An extreme exaggeration used to emphasize a point or create a strong feeling
Hyperbole
To break something down into parts and explain how those parts work together.
Analyze
An appeal that builds trust by showing the speaker is credible, knowledgeable, or trustworthy.
Ethos
How a character or narrator thinks, feels, and views events in the story.
Perspective
The most important point the author is making about a topic.
Central/main Idea
A brief reference to a well-known person, place, event, or text that the reader is expected to recognize.
Allusion
To figure something out using clues from the text and your own thinking.
Infer
An appeal that focuses on the right time or urgency—why something needs to happen now.
Kairos
The deeper message or lesson about life that the text teaches.
Theme
The way the author organizes information in a text.
Structure
The repetition of the same beginning sound in nearby words to create rhythm or emphasis.
Alliteration
To make a reasonable guess about what will happen next based on evidence.
Predict
An appeal that tries to convince you to agree or act because everyone else is doing it.
Bandwagon
The sequence of events that happen in a story (beginning, middle, and end).
Plot
The reason the author wrote the text (to inform, describe, persuade, or entertain).
Authors purpose
Giving human traits or actions to nonhuman things (like objects, animals, or ideas).
Personification
To grow, change, or build something over time by adding details or ideas.
Develop
An attack on a person’s character instead of addressing their argument.
Ad Hominem
When an object, character, or action represents a bigger idea or meaning.
Symbolism
The author’s attitude toward the topic (serious, sarcastic, hopeful, etc.).
Tone
A phrase or expression whose meaning is different from the literal meaning of the words.
Idiom
To add to or help something happen or improve.
Contribute
A claim that one small step will lead to a chain of negative events, often without strong evidence.
Slippery Slope
Descriptive language that helps the reader see, hear, feel, taste, or smell what is happening.
Imagery
A short personal story used to support a point.
Anecdote