Rhetorical Strategies, Stylistic Devices, and Rhetorical Patterns: Section 2
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allisonfitts on July 5, 2010
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74 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Absolute | a word free from limitations or qualifications ("best," "all", "unique," "perfect") |
| Ad hominem argument | an argument attacking an individual's character rather than his or her position on an issue |
| Allegory | a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions |
| Allusion | a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize |
| Analogy | a comparison of two different things that are similar in some way |
| Anaphora | repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses (Richard D. Bury: "In books I find the dead as if they were alive; in books I foresee things to come; in books warlike affairs are set forth; from books come forth the laws of peace.") |
| Anecdote | a brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event |
| Antithesis | a statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced |
| Aphorism | a concise, statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance |
| Argumentation | a pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by reason and logic, and asserts a position, belief or conclusion |
| Assonance | repetition of similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by different consonants, in the stressed syllables of adjacent words. Ex: The sergeant asked him to bomb the lawn with hotpots |
| Asyndeton | a construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions ("They spent the day wondering, searching, thinking, understanding.") |
| Balanced sentence | a sentence in which words, phrases, or clauses are set off against each other to emphasize a contrast (George Orwell: "If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.") |
| Cause/Effect | a pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by its analysis of why something happens, in contrast to Process, which describes how something happens. Often links situations and events in time, with causes preceding events. Ex: the cause of a war and its effects on a national economy |
| Classification/Division | a pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by division, which is the process of breaking a whole into parts, and classification, which is the often subsequent process of sorting individual items into categories |
| Colloquialism | informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing |
| Comparison/Contrast | a pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by, in its narrowest sense, how two or more things are similar and/or how two or more things are different |
| Complex sentence | a sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause |
| Compound sentence | a sentence with two or more coordinate independent clauses, often joined by one or more conjunctions |
| Compound-complex sentence | a sentence with two or more principal clauses and one or more subordinate clauses |
| Conceit | a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor (Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 and John Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" are examples) |
| Concrete details | details that relate to or describe actual, specific things or events |
| Connotation (loose sentence) | the implied or associative meaning of a word (slender vs. skinny; cheap vs. thrifty) |
| Cumulative sentence | a sentence in which the main independent clause is elaborated by the successive addition of modifying clauses or phrases (Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal: "I have been assured by a very knowing American friend of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.") |
| Declarative sentence | a sentence that makes a statement or declaration |
| Deductive reasoning | reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning.) |
| Definition | a pattern of writing or speaking which strives to inform the audience on what a term means and how it is different from other terms in its class |
| Denotation | the literal meaning of a word |
| Description | a pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by physical descriptions of a person, place or thing. It is a pattern that relies on the five senses to inform it |
| Dialect | a variety of speech characterized by its own particular grammar or pronunciation, often associated with a particular geographical region ("Y'all" = Southern) |
| Didactic statement | having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing |
| Dissonance | harsh, inharmonious, or discordant sounds |
| Ellipsis | the omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context ("Some people prefer cats; others, dogs |
| Ethos | the persuasive appeal of one's character, or credibility |
| Euphemism | an indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant |
| Exclamatory sentence | a sentence expressing strong feeling, usually punctuated with an exclamation mark |
| Exemplification | a pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by using one or more particular cases, or examples, to illustrate or explain a general point or an abstract concept |
| Hyperbole | intentional exaggeration to create an effect |
| Idiom | an expression in a given language that cannot be understood from the literal meaning of the words in the expression; or, a regional speech or dialect ("fly on the wall", "cut to the chase", etc.) |
| Imagery | the use of figures of speech to create vivid images that appeal to one of the senses |
| Imperative sentence | a sentence that gives a command |
| Implication | a suggestion an author or speaker makes (implies) without stating it directly. NOTE: the author/speaker implies; the reader/audience infers |
| Inductive reasoning | deriving general principles from particular facts or instances ("Every cat I have ever seen has four legs; cats are four-legged animals.) |
| Inference | a conclusion on draws (infers) based on premises or evidence |
| Interrogative sentence | a sentence that asks a question |
| Invective | an intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attack |
| Inverted syntax | a sentence constructed so that the predicate comes before the subject (ex: In the woods I am walking.) |
| Irony | the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; or, incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs (situational, verbal, dramatic) |
| Juxtaposition | placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast |
| Litotes | a type of understatement in which an idea is expressed by negating its opposite (describing a particularly horrific scene by saying, "It was not a pretty picture.") |
| Logos | appeal to reason or logic |
| Metaphor | a direct comparison of two different things |
| Metonymy | substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it ("The pen [writing] is mightier than the sword [war/fighting].) |
| Mood | the emotional atmosphere of a work |
| Motif | a standard theme, element, or dramatic situation that recurs in various works |
| Narration | is a dominant pattern of writing or speaking which strives to tell a story by presenting events in an orderly, logical sequence. Conventionally utilizes the first or third person perspective |
| Non sequitur | an inference that does not follow logically from the premises (literally, "does not follow") |
| Paradox | an apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth ("Whoever loses his life, shall find it.") |
| Parallelism | the use of corresponding grammatical or syntactical forms |
| Parody | a humorous imitation of a serious work |
| Parenthetical Comment | a comment that interrupts the immediate subject, often to quality or explain |
| Pathos | the quality in a work that prompts the reader to feel pity |
| Personification | endowing non-human objects or creatures with human qualities or characteristics |
| Process (Process Analysis) | a pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by it's explanation of how to do something or how something occurs. It presents a sequence of steps and shows how those steps lead to a particular result. (Can be seen often in recipes or directional manuals, a discussion of steps) |
| Rhetorical question | a question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer |
| Sarcasm | harsh, cutting language or tone intended to ridicule |
| Satire | the use of humor to emphasize human weaknesses or imperfections in social institutions (Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, The Simpsons, etc.) |
| Scheme | an artful deviation from the ordinary arrangement of words (anaphora, anastrophe, antithesis are some examples of schemes) |
| Simile | a comparison of two things using "like," "as," or other specifically comparative words |
| Simple sentence | a sentence consisting of one independent clause and no dependent clause |
| Synecdoche | using one part of an object to represent the entire object (for example, referring to a car simply as "wheels") |
| Trope | an artful deviation from the ordinary or principal signification of a word (hyberbole, metaphor, and personification are some examples of tropes) |
| Understatement | the deliberate representation of something as lesser in magnitude than it |
| Vernacular | the everyday speech of a particular country or region, often involving nonstandard usage |
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