ENG 265: Elements of Style and Rhetoric

J. Musser

DISCOVERY OF ARGUMENTS
Common Topics Special Topics Aids to Invention Fallacies

Definition Deliberative Biography Equivocation (several

Genus The good Concordances meanings for one term)
Division The unworthy Books of quotations Either/Or
Comparison The advantageous Periodical indexes Faulty Generalization
Similarity The disadvantageous Handbooks Faulty Cause/Effect
Difference Judicial Dictionaries Faulty Analogy
Degree Justice (right) Atlases Begging the question
Relationship Injustice (wrong) Encyclopedias Ad Hominem
Cause and Effect Ceremonial Bibliographies Ad Populum
Antecedent & Virtue (the noble) The Internet Red Herring
Consequence Vice (the base) Complex Question
Contraries
Contradictions Kinds of Appeals Syllogism Enthymeme (a truncated
Testimony syllogism, or a deductive
Authority Logical Example: argument based on
Testimonial Ethical All cats are mammals. probable premises).
Statistics Emotional Fluffy is a cat. Example: Jonah will fail
Maxims Therefore Fluffy is a his exam because he hasn’t
Law mammal. studied. (The premise that
Precedent (example) “Anyone who doesn’t study
will fail” is unstated and
probable.)

ARRANGEMENT OF MATERIALS
Introduction Statement of Fact Refutation Conclusion
Inquisitive The essence of the case By logical appeal Inspire favor for author
Paradoxical or situation. By emotional appeal Amplify force of points
Corrective Confirmation By ethical appeal Rouse audience emotion
Preparatory The core or main By wit Summarize
Narrative business of the essay.
STYLE
Study of Style [Williams] Some Schemes Some Tropes
Allegory
Kind of Diction Correctness Alliteration Apostrophe
Length of Sentences Clarity Antithesis Hyperbole
Kinds of Sentences Actions Assonance Irony
Metaphor
Variety of Patterns Characters Chiasmus
Metonymy
Sentence Euphony Cohesion/Coherence Ellipsis Onomatopoeia
Coherence Emphasis Parallelism Oxymoron
Figures of Speech Grace Parenthesis Parable
(schemes & tropes) Concision Paradox
Paragraphing Shape Personification
Elegance (schemes & Puns
tropes) Rhetorical question
simile

Based on Edward P. J. Corbett, Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student.