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Rhetoric

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The art of using language for persuasion, in speaking and writing; we will examine the author's use of rhetoric in everything we read this year.

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Style

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The characteristic manner of expression in prose or verse; how a particular writer "says" things; the analysis and assessment of style involves examination of a writer's choice of words, his figures of speech, the rhetorical or literary devices, the shape of sentences (syntax), the structure of paragraphs, etc.

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Tone

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the reflection of a writer's attitude (especially toward the readers) manner, mood, and moral outlook in his work; even, perhaps, the way his personality pervades his work. The counterpart of "tone of voice" in speech.

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Voice

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the tone of a passage is a product of the author's voice in a story/essay will depend on purpose and audience; in nonfiction, tone and voice are often interchangeable

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Diction

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the choice of words

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Abstract Language

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Abstract words refer to ideas, conditions, and qualities we cannot directly perceive: truth, love, courage, evil.

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Concrete Language

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Concrete words indicate things we can know with our senses: tree, chair, bird, pen, motorcycle, thunderclap, lightening

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Denotation

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The most literal and limited meaning of a word, regardless of what one may feel about it or the suggestions and ideas it connotes; similar to the dictionary definition.

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Connotation

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The suggestion or implication evoked by a word or phrase over and above what they actually mean or denote. A connotation may be personal and individual, or general and universal. Skillful use of connotation can also help develop tone. Meanings of "Dad," "daddy," father"

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Cacophony

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harsh discordant sound; dissonance (Linguistics / Phonetics & Phonology) the use of unharmonious or dissonant speech sounds in language; used for poetic effect; usually consists of hard, repetitive consonant sounds; used to create tone as well In this class, we will focus on these sounds and their use in advertisement and speech. The crashing of the waters on the crags destroyed our peace.

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Euphony

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an agreeableness in sounds; a pleasantness to the ear; harmoniousness; used in both speech, writing, and advertisement to create emotion and tone Phonetics. a harmoniousness in speech sounds, especially in word choices emphasizing various patterns of consonants or vowels. The flower floated on the breeze.

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Colloquial Expressions

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Words and phrases occurring primarily in speech and in informal writing that seeks a relaxed, conversational tone. The use of informal expressions appropriate to everyday speech rather than to the formality of writing. (colloquialism)

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Euphemism

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The substitution of a mild and pleasant expression for a harsh and blunt one to "pass away" instead of die

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Pun

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the use of words or phrases to exploit ambiguities and innuendoes in their meaning, usually for humorous effect; a play on words. ``Ben Battle was a soldier bold, And used to war's alarms: But a cannonball took off his legs, So he laid down his arms.'' (Thomas Hood)

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Syntax

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sentence construction

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Declarative Sentence

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makes a statement; usually used to inform; most verbal and written communication centers around declarative statements You have homework tonight.

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Imperative Sentence

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Used to express an command, order, obligation, or duty This is used in advertising with the preformative verb Sale ends soon. See us NOW to get great deals.

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Interrogative Sentence

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Asks a direct question; a sentence of inquiry that asks for a reply. What skills do I need to improve upon to earn a better writing score?

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Exclamatory Sentence

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An outcry; uses an exclamation point. We have to read 700 pages by tomorrow!

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Rhetorical Question

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a question not expecting an answer, or one to which the answer is more of less self-evident. It is used primarily for stylistic effect, and is a very common device in public speaking—especially when the speaker is trying to work up the "emotional temperature" of the audience with his appeal to pathos

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Simple Sentence

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A sentence consisting of one main clause I love English class.

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Compound Sentence

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A sentence of two or more coordinate independent clauses, often joined by a conjunction or conjunctions, The writing assignment was difficult, but I finally finished it.

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Complex Sentence

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a sentence containing at least one main clause and one subordinate clause (unlike independent clauses, subordinative clauses cannot stand alone) After my favorite English class, I am forced to attend math.

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Periodic Sentence

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A complex sentence (review this in Do Things Right) where the main clause comes LAST—before the period. After I leave school, pick up the kids, and walk the dog, I am going to take a nap.

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Cumulative (loose) Sentence

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A sentence where the primary independent clause comes first (as opposed to a periodic sentence) I am taking a nap after I go to the bank, pick up the kids, and walk the dog.

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Parallelism/Parallel Sentence

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the arrangement of similarly constructed clauses, sentences, or verse lines in a pairing or other sequence suggesting some correspondence between them; repetition of the same syntactic forms; when the ideas are sharply opposed it is antithesis; this includes parallel paragraph structure For examples, please reference MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech or any other MLK speech.

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Balanced Sentence

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both sides of the sentence are "equal" in form and length; balanced sentences will be parallel "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

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Antithesis

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contrasting ideas sharpened by the use of opposite or noticeably different meanings set two contrasts against each other "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." "Crafty men contemplate studies; simple men admire them, and wise men use them." --Sir Francis Bacon

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Repetition

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Obviously, the repetition of words and phrases; used in writing to grab the audiences attention to something specific or to create tone

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Anaphora

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a rhetorical device involving the repetition of a word or phrase in successive clauses at the beginning of sentences. Often used in sermons or speeches to add emphasis. "I am the way . . ." (Dante's Inferno p. 629 of textbook) "I have a dream . . ." (MLK's speech)

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Epistrophe

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also known as epiphora (and occasionally as antistrophe); a figure of speech and the counterpart of anaphora. It is the repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences. It is an extremely emphatic device because of the emphasis placed on the last word in a phrase or sentence. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. — The Apostle Paul, in the Bible, 1 Cor 13:11 (King James Translation)

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Juxtaposition

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setting two opposing/contrasting ideas side by side to call attention to either their similarities or difference Dillard's juxtaposition of her reaction and the weasel's reaction. David Sedaris' juxtaposition of his life and Hugh's life in "Remembering my Childhood on the Continent of Africa"

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Polysyndeton

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the repetition of conjunctions; frequently "and" this makes everything in the list "equal" I need to buy lemons and oranges and cherries. After work, I have to go to the drycleaners and the bank and the grocery store and the day care center.

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Oxymoron

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A figure of speech that combines two usually contradictory terms in a compressed paradox. Bittersweet

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Paradox

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an apparently self-contradictory statement which, on closer inspection is found to contain a truth reconciling the conflicting opposites. The silence was deafening.

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Hyperbole

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exaggeration for the sake of emphasis Dave Barry's first sentence in "Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out": "The primary difference between men and women is that women can see extremely small quantities of dirt."

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Litotes

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A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. This is no small problem.

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Logical Fallacy

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A statement or an argument based on a false or invalid inference; Incorrect reasoning or belief; erroneousness.

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Syllogism

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A form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion; Reasoning from the general to the specific; deduction. All humans are mortal, the major premise, I am a human, the minor premise, therefore, I am mortal, the conclusion.

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Deduction

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the drawing of a conclusion by reasoning, the act of deducing; the process of reasoning in which a conclusion follows necessarily from the stated premises; inference by reasoning from the general to the specific.

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Induction

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The process of deriving general principles from particular facts or instances; reasoning from specific instances to a general conclusion

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Inference

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any process of reasoning from premises to a conclusion; he act or process of deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be true. The act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence.

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Ethos

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appeal to ethics An ethical appeal asks readers to look favorably on the writer. It stresses the writer's intelligence, competence, fairness, morality, and other qualities desirable in a trustworthy debater or teacher. Ex: In Jonathon Swift's Modest Proposal one key component of his argument is that neither he nor his family would benefit from his proposal.

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Logos

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rational or logical appeal; appeal to reason This type of appeal asks the audience to use their intellects and their power of reasoning. In any writing, when you provide sound, statistical evidence you appeal to logos.

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Pathos

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the emotionally moving quality or power of a literary work or of a particular passage within it, appealing especially to our feelings of sorrow, pity, and compassionate sympathy. In Medea, Medea uses pathos to convince Creon to allow her to stay one more day. This allows her to follow through with her destructive plan.

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Figurative Language

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Figurative language refers to words, and groups of words, that exaggerate or alter the usual meanings of the component words. Figurative language may involve analogy to similar concepts or other contexts, and may involve exaggerations. These alterations result in figures of speech.

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Imagery

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Use of language that evokes sense perceptions (hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling, seeing) In this class, this will be important in both the reading and the visuals

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Apostrophe

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an exclamatory rhetorical figure of speech, when a speaker or writer breaks off and directs speech to an imaginary person or abstract quality or idea It is related to personification, although in apostrophe, objects or abstractions are implied to have certain human qualities (such as understanding) by the very fact that the speaker is addressing them as he would a person in his presence. "Death, be not proud, though some have called thee / Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so", John Donne, "Holy Sonnet X"

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Epighraph

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A quotation or motto placed at the beginning of a book, chapter, or poem as an indication to its theme The term can also refer to the inscription on a monument or coin.

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Epithet

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Usually an adjective or phrase expressing some quality or attribute which is characteristic of a person or thing "Eve the Rib" in Ericsson's "The Ways We Lie" "Honest Iago" in Othello

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Conceit

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In literature, a conceit is an extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs a poetic passage or entire poem. By juxtaposing, usurping and manipulating images and ideas in surprising ways, a conceit invites the reader into a more sophisticated understanding of an object of comparison In Petrarch's poetry for instance, the lover is a ship on a stormy sea, and his mistress "a cloud of dark disdain"; or else the lady is a sun whose beauty and virtue shine on her lover from a distance.

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Ellipsis

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In grammar and rhetoric, ellipsis is the omission of one or more words, which must be supplied by the listener or reader. "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." (Plato) "Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity a greater." (William Hazlitt)

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Synecdoche

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You use this when you speak of a part of something but mean the whole thing. When Patrick O'Brian has Captain Jack Aubrey tell his first lieutenant to "let the hands go to dinner" he's employing synecdoche, because he's using a part (the hand) for the whole man. You can also reverse the whole and the part, so using a word for something when you only mean part of it. This often comes up in sport: a commentator might say that "The West Indies has lost to England" when he means that the West Indian team has lost to the English one." America is often used as synecdoche in this second sense, as the word refers to the whole continent but is frequently applied to a part of it, the USA.

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Metonymy

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Metonymy is similar to synecdoche, but uses something more generally or loosely associated with a concept to stand in for it. When Americans speak of the Oval Office, for example, they are really referring to the activity within it, the position or function of the President. It's a linked term, and so a metonym. British writers refer similarly to the Crown, when they're really discussing the powers, authority and responsibilities of the monarchy, which is symbolized by the crown. The difference between synecdoche and metonymy is that in metonymy the word you employ is linked to the concept you are really talking about, but isn't actually a part of it. But the distinction isn't always obvious and often can't be rigorously applied, and many people use metonymy to mean both.

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Satire

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the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc. a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule. a literary genre comprising such compositions.

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Parody

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a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing: The Reduced Shakespeare Company production is a parody of Shakespeare's entire body of work.

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Analogy

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Similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar; A comparison based on such similarity "the operation of a computer presents and interesting analogy to the working of the brain"

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Anecdote

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a brief account or story about an individual or incident In Sarah Vowell's "Shooting Dad" she relates an anecdote about her father shooting crows. "Black Men in Public Spaces" begins with an anecdote about a time the author "victimized" a woman.

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Allegory

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Writing that has two levels of meaning—a literal one and a metaphorical one. The metaphorical meaning usually teaches a lesson or moral value. Dante's Inferno is an allegory. On a literal level, it is a story of a man traveling through Hell. On a symbolic or metaphorical level, it is a message to sinners regarding redemption.

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Allusion

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an indirect reference to prior knowledge; esp. another work of art, literature, event, or person; usually biblical or mythological Suzanne Britt's reference to "Never-Never Land" in "Neat People vs. Sloppy People"

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