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The repetition of the same sound or letter at the beginning of consecutive words or syllables.
Alliteration
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An indirect reference, often to another text or an historic event.
Allusion
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The repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses.
Anaphora
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A short account of an interesting event.
Anecdote
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The repetition of words in an inverted order to sharpen a contrast.
Antimetabole
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Parallel structure that juxtaposes contrasting ideas.
Antithesis
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The use of words common to an earlier time period; antiquated language.
Archaic Diction
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A belief or statement taken for granted without proof.
Assumption
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Leaving out conjunctions between word, phrases, clauses.
Asyndeton
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Prejudice of predisposition toward one side of a subject or issue.
Bias
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An informal or conversational use of language.
Colloquialism
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A reluctant acknowledgement or yielding.
Concession
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That which is implied by a word, as opposed to the word's literal meaning.
Connotation
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Words, events, or circumstances that help determine meaning.
Context
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Worthy of belief; trustworthy.
Credibility
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A challenge to a position; an opposing argument.
Counterargument
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Reasoning from general to specific.
Deduction
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The literal meaning of a word; its dictionary definition.
Denotation
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A Greek term referring to the character of a person; one of Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals.
Ethos
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Urging, or strongly encouraging.
Hortative
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Exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis.
Hyperbole
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Vivid use of language that evokes a reader's senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing)
Imagery
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Reasoning from specific to general.
Induction
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A sentence in which the verb precedes the subject.
Inversion
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Placement of two things side by side for emphasis.
Juxtaposition
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A Greek term that means "word"; an appeal to logic; one of Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals.
Logos
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A figure of speech that combines two contradictory terms.
Oxymoron
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The repetition of similar grammaticalor syntactical patterns.
Parallelism
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A Greek term that refers to suffering but has come to be associated with broader apeals to emotion; one of Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals.
Pathos
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The speaker, voice, or character assumed by the author of a piece of writing.
Persona
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Assigning lifelike characteristics to inanimate object.
Personification
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The deliberate use of a series of conjunctions.
Polysyndeton
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One's intention or objective in a speech or piece of writing.
Purpose
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To discredit an argument, particularly a counterargument.
Refutation
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The study of effective, persuasive language use; according to Aristotle, use of the "available means of persusasion."
Rhetoric
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A question asked more to produce an effect than to summon an answer.
Rhetorical Question
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A term used for the author, speaker, or the person whose perspective is being advanced in a speech or piece of writing.
Speaker
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The distinctive quality of speech or writing created by the selection and arrangement of words and figures of speech.
Style
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The dependence of one syntactical element on another in a sentence.
Subordination
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A form of deductive reasoning in which the conclusion is supported by a major and minor premise.
Syllogism
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Sentence structure.
Syntax
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The centeral idea in a work to which all parts of the work refer.
Thesis
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The speaker's attitude toward the subject or audience.
Tone
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Method of development where the writer provides a series of examples (facts, specific cases, or instances).
Exemplification
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A source's date of publishing and relevency to the topic.
Currency
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Information that can be easily accessed through multiple sources.
Common Knowledge
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An often plausible argument using false or invalid inference.
Fallacy
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Occurring at or constituting the end of a period or series : concluding.
Terminal
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Expressive of a command, entreaty, or exhortation.
Imperative
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Attacking the person rather than the argument.
Ad Hominem
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Beginning in the middle.
In media res
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When an argument gives the reader no common ground.
False Dilemma
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An unfair comparison.
False Analogy
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When an argument predicts the future without the evidence to back it up.
Slippery slope
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When an argument erroneously says one thing caused another.
Doubtful Cause
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The cause is one certain thing when it's actually far more complex.
Oversimplification
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Reaching an inductive generalization based on insufficient evidence.
Hasty Generalization
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