Introduction to Rhetorical Choices and Appeals

To create a powerful comparison that establishes common ground; to create understanding in hopes of persuasion through a parallel; to make writing more vivid, imaginative, or intellectually engaging by connecting one concept to another.

• Analogy

• Personification

• Metaphor

• Simile

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.9

To create a powerful comparison that establishes common ground through a particular similarity; to create understanding in hopes of persuasion; to make writing more vivid, imaginative, thought-provoking, and meaningful; to add flavor to writing; to have the audience make connections; to prompt your audience to respond on an instinctive and emotional level to your writing.

• Personification and metaphor

• metaphor and simile

• imagery and simile

• imagery and metaphor

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

To make a point that would otherwise not be taken seriously or considered without exaggeration for emphasis through improbability and humor; to provoke a response. Often, exaggeration produces irony.

• hyperbole

• irony

• exaggeration

• personification

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

To make a point that would otherwise not be taken seriously or considered without making light of a heavy subject through improbability and humor; to provoke a response. Often, this strategy of making something seem smaller than it is produces irony; To spark the reader's imagination, or make a pointed observation.

• personification

• connotation

• statement

• Understatement

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

To illustrate an idea, a feeling, or the particular qualities of something; to produce a feeling or an idea by allowing connection on multiple levels or intelligences; creates full involvement in a vivid experience when multiple senses are incorporated; on the AP exam, pay attention to how an author creates sensory details and to the effect of these sensory details.

• characteristics

• description

• imagery

• setting

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

To create a memorable phrase; to reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of the passage.

• diction

• Alliteration

• Allusion

• hyperbole

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

To lend authority to an idea; to make a credible association through a reference to something the reader knows, thus establishing common ground and narrowing the distance between the audience and the message. To develop characters, frame storylines, and help create associations to well-known works or ideas.

• alliteration

• anaphora

• allusion

• metaphor

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

To stress the connotation of a word, to create a memorable, powerful effect, to reinforce an idea, and to give a rhythmic and predictable pattern to key ideas. Often, this repetition at the beginning of phrases creates a classical tone that can be somewhat Romantic in nature, adding credibility and possibly an allusion.

• anaphora

• connotation

• diction

• rhythm

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.2.4

To create a memorable, powerful effect, to reinforce an idea for the audience.

• hyberbole

• diction

• repetition

• alliteration

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

To create a memorable, powerful effect, to reinforce an idea; to act as an organizing force to attract the reader's attention, add emphasis and organization, or simply provide a musical rhythm.

• setting

• diction

• anaphora

• Parallelism/Parallel Structure

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.2.4