Literary and Rhetorical Terms
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sarahleck1 on September 1, 2011
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Mrs. Parmenter's Class
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85 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Ad hominem argument | From the Latin meaning "to or against the man," this is an argument that appeals to emotion rather than reason, to feeling rather than intellect |
| Allegory | The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning; meaning usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence |
| Alliteration | The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words; can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, and/or supply a musical sound |
| Ambiguity | The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage |
| Analogy | A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them; can explaion something unfamiliar by associating it with, or pointing out its similarity to, something more familiar; can make writing more vivid, imaginative, and intellectually engaging |
| Antecedent | The word, phrase, or clause reffered to by a pronoun |
| Antithesis | A figure of speech involving a seeming contradiction of ideas, words, clauses, or sentences within a balanced grammatical structure; resulting parallelism serves to emphasize opposition of ideas |
| Aphorism | A terse statement of known authorship that expresses a general truth or moral principle; can be a memorable summation of the author's point |
| Apostrophe | A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary or personified abstraction; may add familiarity or emotional intensity |
| Atmosphere | The emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author's choice of objects that are described; frequently foreshadows events |
| Caricature | A representation, especially pictorial or literary, in which the subject's distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque efect; can be so exaggerated that it becomes a grotesque imitation or misrepresentation |
| Chiasmus | A figure of speech based on inverted parallelism; a rhetorical figure in which two clauses are related to each other through a reversal of terms; purpose is to make a larger point or to provide balance or order |
| Clause | A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb |
| Colloquialism | Slang or informality in speech or writing; gives work a conversational, familiar tone |
| Conceit | A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects; displays intellectual cleverness |
| Connotation | The nonliteral, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning; may involve ideas, emotions, or attitudes |
| Denotation | The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color |
| Diction | The writer's word choice, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness |
| Didactic | Literally means "instructive." Primary aim is to teach or instruct, especially to teach moral or ethical principles |
| Euphemism | "Good speech." More agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts |
| Extended metaphor | A metaphor developed at great length, occuring frequently in or throughout a work |
| Figurative language | Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid |
| Figure of speech | A device used to produce figurative language. Many compare dissimilar things. Include apostrophe, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron, paradox, personification, simile, synecdoche, and understatement. |
| Generic conventions | Describes traditions for each genre; help to define each genre |
| Genre | The major category into which a literary work fits; prose, poetry, drama |
| Homily | Literally means "sermon," but more informally can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture having moral or spiritual advice |
| Hyperbole | A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement |
| Imagery | Sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or respresent abstractions. Uses terms related to the five senses. |
| Inference/infer | To draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented |
| Invective | An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language |
| Irony/ironic | Contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant; what appears to be and what actually is true. 3 major types: verbal, situational, dramatic |
| Juxtaposition | Placing dissimilar items, descriptions, or ideas close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast |
| Loose sentence | The main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses; makes a work seem informal, relaxed, and conversational |
| Metaphor | A figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for another |
| Metonymy | Means "changed label" or "substitute name," a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it |
| Mood | 1. Grammatical- deals with verbal units and a speaker's attitude (subjunctive, imperative) 2. Literary- the prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work, affected by setting, tone, and events |
| Narrative | The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events |
| Onomatopoeia | A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words |
| Oxymoron | Means "pointedly foolish," a figure of speech where the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox |
| Paradox | A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense, but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity |
| Parallelism | Meaning "beside one another," refers to grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity |
| Parody | A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule |
| Pedantic | An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish |
| Periodic sentence | A sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end |
| Personification | A figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions |
| Point of view | The perspective from which a story is told; 1st, 3rd |
| Predicate adjectives | An adjective, group of adjectives, or adjective clause that follows a linking verb |
| Predicate nominative | A noun, group of nouns, or noun clause that renames the subject |
| Prose | Fiction and nonfiction, most closely resemble every day speech |
| Repetition | The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern |
| Rhetoric | "Orator," describes tthe principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, persuasively |
| Rhetoric appeal | Logos, ethos, pathos |
| Rhetorical modes | Exposition, argumentation, description, narration |
| Rhetorical question | Asked merely for effect, does not expect a reply, answer is assumed |
| Sarcasm | "To tear flesh," involves bitter, caustic language meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something |
| Satire | A work that targets human vices and follies, or social institutions and conventions, for reform or ridicule |
| Simile | An explicit comparison, using "like" or "as" or "if" |
| Style | The blend of diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary devices |
| Subject complement | The word or clause that follows a linking verb and complements or completes the subject of the sentence by either renaming it or describing it |
| Subordinate clause | This word group contains both a subject and a verb, cannot stand alone |
| Syllogism | "Reckoning together," a deductive system of formal logic that presents "major" and "minor" premises that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion |
| Symbol/symbolism | Anything that presents or stands for something else |
| Syntax | The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences |
| Theme | The central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers into life |
| Thesis | The sentence that directly expresses the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or proposition |
| Tone | Describes the author's attitude toward his material, audience, or both |
| Transition | A word or phrase that links different ideas |
| Understatement | The ironic minimizing of fact, presents something as less significant than it is; litotes, meiosis |
| Wit | Intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights |
| Attitude | A writer's intellectual position or emotion regarding the subject of the writing |
| Concrete detail | Details from the passage |
| Descriptive details | The writer's sensory description |
| Devices | The figures of speech, syntax, diction, and other stylistic elements that collectively produce a particular artistic effect |
| Language | When you're asked to analyze this, concentrate on how diction, syntax, figurative language, and sentence structure create a cumulative effect |
| Narrative devices | Describes the tools of the storyleller |
| Narrative technique | The style of telling the story, even if the passage is nonfiction |
| Persuasive devices | When asked to analyze this, look for the words in the passage that have strong connotations |
| Persuasive esay | When asked to write this, present a coherent argument in which evidence builds to a logical and relevant conclusion |
| Resources of language | All the devices of composition available to a writes |
| Rhetorical features | How a passage is constructed- if asked to consider this, look at the passage's organization and how the writer combines images, details, or arguments to serve their purpose |
| Sentence structure | When asked to analyze this, look at the type of sentences the author uses- simple, compound, complex, and variations created with sentence combining |
| Stylistic devices | When an essay prompt mentions this, note and analyze all of the elements in language that contribute to style |
| Logos | Appeals to logic |
| Pathos | Appeals to emotions |
| Ethos | Shows credibility of speaker |
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