Rhetorical Terms Flashcards
Allegory
a piece of art or literature, like a poem or story, in which people, things or happenings have a hidden or symbolic meaning
Ad Hominem
commenting on or against an opponent to undermine him instead of his arguments
Alliteration
She sells sea-shells down by the sea-shore
Ambiguity
The definition of ambiguity is vagueness or a lack of clarity
Anaphora
using the same word or words to start two or more sentences or paragraphs that follow one another
Antecedent
a thing or event that existed before or logically precedes another.
Assonance
repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words
Asyndeton
the writing style of leaving out several conjunctions (such as “as” or “and”) from a sentence or a group of related sentences.
“She spoke. She left.”
Chiasmus
inversion of the second of two parallel phrases, clauses, etc;
“He went to the country, to the town went she”
Clause
a group of related words containing a subject and a verb
Colloquial Diction
characteristic of or appropriate to ordinary or familiar conversation
Conceit
a figure of speech in which two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of similes or metaphors
Consonance
to repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase
Connotation
a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly
“Wall Street” literally means a street situated in Lower Manhattan but connotatively it refers to “wealth” and “power”.
Denotation
The literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.
The dove example
Didactic
emphasizes the idea that different forms of art and literature ought to convey information and instructions along with pleasure and entertainment
Epistrophe
repetition of phrases or words at the end of the clauses or sentences. Opposite of anaphora.
Ethos
A means of convincing others of the character or credibility of the persuader
Euphemism
refers to polite, indirect expressions which replace words and phrases considered harsh and impolite or which suggest something unpleasant.
“You are becoming a little thin on top (bald)”
Figurative Languge
Hyperbole, simile, metaphor, etc;
Trope
a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression.
Homily
A sermon, or a short, exhortatory work to be read before a group of listeners in order to instruct them spiritually or morally
Invective
Speech or writing that attacks, insults, or denounces a person, topic, or institution, usually involving negative emotional language
Logos
The principle of reason and judgment
Loose sentence
begins with a main clause that is followed by phrases and/or clauses that modify the main clause.
“I went to the movies yesterday, bought candy, and shopped at the mall.”
Metonymy
It is a figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated.
“Let me give you a hand. (Hand means help.)”
Motif
an object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work.
Narrative
is a report of related events presented to the listeners or readers in words arranged in a logical sequence.
Onomatopoeia
defined as a word, which imitates the natural sounds of a thing.
“The buzzing bee flew away.”
Parallelism
the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning or meter
“Whether in class, at work or at home, Shasta was always busy.”
Pathos
a quality of an experience in life or a work of art that stirs up emotions of pity, sympathy and sorrow
Pedantic
When someone makes a big deal of showing off his or her knowledge.
Predicate Adjective
Modifies the subject of the sentence, and is connected to the subject by a linking verb.
Children grow OLDER every day.
Predicate nominative
term for a noun, pronoun, or other nominal that follows a linking verb.
Prose
a form of language that has no formal metrical structure.
Rhetoric
a technique of using language effectively and persuasively in spoken or written form
Satire
a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule.
Semantics
words can be manipulated to influence human thought and action.
Stylistic devices
Figure of speech or rhetorical devices
Subject complement
the adjective, noun, or pronoun that follows a linking verb
“Brandon is a gifted ATHLETE.”
Subordinate clause
a clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence because it does not express a complete thought
“A musicologist is a man ‘who can read music but’”
Syllogism
a rhetorical device that starts an argument with a reference to something general and from this it draws conclusion about something more specific
“No healthy food is fattening, all cakes are fattening
No cakes are healthy,
Verisimilitude
The sense that what one reads is “real,” or at least realistic and believable
Apostrophe
detaches himself from the reality and addresses an imaginary character in his speech
