Terms : Hide Images
| 2910006732 | diction | refers to the writer's word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness | 0 | |
| 2910019859 | ethos | one of the three classical rhetorical appeals; in short, an ethical appeal; when a writer persuades the audience to respect and believe him based on a presentation of image of self through the text. Reputation often a factor in an ethical appeal. The aim is to gain the audience's confidence and for the writer to assert his confidence in regards to the topic at hand | 1 | |
| 2910025337 | figurative language | unlike literal language, it's the generic term of any artful deviation from the ordinary mode of speaking or writing. Firguative includes literary devices such as simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification, etc. | 2 | |
| 2910031543 | logos | one of the three classical rhetorical appeals; in short, a logical appeal; an appeal that offers clear, reasonable and logical premises that permit a reader to easily follow a progression of ideas | 3 | |
| 2910035434 | pathos | one of the three classical rhetorical appeals; in short, an emotional appeal; this is often viewed as the most powerful of the three classical rhetorical appeals; emotional appeals often rely on figurative language and devices as a way to emotionally engage a reader | 4 | |
| 2910041074 | style | the distinctive way in which a writer uses language, from how he puts sentences together to his choice of vocabulary and use of literary devices; the combination of diction, syntax, and figurative language | 5 | |
| 2910045412 | syntax | the way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. Syntax is similar to diction, but you can differentiate them by thinking of syntax as groups of words and sentences made up of words, while diction refers to the individual words | 6 | |
| 3046547134 | abstract | refers to language that describes concepts rather than concrete images (ideas and qualities rather than observable people, places, or things); a passage is called abstract if its diction presents its subject matter in general or non-sensuous words or with only a think realization of its experienced qualities; it is called concrete if its diction presents its subject matter with striking particularity and sensuous detail | 7 | |
| 3046558836 | adage | a saying or proverb containing a truth based on experience and often couched in metaporical language. ie. love conquers all; if you want peace, prepare for war | 8 | |
| 3046571639 | ad hominem | an attempt to negate the truth of a claim by pointing out a negative charagteristic or unrelated belief of the person supporting it | 9 | |
| 3046574236 | allegory | a story or scene in which every element has symbolic meaning | 10 | |
| 3046575599 | alliteration | the repetition of initial consonant sounds. Writers use alliteration to give emphasis to words, to imitate sounds, and to create musical effects. Alliteration is the basis for tongue twisters. IE: she sells sea shells by the sea shore. | 11 | |
| 3046583167 | allusion | a reference (either explicit or implicit) to something in history or another work of literature | 12 | |
| 3046596005 | amplification | refers to a literary ractice wherein a writer embellishes a sentence by adding more information to it in order to increase its worth and understandability. IE: the thesis paper was difficult, versus, the tesis paper was difficult: it required extensive research, data collection, sample surveys, interviews and a lot of fieldwork. | 13 | |
| 3046604185 | anachronism | an intentional or sometimes unintentional error of chronology or timeline in a literary piece. It is sometimes employed in order to attract the reader's attention. Anachronism can exist in literature, film, art, etc. IE: in the film Titanic, the main character, Jack, mentions ice-fishing on Lake Wissota near Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. However, the mention of the lake is anachronistic because the lake is a man-made reservoir and was constructed five years after the Titanic tragedy. | 14 | |
| 3046641323 | anaphora | the deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of each one of a sequence of sentences, paragraphs, lines of verse, or stanzas | 15 | |
| 3046647658 | anadiplosis | the repetition of the last word of a preceding clause. In other words, the word is used at the end of a sentence and then used again at the beginning of the next sentence. | 16 | |
| 3046662434 | analogy | a comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared to another thing that is quite different from it. It aims at explaining that idea or thing by comparing it to something familiar. Metaphors and similies are tools used to draw analogies. | 17 | |
| 3046668150 | anecdote | a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person | 18 | |
| 3046670431 | anticlimax | like a climax, an anticlimax is the turning point in a story. However, an anti-climax is always a letdown. It's the point at which you learn the story will not turn out as you expected | 19 | |
| 3046679225 | antithesis | when two opposites are introduced in the same sentence, for contrasting effect; the presentation of two contrasting images; the ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraphs. IE: to be or not to be; ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. | 20 | |
| 3046716515 | aphorism | a short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life. IE: the early bird gets the worm. | 21 | |
| 3046720113 | apostrophe | a figure of speech where the speaker addreses an absent person, an abstract idea, or a non-human being | 22 | |
| 3046723215 | archetype | a typical character, action or situation that represents universal patterns of human nature; also known as a universal symbol, an achetype may be a character, a theme, a symbol or even a setting. IE: the hero; the mother figure; the villain, etc. KARL JUNG | 23 | |
| 3046754886 | assonance | the repetition of identical or similar vowels in a sequence of nearby words. IE: hear the mellow wedding bells; the spider skins lie on their sides, translucent and ragged, their legs drying in knots | 24 | |
| 3046767937 | asyndeton | a figure of speech in which one or several conjunctions are omitted from a series of related clauses | 25 | |
| 3187752169 | bathos | when a writer or a poet falls into inconsequential and absurd metaphors, descriptions, or ideas in an effort to be increasingly emotional or passionate | 26 | |
| 3187756122 | bombast | high-sounding language with little meaning; used ot impress people | 27 | |
| 3187759382 | burlesque | in literature, comic imitation of a serious literary or artistic form; the serious is treated lightly and the frivolous seriously; genuine emotion is sentimentalized and trivial emotions are elevated to a dignified plane; closely related to parody | 28 | |
| 3187772665 | cacophony & dissonance | harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose; words or sounds that are meant to be unpleasant | 29 | |
| 3187780633 | caricature | descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a person's appearance or a facet of personality | 30 | |
| 3187783438 | chiasmus | the figure of speech in which two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point; that is, the clauses display inverted parallelism | 31 | |
| 3187792980 | coherence & unity | quality of a piece of writing in which all the parts contribute to the development of the central idea, theme, or organizing principle | 32 | |
| 3187811121 | colloquaialism | a word or phrase (including slang) used in everyday conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing. IE: y'all, ain't | 33 | |
| 3187816399 | conceit | a fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor, or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects; a conceit displays intellectual cleverness | 34 | |
| 3187823407 | connotation and denotation | the denotation of a word is its primary definition (dictionary definition), while the connotation is the range of secondary or associated significations or feelings, which the word suggests or implies. A good example is the word "gold." The denotation of gold is a malleable, ductile, yellow element. The connotations, however, are the ideas associated with gold, such as greed or luxury. | 35 | |
| 3187839431 | consonance | repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximity or within compound words. IE: boost/best; fulfill, ping-pong | 36 | |
| 3187848908 | conundrum | a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun; it may also be a paradox or difficult problem | 37 | |
| 3187858353 | circumlocution | the use of many words where fewer would do, especially in a deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive | 38 | |
| 3187861411 | deduction | the process of moving from a general rule to a specific example | 39 | |
| 3187864257 | denouement | the final part of a story or drama in which everything is made clear and no questions or surprises remain | 40 | |
| 3187867357 | diacope | the repetition of a word or phrase broken up by one or more intervening words. IE: I hate to be poor, ad we are degradingly poor, offensively poor, miserably poor, beastly poor. | 41 | |
| 3187874454 | dialect | the form of language spoken by people in a particular region or group; pronunciation, vocabulary, and sentence structure are affected by dialect | 42 | |
| 3187889545 | didactic | writing whose purpose is to instruct or to teach. A didactic work is usually formal and focuses on moral or ethical concerns. Didactic writing may be fiction or nonfiction that teacehs a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking. | 43 | |
| 3187899374 | digression | the act of departingfrom the main subject in speechor writing to discuss an apparently unrelated topic | 44 | |
| 3187917430 | ellipsis | a series of three dots that indicates an intentional ommision of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning; depending on their context and placement in a sentence, ellipses can also indicate an unfiinshed thought, a slight pause, and nervous or awkward silence | 45 | |
| 3187926386 | empathy | the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions; the ability to share someone else's feelings | 46 | |
| 3187932328 | epanalepsis | a figure of speech defined by the repetition of the initial word(s) of a clause or sentence at the end of that same caluse or sentence; by having the same phrase in both places, the speaker calls special attention to it | 47 | |
| 3187938741 | epigraph | the use of a quotation at the beginning of a work of literature that hints at its theme | 48 | |
| 3187941378 | epigram | a short, pithy saying, often with a quick, satirical twist at the end; a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement | 49 | |
| 3205551162 | epiphany | a sudden intuitive leap of understanding, especially through an ordinary but striking occurence | 50 | |
| 3187946391 | epistrophe | the repetition of the same word(s) at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. It is the counterpart to anaphora. | 51 | |
| 3187956934 | epithet | an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned. IE: old men are often unfairly awarded the epithet "dirty"; in Romeo and Juliet, epithets are used in the prologue: "star-cross'd lovers" and "death-mark'd love" | 52 | |
| 3187967753 | essay | an essay is a short nonfiction work about a particular subject. An essay (IE: a work of nonfiction) is NEVER referred to as a short story (which implies that its content is fictional. | 53 | |
| 3205557511 | euphemism | a more acceptable and usually more pleasant way of saying something that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable. "He went to his final reward" is a common euphemism for "he died." Euphemisms are also often used to obscure the reality of a situation. The military uses "collateral damage" to indicate civilian deaths in a military operation. | 54 | |
| 3205557512 | euphony | a succession of harmonious sounds used in poetry or prose; the opposite of cacophony | 55 | |
| 3205557513 | exigence | in rhetoric, an issue, problem or situation that causes or prompts someone to write or speak | 56 | |
| 3205559415 | explication | an exercise in close reading and literary analysis | 57 | |
| 3205559416 | expose | a form of investigative journalism in which reporters deeply investigate and expose a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing | 58 | |
| 3205559417 | exposition | writing or speech that explains a process or presents information. In the plot of a story or drama, the exposition is the part of the work that introduces the characters, the setting, and the basic situation; the immediate revelation to the audience of the setting and other background information necessary for understanding the plot | 59 | |
| 3205561703 | extended metaphor | a metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work | 60 | |
| 3433369482 | fallacy & fallacious reasoning | an incorrect belief or supposition based on faulty data, defective evidence, false information or flawed logic | 61 | |
| 3433373993 | farce | a comedy that contains an extravagant and nonsensical disregard for seriousness, although it may have a serious, scornful purpose | 62 | |
| 3433377653 | foil | a character in a work who, by sharp prices, serves to stress and highlight the characteristics of the protagonist | 63 | |
| 3433381946 | foreshadowing | when the author suggests future events in a story before they happen | 64 | |
| 3433383623 | free indirect discouse | mode of narration where the narrator shares in the consciousness of the character being described. That is to say, the narrator adopts the attitudes, assumptions and characteristic mode of speech particular to that character. This narrative style combines the features of the 3rd person reporting with 1st person direct speech. | 65 | |
| 3433391941 | generalization | when a writer bases a claim upon an isolated example or asserts that a claim applies to all instances instead of some | 66 | |
| 3433394709 | harangue | a forceful sermon, lecture, or tirade | 67 | |
| 3433396046 | homily | an informal sermon; can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice | 68 | |
| 3433399647 | hubris | excessive pride and ambition that usually leads to the downfall of the character | 69 | |
| 3433412525 | hyperbole | deliberate exaggeration; over-statement that is not meant to be taken literally | 70 | |
| 3433413596 | idiom | an expression having a special meaning different from the usual meanings of the words. Slightly different from metaphor in that it is often colloquial or regional. IE: Up the creek without a paddle; rub someone the wrong way; jump the gun | 71 | |
| 3433419119 | image & imagery | language that evokes at least one of the five senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or touching. Note that all symbols are images, but not all images are symbols | 72 | |
| 3433425555 | induction & inductive reasoning | the argumentative process of moving from a given series of specifics to a generalization | 73 | |
| 3433428064 | inference | a conclusion one can draw from the presented details | 74 | |
| 3433429276 | invective | a verbally abusive attack; relies on strong, abusive language | 75 | |
| 3433430629 | lampoon | a mocking, satirical assault on a person or situation | 76 |
