Literary and Rhetorical Terms

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Aesthetic

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Aesthetic is about beauty and how things are designed or presented, including the feelings they create. Example: In a novel, the author might describe a sunset with rich colors and soft light, making the scene feel peaceful and beautiful.

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Begging the Question

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A logical fallacy in which an argument assumes the truth of what it is trying to prove, rather than providing evidence for it. Example: 'Everyone wants the new phone because it's the best' (without proof being provided that it is the best).

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Dialogue

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When a text shows people talking to each other, or the words of someone are captured to bring their voice and perspective into a text. Example: 'I don’t think that’s a good idea,' she said, frowning.

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Didactic Text

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A text with a clear purpose of giving information, explaining something, or guiding the reader’s thinking or behavior, often with a moral or lesson. Example: A speech urging people to be kind and empathetic.

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Invective

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When someone uses strong, harsh words to criticize or insult something or someone. Example: Landrieu criticizes the Confederacy, calling it a 'fictional, sanitized Confederacy' that represents 'terror' and was 'on the wrong side of humanity.'

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Motif

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Something that shows up again and again in a text to help highlight important ideas or themes. Example: In 'Truth: Remarks on the Removal of Confederate Monuments in New Orleans,' Landrieu references the idea of coming together as one community.

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Trope

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Figures of speech that involve a shift in meaning, focusing on how language is used in a figurative sense rather than its literal one. Example: Metaphors, Similes, Hyperbole, Irony.