Rhetorical Terms
A literary device employed to serve as a basis for comparison.
What is analogy?
A sentence that includes one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.
What is a complex sentence?
A claim that asserts something is true or not true.
What is a claim of fact?
When a speaker attacks the other person's character, rather than discussing the issue at hand.
Examples from one of the last presidential debates: “There’s nothing smart about you, Joe,” - former Pres. Trump AND “The fact is this man has no idea what he’s talking about” from Joe Biden.
What is ad hominem fallacy?
The opposite of exaggeration
What is understatement?
The interpretive level of a word based on its associative images rather than its literal meaning.
What is connotation?
Sentence used to command.
What is a imperative sentence
The author's attitude toward their subject.
What is tone?
When a speaker compares two things that are not comparable.
Example: An add for a lawnmower, shows in the background a delighted nuclear family having a picnic.
What is a faulty analogy?
A term used to describe writing that borders on lecturing. It is scholarly and academic in tone.
The format of a formal argument that consists of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.
What is a syllogism?
Sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on.
Example: On that spring day, we all left school early, ate waffles, picked wildflowers, hiked the mountainous trial, then finally took a nap in the meadow.
What is a cumulative sentence?
The repetition or variations of an image or idea in a work used to develop theme or characters.
What is motif?
When evidence is sufficient, yet a speaker comes to a rapid conclusion.
Example: On Friday in the city, the trash was blowing all over. New Yorkers don't care about where they live.
What is a hasty generalization?
Background information presented in a literary work
What is exposition?
A more acceptable and usually more pleasant way of saying something that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable.
What is euphemism?
A sentence whose main clause is held until the end.
Example: In spite of heavy snow and cold temperatures, the game continued.
What is a periodic sentence?
A form of argument that uses humor and specific techniques to address a problem, often a societal problem.
What is satire?
When a speaker skips to a new and irrelevant topic.
Example: We can talk about dress code all we want, but what about the constant leaf blower noise pollution?
What is a red herring?
A figure of speech in which a representative term is used for a larger idea.
Example: The pen is mightier than the sword.
What is metonymy?
The use of a quotation at the beginning of a work that hints at a theme in the text.
What is epigraph?
Omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.
Example: We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, detail any car, vacuum any bedroom, polish any silver.
-JFK & Ms. Cohen
What is asyndeton?
The process of moving from a general premise to a specific example.
What is deduction?
When a speaker claims that (a) is the cause of (b) just because (a) occurred earlier than (b); however, correlation does not imply causation.
For example: The war in Ukraine is clearly Biden's fault because during Trump's presidency, Ukraine was doing just fine.
What is Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc?
A word or phrase open to two interpretations, one of which is usually risqué or indecent.
What is double entendre?