8395472517 | Ad hominem | The character attack. Logicians and the argument-averse consider it a bad thing, but in rhetoric it's a necessity. | 0 | |
8395489052 | Alliteration | The sequential repetition of a similar initial sound, usually applied to consonants, usually in closely proximate stressed syllables. | 1 | |
8395516505 | Allusion | A literary, historical, religious, or mythical reference in a literary work. | 2 | |
8395530663 | Anaphora | The regular repetition of the same words or phrases at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses. | 3 | |
8395542671 | Annotation | the taking of notes directly on a text | 4 | |
8395556816 | Antecedent | a substantive word, phrase, or clause whose denotation is referred to by a pronoun (such as John in "Mary saw John and called to him"); broadly - a word or phrase replaced by a substitute. | 5 | |
8395582433 | Antithesis | The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases. | 6 | |
8395596008 | Appositive | A noun or noun phrase that renames another noun right beside it. The appositive can be a short or long combination of words. Example- the insect, a cockroach, is crawling across the kitchen table. | 7 | |
8395622178 | Aporia | Doubt or ignorance- feigned or real- used as a rhetorical device. | 8 | |
8395638993 | Argument | a process of reasoned inquiry. A persuasive discourse resulting in a coherent and considered movement from a claim to a conclusion. | 9 | |
8395652712 | Assertion | a statement that presents a claim or thesis | 10 | |
8395659055 | Attitude | The sense expressed by the tone of voice or the mood of a piece of writing; the author's feelings toward his or her subject, characters, events, or theme. It might even be his or her feelings for the reader. | 11 | |
8395689283 | Begging the question | An argumentative ploy where the arguer sidesteps the question or the conflict, evades or ignores the real question. | 12 | |
8395709225 | Bias | is a tendency to lean in a certain direction, often to the detriment of an open mind. Those who are biased tend to believe what they want to believe, refusing to take into consideration the opinions of others. | 13 | |
8395733423 | Canon | The list of works considered to be permanently established as being the highest quality- Ex: Hopkins was firmly established in the canon of English poetry. | 14 | |
8395757690 | Chiasmus | A figure of speech and generally a syntactical structure wherein the order of the terms in the first half of a parallel clause is reversed in the second | 15 | |
8395774521 | Cite/Citation | an act of quoting. ex: His homily included several biblical citations. | 16 | |
8395785851 | Claim | also called an assertion or proposition, a claim states the argument's main idea or position. A claim differs from a topic or subject in that a claim has to be arguable | 17 | |
8395810669 | Colloquial | A term identifying the diction of the common, ordinary folks, especially in a specific region or area. | 18 | |
8395821394 | Concession | You seem to agree with your opponent's point, only to use it to your advantage. | 19 | |
8395831627 | Connotation | The implied, suggested or underlying meaning of a word or phrase. | 20 | |
8395847425 | Coordination | the joining of words, phrases, or clauses of the same type to give them equal emphasis and importance. The common conjunctions and, but, for, or, not, yet, an so to join the elements of a coordinate construction. | 21 | |
8395879181 | Credible | trustworthy; believable. A credible source can be believed. | 22 | |
8395896625 | Cumulative sentence | Sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on. | 23 | |
8395911522 | Deductive reasoning (deduction) | The method of argument in which specific statements and conclusions are drawn from general principles- movement from the general to the specific. | 24 | |
8395935395 | Deliberative rhetoric | One of three types of rhetorical persuasion (the other two are forensic and demonstrative). Deliberative rhetoric deals with arguments about choices. It concerns itself with matters that affect the future; its chief topic, according to Aristotle, is the "advantageous"---what's best for the family, community, company, or country. Without deliberative rhetoric, democracy is impossible. | 25 | |
8395991128 | Demonstrative rhetoric | Persuasion that deals with values which bring a group together. It usually focuses on matters in the present, and its chief topic is right versus wrong. This is the language of sermons, funeral speeches, and national anthems. | 26 | |
8396014937 | Denotation | The direct or dictionary meaning of a word, in contrast to its figurative or associated meanings. | 27 | |
8396027561 | Dialect | The language and speech idiosyncrasies of a specific area, region, or group. | 28 | |
8396046032 | Diction | The specific word choice an author uses to persuade or convey tone, purpose or effect | 29 | |
8396053808 | Didactic | Writing or speech that has an instructive purpose or a lesson; often associated with a dry, pompous presentation | 30 | |
8396069196 | Enthymeme | Taking a commonly accepted premise and linking it to a conclusion. For instance, "Girls like guys who can dance. You should learn to dance." A small piece of logic. | 31 | |
8396099431 | Equivocation | This appears to say one thing while meaning the opposite, and it occurs when a word has multiple meanings. | 32 | |
8396111061 | Ethos | In rhetoric, the appeal of a text to the credibility and character of the speaker, writer, or narrator. | 33 | |
8396122935 | Example | The foundation of inductive logic. Aristotle listed three kinds- fact, comparison, and fable (story) | 34 | |
8396154113 | Figurative Language | Language with levels of meaning expressed through figures of speech such as prepositions, metaphor, litotes, etc. | 35 | |
8396165760 | Flashback | An earlier event is inserted into the normal chronology of the narration | 36 | |
8396182467 | Forensic (legal) rhetoric | Argument that determines guilt or innocent. It focuses on the past. | 37 | |
8396190187 | Genre | A type or class of literature, such as epic, narrative, poetry, biography, history | 38 | |
8396206876 | Hyperbole | Overstatement characterized by exaggerated language, usually to make a point or draw attention. | 39 | |
8396220507 | Hypophora | A figure that asks a rhetorical question and then immediately answers it. The hypophora allows you to anticipate an audience's skepticism and nip it in the bud. EX: "what makes a king out of a slave? Courage!" | 40 | |
8396266121 | Idiom | Inseparable words with a single meaning. (It's Greek to me; the whole ball of wax; in a pickle; quit cold turkey) | 41 | |
8396285836 | Imagery | Any sensory detail or evocation in a work to evoke a feeling, to call to mind an idea, or to describe an object. Involves any or all of the five senses | 42 | |
8396310818 | Imperative sentence | sentence used to command | 43 | |
8396320170 | Inductive reasoning | The method of reasoning or argument in which general statements and conclusions are drawn from specific principles- movement form the specific to the general. | 44 | |
8396341410 | Inference | A conclusion or proposition arrived at by considering facts, observations, or some other specific data. Looking at blues, learning the facts. | 45 | |
8396357552 | Inversion | inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the subject-verb-object order) | 46 | |
8428377585 | Irony | The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant. The intended meaning is often the opposite of what is stated, often suggesting light sarcasm. | 47 | |
8428400020 | Jargon | Specialized or technical language of a trade, profession, or similar group. | 48 | |
8428411853 | Juxtaposition | The location of one thing adjacent to another to create an effect, reveal an attitude, or accomplish some other purpose. | 49 | |
8428422472 | Litotes | A figure of speech that emphasizes its subject by conscious understatement. | 50 | |
8428431936 | Logos | Argument by logic | 51 | |
8428435972 | Loose Sentence | A long sentence that starts with its main clause, which is followed by several dependent clauses and modifying phrases. | 52 | |
8428447607 | Metaphor | One thing pictured as if it were something else, suggesting a likeness or analogy. An implict comparison or identification of one thing with another, without the use of like or as. | 53 | |
8428465206 | Metonymy | A figure of speech in which an attribute or commonly associated feature is used to name or designate something. | 54 | |
8428487704 | Modifier | An adjective, adverb, phrase, or clause that modifies a noun, pronoun, or verb. The purpose of a modifier is usually to describe, focus, or qualify. | 55 | |
8428528056 | Mood | A feeling or ambiance resulting from the tone of a piece as well as the writer/narrator's attitude and point of view. It is a "feeling" that establishes the atmosphere in a work of literature or other discourse. | 56 | |
8428547622 | Narrative | A mode of discourse that tells a story of some sort and it is based on sequences of connected events, usually presented in a straightforward, chronological framework. | 57 | |
8428566321 | Onomatopoeia | A word capturing or approximating the sound of what is described. The purpose of these words is to make a passage more effective for the reader or listener. | 58 | |
8429402589 | Pacing | Determines how quickly or how slowly the writer takes a reader through a story | 59 | |
8429424071 | Parallel Structure | The use of similar dorms in writing for nouns, verbs, phrases, or thoughts. In prose, recurrent syntactical similarity where several parts of a sentence or several sentences are expressed alike to show that their ideas are equal in importance. (also can be called parallelism) | 60 | |
8429474640 | Parody | An imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect. | 61 | |
8429486534 | Pathos | That element in literature that stimulates pity or sorrow. In argument or persuasion it tends to be the evocation of pity. | 62 | |
8429517809 | Periodic Sentence | A long sentence in which the main clause is not completed until the end. | 63 | |
8429527679 | Persona | Voice or mask that an author or speaker or performer puts in for a particular purpose. | 64 | |
8429545314 | Personification | Treating an abstraction or nonhuman object as if it were a person by endowing it with human features or qualities. | 65 | |
8429568228 | Point of View | The relation in which a narrator/author stands to a subject of discourse. Requires the reader to establish the historical perspective of what is being said. | 66 | |
8429598336 | Propaganda | The spread of ideas and information to further a cause. In its negative sense, propaganda is the use of rumors, lies, disinformation, and scare tactics in order to damage or promote a cause. | 67 | |
8429617185 | Prose | The ordinary form of written language without metrical structure in contrast to verse and poetry. | 68 | |
8429631338 | Pun | A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words. | 69 | |
8429652548 | Purpose | The goal the speaker wants to achieve. | 70 | |
8429662361 | Rebuttal | An argument technique wherein opposing arguments are anticipated and countered. | 71 | |
8429677572 | Refute/Refutation | A denial of the validity of the opposing argument. In order to sound reasonable, a refutation often follows a concession that acknowledges that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable. | 72 | |
8429714225 | Rhetoric | The art of using words to persuade in writing or speaking. | 73 | |
8429729078 | Rhetorical Question | A question that is asked simply for the sake of stylistic effect and is not expected to be answered. | 74 | |
8429749033 | Rhetorical Triangle | (Aristotelian Triangle) a diagram that illustrates the interrelationship among speaker, audience, and subject in determining a text. | 75 | |
8429770240 | Sarcasm | A form of verbal irony in which apparent praise is actually critical. Can be light, and gently poke fun at something, or it can be harsh and mean. | 76 | |
8438351253 | Scheme | Artful syntax; a deviation from the normal order of words. Common schemes include parallelism, juxtaposition, antithesis, and antimatabole. | 77 | |
8438373847 | Simile | A direct, explicit comparison of one thing to another, using the words like or as. | 78 | |
8438379039 | Simple Sentence | A sentence consisting of only one clause, with a single subject and predicate. | 79 | |
8438385656 | Source | A firsthand document or primary reference work. | 80 | |
8438388454 | Style | The manner in which a writer combines and arranges words, shapes ideas, and utilizes syntax and structure. | 81 | |
8438404585 | Subject | The topic of a text. What the text is about. | 82 | |
8438411348 | Subordinate/Subordination | The process of linking two clauses in a sentence so that one clause is dependent on (or subordinate to) another. Contrast with coordination. | 83 | |
8438427962 | Synecdoche | A figure of speech in which a part signifies a whole. | 84 | |
8438434827 | Syntax | The way words are put together to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. Basically, sentence structure. | 85 | |
8438442430 | Synthesize | Combining two or more ideas in order to create something more complex in support of a new idea. | 86 | |
8438450165 | Theme | The central or dominant idea or focus of a work. The statement a passage makes about its subject. | 87 | |
8438455255 | Thesis | A statement or central idea that a writer puts forward at the beginning of an argument, and will support throughout the following text. It is a premise that the author believes to be true, and will give evidence for by way of facts or situations that reinforce this central idea. | 88 | |
8438471968 | Tone | The attitude the narrator/author has towards the subject and theme. Based on particular stylistic devices employed by the author. | 89 | |
8438487573 | Trope | Rhetorical device that produces a shift in the meaning of words--traditionally contrasted with a scheme, which changes only the shape of the phrase. | 90 | |
8438501474 | Understatement | A figure of speech in which the writer or speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is. | 91 | |
8438509110 | Voice | The acknowledged or unacknowledged source of the words of the story; the speaker's or narrator's particular "take" on an idea based on a particular passage and how all the elements of the style of the piece come together to express his/her feelings. | 92 | |
8438526373 | Zeugma | A grammatically correct construction in which a word, usually a verb or adjective, is applied to two or more nouns without being repeated. | 93 | |
8462831860 | Satire | A literary work that holds up human failings to ridicule and censure. | 94 | |
8462831861 | Post hoc ergo propter hoc | A happened before B; therefore, A caused B | 95 | |
8462840761 | Neologism | A new word. (Example- "selfie") | 96 |
AP Language terms Flashcards
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