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English Retorical
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Adage | A folk saying with a lesson. Similar to aphorism and colloquialism. Example: Birds of a feather flock together. |
| Ad hominem | Personally attacking your opponents instead of their arguments. Appeals to emotion rather than reason, feeling rather than intellect. Ex: Stating someone's age prevents them from making an argument – “You are clearly just too young to understand.” |
| Allegory | A work that conveys a hidden meaning through the use of symbolic characters and events; characterized by a use of symbolism that permeates the entire story Example: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis is a religious _________. |
| Alliteration | The repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words. Example: The repeated “t” and “c” sounds in the sentence, “The tall tamarack trees shaded the cozy cabin.” |
| Allusion | An indirect reference to something (usually a literary text) with which the reader is supposed to be familiar. Example: He was a real *Romeo* with the ladies. (Romeo is an allusion to the famous Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet.) |
| Ambiguity | When something is uncertain; it is subject to more than one interpretation. Example: “I can't tell you how much I enjoyed your party last night." There is no clear indication as to whether the speaker actually enjoyed the party or not. |
| Amplification | Extending a sentence in order to further explain, emphasize, or exaggerate certain points; can involve embellishment. Ex: I think I’m getting sick—I’ve been having terrible headaches and drainage, and I’ve just begun to develop a sore throat as well. |
| Anaphora | Repetition of a word, or phrase, at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This form of repetition helps make the writer's point stronger. Ex: You may shoot me with your words,/ You may cut me with your eyes,/ But still, like air, I’ll rise. |
| Anedote | A brief recounting of a relevant episode; often inserted texts as a way of developing a point or injecting humor. Ex: During a discussion about recipes, one of the people in the group tells a story about one of her tried and true recipes gone wrong. |
| Analogy | A comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set of variables; argues that the relationship between the first pair is the same as the relationship between the second pair. Example: America is to the world as the hippo is to the jungle. |
| Antithesis | Two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, or even ideas, with parallel structure. Example: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. |
| Antanagoge | Places a criticism and compliment together to lessen the impact. Example: The car is not pretty but it runs great. |
| Anthypophora | When you pose a question for dramatic effect and then immediately answer it yourself. Also known as hypophora. Example: What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! |
| Anphorism | A terse statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle. Example: “God helps those who help themselves,” and “A watched pot never boils.” |
| Apostrophe | A writer or speaker speaks directly to someone who is not present or is dead, or speaks to an inanimate object or idea. Example: In this example, “love” is personified and addressed as though present in the sentence, “Oh love, where have you gone?” |
| Apotheosis | Occurs in literature when a character or a thing is elevated to such a high status that it appears godlike. Example: The boy obsessed over the girl’s beauty as though she were Helen of Troy. |
| Appositive | A word or phrase that follows a noun or pronoun for emphasis or clarity. Example: The luxury train, *The Orient Express,* crosses Europe from Paris to Istanbul in just twenty-six hours. |
| Asyndeton | Occurs when the conjunctions (such as and or but) that would normally connect a string of words are omitted from a sentence. Example: Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the ones who see things differently. |
| Bandwagon | The argument that, because the majority believes/does something, so should everyone else. Example: Mom, it’s the 21st century and everyone has a smartphone. It’s time to get rid of that flip phone and join the modern age. |
| Bathos | A sudden change of tone in a work of writing, usually from the sublime to the ridiculous. Example: For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen. |
| Chiasmus | When the same words are used twice in succession, but the second time, the order of the words is reversed. Also called antimetabole. Example: When the going gets tough, the tough get going. |
| Cliche thinking | Using as evidence a well-known saying, as if it is proven. Example: It doesn’t surprise me that Mr. Rice’s wife is leaving him. After all, he left his three previous wives, and you know what they say: “What goes around comes around.” |
| Colloquial | Ordinary or familiar type of conversation; a common or familiar type of saying. Example: Yinz better stay away from that crik; it’s slippy over there and yinz could fall in some jagger bushes n’at. |
| Concession | Acceptance of an opposing point. Makes an argument stronger by accepting a counterargument. Ex: You think I will use a phone to text friends during class instead of doing homework. Can we agree to try it for a month, and if I do that, you can take it? |
| Conditional statement | An if-then statement and consists of two parts, an antecedent and a consequent. Example: If you studied hard, then you will pass the test. |
| Connotation | The associations suggested by a word. Implied meaning rather than literal meaning. Example: “Chatty,” “talkative,” and “articulate” all have the same denotations, but each has a different connotation. |
| Contradiction | Occurs when one asserts two mutually exclusive propositions. Since a claim and its contradictory cannot both be true, one of them must be false. Example: The stormy sky was gloomy and threatened danger, yet it was beautiful to behold. |
| Counterexample | An example that runs counter to (opposes) a generalization, thus falsifying it. Example: Jane argued that all whales are endangered. However, Belugas are a type of whale, and they are not endangered. Therefore, Jane’s argument is unsound. |
| Deductive argument | An argument where it starts with a conclusion, then presents facts, details, and examples. Usually move from a general example to a specific example. Ex: All humans need oxygen to live. Robert is human. Therefore, he needs oxygen to live, as well. |
| Denotation | The literal, explicit meaning of a word, without its connotations. Example: Audacious means daring or bold. |
| Diacope | Repetition of a phrase or word, broken up by other intervening words. Example: We will do it, I tell you; we will do it. |
| Dialogismus | A speaker either imagines what someone or something else might be thinking, or paraphrases someone’s earlier words. The speaker ends up talking not as themselves just for rhetorical effect. Example: I bet that guy’s thinking, “What am I doing here?” |
| Didacticism | A term used to teach a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking. Example: “The Tortoise and the Hare” is a didacticism because it teaches us that slow and steady wins the race. |
| Dysphemism | An offensive or detrimental phrase deliberately used in place of a nicer one. Example: “Egghead” in place of “genius.” “Worm food” in place of “dead.” “Snail mail” in place of “postal mail.” |
| Ellipsis | The deliberate omission of a word or phrase from prose done for effect by the author. Example: When one does not want to specifically refer to the death of another person, and thus just asks, “Did he…peacefully?” The obvious word omitted there is “die.” |
| Epiphora | The repetition of a word or phrase at the end of every clause. Example: [A] government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. |
| Euphemism | A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts. Sometimes they are used for political correctness. Example: “Vertically challenged” in place of “short.” OR “Passed away” in place of “died.” |
| False cause | Assuming that because two things happened, the first one caused the second one. (Sequence is not causation.) Example: Before women got the vote, there were no nuclear weapons. Therefore women’s suffrage must have led to nuclear weapons. |
| Hasty generalization | A generalization based on too little or unrepresentative data. Example: My uncle didn’t go to college, and he makes a lot of money. So, people who don’t go to college do just as well as those who do. |
| Hyperbole | A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used to achieve emphasis. The emphasis is on exaggeration rather than literal representation. Example: I’ve told you a million times to pick up your dirty socks! |
| Imagery | Uses descriptive language to appeal to the senses Example: As they sat on the soft, powdery sand beach, the sinking sun shimmered on the water as the blue sky transformed into various shades of purple and pink. |
| Inductive argument | An argument in which it is thought that the premises provide reasons supporting the probable truth of the conclusion; go from the specific to the general. Example: Harold is a grandfather. Harold is bald. Therefore, all grandfathers are bald. |
| Invective | A long, emotionally violent, attack using, abusive language. Ex: I don’t want to talk to you no more, you empty-headed animal-food-trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries. |
| Irony | A literary technique in which what is written or stated is different from or the opposite of what is expected. Example: A fire station burns down. |
| Jargon | The diction used by a group which practices a similar profession or activity. Example: Words like “affidavit,” “defendant,” and “plaintiff” are considered to be legal jargon. |
| Juxtaposition | Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison. Example: He was kind, considerate, and empathetic—nothing at all like his traitorous brother. |
| Litotes | A particular form of understatement, generated by denying the opposite of the statement which otherwise would be used. Example: Hitting that telephone pole certainly didn't do your car any good. |
| Metaphor | Making an implied comparison, not using “like,” as,” or other such words. Example: My feet are popsicles. |
| Metonymy | A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it. Example: The citizens plotted to usurp the crown. |
| Non Sequitur | A conclusion that does not follow from its premises; an invalid argument. Example: Hinduism is one of the world’s largest religious groups. It is also one of the world’s oldest religions. Therefore the principles of Hinduism must be true.: |
| Oxymoron | When apparently contradictory terms are grouped together (typically directly next to one another). Even though they are contradictory, they still reveal truth. This is a type of paradox. Example: jumbo shrimp, wise fool, act naturally |
| Paradox | A seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true. Example: You can't get a job without experience, and you can't get experience without getting a job. |
| Parallelism | Sentence construction which places equal grammatical constructions near each other, or repeats identical grammatical patterns. Example: Cinderella swept the floor, dusted the mantle, and beat the rugs. |
| Parenthetical idea | Parentheses are used to set off an idea from the rest of the sentence. Example: In a short time (and the time is getting shorter by the gallon) America will be out of oil. |
| Persona | The character created by the voice of the speaker the text; implies a fictional representation or an act of disguise. Ex: Marshall Mathers raps using different personas. Like in “My Name Is,” he takes on the character of Slim Shady |
| Polysyndeton | When a writer creates a list of items which are all separated by conjunctions. Normally, a conjunction is used only before the last item in a list. Example: I walked the dog, and fed the cat, and milked the cows. |
| Personification | A figure of speech in which ideas or objects are described as having human qualities or personalities. Example: The saddened birch trees were bent to the ground, laden with ice; they groaned and shivered in the cold winds. |
| Pun | A play on words; created by using a word that has two different meanings, or using two different words with similar meanings, for a playful effect. Example: “I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid,” Patty said. “He says he can stop any time.” |
| Repetition | The repeated use of a particular word or phrase for emphasis. Example: I felt happy because I saw the others were happy and because I knew I should feel happy, but I wasn’t really happy. |
| Rhetorical Question | Question not asked for information but for effect. Example: The angry parent asked the child, “Are you finished interrupting me?” |
| Satire | To ridicule or mock ideas, persons, events, or doctrines, or to make fun of human foibles or weaknesses. Example: Saturday Night Live and The Onion are common examples. |
| Simile | A commonly used figure of speech that compares one thing with another using the words "like" or "as." Example: He drank like a camel, he was so thirsty. |
| Slippery slope | The assumption that once started, a situation will continue to its most extreme possible outcome. Example: If you drink a glass of wine, then you’ll soon be drinking all the time, and then you’ll become a homeless alcoholic. |
| Syllogism | A form of deductive reasoning in which pieces of evidence are used to create a new conclusion. Example: All children are imaginative; Sam is a child; therefore Sam is imaginative. |
| Symbol | An object or action that means something more than its literal meaning. Ex: Tupac wrote a poem about a rose that grew from concrete. In it, the rose symbolizes him, and the concrete symbolizes the tough New York streets on which he was raised. |
| Synecdoche | A figure of speech in which a part or component of something is used to represent that whole. Example: Calling a car your “wheels,” the staff of a company the “hands,” or the film industry as a whole “Hollywood.” |
| Understatement | The ironic minimizing of fact, understatement presents something as less significant than it is. Example: I have to have this operation. It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain. |
| Unstated premises | Not every argument is fully expressed. Sometimes premises or even conclusions are left unexpressed. Example: If one argues that Rover is smart because all dogs are smart, he is leaving unstated that Rover is a dog. |
| Vernacular | 1. Language or dialect of a particular country. 2. Language or dialect of a regional clan or group. 3. Plain everyday speech. Example: Shoot, I reckon we’ll have to get on up there ourselves, huh? |
| Zeugma | A figure of speech in which a word, usually a verb or an adjective, applies to more than one noun, blending together grammatically and logically different ideas. Example: On our first date, I held my breath and the car door for her. |
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