In rhetoric, the appeal of a text to the credibility and character of the speaker, writer, or narrator.
What is Ethos.
100
The manner in which a writer combines and arranges words, shapes ideas, and utilizes syntax and structure. The distinctive manner of expression of an author.
What is style.
100
In rhetoric, the repetition of a phrase at the end of successive sentences. For example: "If women are healthy and educated, their families will flourish. If women are free from biolence, their families will flourish..."
What is epistrophe.
100
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, usually in successive or proximate words.
What is assonance.
200
This sentence type always seems to be asking for something.
What is an interrogative sentence?
200
That element in literature that stimulates pity or sorrow. In argument or persuasion, it tends to be the evocation of pity from the reader/listener. Think of it as the "poor starving children" approach to convincing you.
What is pathos.
200
A form of verbal irony in which apparent praise is actually critical.
What is sarcasm.
200
Parallel structure in which the parallel elements are similar not only in grammatical structure but also in length. For example, the Biblical admonition "Many are called, but few are chosen," is an example of this.
What is isocolon.
200
A syntactical structure in which conjunctions are omitted in a series, usually producing more rapid prose. For example: "Veni, vidi, vici"
What is asyndeton.
300
This sentence is incomplete, though sometimes it is purposely so.
What is a sentence fragment.
300
Arguments built on reason.
What is logos.
300
A literary work that holds up human failings to ridicule and censure. Jonathan Swift and George Orwell were masters of this.
What is satire.
300
A figure of speech that emphasizes its subject by conscious understatement; for instance, the understated "not bad" as a comment about something especially well done.
What is litote.
300
A concise statement designed to make a point or illustrate a commonly held belief.
What is aphorism.
400
A sentence with the S-V combination at the beginning of the sentence followed by a series of clauses or phrases.
What is a cumulative sentence.
400
Writing that explains its own meaning or purpose.
What is exposition.
400
The way words are put together to form phrases, clauses, and sentences.
What is syntax.
400
A figure of speech in which an attribute or commonly associated feature is used to name or designate something, as in "Buckingham Palace announced today..."
What is metonymy.
400
The juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced or parallel words, phrases, grammatical structure, or ideas. For example, Alexander Pope reminds us that "to err is human, to forgive divine."
What is antithesis.
500
A sentence with the S-V combination at the end of the sentence preceded by a series of clauses or phrases.
What is a periodic sentence.
500
An address or invocation to something inanimate--such as when the slave Frederick Douglass exclaims as he looks upon the ships in Chesapeake Bay: "I would pour out my soul's complaint, in my rude way, with an apostrophe to the moving multitude of ships."
What is apostrophe.
500
A figure of speech in which a part signifies the whole, such as "50 masts" representing 50 ships.
What is synecdoche.
500
A grammatically correct contruction in which a word, usually a verb or adjective, is applied to two or more nouns without being repeated. Often used to comic effect ("the thief" took my wallet and the Fifth Avenue bus").
What is zeugma.
500
The regular repetition of the same words or phrases at the beginning of successive phrases of clauses. For example, "To raise a happy, healthful, and hopeful child, it takes a family; it takes teachers; it takes clergy; it takes..."