A Working Vocabulary of Fundamental Terms
Terms : Hide Images
| 4648626830 | alliteration | The repetition of the same sound or letter at the beginning of consecutive words or syllables. "Peter Pieper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers." | 0 | |
| 4648626831 | allusion | An indirect reference, often to another text or an historic event. "Smart Name-Dropping." Example: If one uses the phrase "The Promised Land," they are "alluding" to the Biblical story of the Hebrews' forty year search to find land. The allusion carries heavy meaning within it. | 1 | |
| 4648626832 | analogy | An extended comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things. A longer simile. Example: This class is like a circus. The students are an assortment of wacky clowns and clever performers. The teacher is the ring-leader. | 2 | |
| 4648626833 | anaphora | The repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses. "I Have a Dream" | 3 | |
| 4648626834 | anecdote | A short account of an interesting event. | 4 | |
| 4648626835 | annotation | Explanatory or critical notes added to a text. | 5 | |
| 4648626836 | antimetabole | The repetition of words in an inverted order to sharpen a contrast. "My heart is a boulder. My heart is a stone. My heart is a pebble. My heart is alone." | 6 | |
| 4648626837 | antithesis | Parallel structure that juxtaposes contrasting ideas, such as, "You win some, you lose some" or "The light seems brightest in the darkest of nights." | 7 | |
| 4648626838 | aphorism | A short, astute statement of a general truth. Similar to an attention-getter. It's purpose could be to avoid marginalizing, or leaving out, any reader of an essay. Such as "Society oftentimes argues about if global warming is the effect of human action" or "They say blood is thicker than water." | 8 | |
| 4648626839 | archaic diction | The use of words common to an earlier time period; antiquated language. | 9 | |
| 4648626840 | ad hominem | A fallacy of logic in which the writer attacks the character of the arguer rather than discuss the ideas. Example: I would never vote for that scoundrel, Johnny Jones. He divorced his wife last year. (Johnny Jones marital status and personal life do not mean he would be a bad mayor.) | 10 | |
| 4648626841 | argument | A statement put forth and supported by evidence. | 11 | |
| 4648626842 | assertion | An emphatic statement; declaration. Example: I assert that this law was created to make it harder for minorities to vote! | 12 | |
| 4648626843 | assumption | A belief or statement taken for granted without proof. | 13 | |
| 4648626844 | asyndeton | Leaving out conjunctions between words, phrases, clauses. There are no FANBOYS (For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) joining the clauses. This purpose would be to show the importance of what is being said or makes the author seem as though he or she is rushing because of the importance of the matter. "I came, I saw, I conquered." | 14 | |
| 4648626845 | attitude | The speaker's position on a subject as revealed through his or her tone. | 15 | |
| 4648626846 | audience | One's listener or readership; those to whom a speech or piece of writing is addressed. | 16 | |
| 4648626847 | authority | A reliable, respected source—someone with knowledge. Appeals to the reader's logos. An example would be when the first lady argues for healthy eating and excerise programs for children. People trust and respect her ideals about wanting what is best for American children. | 17 | |
| 4648626848 | bias | Prejudice or predisposition toward one side of a subject or issue. | 18 | |
| 4648626849 | cite | Identifying a part of a piece of writing as being derived from a source. | 19 | |
| 4648626850 | claim | An assertion, usually supported by evidence. | 20 | |
| 4648626851 | close reading | A careful reading that is attentive to organization, figurative language, sentence structure, vocabulary, and other literary and structural elements of a text. i.e., what you should do to the passage of Essay #2, the rhetorical analysis essay. | 21 | |
| 4648626852 | colloquial/ism | An informal or conversational use of language. | 22 | |
| 4648626853 | common ground | Shared beliefs, values, or positions. An author may use this to appeal to the reader's pathos. An example might be in using the first person, such as "We all have important female role models in our lives; therefore, we all know how important a woman's role is." | 23 | |
| 4648626854 | concession | A reluctant acknowledgment or yielding. The debate equivalent of retreating or "waving the white flag." It is a strong rhetorical tactic to make some concessions to your opponent. It makes the arguer appear more reasonable. | 24 | |
| 4648626855 | connotation | That which is implied by a word, the emotional load a word carries, as opposed to the word's literal meaning. Example: fat vs. curvy | 25 | |
| 4648626856 | context | Words, events, or circumstances that help determine meaning. The background about the author and time period regarding the work. | 26 | |
| 4648626857 | counterargument | A challenge to a position; an opposing argument. | 27 | |
| 4648626858 | declarative sentence | A sentence that makes a statement. Ex: "I am not a crook!" | 28 | |
| 4648626859 | denotation | The literal meaning of a word; its dictionary definition. | 29 | |
| 4648626860 | diction | Word choice. | 30 | |
| 4648626861 | elegiac | Mournful over what has passed or been lost; often used to describe tone. | 31 | |
| 4648626862 | ethos | A Greek term referring to the character or credibilityof a person; one of Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals. | 32 | |
| 4648626863 | figurative language | The use of tropes or figures of speech; going beyond literal meaning to achieve literary effect. | 33 | |
| 4648626864 | hyperbole | Exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis. Ex: The guy was as tall as a giraffe. | 34 | |
| 4648626865 | imagery | Vivid use of language that evokes a reader's senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing). | 35 | |
| 4648626866 | irony | A contradiction between what is said and what is meant, or incongruity between action and result. Ex: The nun turns out to be the serial killer. | 36 | |
| 4648626867 | juxtaposition | Placement of two things side by side for emphasis. | 37 | |
| 4648626868 | logos | A Greek term that means "word"; an appeal to logic. Facts and evidence. | 38 | |
| 4648626869 | metaphor | A figure of speech or trope through which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else, thus making an implicit comparison. Ex: My principal is a monster! | 39 | |
| 4648626870 | metonymy | Use of an aspect of something to represent the whole. Ex: Can I speak to the head of the household? (They just want to speak with the head? What about the rest of the person?) | 40 | |
| 4648626871 | oxymoron | A figure of speech that combines two contradictory terms, such as "a small crowd," "jumbo shrimp," or "pretty ugly." | 41 | |
| 4648626872 | paradox | A statement that seems contradictory but is actually true. Ex: In searching for peace, one will not find any. | 42 | |
| 4648626873 | parallelism | The repetition of similar grammatical or syntactical patterns. Ex: The children swam in the pond, ran through the grass, and danced across the meadow. | 43 | |
| 4648626874 | parody | A piece that imitates and exaggerates the prominent features of another; used for comic effect or ridicule. | 44 | |
| 4648626875 | pathos | A Greek term that refers to suffering but has come to be associated with broader appeals to emotion; one of Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals | 45 | |
| 4648626876 | personification | Assigning lifelike characteristics to inanimate objects. The flowers danced in the wind. | 46 | |
| 4648626877 | polysyndeton | The deliberate use of a series of conjunctions. The opposite of a syndenton. Purpose to show excitement or inability to choose sides. Ex: "My favorite student is Jerrieca, or Jaquorian, or Jamaira, or Johnathan, or Jessica. Or everyone in my 4th period." | 47 | |
| 4648626878 | propaganda | A negative term for writing designed to sway opinion rather than present information. | 48 | |
| 4648626879 | purpose | One's intention or objective in a speech or piece of writing. | 49 | |
| 4648626880 | refute | To discredit an argument, particularly a counterargument. | 50 | |
| 4648626881 | rhetoric | The study of effective, persuasive language use; according to Aristotle, use of the "available means of persuasion." | 51 | |
| 4648626882 | rhetorical question | A question asked more to produce an effect or persuade on to consider an issue. Example: How many times have you been late to class because you can't find your keys? | 52 | |
| 4648626883 | rhetorical triangle | A diagram that represents a rhetorical situation as the relationship among the speaker, the subject, and the audience. Logos-ethos-pathos. | 53 | |
| 4648626884 | satire | An ironic, sarcastic, or witty composition that claims to argue for something, but actually argues against it. | 54 | |
| 4648626885 | sentence variety | Using a variety of sentence patterns to create a desired effect. | 55 | |
| 4648626886 | simile | A figure of speech that uses "like" or "as" to compare two things. Ex. Her hair was like a bright red, tangled bird's nest. | 56 | |
| 4648626887 | speaker | A term used for the author, speaker, or the person whose perspective (real or imagined) is being advanced in a speech or piece of writing. | 57 | |
| 4648626888 | straw man | A logical fallacy that involves the creation of an easily refutable position; misrepresenting, then attacking an opponent's position. Ex: Don't vote for Sally Smith because she wants to close down our schools. (Actually, Sally proposes to build new schools in urban areas because the old ones falling apart.) | 58 | |
| 4648626889 | style | The distinctive qualitiy of speech or writing created by the selection and arrangement of words and figures of speech. | 59 | |
| 4648626890 | Begging the Question | A logical fallacy in which the evidence makes the same claim as the argument. The use of vague language to trick the audience into buying into the claim. Ex: Because of the sad state of teens today, we need to implement better programs to help them. (What sad state? What is going on?) | 60 | |
| 4648626891 | Red Herring | A fallacy of logic in which a desperate arguer often tries to change the ground of the argument by changing the subject or adding extraneous information to keep the audience from being able to focus on the real issue or evidence. | 61 | |
| 4648626892 | syntax | Sentence structure. | 62 | |
| 4648626893 | thesis | The central idea in a work to which all parts of the work refer. This is the heart of every argument. | 63 | |
| 4648626894 | tone | The speaker's attitude toward the subject or audience. | 64 | |
| 4648626895 | trope | Artful diction; the use of language in a nonliteral way; also called a figure of speech. | 65 | |
| 4648626896 | understatement | Lack of emphasis in a statement or point; restraint in language often used for ironic effect. Ex: "There's a scratch on your car." (The bumper has been completely ripped off) | 66 | |
| 4648626897 | Synecdoche | a rhetorical device in which a whole is represented by naming one of its parts. Ex: All hands on deck! (Just the hands?) | 67 | |
| 4648626898 | oxymoron | Placing two ordinarily opposing terms adjacent to one another. A compressed paradox. Ex: heavy air or jumbo shrimp. | 68 | |
| 4648626899 | apostrophe | a figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction. | 69 | |
| 4648626900 | melodramatic | overly emotional or sentimental | 70 | |
| 4648626901 | ambivalence | lack of clarity; wavering; being undecided | 71 | |
| 4648626902 | nostalgic | wishing for a return to the way things used to be; longing for the past; homesick | 72 | |
| 4648626903 | euphemism | An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant. i.e. "he went to his final resting place," rather than "He died." | 73 | |
| 4648626904 | double entendre | a statement that has two meanings, one of which is dirty or vulgar. | 74 | |
| 4648626905 | active voice | The active voice is essentially any sentence with an action verb. Active voice is preferred in writing because it expresses more energy. Example: I broke the baby's toy. | 75 | |
| 4648626906 | alliteration | The repetition of phonetic sound at the beginning of several words in a sentence. This term should only be analyzed in a rhetorical setting if the author has a legitimate purpose in using it. Example: Seth struggled to straigten up his situation. | 76 | |
| 4648626907 | anadiplosis | This is a form of repetion where the last word of a clause is used as the first word of the next clause. Example: The man chased the dog. The dog chased the cat. The cat chased the mouse. the mouse ran furiously and hid behind the broom. | 77 | |
| 4648626908 | anastrophe | The reversal of the natural order of words. Example: The training you have been given will help you it will. | 78 | |
| 4648626909 | appositive | A noun phrase - The loch ness monster, an old friend of mine, lives in Scotland. | 79 | |
| 4648626910 | Argument from Ignorance | Fallcy - An argument stating that something is true because it has never been proven false, or vice versa. Ex: I don't believe in ghosts because I've never seen one. | 80 | |
| 4648626911 | Bandwagon | Fallacy- This argument is the "everyone's doing it" fallacy. Ex: You should let me stay out all night long with my friends, mom. Everyone else's parents are letting them. | 81 | |
| 4648626912 | Cause and Effect | Fallacy - This argument falsely puts the blame on what occured directly before the problem. Can also be looked at like superstition. Ex: We didn't win the game last night because I wasn't wearing my lucky socks. Ex: I hate the rain. Every time it rains, my cat gets sick. | 82 | |
| 4648626913 | Complex Sentence | A dependent and independent clause. Ex: If you open the door to the closet, you will see the pink box on the top shelf. | 83 | |
| 4648626914 | Compound Sentence | Two independent clasues joined by a FANBOY. Ex: Amy bought new blinds for her windows, but they were the wrong size. | 84 | |
| 4648626915 | Compound-Complex | If you study hard tonight, you might find that you make an A on the quiz tomorrow, and you will feel more confident about the class. | 85 | |
| 4648626916 | Epistrophe | repetition of the ends of two or more successive sentences, verses, etc. Ex: This government of the people, by the people, for the people. | 86 | |
| 4648626917 | Etymology | the study of the sources and development of words | 87 | |
| 4648626918 | Fallcy | A failure of logical reasoning. Fallacies often seem to make sense on the surface, but they are actually weak claims. | 88 | |
| 4648626919 | False Analogy | Fallacy - A bad analogy that doesn't really make sense. | 89 | |
| 4648626920 | False Dilemma | Fallacy - It is an argument that only poses two solutions (usually poor ones) in order to persuade the audience. Ex: You can either make an A in this class or fail miserably! | 90 | |
| 4648626921 | Imperative Sentence | A command. Example: Get to class! | 91 | |
| 4648626922 | In Media Res | "In the middle of things." The story begins in the middle. Quentin Tarantino uses this in many of his films. | 92 | |
| 4648626923 | Independent Clause | A clause that can stand alone as a sentence. It has a noun and a verb. | 93 | |
| 4648626924 | Jargon | Vocabulary and terms that are used with a particular group of people. Doctors, Robotics engineers, and teachers speak their own languages. | 94 | |
| 4648626925 | Loose Sentence | An independent clause followed by all sorts of debris. Ex. We walked along the river, the water cold and clear, with the summer heat beating down on our heads. | 95 | |
| 4648626926 | Metafiction | A type of fiction that is aware of itself. Ex. Slaughterhouse Five and The Things They Carried | 96 | |
| 4648626927 | Non Sequitur | Fallacy - "It does not follow." These arguments make no sense. They are logically irrelevant. Ex: This apartment smells; therefore, I should buy a new pair of shoes. | 97 | |
| 4648626928 | Parantheticals | Ex. My brother (the kid wearing the purple socks and black flip flops) has some really interesting ideas about fashion. | 98 | |
| 4648626929 | Participle | A verb ending in -ing used to describe something. Running through the woods, Ed tried to get there on time. | 99 | |
| 4648626930 | Passive Voice | Opposite of Active Voice. Ex. Kate was bitten by the dog. Ex. Mistakes were made. | 100 | |
| 4648626931 | Periodic Sentence | A lengthy description precedes the main part of the sentence or independent clause. Ex: After waiting through the storm, and after washing her hair, Roz called her boyfriend. | 101 | |
| 4648626932 | Phrase | A grouping of words that define or clarify. | 102 | |
| 4648626933 | Poisoning the Well | Fallacy - A person or character is introduced with negative information as to make the audience dislike him/her immediately. Ex: The next candidate, recently back from rehab, wants to raise your taxes. | 103 | |
| 4648626934 | Premise | Another word for claim. | 104 | |
| 4648626935 | Pun | A play on words. Ex: The arsonist was real fired up about the barbecue. | 105 | |
| 4648626936 | Repetition | The repeated use of the same word or word pattern as a rhetorical device. | 106 | |
| 4648626937 | Rhetorical Shift | This is when a writer significantly alters her diction, syntax, or both to point out a critical point in the work. | 107 | |
| 4648626938 | Simple Sentence | A suject and a verb - The man ate the apple. | 108 | |
| 4648626939 | Slippery Slope | Fallacy - A false argument claiming one action will lead to another. Ex. Marijuana use leads to the use of drugs such as LSD and heroin. | 109 | |
| 4648626940 | Synthesis | To "synthesize" a variety of sources to achieve a common end. | 110 | |
| 4648626941 | Theme | The basic message of a work. | 111 | |
| 4648626942 | Verisimilitude | "Of being true or real." For a work or argument to feel "true" to an audience, it must be grounded in reality. | 112 | |
| 4648626943 | Voice | The distinctive style or manner of expression of an author. | 113 | |
| 4648626944 | Zeugma | A minor device in which two or more elements are tied together with one verb. Ex. She stole my wallet and my heart. | 114 |
