to create felicitous and appropriate discourse.

Stereotype

a character which represents a trait that is usually attributed to a particular social or racial group and who lacks individuality; a conventional patter, expression, or idea.

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent a whole, such as using “boards” to mean a stage or “wheels” to mean a car, or “all hands on deck” to mean all men get to work.

Theme

the central idea or “message” of a literary work.