rhetoric and style

• style


  combination of word choices a writer makes, syntactical patterns they create, and conventions of grammar and mechanics that they use
• diction


  writer’s word choice
• denotation


  dictionary definition of a word
• connotation


  definition depending on the context
• connotation


  definition depending on the context
• modifiers


  (words, phrases, or clauses that add description and qualification) are used to engage audiences and convey a perspective on the things they describe
• formal diction


  sticks to grammatical rules and avoid colloquial or slang expressions
• informal diction


  more conversational and might include more casual expressions
• figurative language


  involved words or phrases that are not meant to be taken literally and usually involve comparison
• figurative language examples


  metaphor, simile, analogy, personification, and allusion
• syntax


  how words are combined to form sentences
• what has to be included in a sentence?

  independent clause
• coordination


  joining clauses with for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so
• subordination


  joining clauses with when, because, until, or if
• what sentences use coordination and subordination?

  compound and complex sentences
• periodic sentence


  when a writer builds a longer sentence with a series of clauses or modifiers, holding the main clause until the end
• cumulative sentence


  when a writer places the main clause at the beginning
• parenthetical


  interrupts a sentence to provide information that may not be essential to understanding the writer’s main point but still furthers the writer’s purpose or speaks to the audience‘s needs
• parallel structure


  repeating the same word, phrase, or clause for emphasis
• antithesis


  use of contrary ideas using similar grammatical structures
• puncuation


  commas, colons, semicolons, dashes, hyphens, parentheses, quotation marks, and end marks all show the audience the relationship among ideas in a given sentence and throughout the text
• tone


  the author’s attitude toward the subject, conveyed through style
• tonal shifts


  alert the audience to a potential qualification, refinement, or reconsideration of a writer’s perspective or argument
• irony


  incongruity between expectation and reality, to communicate a complex perspective or acknowledge a complex rhetorical situation
• verbal irony


  there is a difference between what a writer says and what they mean
• situational irony


  there is a discrepancy between what is likely to happen and what actually happens
• dramatic irony


  between what a character says or thinks and what the audience knows to be true
• hyperbole


  overstatement, exaggeration in the service of truth and suggests a deeper meaning in order to advance the writer’s purpose
• understatement


  opposite of hyperboleopposite of hyperbole