Literary and Rhetoric Terms

attitude of the author/creator

Once upon a time, people used small sticks of lead to etch words on stone tablets.

The character a speaker conveys to an audience; influenced by diction, tone, & style. (mask)

"Unlike my opponent, I'll end this war, rebuild our military, and restore our moral standing."

"I've learned useful skills, from my time as a Yale professor & my Library of Congress job."

A commercial showing starving children in Ethiopia as sad music plays.

When you write an essay for forty minutes, your hand begins to ache.

A short, simple story often used for humor or to illustrate a point

A figure of speech composed of contradictory words or phrases (bitter-sweet, jumbo shrimp)

To your parents when they take away your phone: "What if I get stranded alone with no phone?"

"I am a prosecuting attorney responsible for a large staff."

When a speaker attempts to persuade the audience based on statistics, facts, and reason

What and how the topic, content, and ideas are presented

What is a pencil? It is a writing implement used to etch thoughts onto paper.

the emotional attitude of a text or passage

when a speaker appeals to an audience's emotions to involve them in an argument or to persuade

For the maximum benefit from a pencil, first pick it up, then put the point on paper and write.

the person(s) who reads a text or hears a speech

A work that ridicules another work for comic effect by imitating & exaggerating its elements is

an author's use of words to appeal to any five senses

deliberate exaggeration in order to create humor or emphasis

"Since stabilizing in the mid-2009, household spending in the U.S. has grown 1 to 2 percent."

"This is not just my opinion. It is a scientific finding."

The voice that tells the story; who is it: age, gender, education

Why was a piece written, spoken, presented; message; goal of author/speaker

"Studies have shown that students who sit in the front of the room do better in school."

word choice: influences tone, style, and meaning

the grammatical structure and arrangement of words in a sentence

Repetition of identical consonant sounds w/in 2 or more words in close proximity (peck/pickled)

Everyone should use a pencil instead of a pen, because you can erase your mistakes.

This pencil is thinner than a ruler, but thicker than a paper clip.

the literal meaning of a word as defined

a work criticizing some aspect of human behavior or society by exaggerating it &/or using humor

Ad message: "Cigarette smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals, 69 of which are cancer-causing."

The art of persuasion in writing is

technique of arranging words, phrases, etc. side by side making similar form or syntax

Repetition of the same word(s) at the beginning of successive phrases

The attitude of an author toward character, subject of the work, and audience

A statement that seems to contradict itself by actually holds some truth

Time, place, current situation, type of event

An implied/suggested meaning(s) of a word because of its association within the reader's mind

time, place, & other events that influence how a speaker & audience understand a text or speech

The presentation of two contrasting images or ideas; opposites

Pencils can be found in the the aisle labeled "Stationery Supplies" at any grocery store.

the opposite of exaggeration: "That's not too bad."

appeal to the credibility & trustworthiness of a speaker's persona in influencing an audience

A yellow wooden cylinder with a pink eraser on the end and a point of lead on the other.