Terms : Hide Images
| 7975677230 | ad hominem | an argument based on the failings of an adversary rather than on the merits of the case; a logical fallacy that involves a personal attack ex: "You wouldn't understand since you have never had to struggle." | 0 | |
| 7975683532 | adjective | part of speech (or word class) that modifies a noun or a pronoun | 1 | |
| 7975686066 | adverb | part of speech (or word class) that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb | 2 | |
| 7975690188 | allegory | extending a metaphor so that objects, persons, and actions in a text are equated with meanings that lie outside the text ex: Animal Farm by George Orwell is a political allegory of events in Russia and Communism. | 3 | |
| 7975706638 | alliteration | repetition of an initial consonant sound | 4 | |
| 7975821129 | allusion | a brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, or event-real or fictional | 5 | |
| 7975830468 | ambiguity | presence of two or more possible meanings in any passage ex: A good life depends on a liver - Liver may be an organ or simply a living person. | 6 | |
| 7975838388 | analogy | reasoning or arguing from parallel cases ex: Life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get! | 7 | |
| 7975843351 | anaphora | repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses ex: AFTER the torchlight red on sweaty faces, AFTER the frosty silence in the gardens, AFTER the agony in stony places | 8 | |
| 8003742296 | anecdote | a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person ex: High school students go around the classroom telling their favorite memories from elementary school. | 9 | |
| 7980858536 | antecedent | the noun or noun phrase referred to by a pronoun | 10 | |
| 7980863915 | antithesis | juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases ex: We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. | 11 | |
| 7994778321 | anticlimax | a disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events | 12 | |
| 7980884758 | aphorism | -a tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion -brief statement of a principle ex: All that glitters is not gold. | 13 | |
| 7980897135 | apostrophe | a rhetorical term for breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing ex: "Death be not proud, though some have called thee. Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so, For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow, Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me." The poet talks to death, an abstract idea, as if it were a person capable of comprehending his feelings. | 14 | |
| 7980903429 | appeal to authority | a fallacy in which a speaker or writer seeks to persuade not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for a famous person or institution ex: A commercial claims that a specific brand of cereal is the best way to start the day because athlete Michael Jordan says that it is what he eats every day for breakfast. | 15 | |
| 7980939355 | appeal to ignorance | a fallacy that uses an opponent's inability to disprove a conclusion as proof of the conclusion's correctness ex: You can't prove that there isn't a mirror universe of our own, so there must be one out there somewhere! | 16 | |
| 7980944933 | argument | a course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating truth or falsehood | 17 | |
| 7980953004 | assonance | identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words ex: It beats . . . as it sweeps . . . as it cleans! (long e) | 18 | |
| 7980959510 | asyndeton | omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses (opposite of polysyndeton) ex: "I came. I saw. I conquered." | 19 | |
| 7994585431 | bathos | -an effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous -insincere pathos ex: He spent his final hour of life doing what he loved most: arguing with his wife. | 20 | |
| 7983963142 | chiasmus | verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed ex: Do I love you because you're beautiful? Or are you beautiful because I love you? | 21 | |
| 7983963753 | circular argument | argument that commits the logical fallacy of assuming what it is attempting to prove ex: X is true because of Y. Y is true because of X. | 22 | |
| 7983968180 | claim | arguable statement, which may be a claim of fact, value, or policy | 23 | |
| 7983971783 | clause | group of words that contains a subject and a predicate | 24 | |
| 7983974303 | climax | mounting by degrees through words or sentences of increasing weight and in parallel construction with an emphasis on the high point or culmination of a series of events | 25 | |
| 7983978462 | colloquial | characteristic of writing that seeks the effect of informal spoken language as distinct from formal or literary English ex: go bananas - go insane or be very angry | 26 | |
| 7983986407 | comparison | rhetorical strategy in which a writer examines similarities and/or differences between two people, places, ideas, or objects | 27 | |
| 7983987272 | complement | a word or word group that completes the predicate in a sentence | 28 | |
| 7983989783 | concession | argumentative strategy by which a speaker or writer acknowledges the validity of an opponent's point | 29 | |
| 7984116105 | confirmation | main part of a text in which logical arguments in support of a position are elaborated | 30 | |
| 7984120069 | conjunction | part of speech (or word class) that serves to connect words, phrases, clauses, or sentences | 31 | |
| 7984122059 | connotation | emotional implications and associations that a word may carry ex: Home suggests family, comfort and security. | 32 | |
| 7984125476 | coordination | grammatical connection of two or more ideas to give them equal emphasis and importance; contrast with subordination | 33 | |
| 7988164990 | deduction | method of reasoning in which a conclusion follows necessarily from the stated premises ex: All dolphins are mammals, all mammals have kidneys; therefore all dolphins have kidneys. | 34 | |
| 7988171670 | denotation | direct or dictionary meaning of a word, in contrast to its figurative or associated meanings | 35 | |
| 7988173851 | dialect | regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, and/or vocabulary ex: "We's safe, Huck, we's safe! Jump up and crack yo' heels. Dat's de good ole Cairo at las', I jis knows it." | 36 | |
| 7988185261 | diction | -choice and use of words in speech or writing -way of speaking usually assessed in terms of prevailing standards of pronunciation and elocution | 37 | |
| 7988218265 | didactic | intended or inclined to teach or instruct, often excessively ex: Children's books and fables | 38 | |
| 7988250211 | encomium | tribute or eulogy in prose or verse glorifying people, objects, ideas, or events | 39 | |
| 7988268170 | epiphora | repetition of a word or phrase at the end of several clauses (Also known as epistrophe) ex: Hourly joys be still upon YOU! Juno sings her blessings on YOU. . . . Scarcity and want shall shun YOU, Ceres' blessing so is on YOU. | 40 | |
| 7988284721 | epitaph | -short inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone or monument -statement or speech commemorating someone who has died: a funeral oration | 41 | |
| 7980874938 | juxtaposition | fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect ex: beauty and ugliness; calm and chaos | 42 |
