Ethos, Pathos, Logos
The appeal that uses facts, statistics, and logical reasoning to convince an audience.
What is Logos?
The central, universal idea or message about life conveyed by a work of literature.
What is Theme?
The literal, dictionary definition of a word.
What is Denotation?
Attacking the person making the argument instead of the argument itself.
What is Ad Hominem?
A direct comparison of two unlike things using "like" or "as."
What is a Simile?
An advertisement featuring a famous, trustworthy athlete endorsing a brand of running shoes.
What is Ethos?
The term for a temporary shift in the narrative to an event that happened earlier in time.
What is Flashback?
A character who undergoes a significant internal change throughout the course of a story.
What is a Dynamic Character?
The fallacy of assuming that because everyone else believes something, it must be true.
What is Bandwagon?
The repetition of initial consonant sounds in a sequence of words, as in "Peter Piper picked."
What is Alliteration?
The emotional appeal used by an activist who recounts a heartbreaking personal story of struggle.
What is Pathos?
The rhetorical device where phrases or clauses are structurally identical to show equal importance, as in "easy come, easy go."
What is Parallelism?
The feeling or idea associated with a word beyond its literal meaning; for example, home suggests warmth and security.
What is Connotation?
An argument that uses a minor first step to claim that a series of inevitable, increasingly disastrous results will follow.
What is Slippery Slope?
A figure of speech where a non-human thing is given human qualities or actions.
What is Personification?
A speaker using specialized jargon and complex data might be over-relying on this appeal, potentially alienating the audience.
What is Logos?
The technique of hinting at events that will occur later in the story to build tension.
What is Foreshadowing?
When an object, like a dove or a red rose, represents a larger idea like peace or love.
What is Symbolism?
When a speaker only presents two extreme options as the only possibilities, ignoring the moderate alternatives.
What is the False Dilemma or Either/Or Fallacy?
A question posed for rhetorical effect rather than to elicit a specific answer (since the answer is assumed).
What is a Rhetorical Question?
This appeal is established when a writer demonstrates credibility, authority, and shared moral values with the audience.
What is Ethos?
When a writer shifts the focus or order of events in the narrative to manipulate the reader's experience of time.
What are Pacing or Narrative Pacing?
This character, defined by a single, dominant trait rather than complexity, often uses a repeated object—such as a specific prop or piece of clothing—which functions as a symbol of their unchangeable, static nature.
What is a Flat Character (or Stock Character)?
This fallacy occurs when a speaker introduces an irrelevant topic to deliberately distract the audience from the main argument, often appearing in political debates.
What is Red Herring?
This rhetorical technique involves the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or lines to create rhythmic emphasis and emotional force.
What is Anaphora?