Terms : Hide Images
| 7633047754 | Ad Hominem argument | A fallacy of argument in which a writer's claim is answered by irrelevant attacks on his or her character. | 0 | |
| 7633087879 | anaphora | A type of repetition that occurs when the first word or set of words in one sentence, clause, or phrase is/are repeated at or very near the beginning of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases; repetition of the initial word(s) over successive phrases or clauses. Ex. "to raise a happy, healthy, and hopeful child, it takes a family; it takes teachers; it takes clergy; it takes business people; it take community leaders; it takes those who protect our health and safety. It takes all of us." --Hillary Clinton, 1996 Democratic National Convention Address | 1 | |
| 7633114133 | Analogy | An extended comparison between something unfamiliar and something more familiar for the purpose of illuminating or dramatizing the unfamiliar. | 2 | |
| 7633121617 | Anecdote | A brief story used to make a point. | 3 | |
| 7633123571 | Antecedent | A noun, often a proper noun, that is replaced by a pronoun. Ex. In Kayleigh lost a glove and she couldn't find it. Kayleigh is the antecedent of she and glove is the antecedent of it. | 4 | |
| 7633130368 | Antithesis | The opposition or contrast of ideas. | 5 | |
| 7633132429 | Aphorism | A short saying expressing a general truth. Ex. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." | 6 | |
| 7633139844 | Apostrophe | A digression in the form of an address to someone not present, or to a personified object or idea. Ex. "O Death, where is thy sting?" | 7 | |
| 7633144722 | Appeals | Ex. patriotic, money, safety, bandwagon, tradition, honor, science, authority, God/religion, statistics, history, values, novelty, worst fears. | 8 | |
| 7633151289 | Argument | The use of evidence and reason to discover some version of the truth. | 9 | |
| 7633153349 | Assertion | A controversial statement that asserts a belief or truth. In arguments, claims require evidence. | 10 | |
| 7633157273 | Audience | The person(s) to whom a written or spoke work is directed. | 11 | |
| 7633161304 | Bandwagon appeal | A fallacy of argument in which a course of action is recommended on the grounds that everyone else is following it. | 12 | |
| 7633164038 | Begging the question | A fallacy of argument in which a claim is based on the very grounds that are in doubt or dispute: Rita can't be the bicycle thief; she's never stolen anything. | 13 | |
| 7633173379 | Characterize/Characterization | To attribute or mark with a certain characteristic; to describe or portray the character of a person, idea, etc. in a certain light. Ex. In his Steel Prices News Conference, President Kennedy characterized US steel executives as greedy and unpatriotic. | 14 | |
| 7633182176 | Claim | A controversial statement that asserts a belief or truth. In arguments, claims require evidence. | 15 | |
| 7633186230 | Cliche | A familiar word or phrase which has been used to much that it is no longer a good, effective way of saying something, as in "sharp as a tack" or "fresh as a daisy." | 16 | |
| 7633192121 | Colloquial/colloquialism | The use of slang or in-formalities in speech or writing. Not generally acceptable for formal writing, colloquialisms give a work a conversational, familiar tone. Ex. "Wanna," "Go nuts," "Old as the hills," "Pass the buck." | 17 | |
| 7633205709 | Connotation | The suggestions or associations that surround most words and extend beyond their literal meaning, creating effects of association. Slender and skinny have similar meanings, for example, but carry different connotations, the former more positive than the latter. | 18 | |
| 7633214328 | Context | The entire situation in which a piece of writing takes place, including the writer's purpose for writing, intended audience, time, place, and influences. | 19 | |
| 7633223870 | Counterargument | An opposing argument. An answer that challenges or refutes a specific claim or charge. Rebuttals may also be offered by writers who anticipate objections to the claims or evidence they offer. The opposition or contrast of ideas. | 20 | |
| 7633237187 | Deductive reasoning | A process of thought in which general principles are applied to particular cases. | 21 | |
| 7633239262 | Denotation | The strict, literal, dictionary, definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color. Ex. The denotation of a knife would be a utensil used to cut; the connotation of a knife might be fear, violence, anger, foreboding, etc. | 22 | |
| 7633247775 | Diction | The author's word choice. | 23 | |
| 7633249535 | Dogmatism | A fallacy of argument in which a claim is supported on the grounds that it's the only conclusion acceptable within a given community. | 24 | |
| 7633252666 | Either-or choice | A fallacy of argument in which a claim is supported on the grounds that it's the only conclusion acceptable within a given community. | 25 | |
| 7633257002 | Empirical | Empirical evidence or data is information acquired by observation or experimentation. | 26 | |
| 7633260411 | Equivocation | A fallacy of argument in which a lie is given the appearance of truth, or in which the truth is misrepresented in deceptive language. | 27 | |
| 7633263785 | Et al. | Abbreviation for et alii (= and other people). For a source with three or more authors, list only the first author's last name, and replace the additional names with et al. Ex. According to Franck et al, "Current agricultural policies in the U.S. are contributing to the poor health of Americans" (327). The authors claim that one cause of obesity in the United States is government-funded farm subsidies (Franck et al. 327). Corresponding works cited entry: Franck, Caroline, et al. "Agricultural Subsidies and the American OBesity Epidemic." American Journal of PReventative MEdicine, vol. 45, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp 327-333. | 28 | |
| 7633298071 | Ethos | Appeals based on an attempt by the writer or speaker to prove themselves a credible authority on the subject to the reader or listener in order to convince an audience to accept a claim. | 29 | |
| 7633308565 | Euphemism | The substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt. Ex. "To pass away" is a euphemism for "to die." | 30 | |
| 7633317393 | Exhortation | Language intended to incite and encourage. To try to influence (someone) by words or advice; to strongly urge (someone) to do something. | 31 | |
| 7633328610 | Exigence | The issue or situation that leads to the need for a rhetorical speech or writing. According the Lloyd Bitzer: "Any exigence is an imperfection marked by urgency; it is a defect, an obstacle, something waiting to be done, a thing which is other than it should be," and "rhetoric comes into existence as a response to situation [exigence], in the same sense that an answer comes into existence in response to a question. | 32 | |
| 7633342799 | Expose | A report of the facts about something especially a journalistic report that reveals something scandalous. To publicly expose or discredit something or someone. Ex. "A shoking expose of a medical cover-up." | 33 | |
| 7633353804 | Extended metaphor | A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work. | 34 | |
| 7633358594 | Fallacy of argument | A flaw in the structure of an argument that renders its conclusion invalid or suspect. Ex. Ad hominem argument, bandwagon appeal, begging the question, dogmatism, either-or-choice, equivocation, false authority, faulty analogy, faulty causality, hasty generalization, non sequitur, scare tactic, sentimental appeal, slippery slope, and straw amn. | 35 | |
| 7633369610 | Faulty analogy | A fallacy of argument in which a comparison between two objects or concepts is inaccurate. | 36 | |
| 7633378681 | Faulty causality | A fallacy of argument making the unwarranted assumption that because one event follows another, the first event causes the other. | 37 | |
| 7633381571 | Figurative language | Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is meat to be imaginative and vivid. | 38 | |
| 7633385647 | Hasty generalization | A fallacy of argument in which an inference is drawn from insufficient data. | 39 | |
| 7633390491 | Hyperbole | Use of overstatement/exaggeration for effect on the listener or reader. | 40 | |
| 7633396277 | Imagery | Descriptive writing appealing to one of the five senses, such as how something looks, smells, feels, sounds, or tastes. These vivid descriptions are use to produce mental images. | 41 | |
| 7633404308 | Inductive reasoning | A process of thought in which particular cases lead to general principles. | 42 | |
| 7633406269 | Inference/infer | To draw a reasonable conclusion form the information presented. On the AP Language exam, when a multiple choice question asks for an inference to be drawn from a passage, the most direct, most reasonable inference is the safest answer choice. If an inference is implausible, it's unlikely to be the correct answer. Note that if the answer choice is directly stated, it is not inferred and it is wrong. You must be careful to note the connotation - negative or positive - of the choices. | 43 | |
| 7633429665 | Invective | Speech that may be directed toward an individual, cause, idea, or system that attacks or denounces it. Ex. "Simultaneous and identical actions of United States Steel and other leading steel corporations increasing steel prices by some $6 a ton constitute a wholly unjustifiable and irresponsible defiance of the public interest." -President John F. Kennedy, "Steel Prices News Conference" (1962). | 44 | |
| 7634309470 | Inversion | A reversal in order or form. With sentence structure, sentences in which the verb comes before the subject are "inverted." Ex. Down that dark path sits the haunted house. | 45 | |
| 7634315646 | Irony | Use of language that suggests a meaning opposite of the literal meaning of the words. | 46 | |
| 7634320070 | Jargon | 1) The language, especially the vocabulary, specific to a particular trade, profession, or group. 2) Language characterized by uncommon or pretentious vocabulary, often vague in meaning. | 47 | |
| 7634340687 | Juxtaposition | To place close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. Writers employ the literary technique of juxtaposition in order to surprise their readers and evoke their interest by means of developing a comparison between two dissimilar thins by placing them side by side. Ex. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness" -Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities | 48 | |
| 7634357007 | Logos | An appeal to logic. A strategy in which a writer uses facts, evidence, and reason to make audience members accept a claim. | 49 | |
| 7634362541 | Metaphor | A figure of speech that makes a comparison without using like or as as in The ship was a beacon of hope. | 50 | |
| 7634375321 | Mood | The prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work. Setting, tone, and events can affect the mood. | 51 | |
| 7639056252 | Narrative | The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events | 52 | |
| 7639058991 | Non sequitur | A fallacy of argument in which claims, reasons, or warrants fail to connect logically. Ex. If you're really my friend, you'll lend me $500. | 53 | |
| 7639060820 | Objective | Not influenced by personal feelings or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased. Ex. an objective opinion | 54 | |
| 7639062632 | Oxymoron | A paradox made up of two seemingly contradictory words. Ex. "But this peaceful revolution..." -John F. Kennedy | 55 | |
| 7639065299 | Parallelism | Figure of balance identified by a similarity in the syntactical structure of a set of words in successive phrases, clauses, sentences; successive words, phrases, clauses with the same or very similar grammatical structure. This figure often occurs public address with others such as antithesis, anaphora, asyndeton, climax, epistrophe and symploce. Ex. "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." --John F. Kennedy. | 56 | |
| 7639073887 | Pathos | An appeal to emotion. A strategy in which a writer tries to generate specific emotions, such as envy, fear, anger, or pity, in an audience to influence it to accept a claim. | 57 | |
| 7639077885 | Personal Essay | A subcategory of the essay, characterized by intimacy, the "personal element," humor, graceful style, rambling structure, unconventionally or novelty of theme, and incomplete treatment of topic. | 58 | |
| 7639085030 | Personification | A form of figurative language in which an idea or object is given human characteristics. | 59 | |
| 7639086473 | Premise | A statement or position regarded as true and upon which other claims are based. | 60 | |
| 7639087510 | Propaganda | An argument advancing a point of view without regard to reason, fairness, or truth. | 61 | |
| 7639089659 | Author's purpose | The goal of an argument. Purposes include entertaining, informing, convincing, exploring, and describing, among others. | 62 | |
| 7639093901 | Qualitative argument | An argument of evaluation that relies on non numeric criteria supported by reason, tradition, precedent, or logic. | 63 | |
| 7639095370 | Quantitative argument | An argument of evaluation that relies on criteria that can be measured, counted, or demonstrated objectively. | 64 | |
| 7639097118 | Rebuttal | An answer that challenges or refutes a specific claim or charge. Rebuttals may also be offered by writers who anticipate objections to the claims or evidence they offer. | 65 | |
| 7639100597 | Red herring | A fallacy or argument in which a writer abruptly changes the topic in order to distract readers from potentially objectionable claims. | 66 | |
| 7639102965 | Repetition | The repeating of a word or phrase to add rhythm or emphasize an idea. | 67 | |
| 7639104525 | Rhetoric | The art of persuasion | 68 | |
| 7639105187 | Rhetorical analysis | An examination of how well the components of an argument work together to persuade or move an audience. | 69 | |
| 7639106393 | Rhetorical question | A question posed to raise an issue or create an effect rather than to get a response. | 70 | |
| 7639107990 | Satire | A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule. Regardless of whether or not the work aims to reform human behavior, satire is best seen as a style of writing rather than a purpose for writing. It can be recognized by the many devices used effectively by the satirist: irony, wit, parody, caricature, hyperbole, understatement, and sarcasm. The effects of satire are varied, depending on the writer's goal, but good satire, often humorous, is thought provoking and insightful about the human condition. | 71 | |
| 7639117318 | Scare tactic | A fallacy of argument presenting an issue in terms of exaggerated threats or dangers. | 72 | |
| 7639118417 | Sentimental appeal | A fallacy of argument in which an appeal is based on excessive emotion. | 73 | |
| 7639120021 | Simile | A comparison using like or as. Ex. I wandered lonely as a cloud. | 74 | |
| 7639121134 | Slippery slope | A fallacy of argument exaggerating the possibility that a relatively inconsequential action or choice today will have serious negative consequences in the future. | 75 | |
| 7639125220 | Stacking the deck | A fallacy of argument in which the writer shows only one side of an argument. | 76 | |
| 7639126165 | Straw man | A fallacy of argument in which an opponent's position is misrepresented as being more extreme than it actually is, so that it's easier to refute. | 77 | |
| 7639128768 | Style | An evaluation of the sum of the choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary devices. Some authors' styles are quickly recognizable. we can analyze and describe an author's personal style and make judgments on how appropriate it is to the author's purpose. Styles can be called flowery, explicit, succinct, rambling, bombastic, commonplace, incisive, laconic, etc. | 78 | |
| 7639137668 | Subjective | Based on one's thoughts, opinions, feelings, moods. Ex. A subjective evaluation | 79 | |
| 7639138643 | 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, while diction refers to the individual words. In the multiple choice section of the AP Language exam, expect to be asked some questions about how an author manipulates syntax. In the essay section, you may need to analyze how syntax produces effects. | 80 | |
| 7639144139 | Thesis | A sentence that concisely states a writer's main point. | 81 | |
| 7639144904 | Tone | The narrator's attitude towards the material, the audience, or both. Tone can be positive, negative, personal, impersonal, satiric, humorous, serious, amused, angry, sad, neutral, cheerful, etc. | 82 | |
| 7639153281 | Understatement | A figure of speech that makes a weaker statement than a situation seems to call for. It can lead to powerful or humorous effects. Ex. Mark Twain once described Tom Sawyer's Aunt Polly as being "prejudiced against snakes." Since she actually hated snakes, this way of saying so is an understatement. | 83 | |
| 7639159480 | Values | Appeals to a strategy in which a writer invokes shared principles and traditions of a society as a reason for accepting a claim. | 84 | |
| 7639164332 | Warrant | A statement that links a claim to a supporting reason. The bank will fail (claim) because it has lost the support of its largest investors (reason). Implied statement (warrant) - Banks without large investors fail. Claim - Don't eat that mushroom. Reason - It's poisonous. Warrant - What is poisonous should not be eaten. | 85 |
