- appeal to numbers, facts, and statistics: attempts to persuade the reader by showing how many people think something is true
- author's purpose: the author's intent either to inform/teach, to entertain, or to persuade/convince the audience
- bandwagon: tries to persuade the reader to do, think, or buy something because it is popular or everyone is doing it
- bias: a judgment based on personal point of view
- circular argument: states a conclusion as part of the proof of the argument
- editorial: a newspaper or magazine article that gives the opinions of the editors or publishers
- emotional appeal: tries to persuade the reader by using words that appeal to the reader's emotions instead of to logic or reason
- generalization: a conclusion that is used to make a broad statement about a topic or person
- imagery: a word or group of words in a literary work which appeal to one or more of the senses: sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell
- inference: understanding gained by "reading between the lines;" a judgment based on reasoning rather than direct statement
- name-calling: an attack on a person instead of an issue
- primary source: text that tells a first-hand account of an event; original works used when researching (letters, journals)
- propaganda: techniques used to influence people to believe, buy, or do something
- red herring: an attempt to distract the reader with details not relevant to the argument
- satire: literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness
- secondary source: text used when researching that is derived from something original (biographies, magazine articles)
- sweeping generalization: makes an oversimplified statement about a group based on limited information
- testimonial: attempts to persuade the reader by using a famous person to endorse a product or idea
- text structure: the author's method of organizing text
- voice: the fluency, rhythm and liveliness in writing that makes it unique to the writer
The 20 New Literary Terms