Terms to study for non-fiction unit and for AP exam
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| 3600316720 | ad hominem fallacy | a fallacy of logic in which a person's character or motive is attacked instead of that person's argument | 0 | |
| 3600316721 | allegory | a story in which the people, places, and things represent general concepts or moral qualities | 1 | |
| 3600316722 | allusion | a brief reference to a person, place, event, or passage in a work of literature. The Bible assumed to be sufficiently well known to be recognized by the reader | 2 | |
| 3600316723 | analogy | a comparison between two things in which the more complex is explained in terms of the more simple; e.g. comparing a year-long profile of the stock index to a roller-coaster ride | 3 | |
| 3600316724 | anaphora | repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines | 4 | |
| 3600316725 | anecdote | a short entertaining account of some happening, frequently personal or biographical | 5 | |
| 3600316726 | appeal to authority/credibility (ethos) | citation of information from people recognized for their special knowledge of a subject for the purpose of strengthening a speaker or writer's arguments | 6 | |
| 3600316727 | argumentation | exploration of a problem by investigating all sides of it; persuasion through reason | 7 | |
| 3600316728 | asyndeton | Noconjunctions, producing a fast-paced and rapid prose. "But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground." Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address | 8 | |
| 3600316729 | begging the question | a fallacy of logical argument that assumes as true the very thing that one is trying to prove | 9 | |
| 3600316730 | cause and effect | examination of the causes and/or effects of a situation or phenomenon | 10 | |
| 3600316731 | classification as a means of ordering | arrangement of objects according to class; e.g. media classified as print, television, and radio | 11 | |
| 3600316732 | colloquial expression | words and phrases used in everyday speech but avoided in formal writing | 12 | |
| 3600316733 | concession | when you show an audience that you have anticipated potential opposition and objections, and have an answer for them, you defuse the audience's ability to oppose you and persuade them to accept your point of view | 13 | |
| 3600316734 | connotation | the set of associations implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning | 14 | |
| 3600316735 | deductive reasoning | a form of reasoning that begins with a generalization, then applies the generalization to a specific case or cases; works from the more general to the more specific | 15 | |
| 3600316736 | denotation | the literal meaning of a word, the dictionary meaning | 16 | |
| 3600316737 | diction | a writer's choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language, which combine to help create meaning | 17 | |
| 3600316738 | didactic | a tone word meaning instructional, designed to teach an ethical, moral, or religious lesson | 18 | |
| 3600316739 | digression | a temporary departure from the main subject in speaking or writing | 19 | |
| 3600316740 | elegiac | a tone word meaning of, relating to, or involving mourning or expressing sorrow for that which is irrecoverably past | 20 | |
| 3600316741 | epigraph | a quotation set at the beginning of a literary work or one of its divisions to suggest its theme | 21 | |
| 3600316742 | euphemism | the use of a word or phrase that is less direct, but that is also less distasteful or less offensive than another; e.g."he is at rest" for "he is dead" | 22 | |
| 3600316743 | expository writing | writing that explains or analyzes | 23 | |
| 3600316744 | false dilemma | fallacy of logical argument which is committed when too few of the available alternatives are considered, and all but one are assessed and deemed impossible or unacceptable | 24 | |
| 3600316745 | figurative language | language used to create a special effect or feeling, when a writer speaks one thing in terms of another; most commonly alliteration, hyperbole, metaphor, etc. | 25 | |
| 3600316746 | hyperbole | an extravagant exaggeration of fact, used either for serious or comic effect | 26 | |
| 3600316747 | inductive reasoning | a form of reasoning which works from a body of fact to the formulation of a generalization; frequently used as the principal form of reasoning in science and history | 27 | |
| 3600316748 | invective | Personal attack of, relating to, or characterized by insult or abuse | 28 | |
| 3600316749 | inverted syntax | reversing the normal word order of a sentence; e.g. "Whose woods these are I think I know." Robert Frost | 29 | |
| 3600316750 | irony | a method of humorous or sarcastic expression in which the intended meaning of the words is the opposite of their usual meaning | 30 | |
| 3600316751 | verbal irony | stating the opposite of what is said or meant | 31 | |
| 3600316752 | situational irony | what happens is the opposite of what is expected | 32 | |
| 3600316753 | dramatic irony | the audience is aware of something the characters onstage are unaware of | 33 | |
| 3600316754 | juxtaposition | placing two or more things side by side for comparison or contrast | 34 | |
| 3600316755 | litotes | Find opposite and add not. not bad = good in rhetoric, a figure in which an affirmative is expressed by a negation of the contrary. A "citizen of no mean city" is, therefore, "a citizen of an important or famous city" (a type of understatement) | 35 | |
| 3600316756 | metaphor | a figure of speech in which one thing is compared to another by being spoken of as though it were that thing | 36 | |
| 3600316757 | metonymy | Using name to describe attribute. Ex pen(writing) is mightier than sword (violence). | 37 | |
| 3600316758 | mood | the feeling a piece of literature arouses in the reader | 38 | |
| 3600316759 | motif | a recurring thematic element, especially a dominant idea or central theme. If you have to have a number, three is the magic number before something can be a motif. | 39 | |
| 3600316760 | non sequitur | a statement that does not follow logically from what preceded it | 40 | |
| 3600316761 | oxymoron | a figure of speech in which contradictory terms or ideas are combined; e.g. "Jumbo Shrimp" | 41 | |
| 3600316762 | parable | a short story from which a lesson may be drawn; Christ used these to teach his followers moral truths, such as the prodigal son | 42 | |
| 3600316763 | parallelism | using the same part of speech or syntactic structure in (1) each element of a series, (2) before and after coordinating conjunctions (and, but, yet, or, for, nor), and (3) after each of a pair of correlative conjunctions (not only...but also, neither...nor, both...and, etc.) | 43 | |
| 3600316764 | paradox | a statement which seems self-contradictory, but which may be true in fact Ex, "Success is counted sweetest/ By those who ne'er succeed..." Emily Dickinson | 44 | |
| 3600316765 | parody | a literary composition which imitates the characteristic style of a serious work or writer and uses its features to treat trivial, nonsensical material in an attempt at humor or satire. | 45 | |
| 3600316766 | personification | a figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstract concept is endowed with human attributes; e.g. the hand of fate. | 46 | |
| 3600316767 | periodic sentence | a sentence written so that the full meaning cannot be understood until the end; e.g. Across the stream, beyond the clearing, from behind a fallen tree, the lion emerged. | 47 | |
| 3600316768 | point of view | the way in which something is viewed or considered by a writer or speaker; in fiction, it is the relationship assumed between the teller of a story and the characters in it, usually demonstrated by the author's use of either first or third person. | 48 | |
| 3600316769 | polysyndeton | the use of many conjunctions, which has the effect of slowing the pace or emphasizing the numerous words or clauses, ex. "We lived and laughed and loved and left." James Joyce | 49 | |
| 3600316770 | post hoc fallacy | (from the Latin, meaning "after this, therefore because of this.") This fallacy of logic occurs when the writer assumes that an incident that precedes another is the cause of the second incident. For example: "Governor X began his first term in January. Three months later, the state suffered severe economic depression. Therefore, Governor X causes the state's depression" | 50 | |
| 3600316771 | pun | a humorous play on words | 51 | |
| 3600316772 | rhetoric | the art of using words effectively in writing or speaking so as to influence or persuade | 52 | |
| 3600316773 | rhetorical question | a question asked for effect to emphasize a point, no answer being expected | 53 | |
| 3600316774 | sarcasm | a type of irony in which a person appears to praise something but actually insults it; its purpose is to injure or hurt | 54 | |
| 3600316775 | satire | a literary work in which vices, abuses, absurdities, etc. are held up to ridicule and contempt; use of ridicule, sarcasm, irony, etc. to expose vices, abuses, etc. | 55 | |
| 3600316776 | simile | a figure of speech involving a comparison using like or as | 56 | |
| 3600316777 | stream of consciousness | technique that records the thoughts and feelings of a character without regard to logical argument or narrative sequence | 57 | |
| 3600316778 | syllogism | a form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a logical conclusion is drawn from them; a form of deductive reasoning. Example: Major Premise: J and G Construction builds unsafe buildings. Minor Premise: J and G Construction built the Tower Hotel. Conclusion: The Tower Hotel is an unsafe building. | 58 | |
| 3600316779 | symbol | something that stands for another thing; frequently an object used to represent an abstraction, e.g. the dove is a symbol of peace | 59 | |
| 3600316780 | synecdoche | a type of metonymy, it is the rhetorical substitution of a part for the whole, ex. "Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6 or "The US won three gold medals." instead of The members of the US boxing team won three gold medals. | 60 | |
| 3600316781 | syntax | Sentence structure in grammar, the arrangement of words as elements in a sentence to show their relationship | 61 | |
| 3600316782 | tone | author's attitude toward his or her subject | 62 | |
| 3600316783 | understatement | deliberately representing something as much less than it really is. Jonathan Swift wrote, "Last week I saw a woman flayed, and you will hardly believe how much it altered her appearance." | 63 | |
| 3600316784 | vernacular | the characteristic language of a particular group; often slang or informal. | 64 | |
| 3600316785 | wit | a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter; clever humor | 65 |
