Terms : Hide Images
| 6773973248 | analogy | similar to a simile in that it compares two things to explain something less well known; normally, it clarifies complex ideas into simpler terms by focusing on relationships of the concepts | 0 | |
| 6773973251 | pathos | emotional appeal | 1 | |
| 6773973314 | Am I my brother's keeper | Asked by Cain after he killed Abel when questioned by the lord. | 2 | |
| 6773973249 | allusion | a reference to some fairly well-known event, place, or person. Allusions are usually short and can be used to help a reader see a broader picture, to evoke positive or negative feelings, or add credibility. It can be used as a shortcut to help your reader understand, rather than describing in great detail. Shakespeare, classical mythology, and the Bible are virtually limitless repositories of ideas. | 3 | |
| 6773973346 | Handwriting on the wall | a phrase recalling an Old Testament account of Daniel. Figuratively: some misfortune is impending / inevitable | 4 | |
| 6803655169 | argument paragraph example | Dogs are better than cats. Researchers suggest that the bonding of dog and human is more similar to that of a parent and child. Dog owners understand this feel more than anyone else. Conversely, cats are as affectionate as dogs but when comparing with "doggy love" they can't even come closer. A cat's preference to remain aloof and detached from their owners make the bonds more superficial with less emotional investment. | 5 | |
| 6803785032 | rhetorical analysis paragraph example | In addition to this diction, Hazlitt uses several syntactical strategies to convey his point about poverty. The most obvious of these is his one massive, extended sentence, which reaches across two of the three standard-sized paragraphs. This huge sentence models the massive obstacle course the impoverished must face in life; because of Hazlitt's negative word choice, the life of the poor is presented as a continual, unending stream of oppression. | 6 | |
| 6773973254 | connotation | the implied, suggested, or underlying meaning of a word or phrase | 7 | |
| 6773973333 | Delilah and Samson | lovers; girl betrayed his secret strength by telling his enemies that cutting his hair would make him no more strong than a normal man. | 8 | |
| 6773973256 | ambiguous | doubtful or uncertain especially from being obscure or distinct; not clear in meaning because of being able to be understood in more than one way | 9 | |
| 6773973258 | euphemism | an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive | 10 | |
| 6773973261 | hypophora | raising a question then proceeding to answer it | 11 | |
| 6773973275 | oxymoron | the yoking of two terms that are ordinarily contradictory (i.e. "jumbo shrimp" and "cruel kindness") | 12 | |
| 6773973276 | juxtaposition | an act or instance of placing dissimilar items, descriptions, or ideas close together or side by side to highlight a comparison or contrast | 13 | |
| 6773973278 | pun | a play on words, often achieved through the use of words with similar sounds but different meanings | 14 | |
| 6773973396 | analogy (example) | "If I had not agreed to review this book, I would have stopped after five pages. After 600, I felt as if I were inside a bass drum banged on by a clown" (Brookhiser) | 15 | |
| 6773973280 | anaphora | repeats a word or phrase at the beginning of multiple clauses or sentences. Commonly used to build a sense of climax, it will usually begin with phrases least important - thus guiding the reader along a very clear path, with a clearly demarcated end. | 16 | |
| 6773973390 | litotes (example) | "Keep an eye on your mother whom we both know doesn't have both oars in the water" (Harrison) | 17 | |
| 6773973281 | anadiplosis | repetition of the last word of one clause (or sentence) at the beginning of the following clause (or sentence) | 18 | |
| 6773973283 | epanalepsis | repeating a word from the beginning of a clause at the end of the same clause, e.g. "year after year," "man's inhumanity to man," "dog eat dog." | 19 | |
| 6773973400 | asyndeton (example) | "He was a bag of bones, a floppy doll, a broken stick, a maniac" (Kerouac) | 20 | |
| 6773973253 | logos | appeal to logic; employs logical reasoning, combining a clear idea(s) with well-thought-out and appropriate examples and details with supports logically presented and rationally reaching the writer's conclusion | 21 | |
| 6773973370 | Original sin | The corruption and guilt that the human race has inherited from Adam and Eve. The doctrine implies that sin is universal, that it keeps reproducing, and that it is extremely hard to get rid of. | 22 | |
| 6773973284 | symploce | combining anaphora and epistrophe, so that one word or phrase is repeated at the beginning and another word or phrase is repeated at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. | 23 | |
| 6773973285 | epistrophe | repetition of the same word or group of words at the END of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences | 24 | |
| 6773973286 | rhetorical question | asking a question, not for the purpose of eliciting an answer but for the purpose of asserting of denying something obliquely. Can subtly influence the kind of response one wants from and audience, thus making it more effective as a persuasive device. | 25 | |
| 6773973367 | Noah and the Great Flood | In the old testament God made it rain for 40 days and nights to punish the world for their sin. Noah alone was found righteous and him and his family were saved. | 26 | |
| 6773973416 | parallelism (example) | "For the end of a theoretical science is truth, but the end of a practical science is performance" (Aristotle) | 27 | |
| 6773973289 | diction | word choice | 28 | |
| 6773973401 | polysyndeton (example) | "He pulled the blue plastic tarp off of him and folded it and carried it out to the grocery cart and packed it and came back with their plates and some cornmeal cakes in a plastic bag and a plastic bottle of syrup" (McCarthy) | 29 | |
| 6773973372 | parting of the red sea | done by God through Moses so the Israelites could get pass the sea, God closed it when the egyptians passed through | 30 | |
| 6773973293 | litotes | similar to understatement, emphasizes its point by using a word opposite to the condition ; a figure of speech by which an affirmation is made indirectly by denying its opposite (describing a particularly horrific scene by saying, "It was not a pretty picture.") | 31 | |
| 6773973295 | metonymy | substituting the name of an attribute or feature for what is actually meant (as in 'the track' - instead of saying 'horse racing') | 32 | |
| 6773973296 | paradox | an apparently contradictory statement that nevertheless contains a measure of truth. Unlike an oxymoron which involves a "turn" of meaning in juxtaposed words, this involves a "turn" of meaning in the whole statement. | 33 | |
| 6773973297 | parataxis | lists a series of clauses without conjunctions. Often implies a sense of immediacy, indicating multiple things happening at once, even though that may not be the case. Often it is used to set a scene. It may also imply a series of events or moods to the reader without spelling them out. | 34 | |
| 6773973298 | asyndeton | leaves conjunctions out. This is often used to provide a sense of casual familiarity or to make the list less monotonous to read. It also implies rapid movement, bringing you briskly through the material to arrive at the climax, conclusion, or the next section of writing. Writers tend to employ this device when they want a sentence to appear less structured or contrived, or to imply that you could continue the list with your own ideas. | 35 | |
| 6773973361 | meek shall inherit the earth | a saying from the Sermon on the Mount implying that those who forgo worldly power will be rewarded in the kingdom of Heaven | 36 | |
| 6773973299 | polysyndeton | inserts a conjunctions between every item or clause. It is usually used to build to a climax or to provide the list with a sense of impressive power. It will draw the reader's attention more to each individual item instead of the list as a whole. | 37 | |
| 6773973300 | eponym | substitutes for a particular attribute the name of a famous person recognized for that attribute (i.e. Jerry is an Einstein.) -- similar to an allusion | 38 | |
| 6773973309 | synechdoche | a figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole (as in 'all HANDS on deck' - HANDS is substituted for HELPERS) | 39 | |
| 6773973312 | Adam and Eve | First man and woman. The woman was tempted by a serpent and she gave to the man and he also ate thus causing sin to enter the world. | 40 | |
| 6773973315 | Apocalypse | Usually used in reference to the end of the world as described in Revelation | 41 | |
| 6773973405 | epanalepsis (example) | "The man who did the waking buys the man who was sleeping a drink; the man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking" (Jack Sparrow, The Pirates of the Carribbean) | 42 | |
| 6773973250 | antithesis | makes use of contrast in language to bring out contrast in ideas. Organizes in a juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel structure, in a way that is both evocative and powerful. Can add a natural beauty while pointing out fine distinctions in an issue by presenting them together. Ideally, it causes the reader to think about the subtle shades of differences between concepts. | 43 | |
| 6774179028 | thinking for multiple choice questions | (1) Read Question and underline important aspects (2) Summarize/paraphrase question (3) Verbalize the process to answer (4) Predict as much as you can about the answer | 44 | |
| 6773973328 | Cain And Abel | a farmer, commits the first murder by killing his brother a shepherd, after God rejects his sacrifice but accepts his brothers | 45 | |
| 6773973273 | irony | incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs | 46 | |
| 6773973308 | amplification | repeating something while adding more detail and information to the original description. It focuses the reader on the idea (s)he might otherwise miss. The purpose is not to inform but to emphasize. | 47 | |
| 6773973288 | syntax | the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences | 48 | |
| 6773973340 | Forbidden Fruit | the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. Eaten by Adam and Eve thus causing the fall of man | 49 | |
| 6773973349 | job | righteous man in god's sight; satan made him lose his wealth and respect and he stood steadfast and never cursed god and god returned everything back | 50 | |
| 6773973357 | Lot's wife | became a pillar of salt when she looked back at sodom and gomorrah | 51 | |
| 6773973392 | ambiguous (example) | "But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them" (Bush) | 52 | |
| 6773973363 | Moses | the Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites from Egypt across the Red sea on a journey known as the Exodus | 53 | |
| 6773973291 | understatement | the deliberate representation of something as lesser in magnitude than it actually is; a deliberate under-emphasis | 54 | |
| 6773973369 | olive Branch | the branch brought by a dove to Noah's ark signifying that the flood was receding. An olive branch is now regarded as a sign o peace, as is the dove. | 55 | |
| 6773973277 | parallelism | using the same general structure for multiple parts of a sentence or for multiple sentences, in order to link them all; creating grammatical balance | 56 | |
| 6773973382 | serpent | form taken by satan in garden of eden; hebrew word refers to a fearsome, murderous creature | 57 | |
| 6773973384 | Tower of Babel | Giant tower built by the people of the old testament. When God saw what they had done he spread them over the earth and mixed their languages. | 58 | |
| 6773973388 | understatement (example) | "I have to have this operation. It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain" (Salinger) | 59 | |
| 6773973282 | chiasmus | two corresponding pairs word(s) arranged not in parallels (a-b-a-b) but in inverted order (a-b-b-a), inversion in the second of two parallel phrases | 60 | |
| 6773973389 | hyperbole (example) | "I was quaking from head to foot, and could have hung my hat on my eyes, they stuck out so far" (Twain) | 61 | |
| 6773973255 | denotation | the dictionary definition of a word | 62 | |
| 6773973394 | anadiplosis (example) | "The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an emperor. Striking story!" (Commodus in the movie Gladiator) | 63 | |
| 6773973397 | anaphora (example) | "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender" (Churchill) | 64 | |
| 6773973337 | Exodus | the second book of the Old Testament: tells of the departure of the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt led by Moses | 65 | |
| 6773973260 | hyperbole | a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor | 66 | |
| 6773973402 | parataxis (example) | "I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun" (Chandler) | 67 | |
| 6773973338 | Fall of Man | Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, God punished them by driving them out of the Garden and into the world where they would be subject to sickness and pain and eve | 68 | |
| 6773973406 | epistrophe (example) | "For no government is better than the men who compose it, and I want the best, and we need the best, and we deserve the best" (Kennedy) | 69 | |
| 6773973403 | chiasmus (example) | "People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power" (Clinton) | 70 | |
| 6773973411 | hypophora (example) | "How and why did caveat emptor develop? The question presents us with mysteries never fully answered" (Ivan Preston) | 71 | |
| 6773973252 | ethos | The appeal of a text to the credibility and reliable character of the speaker, writer, or narrator | 72 | |
| 6773973424 | antithesis (example) | If we try, we might succeed; if we do not try, we cannot succeed. | 73 | |
| 6773973306 | antanaclasis | the repetition of a word (or phrase) whose meaning changes in each case. This could be in the same sentence as well with the word repeated in two or more different senses (think noun/verb). Classified as a type of pun; it is considered a form of word play. | 74 | |
| 6773973425 | paradox (example) | Whosoever loses his life, shall find it. | 75 | |
| 6773973376 | prodigal son | a wayward son who squanders his inheritance but returns home to find that his father forgives him. | 76 |
