Lang Rhetoric

Accumulatio - Bringing together various points made throughout a speech and presenting them again in a forceful, climactic way. A blend of summary and climax.

Alliteration - The occurrence of the same letter at the beginning of consecutive words that connect to each other.

Allusion - A brief, often indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, political significance. It does not describe in full detail the person or thing to which it refers. It’s a passing comment. The writer expects readers to possess enough knowledge to spot the allusion & grasp its relevance.

Amplification - repeats a word or expression for emphasis, often using additional adjectives to clarify the meaning. "Love, real love, takes time" is an example of amplification because the author is using the phrase "real love" to distinguish his feelings from love that is mere infatuation. By using repetition, a writer expands on an original statement and increases its intensity.

Anachronism - An error of chronology or timeline in a literary piece.

Anadiplosis - Anadiplosis is a form of repetition in which the last word of one clause or sentence is repeated as the first word of the following clause or sentence. In other words, the second clause starts with the same word which marks the end of the previous clause.

“To be accused was to be convicted, and to be convicted was to be punished…. To escape punishment was to escape accusation.”

He spoke but to command, and commanded but to be obeyed.

Analogy - When an idea or thing is compared to another thing that is quite different from it in order to explain the idea.

Anaphora - The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.

Anti-hero - Wants to effect change, defies stereotype of strength (physical) or wholesomeness, and no love interest.

Antimetabole - the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed order; for example, "I know what I like, and I like what I know."

“His words were in perfect keeping with his looks, and his looks were in perfect keeping with his words.”

“He was just the man for such a place, and it was just the place for such a man.”

Metonymy (sort of) - a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. “He dealt sparingly with his words, bountifully with his whip.

Aphorism - A general truth, such as, “if it ain't broke, don't fix it.” Can be used in rhetoric.

Archetype - A recurrent symbol or motif in literature, art, or mythology.

Assonance - The use of vowel sounds to make words and syllables rhyme

Asyndeton - A stylistic device used in literature and poetry to intentionally eliminate conjunctions between the phrases, and in the sentence, yet maintain grammatical accuracy.

Allegory - A narrative or description having a second or symbolic meaning beneath the surface one

Allusion - A reference, explicit or implicit, to something in previous literature or history

Anecdote - A short account of an interesting or humorous incident

Artistic unity - That condition of a successful literary work whereby all its elements work together for

the achievement of its central purpose

Cacophony - A harsh, discordant, unpleasant-sounding choice and arrangement of sounds

Caesura - This literary device involves creating a fracture of sorts within a sentence where the two separate parts are distinguishable from one another yet intrinsically linked to one another. The purpose of using a caesura is to create a dramatic pause, which has a strong impact. The pause helps to add an emotional, often theatrical touch to the sentence and conveys a depth of sentiment in a short phrase.

Mozart- oh how your music makes me soar!

Cassandra Complex - the Cassandra complex is a psychological phenomenon in which an individual's accurate prediction of a crisis is ignored or dismissed

Brutus’s wife Portia, know one believes her, driven to suicide, kills herself by swallowing coal.

Chiasmus - the repetition of similar concepts within a repeated grammatical structure , but doesn't necessarily involve the repetition of the same words. ("We shape our buildings, and afterward our buildings shape us.")

We walked tiredly; drowsily, we ambled along toward the hotel.

Common Ground - A basis of mutual interest or agreement established in the course of an argument. Finding it is an essential aspect of conflict resolution and a key to ending disputes peacefully.

Identification - when a writer or speaker establishes a shared sense of values, attitudes, and interests with an audience.

The use of we is a tactic for a speaker (or writer) to demonstrate solidarity with his or her audience (“We're all in this together")

Ethopoeia (ee-tho-po-EE-ya) - to put oneself in the shoes of another person or group so as to imagine and empathize with the feelings and concerns of another person or group

Audience analysis - tailoring one’s message or argument to the needs, interests, desires, and background of the audience.

Connotation - Connotations are the associations people make with words that go beyond the literal or dictionary definition. Many words have connotations that create emotions or feelings in the reader.

And once again, the autumn leaves were falling. This phrase uses ‘autumn’ to signify something coming to

Consonance - Consonance refers to repetition of sounds in quick succession produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase. The repetitive sound is often found at the end of a word. Consonance is the opposite of assonance, which implies repetitive usage of vowel sounds.

He struck a streak of bad luck.

Deductive reasoning - when you reach a conclusion by starting with a general principle or universal truth (a major premise) and applying it to a specific case (a minor premise).

Denotation - Denotation refers to the use of the dictionary definition or literal meaning of a word.

They built a house.

In the above sentence, house is meant literally as in a building where a family lives. If the word "home" was used instead in the above sentence in place of "house", the meaning would not be so literal as there are many emotions

Dichotomy - a sharp division of things or ideas into two contradictory parts.

example : grouping mammals by those that live on land and those that live in water.

Ethos - (1) an appeal to ethics, and (2) a means of convincing someone of the character, authority, or credibility of the persuader.

"As a doctor, I am qualified to tell you that this course of treatment will likely generate the best results."

All major world religions consider it to be ethically wrong to steal from others.

Euphony - A smooth, pleasant-sounding choice and arrangement of sounds

Expeditio - A method of argument whereby after enumerating all possibilities by which something could have occurred, the speaker eliminates all but one.

Genre - A type or class, as poetry, drama, etc.

Imagery - The representation through language of sensory experience

Inductive Reasoning - Inductive reasoning means arranging an argument so that it leads from particulars to universals, using specific cases to draw a conclusion. Sometimes called the "from the bottom up" approach, when we use inductive reasoning, our specific observations and measurements will often begin to show us a general pattern. This might allow us to formulate a tentative hypothesis that can be further explored, and we might finally end up making some general conclusions.

Juxtaposition - the close placement of contrasting ideas, images, or entities, with the intent of highlighting the contrast between those entities. In other words, it is the implied comparison of distinct ideas.

Kairos - In classical rhetoric, kairos refers to the opportune time and/or place--that is, the right or appropriate time to say or do the right or appropriate thing.

Winning an argument requires a combination of creating and recognizing the right time, place, and situation for making your argument in the first place.

Also means that in your argument, there is a right place/time to place important points.

Logos - Logos is an argument based on facts, evidence and reason. Using logos means appealing to the readers’ sense of what is logical, rational, valid, and true. Aristotle: “Reasoned discourse.”

Metonymy - a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.

He took to the bottle after she left him. (Here “the bottle” refers to the act of drinking heavily.)

The White House declared that we are at war with Mars. (Here “White House” is a metonymy for the President and/or the President’s administration.)

After leading the rebellion, he seized the throne. (Here “throne” is a metonymy for the power of kingship or absolute power.)

The pen is mightier than the sword. (Here “pen” refers to words, while “sword” refers to violence.)

Mood - The pervading impression of a work; the general feeling or atmosphere that a piece of writing

creates within the reader.

Moral - A rule of conduct or maxim for living expressed or implied as the “point” of a literary work.

Oxymoron - a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction (e.g. faith unfaithful kept him falsely true ).

Paradox - a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.

Parallelism - using similar words, clauses, phrases, sentence structure, or other grammatical elements to emphasize similar ideas in a sentence. It makes the sentence concise, clear, and easy to read. Parallel structure is important especially in items in a series, paired items, and items in an outline or list.

Pathos - an argument based on feelings or an appeal to readers’ emotions. “A quality that evokes pity or sadness.” Appealing to “pathos” often means tugging at the heartstrings.

Personification - Giving human-like qualities to nonhuman things.

“The books leapt and danced like roasted birds, their wings ablaze with red and yellow feathers” (Bradbury 110).

Prose - Non-metrical language; the opposite of verse

Reductio Ad Absurdum (“reducing to an absurdity”):

Assume your opponent’s position is true

Then show that it logically implies either an absurd conclusion or one that contradicts itself or other conclusions held by opponent

Note: If you can deduce a clearly false new statement from a proposition, this is definitive proof that the original assumption is false.

Rhetorical question - A question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer.

Rogerian Argument - A negotiating strategy in which common goals are identified and opposing views are described as objectively as possible in an effort to establish common ground, reach agreement, and bring about a mutually satisfactory solution.

Synechdoche - a figure of speech in which you use a part of something to stand for the whole thing.

Nice wheels! (Here a part of the car, the “wheels,” is being used to refer to the whole car.)

We need 1,000 more boots on the ground. (Here a part of the soldier, the “boots” the soldier is wearing, is used to refer to the whole soldier.

I need all hands on deck! (Here a part of the sailors, i.e., their “hands,” is being used to refer to the sailors themselves.

Can you go serve those suits over at table 4? (Here a part of the businessmen, their “suits,” is being used to refer to the men themselves.)

Setting - The time, place, and social/cultural context in which the action of a story occurs

Symbol(ism) - (literary) Something that means more than what it is; an object, person, situation, or action that in addition to its literal meaning suggests other meanings as well, a figure of speech which may be read both literally and figuratively.

Theme - The main idea, or message, of a literary work. Themes often explore timeless and universal

ideas and may be implied rather than stated explicitly.

Tone - The writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward the subject, the audience, or herself or himself; the emotional coloring, or emotional meaning, of a work

Topic - The subject matter or area of a literary work. Not to be confused with theme.

Verse - Metrical language; the opposite of prose

Voice - The distinctive style or manner of expression of an author or a character in a book

Zeugma - a figure of speech in which a word applies to two others in different senses (e.g., John and his license expired last week ) or to two others of which it semantically suits only one (e.g., with weeping eyes and hearts ).

Character:

Antagonist - Character in a story or poem who opposes the main character (protagonist). Sometimes the antagonist is an animal, an idea, or a thing.

Byronic Hero - Rebellious, anti-social, deceitful, emotional recruit, craves connection, arrogance, animal/bird motifs, color and nature.

Cassandra Complex - the Cassandra complex is a psychological phenomenon in which an individual's accurate prediction of a crisis is ignored or dismissed

Brutus’s wife Portia, know one believes her, driven to suicide, kills herself by swallowing coal.

Character - (1) Any of the persons involved in a story or play [sense 1] (2) The distinguishing moral qualities and personal traits of a character [sense 2]

Characterization - The process of conveying information about characters

Deuteragonist - the second most important character, after the protagonist, often a foil or eventual antagonist

Direct characterization - A method of characterization in which the author, by exposition or analysis, tells us directly what a character is like, or has someone else in the story do so

Doppelganger - The term is derived from the German language and literally translates into ‘double walker’. It refers to a character in the story that is actually a counterfeit or a copy of a genuine character. Doppelgangers of the main characters usually bear the ability to impersonate the original but have vastly different spirits and intentions. The doppelganger usually has a different appearance but an earthly soul and supernatural hoodwinking abilities that allow it to fool other unsuspecting characters.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Dynamic character - A character (sense 1) who during the course of a story undergoes a permanent change in some aspect of character (sense 2) or outlook.

Flat character - A character (sense 1) whose character (sense 2) is summed up in one or two traits

Foil - a character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) in order to highlight various features of that other character's personality, throwing these characteristics into sharper focus.

Hero - A man who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for bold exploits, and favored by the gods

Hubris - Overbearing and excessive pride

Indirect characterization - That method of characterization in which the author shows us a character in action, compelling us to infer what the character is like from what is said or done by the character

Protagonist - The main character of a novel, play, or film Round character A character (sense 1) whose character (sense 2) is complex and many sided.

Proxemics - Where people/actors are positioned on stage, and how that affects the scene.

In 3.2 lines 169-179, Antony descends from his pedestal and forms a level circle with the Plebeians, and this stage effect gives off the notion of ceremony/ritual as well as a sense that he is being genuine in his effect to speak to the people

Psychomachia - Internal conflict (of the soul); psychological war, often between good and bad, and often constant.

Ex. Brutus - “Be not deceived. If I have veiled my look, I turn the trouble of my countenance merely upon myself. Vexed I am of late” (1.1.44-45).

Static character - A character who is the same sort of person at the end of a story as at the beginning.

Stock character - A stereotyped character.

Tragic Flaw - A flaw in the character of the protagonist of a tragedy that brings the protagonist to ruin or sorrow

Dialogue:

Apostrophe - Often found in poetry and fiction, apostrophe is a figure of speech in which some absent or nonexistent person or thing is addressed as if present and capable of understanding. As a form of direct address to an inanimate object, apostrophe serves to further poetic imagery and often emphasizes the emotional weight of objects in our everyday world.

Aside - A brief speech in which a character turns from the person being addressed to speak directly to the audience; a dramatic device for letting the audience know what a character is really thinking or feeling as opposed to what the character pretends to think or feel

Colloquial - Informal, conversational language

Dialogue - (1) Conversation between characters in a drama or narrative. (2) A literary work written in the form of a conversation.

Dialect - A regional variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary

Diction - Word choice

Euphemism - Substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for a harsh, blunt, or offensive one

Figure of speech - Broadly, any way of saying something other that the ordinary way; more narrowly (and for the purposes of this class) a way of saying one thing and meaning another.

Hyperbole -A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used in the service of truth

Invective - Denunciatory or abusive language.

Meta-discourse - Refers to the following…

The writer’s intentions: E.G. to sum up, candidly, I believe, but I am again digressing

Directions to the reader: E.G. note that, consider now, as you can see

The structure of the text: E.G. first, second, finally, in conclusion, earlier in the text, I will discuss this issue in greater depth later on

Monologue - (1) A dramatic soliloquy. (2) A literary composition in such form

Overstatement - the act of stating something more profoundly than it actually is, in order to make the point more serious or important or beautiful. Exaggerating something or "over" stating its meaning, value, or importance.

Proverb - A short, pithy saying that expresses a basic truth or practical precept

Pun - A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words

Sarcasm - Bitter or cutting speech; speech intended by its speaker to give pain to the person addressed

Soliloquy - a device often used in drama where by a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters.

Slang - A kind of language esp. occurring in casual or playful speech, usu. made up of short-lived coinages and figures of speech deliberately used in place of standard terms

Understatement - a figure of speech employed by writers or speakers to intentionally make a situation seem less important than it really is.

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

“It was O.K.” is an understatement if someone who got the highest score in a test said this when asked about her result.

“It is a bit cold today,” when the temperature is 5 degrees below freezing.

Dramatic Structure:

Exposition - The part of a play (usually at the beginning) that provides the background information needed to understand the characters and the actions.

Conflict - A clash of actions, desires, ideas, or goals in the plot of a story or drama.

Conflict - may exist between the main character and some other person or persons; between the main character and some external force—physical nature, society, or “fate”; or between the main character and some destructive element in his or her own nature. A struggle that takes place in a character's mind is called internal conflict.

Rising action - That development of plot in a story that precedes and leads up to the climax

Climax - The turning point or high point of a plot

Anagnorisis - The moment when a character realizes something he or she hadn’t before. It generally has a negative connotation.

Falling Action - The falling action immediately follows the climax and shows the aftereffects of the events in the climax

Peripeteia - Reversal of a character’s fortune, usually sudden (can either be good to bad or bad to good), and often characteristic in tragic heroes.

Ex. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus goes from king of Thebes, but eventually falls into a quick and fatal trap, killing his father and marrying his mother. This idea is personified as fate, but the action itself can be categorized as peripeteia.

Denouement - (Also called the resolution) the conclusion of the story. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis for them and the reader. Sometimes a hint as to the characters’ future is given

Irony:

Irony - A situation, or a use of language, involving some kind of incongruity or discrepancy. Three kinds of irony are distinguished in this class:

Dramatic irony - An incongruity of discrepancy between what a character says or thinks and what the reader knows to be true (or between what a character perceives and what the author intends the reader to perceive).

Irony of situation - A situation in which there is an incongruity between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment, or between the actual situation and what would seem appropriate.

Verbal irony - A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant

Narrative Mode:

Epistolary novel - a novel written as a series of documents.

First person point of view - The story is told by one of its characters, using the first person.

Flashback - A literary device in which an earlier event is inserted into a narrative.

Flashforward - A literary device in which a later event is inserted into a narrative.

In medias res - (into the middle of things) is a Latin phrase denoting the literary and artistic narrative technique wherein the relation of a story begins either at the mid-point or at the conclusion, rather than at the beginning, establishing setting, character, and conflict via flashback and expository conversations.

Limited omniscient point of view - The author tells the story, using the third person, but is limited to a complete knowledge of one character in the story and tells us only what that one character thinks, feels, sees, or hears.

Linear structure - a plot that follows a straight-moving, cause and effect, chronological order

Objective point of view - The author tells the story, using the third person, but is limited to reporting what the characters say or do; the author does not interpret their behavior or tell us their private thoughts or feelings.

Omniscient point of view - The author tells the story, using the third person, knowing all and free to tell us anything, including what the characters are thinking or feeling and why they act as they do

Narrator - the speaker or the “voice” of an oral or written work. Although it can be, the narrator is not usually the same person as the author. The narrator is one of three types of characters in a given work, (1) participant (protagonist or participant in any action that may take place in the story), (2) observer (someone who is indirectly involved in the action of a story), or (3) non participant (one who is not at all involved in any action of the story). The narrator is the direct window into a piece of work.

Nonlinear structure - is when the plot is presented in a non-causal order, with events presented in a random series jumping to and from the main plot with flashbacks or flashforwards; or in any other manner that is either not chronological or not cause and effect, for example, in medias res.

Point of View - The angle of vision from which a story is told.

Stream of consciousness - Narrative which presents the private thoughts of a character without commentary or interpretation by the author

Unreliable narrator - a narrator whose credibility has been seriously compromised.

Unreliable narrators - are usually first-person narrators.

Plot:

Anticlimax - A sudden descent from the impressive or significant to the ludicrous or inconsequential

Catastrophe - The concluding action of a classical tragedy containing the resolution of the plot

Comic Relief - A humorous incident introduced into a serious literary work in order to relieve dramatic tension or heighten emotional impact

Dilemma - A situation in which a character must choose between two courses of action, both undesirable

Deus ex machina (god from the machine) - The resolution of a plot by use of a highly improbable chance or coincidence (so named from the practice of some Greek dramatists of having a god descend from heaven at the last possible minute—in the theater by means of a stage machine—to rescue the protagonist from an impossible situation). Indeterminate ending An ending in which the central problem or conflict is left unresolved

Inversion - A reversal in order, nature, or effect

Motivation - An emotion, desire, physiological need, or similar impulse that acts as an incitement to action

Mystery - An unusual set of circumstances for which the reader craves an explanation; used to create suspense

Paradox - A statement or situation containing apparently contradictory or incompatible elements

Plot - The sequence of incidents or events of which a story is composed

Plot manipulation - A situation in which an author gives the plot a twist or turn unjustified by preceding action or by the characters involved

Plot device - An object, character, or event whose only reason for existing is to advance the story. Often breaks suspension of disbelief.

Prologue - An introduction or a preface, esp. a poem recited to introduce a play

Red herring - a literary tactic of diverting attention away from an item or person of significance

Scene - A subdivision of an act in a dramatic presentation in which the setting is fixed and the time continuous

Suspense - That quality in a story that makes the reader eager to discover what happens next and how it will end

Suspension of Disbelief - An unspoken agreement between writer and reader: “I agree to believe your make-believe if it entertains me.”

Subplot - A plot subordinate to the main plot of a literary work

Surprise - An unexpected turn in the development of a plot

Genre:

Comedy - A type of drama, opposed to tragedy, having usually a happy ending, and emphasizing human limitation rather than human greatness.

Comedy of manners - Comedy that ridicules the manners (way of life, social customs, etc.) of a certain segment of society

Satire - A kind of literature that ridicules human folly or vice with the purpose of bringing about reform or of keeping others from falling into similar folly or vice.

Scornful comedy - A type of comedy whose main purpose is to expose and ridicule human folly, vanity, or hypocrisy

Romantic comedy - A type of comedy whose likable and sensible main characters are placed in difficulties from which they are rescued at the end of the play

Farce - A type of comedy that relies on exaggeration, horseplay, and unrealistic or improbable situations to provoke laughter

Escapist literature - Literature written purely for entertainment, with little or no attempt to provide insights into the true nature of human life or behavior.

Fable - A short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point and often employing animal characters that act like human beings

Fantasy - A kind of fiction that pictures creatures or events beyond the boundaries of known reality

Interpretive literature - Literature that provides valid insights into the nature of human life or behavior

Myth - any story that attempts to explain how the world was created or why the world is the way that it is. Myths are stories that are passed on from generation to generation and normally involve religion. Most myths were first spread by oral tradition and then were written down in some literary form. Many ancient literary works are, in fact, myths as myths appear in every ancient culture of the planet.

Novel - a book of long narrative in literary prose.

Novella - (also called a short novel), a written, fictional, prose narrative longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel.

Parable - A simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson

Tragedy - Drama in which a noble protagonist — a person of unusual moral or intellectual stature or outstanding abilities — falls to ruin during a struggle caused by a tragic flaw (or hamartia) in his character or an error in his rulings or judgments.