Rhetorical terms

Tone- expresses the author’s attitude toward his or her subject. Consider the sound of the “voice.” 

Attitude- a feeling or emotion toward a fact or state; a mental position with regard to a fact or state. The author’s feeling/opinion toward a subject or topic.

Diction Related:

·       Denotation- the specific, exact meaning of a word; a dictionary definition

·       Connotation- the emotional implications that a word may carry; implied or associated meaning for a particular word

·       Allusion- figure of speech which makes brief reference to a historical or literary figure, event, or object; a reference in one literary work to a character or theme found in another literary work.

·       Colloquial- informal, not always grammatically correct expressions that find acceptance in certain geographical areas and within certain groups of people. i.e. pop = soda; jimmies = sprinkles; etc. Ex. Saying “That is sus” for suspect.

·       Erudite- language characterized by great knowledge; learned or scholarly in tone.

Figurative Language

·       Simile - a figure of speech which takes the form of a comparison between two unlike quantities for which a basis for comparison can be found, and which uses “like” or “as” in the comparison

Ex. clear as frost on the grass-blade

·       Metaphor - a figure of speech wherein a comparison is made between two unlike quantities without the use of the words “like” or “as”

Ex. all the world’s a stage

·       Extended Metaphor - a metaphor introduced and then further developed throughout all or part of a literary work

Ex. “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief.” (Romeo and Juliet) 

·       Hyperbole – exaggeration for effect and emphasis, overstatement

Ex. I’ve told you a million times.

·       Personification – figure of speech in which inanimate objects are given qualities of speech and/or movement

Ex. Carl Sandburg’s Chicago: “Stormy, husky, brawling, / City of the big shoulders”

·       Paradox – a statement which contains seemingly contradictory elements or appears contrary to common sense, yet can be seen as perhaps true when viewed from another angle

Ex. Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink; my job ages me and keeps me young at the same time.

·       Oxymoron – technique used to produce an effect by seeming self-contradicting

Ex. Cruel kindness; pretty ugly.

·       Imagery – devices which appeal to the senses: visual, tactile, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, and kinetic

Ex. The girl ran her hands on a soft satin fabric

·       Cliché – a worn out idea or overused expression

Ex. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence

·       Idiom – an expression that is common and familiar but can not be taken at its literal meaning. It is figurative in nature.

Ex. It’s raining cats and dogs; break a leg; easy as pie.

·       Pun – a play on words wherein a word is used to convey two meanings at the same time

Ex. In Romeo and Juliet, after Mercutio is stabbed he says, “Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.

·       Apostrophe – A figure of speech wherein the speaker speaks directly to something non-human or someone that is not present

Ex. "Sweet cousin ram why lag behind the rest in the night cave?" (Homer 611)

·       Litotes – understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of the contrary

Ex.  I won the lottery and stated, “It was not a bad day.”

·       Euphemism – substitute word that sounds better than another; the use of inoffensive or neutral words to describe a harsher, more serious concept.

Ex. Lingerie instead of underwear, or passing away instead of dying

·       Understatement – statement in which the literal sense of what is said falls short of the magnitude of what is being talked about

Ex. It rained a bit more than usual while describing an area being flooded after heavy rainfall.

·       Irony – the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning

Ex. The name of Britain’s biggest dog was “Tiny.”

Sound Devices

·       Onomatopoeia – the use of a word to represent or imitate natural sounds

Ex. Sizzle, buzz, pop, hiss

·       Alliteration – repetition of initial consonant sounds

Ex. Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore

Language Terms

·       Jargon – the language used for a particular activity or by a particular group of people. Ex. Literary jargon, scientific jargon, tech jargon, etc.

·       Vernacular - a language or dialect native to a region or country rather than a literary, cultured, or foreign language

·       Dialect (syn. of vernacular) – speech particular to a region; exhibits distinctions between two groups or even two persons

Random but Important

·       Juxtaposition – the positioning of ideas or images side by side for emphasis or to show contrast

·       Analogy – the comparison of two things, which are alike in several respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or object is similar to some familiar one Ex. Sunbathing is like smoking cigarettes. (implied: either way, you are asking for cancer).

·       Anecdote –  short narrative about a real incident or person used in a longer work or speech to make a point

·       Hypophora -  A device in which the author poses a question which is, in turn, answered, unlike the rhetorical question that is not answered.

• Absolute language: Language that allows for no exceptions. i.e.  all, every, never, always

• Qualified language: Language that puts limitations on a claim. i.e.most, sometimes, often, usually, 
  
  ·   Phrase – a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence

  Ex. A cool wet afternoon

   

  ·         Clause – a group of words containing a subject and a verb and forming a simple sentence OR part of a compound or complex sentence.

  Ex. “After she watched the news” (dependent); She ran to the store (independent).

   

  ·         Independent Clause – a group of words in a sentence that can function alone as their own sentence; it consists of a subject, a verb and a complete thought.

  Ex. “Tara ate a cheese roll”

   

  ·         Simple Sentence – a sentence that contains one independent clause and no dependent clause

  Ex. “I like cheese”

   

  ·         Subordinate (dependent) Clause – a clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence, but functions as either a noun, adjective or adverb in a sentence. It will either begin with a subordinate conjunction or a relative pronoun.

  Ex. Whenever lazy students whine

  
  
  

             Participial Phrase -- a phrase that looks like a verb, but actually functions as an adjective; it modifies a noun in the same sentence.

  Ex. Running out of the burning house, James forgot his dog. Ex. Disgusted by the smell, Jane threw up. 

   

  ·         Prepositional Phrase – a series of words made up of a preposition and its object. It shows how a noun or pronoun that follows it relates to another word in the sentence. 

  Ex. I sat… in the desk, on the desk, beside the desk, on top of the desk, under the desk, etc.

   

  ·         Infinitive Phrase – the infinitive form of a verb plus any complements and modifiers (begins with “to” and followed by a verb )

  Ex. It requires a lot of patience to knead the dough slowly

   

  ·         Imperative sentence – a sentence that gives a direct command

  Ex. Drive to the roundabout and then turn left.

   

  ·         Declarative sentence – a sentence that makes a statement

  Ex. Allie is eating ice cream.

   

  ·         Interrogative sentence – a sentence that asks a question and uses a question mark

  Ex. How old are you?

   

  ·         Parallelism – the repetition of syntactical similarities in passages closely connected for rhetorical effect

  Ex. Like father, like son.

   

  ·         Antithesis – when two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect. In parallel form.

  Ex. Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing; To err is human, to forgive divine 

  
  
  

  Anaphora – the deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect. Also in parallel form.

  Ex. “My life is my purpose. My life is my goal. My life is my inspiration.”

   

  Epistrophe - the repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences.

  Ex: For no government is better than the men who compose it, and I want the best, and we need the best, and we deserve the best. - John F. Kennedy

  
  
  

  Repetition - when a word is purposefully interspersed multiple times within a text

  Ex: “Stupid is as stupid does.” (Forrest Gump)

  “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” (Back to the Future)

  
  
  

  Compound-complex sentence - a sentence with two or more independent clauses with at least one dependent clause

  Ex: After the party was over, Joey went home, and he slept until 2 pm the following day. 

  
  
  

  ·         Polysyndeton – the use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted

  Ex. He ran and jumped and laughed for joy.

   

  ·         Asyndeton – the omission of a conjunction between the parts of a sentence

  Ex. “He has provided the poor with jobs, with opportunity, with self-respect.”

   

  ·         Compound sentence – a sentence containing two or more independent clauses, usually joined by one or more coordinating conjunctions, but no dependent clause. It can also be formed by the semicolon or the semi-colon + the conjunctive adverb + comma. 

  Ex. The lightning flashed, and the rain fell.

   

  ·         Complex sentence – a sentence containing one or more dependent clauses in addition to the main clause

  Ex. When the bell rings, walk out.

   

  ·         Periodic sentence – a sentence that, by leaving the completion of its main clause to the end, produces an effect of suspense

  Ex. Unable to join the others at the dance because of my sprained ankle, I went to a movie.

   

  ·         Cumulative sentence – begins with a main clause that is followed by phrases and/or clauses that modify the main clause

  Ex. “It was obvious that a storm was coming because of the lightning, thunder and calm in the air."

   

  ·         Pronoun – the part of speech that substitutes for nouns or noun phrases and designates persons or things asked for, previously specified, or understood from the context

  Ex. He, she, them

   

  ·         Antecedent – the noun that a pronoun refers back to in a sentence or closely related sentences

  Ex. My uncle, chairs, birds, (any noun)