INTRO: About rhetorical terms and the use of rhetorical strategies and techniques:

If you're learning a sport, you learn the plays and the moves. The plays and the moves have names, but more important is the ability to put them into practice. A natural athlete may be able to instinctively apply those plays and moves without necessarily knowing their names. She may not even really be thinking about the choices of plays and moves, but that doesn't mean she doesn't use them. The average person can also learn those plays and moves, and practise them until they become a bit more ingrained and require less thought and more instinctive reaction, and a keen observer of the sport will know what they're looking for when watching what the players do, then use the language of the sport to describe what's being done to others.

     Jodi Rice, AP Listserv

STUDENT: Do good writers do this on purpose, really? I mean, they're just gifted and they write well. Why do we have to notice all these details; I doubt all this stuff is put in there on purpose.

TEACHER: How often have you noticed these techniques showing up in your writing by accident?

Posted 10/13/11 by Mr. Rice

Rhetorical terms and techniques you should know by this point in your high school experience:

1. Alliteration: repetition of consonant sounds at the start of a string of words
2. Allusion: an indirect reference to another text, person, or historical event
3. Anaphora: the repetition of words at the beginning of a series of successive clauses
4. Antithesis: parallel structure that juxtaposes contrasting ideas
5. Appositive: a word or phrase that renames a nearby noun or pronoun
6. Argument: a statement put forth and supported by evidence
7. Assertion: an emphatic statement – declaration; an assertion supported by evidence becomes an argument
8. Assumption: belief or statement taken for granted without proof
9. Attitude: speaker’s position on a subject as revealed through his/her tone
10. Audience: one’s listener or readership; those to whom a speech or piece of writing is addressed
11. Bias: prejudice or predisposition toward one side of a subject or issue
12. Cite: identifying a part of a piece of writing as being derived from a source
13. Claim: a claim, usually supported by evidence
14. Complex sentence: sentence including one independent clause and at least one dependent clause
15. Connotation: that which is implied by a word, as opposed to the word’s literal (denotative) meaning
16. Declarative sentence: sentence that makes a statement
17. Deduction: reasoning from general to specific
18. Denotation: the literal meaning of a word; its dictionary definition
19. Diction: word choice
20. Ethos: Greek term referring to character and trustworthiness
21. Fragment: word, phrase, or clause that does not form a sentence
22. Hyperbole: exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis
23. Imagery: vivid use of language that evokes a reader’s senses
24. Imperative sentence: a sentence that requests or commands
25. Induction: reasoning from specific to general
26. Irony: contradiction between what is said and what is meant; incongruity between action and result
27. Juxtaposition: placement of two things side by side for emphasis
28. Logos: Greek term meaning “word”; an appeal to logic
29. Modifier: a word, phrase, or clause that qualifies or describes another word, phrase, or clause
30. Occasion: an aspect of context; the cause or reason for writing
31. Parallelism: the repetition of similar grammatical or syntactical patterns
32. Pathos: Greek term that now references appeals to emotion
33. Persona: the speaker, voice, or character assumed by the author of a piece of writing
34. Pronoun: a word used to replace a noun or noun phrase
35. Propaganda: negative term for writing designed to sway opinion rather than present information
36. Purpose: one’s intention or objective in a speech or piece of writing
37. Rhetoric: the study of effective, persuasive language use
38. Satire: an ironic, sarcastic, or witty composition that claims to argue for something, but actually argues against it
39. Subject: in rhetoric, the topic addressed in a piece of writing
40. Syllogism: a form of deductive reasoning in which the conclusion is supported by a major and minor premise
41. Syntax: sentence structure
42. Thesis: central idea in a work to which all parts of the work refer
43. Tone: speaker’s attitude toward the subject or audience
44. Understatement: lack of emphasis in a statement or point; restraint in language often used for ironic effect

Antithesis - Establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them together or juxtaposing them, often in parallel structure. Human beings are inveterate systematizers and categorizers, so the mind has a natural love for antithesis, which creates a definite and systematic relationship between ideas. Can convey some sense of complexity in a person or idea by admitting opposite or nearly opposite truths. Because of its close juxtaposition and intentional contrast of two terms or ideas, is also very useful for making relatively fine distinctions or for clarifying differences which might be otherwise overlooked by a careless thinker or casual reader . http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric2.htm#Antithesis

Parallel Structure/Parallelism - Several parts of a sentence or several sentences are expressed similarly to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences are equal in importance. Parallelism also adds balance and rhythm and, most importantly, clarity to the sentence. http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric2.htm#Parallelism