Rhetorical Strategies

Front 1

Metaphor

Back 1

a stated comparison between two unlike things

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Simile

Back 2

an explicit comparison between two unlike things with the use of "like" or "as"

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Personification

Back 3

attributing human qualities to an inanimate object

Front 4

Imagery

Back 4

sight, sound touch, taste, smell - allows the reader to more fully participate in the work with images and experiences that they can tie to directly or indirectly, typically an emotional appeal

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Syntax

Back 5

the intentional emphasis on word order/structure of a sentence or phrase; to analyze syntax one can consider sentence form and structure, repetition, and/or punctuation

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Pun

Back 6

a play on the meaning of words

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Irony

Back 7

the speaker means something other than what is said; the unexpected; a difference between what is stated to be literally true and what the reader knows to be true

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Hyperbole

Back 8

exaggeration; deliberate exaggeration for emphasis

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Litotes

Back 9

negates a negative, intensifies an idea by understatement

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Synecdoche

Back 10

a part for the the whole

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Metonymy

Back 11

designation of one thing with something closely associated with it

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Oxymoron

Back 12

contradiction, two contradictory terms or ideas used together

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Paradox

Back 13

a statement that appears to be contradictory but, in fact, has some truth

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Onomatopoeia

Back 14

refers to the use of words whose sound reinforces their meaning

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Alliteration

Back 15

repetition of the same sound at the beginning of successive words; increases memory retention, adds emphasis, creates rhythm

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Euphemism

Back 16

an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or harsh

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Allusion

Back 17

a reference to another text or assumed knowledge of a reference; an allusion references and draws on the authority of the alluded work and connects he reader with the author by assuming common knowledge

Front 18

Chiasmus

Back 18

grammatical structure when the first clause or phrase is reversed in the second, sometimes repeating the same words; useful in writing to emphasize differences or contrast in meaning

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Diction

Back 19

in order analyze diction, look at ONLY unusual word choice such as archaic language or especially evocative choices that contain powerful connotations

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Parallelism

Back 20

a set of similarly structured words, phrases, or clauses

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Juxtaposition

Back 21

the placing of contrasting settings, characters, or other literary elements in opposition between paragraphs or between sections of text to highlight an intended disparity

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Antithesis

Back 22

the placing of opposing or contrasting ideas and/or words within the same sentence or very close together to emphasize their disparity

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Asyndeton

Back 23

conjunctions are omitted, producing fast-paced and rapid prose to speed up the reader so as to have the reader experience the events along with the persona in a rapid succession

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Polysyndeton

Back 24

the use of many conjunctions has the opposite effect of asyndeton; it slows the pace of the reader but the effect is to possibly overwhelm the reader with details thus connecting the reader and the persona to the same experience; also called cataloging

Front 25

Anaphora

Back 25

a form of a regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases or strategically placed paragraphs

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Repetition

Back 26

repeated use of words, phrases, or clauses to emphasize meaning

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Loose/Periodic Sentences

Back 27

placing the subject at the end of the sentence; emphasizes the subject and not the verb or action

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Rhetorical Question

Back 28

a question posed by the speaker that has an obvious answer, no answer, or is the argument the speaker or writer intends to answer in an effort to further prove their argument

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Tone

Back 29

the accumulated and implied attitude toward of the subject reached by analyzing diction, detail, syntax, and all other figurative language elements

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Tone Shift

Back 30

a shift in the attitude about the subject

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Ethos

Back 31

refers to a characters, speaker, writer, or persona and their authority or credibility on the topic , or a common belief statement that cannot be refuted but accepted as true

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Logos

Back 32

appeals to the reasoning or logic of the argument

Front 33

Pathos

Back 33

appeals to the emotions of the reader and needed if the purpose of the speaker is to incite action