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anaphora
The repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses
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antimetabole
The repetition of words in an inverted order to sharpen a contrast
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aphorism
A short, astute statement of a general truth
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appositive
A word or phrase that renames a nearby noun or pronoun
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archaic diction
The use of words common to an earlier time period; antiquated language
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Aristotelian triangle
A diagram that represents a rhetorical situation as the relationship among the speaker, the subject, and the audience
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asyndeton
Leaving out conjuctions between words, phrases, or clauses.
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colloquial/ism
An informal or conversational use of language
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concession
A reluctant acknowledgement or yielding
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cumulative sentence
An independent clause followed by subordinate clauses or phrases that supply additional detail
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elegiac
Mournful over what has passed or been lost; often used to describe tone
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epigram
A brief, witty statement
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explication of text
Explanation of a text's meaning through an analysis of all of its constituent parts, including the literary devices used; also called close reading
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hortatory
Urging, or strongly encouraging
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imperative sentence
A sentence that requests or commands
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induction
Reasoning from specific to general
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inversion
A sentence in which the verb precedes the subject
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metonymy
Use of an aspect of something to represent the whole
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nominalization
Turning a verb or adjective into a noun
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occasion
An aspect of context; the cause or reason for writing
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periodic sentence
A sentence that builds toward and ends with the main clause
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polemic
An argument against an idea, usually regarding philosophy, politics, or religion
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polysyndeton
The deliberate use of a series of conjuctions
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rhetorical modes
Patterns of organization developed to achieve a specific purpose; modes include but are not limited to narration, description, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, definition, exemplification, classification and division, process analysis, and argumentation
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rhetorical triangle
A diagram that represents a rhetorical situation as the relationship among the speaker, the subject, and the audience
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sentence patterns
The arrangement of independent and dependent clauses into known sentence constructions - such as simple, compound, complex, or compound/complex
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straw man
A logical fallacy that involves the creation of an easily refutable position; misrepresenting, than attacking an opponent's position
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syllogism
A form of deductive reasoning in which the conclusion is supported by a major and minor premise
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trope
Artful diction; the use of language in a nonliteral way; also called a figure of speech
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zeugma
A construction in which one word (usually a verb) modifies or governs - often in different, sometimes incongruent ways - two or more words in a sentence
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