One of the two main parts of a sentence or clause, modifying the subject and including the verb, objects, or phrases governed by the verb.
What is the "predicate?"
100
This rhetorical mode uses solid and appropriate illustrations to communicate clearly and with clarity.
What is "example?"
100
The use of a word to modify or govern two or more words although its use may be grammatically or logically correct with only one.
What is "zeugma?"
100
The emotional implications and associations that a word may carry.
What is an "connotation?"
100
"Of course that writer supports gun control; she is a Democrat!"
What is an "ad hominem argument?"
200
A type of sentence in which the main idea comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units, such as prases and clauses.
What is "Loose sentence?"
200
This rhetorical mode divides up information into groups according to certain characteristics.
What is "classification?"
200
A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole, the whole for a part, the specific for the general, the general for the specific, or the material for the thing made from it.
What is "synecdoche?"
200
The choice and use of words in speech or writing.
What is "diction?"
200
This is a statement that does not relate logically to what comes before it.
What is "a non sequitur?"
300
Words, phrases, and clauses that make one element of a sentence dependent on another. Contrast with coordination.
What is "subordination?"
300
This rhetorical mode is used by writers when they want to explain how to do something or how something was done.
What is "process analysis?"
300
The similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.
What is "parallelism?"
300
Denunciatory or abusive language; discourse that casts blame on somebody or something.
What is "invective?"
300
This appeal encourages the listener or reader to agree with a position because everyone else does.
What is "bandwagon appeal."
400
A long and frequently involved sentence, marked by suspended syntax, in which the sense is not completed until the final word--usually with an emphatic climax.
What is a "periodic sentence?"
400
This rhetorical mode explains why things should be or should have been done. It explains the processes responsible for the process.
What is "cause and effect?"
400
A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.
What is "litote?"
400
Any of several rhetorical devices involving departure from normal word order. Ex: "His was a countenance sad."
What is "Hyperbaton?"
400
This type of argument states that a relatively small first step inevitably leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant impact.
What is "slippery slope?"
500
The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.
What is an "antecedent?"
500
This rhetorical mode helps to make expository or argumentative writing lively and interesting and hold the reader's interest. It is typically used to communicate a scene, a specific place, or a person to the reader.
What is "description?"
500
The identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.
What is a "assonance?"
500
A form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.
What is "syllogism?"
500
This is shifting the attention away from an important issue by introducing an issue that has no logical connection to the discussion at hand.