Rhetorical Terms List

List #1-

DICTION – the writer’s choice of words, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness,

or effectiveness. Diction, combined with syntax, figurative language, etc., creates an author’s

style.

ETHOS – one of the classical rhetorical appeals; in short, an ethical appeal wherein the writer

persuades the audience to respect and believe him based on the presentation of self through the

text. Reputation is often a factor in an ethical appeal. The aim is to gain the audience’s

confidence and for the writer to assert his confidence in regard to the topic at hand. It aims to

give the author credibility with the audience.

FIGUTATIVE LANGUAGE – the opposite of literal language; a generic term for any deviation

from the ordinary mode of speaking or writing. Figurative language includes literary devices

including simile, metaphor, personification, …

LOGOS – one of three classical rhetorical appeals; in short a logical appeal; an appeal that offers

a clear, logical and reasonable premises that permit the reader to easily follow the progression of

ideas.

PATHOS – one of three classical rhetorical appeals; it is often viewed as the most powerful of

the appeals; this emotional appeal often relies on figurative language and devices to engage the

reader on an emotional level.

STYLE – the distinctive way in which the writer uses language, from how sentences are put

together to the choice of vocabulary and use of literary devices; the combination of diction,

syntax and figurative language.

SYNTAX – the way in which an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses and

sentences. Syntax is similar to diction, but you can differentiate them by thinking of syntax as

groups of words and sentences made up of words while diction refers to the individual words.

List # 2-

ABSTRACT – refers to language that describes concepts rather than concrete images (ideas and

qualities rather than observable people, places or things). A passage is called abstract if its

diction presents its subject matter in general or non-sensory, non-sensuous words or with only a

thin realization of its experienced qualities; it is called concrete if its diction presents its subject

matter with striking particularity and sensuous detail.

ADAGE – a saying or proverb containing a truth based on experience and often couched in

metaphorical language. EX: Love conquers all; If you want peace, prepare for war.

AD HOMINEM – an attempt to negate the truth of a claim by pointing out a negative

characteristic or unrelated belief of the person supporting it. Attacking the speaker rather than

the idea or statement.

ALLEGORY – a story or scene in which nearly every element has symbolic meaning. The

symbols are organized systemically and hang together in one, cohesive whole. EX: Young

Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

ALLITERATION – the repetition of the initial consonant sound. Writers use alliteration to give

emphasis to words, to imitate sounds and to create musical effects. EX: a series of words with

the same certain similar starting sound.

ALLUSION – a reference (either implicit or explicit) to an historical event, figure or work of art.

A reference the author expects the reader to recognize and understand, subsequently enriching

the reading experience.

AMBIGUITY – the multiple meanings (either intentional or unintentional) of a word, phrase,

sentence or passage.

AMPLIFICATION – the literary practice where a writer embellishes a sentence by adding more

information to it in order to increase its worth and understandability.

ANACHRONISM – an error in chronology or timeline (either intentional or unintentional) in a

literary piece. EX: Using an M-16 assault rifle to win the Revolutionary War (it hadn’t been

invented yet).

ANAPHORA – the deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of each one of a

series of sentences, paragraphs or lines/stanzas of poetry. The counterpart to epistrophe.

ANADIPLOSIS – The repetition of the last word of the preceding clause. That is, the word is

used at the end of one sentence and again at the beginning of the next. EX: “Great Expectations was written by Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens was a great writer of the Victorian Era.”

ANALOGY – a comparison in which an idea or object is compared with another that is quite

different from it. It aims at explaining an idea that idea or object by comparing it to something

familiar. Metaphors and similes are tools used to draw analogies.

ANECDOTE – a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person.

ANTICLIMAX – like the climax, the anticlimax is a turning point in the story. However, an

Anticlimax is always a letdown. It is the point at which you learn the story will not turn out as

you had expected.

ANTITHESIS – When two opposites are introduced in the same sentence for contrasting effect;

the presentation of two contrasting images; the ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause or

paragraph. EX: To be or not to be; Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can

do for your country.

APHORISM – a short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life. EX: “The early

The bird gets the worm.”

APOSTROPHE – a direct address to an absent person, abstract idea or non-human being as if it

could understand and respond. EX: “Death, be not proud.”