Rhetorical Toolbox Quiz 1

logos

appeal to logic

pathos

appeal to emotion

ethos

appeal to ethics

exigence

why a text exists/why it was created

allusion

a brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, or event--real or fictional. Biblical and classical (mythological) are the most common types These usually tap into a reader's body of previous knowledge. "That's my cross to bear."

anaphora

the repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses. "In our homes, we expect safety. In our homes, we expect comfort."

antithesis

a counter-proposition and denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition. In setting the opposite, an individual brings out a contrast in the meaning by an obvious contrast in the expression. "That's one small thing for man, one giant leap for mankind."

anadiplosis

the repetition of the final word or phrase at the start of the following word or phrase. "When I give, I give myself"

anastrophe

the intentional miswording or ungrammatical writing of a sentence "Into the water dove the boy"

chiasmus

"reverse parallelism" - the second part of a grammatical construction is balanced or paralleled with the first. AB-BA

concession

an argumentative strategy by which a speaker or writer acknowledges the validity of an opponent's point. "My opponent has some good points. He has years of experience with the economy and his ideas carry much weight. However, if we never change..."

doublespeak

the intentional misleading of a person through disguised or manipulated language. "Seeking economic growth in more opportune locations." vs. we're closing the factory in your town.

epiphora

the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of several clauses "I scream, you scream, we all scream!"

euphemism

the substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit. "He passed away." vs. "He died."

fallacy

an error in reasoning that renders an argument invalid.

hyperbole

an extreme exaggeration

isocolon

a succession of phrases of approximately equal length and corresponding structure "I came, I saw, I conquered."

litotes

a figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. "Is he cute?" "Well, he isn't ugly."

refutations

the part of an argument wherein a speaker or writer anticipates and counters opposing points of view.

syllogism

in logic, a form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion A=B, B=C, A=C

syntax

sentence structure

understatement

expression with less strength than would be expected. "We have a small problem. I got fired."