Terms : Hide Images
| 4753826393 | Ad Hominem Argument | An argument that appeals to angry emotions rather than logic and often involves personal attacks on someone. "Of course Senator Claghorn's idea is bad, what do you expect from a socialist who smoked marijuana in high school." | 0 | |
| 4753829306 | Alliteration | The repetition of initial consonant sounds. | 1 | |
| 4753831244 | Allusion | A reference to something that is commonly known, usually it is to a work of art, literature, culture or history. | 2 | |
| 4753837565 | Ambiguity | Something that can have several meanings. | 3 | |
| 4753838753 | Anaphora | The repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect- "we cannot dedicate- we cannot consecrate-we cannot hallow-this ground"- Abraham Lincoln | 4 | |
| 4753844921 | Anastrophe | The inversion of the usual syntactical order of words for rhetorical effect (sometimes known as Yoda speech)- "Intelligent she was not. In fact, she veered in the opposite direction." - Max Schulman | 5 | |
| 4753851185 | Antithesis | A figure of speech that involves a seeming contradiction of ideas. Ex: Shes's too pretty to date and too nice not to ask out." or "He's too sinned for Heaven and too pure for Hell." | 6 | |
| 4753854788 | Aphorism | A short statement that expresses a general truth or moral principle. Ex: When decorating, Less is more. Hindsight is always 20/20. | 7 | |
| 4753856759 | Claim | A key part of an argument that states the truth of something, often followed by evidence. "School should be year round so that students don't loose so much over the summer." | 8 | |
| 4753861032 | Colloquialism | Slang or informal expression- they often include local or regional dialects (Ain't, Yinz, Yall, Youse, An At, Fixin to, etc.) | 9 | |
| 4753863808 | Connotation | The implied, suggested meaning of a word. | 10 | |
| 4753865529 | Denotation | The strict literal meaning of the word. (Dictionary definition) | 11 | |
| 4753865983 | Diction | Relates to a writer's style, in particular their specific choice of individual words. | 12 | |
| 4753867377 | Didactic | A piece of writing that tends to be teaching or instructing. | 13 | |
| 4753869577 | Epistrophe | The repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect. - "of the people, by the people, for the people" -Abraham Lincoln | 14 | |
| 4753873725 | Euphemism | More pleasant sounding words used for unpleasant words or concepts. They can often be funny - Passed Away, blowing chunks, follically challenged. | 15 | |
| 4753879652 | Figurative Language | Language which does not carry a literal meaning- Hyperbole, Irony, Metaphor, Oxymoron, Personification, Simile. | 16 | |
| 4753885785 | Honorific Language | Words that normally convey a positive connotation. "It was a pleasant and breezy summer afternoon." Pleasant and breezy are honorific words conveying a positive experience of the summer day. | 17 | |
| 4753889034 | Hyperbole | Exaggerated (often wildly exaggerated) speech or writing. "Words cannot express how glorious and inspiring it was to read the owner's manual." | 18 | |
| 4753894421 | Imagery | The sensory details used in a passage to describe, arouse an emotional response or represent abstract ideas. | 19 | |
| 4753899615 | Inference/infer | Drawing a reasonable conclusion from the information presented. If a question asks you to draw an inference from a passage, the most direct, safest answer is the best bet. | 20 | |
| 4753904935 | Juxtaposition | Placing items, descriptions, or ideas close together especially for comparison or contrast. Mr. Lindeman asked us what kind of adult do we want to be. As he did so he had juxtaposed the pictures of Sally Ride with Bernie Madoff behind him on the Smart Board. | 21 | |
| 4753913951 | Metaphor | A comparison between two unlike things that does not use the words, "like' or "as" "Her sun bright smile was captivating." | 22 | |
| 4753916931 | Narrative | Writing that involves the telling of a story. Narratives can be fiction or non-fiction. | 23 | |
| 4753922924 | Oxymoron | Mutually contradictory words or phrases often linked to make a point. - Deafening silence - Honest politician - business ethics, etc. | 24 | |
| 4753932339 | Paradox | A statement that appears to be contradictory. In Macbeth, the witches say, "Fair is foul and foul is fair." | 25 | |
| 4753934702 | Parallelism (parallel structure) | Repeating words, phrases, parts of sentences, or parts of paragraphs to create a structural similarity or rhetorical cohesion. Martin Luther King was famous for his effective use of parallel structure-"I have a dream..." | 26 | |
| 4753938999 | Pedantic | Describes a tone that is overly scholarly, academic, bookish. | 27 | |
| 4753940934 | Pejorative Language | Words which normally convey a negative connotation. "The wind howled on that dark and dreary fall afternoon." Howled, dark, and dreary are pejorative words suggesting a negative experience of the autumn day. | 28 | |
| 4753949769 | Periodic Sentences | Sentences that contain numerous clauses but the meaning of the sentence cannot be understood until the last clause is read: "To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, that is genius." | 29 | |
| 4753955375 | Personification | Giving human characteristics to non-human things. "Disaster was waiting for me at every turn." "The cool, clean pool tempted me to take a swim." | 30 | |
| 4753960803 | Point of View | Describes the speaker of a story- 1st person, 2nd person, and 3rd person (limited or omniscient.) | 31 | |
| 4753978043 | Prose | Writing that is not poetic or dramatic. Prose is what we read most of the time in novels, text books and novels. | 32 | |
| 4753980356 | Redundancy | A word, phrase, etc., that repeats something else already stated or implied and is therefore unnecessary, superfluous repetition- Irregardless, Modern Contemporary history, Charming Mr. Carlin, Bright sun, Dark cave, Straight line. | 33 | |
| 4753990730 | Rhetorical Appeal | The persuasive device used by a writer to influence his audience. This refers to Logos, Ethos or Pathos arguments. | 34 | |
| 4753993881 | Rhetorical mode Exposition | Writing to explain and analyze. | 35 | |
| 4753994957 | Rhetorical mode Argumentation | Writing to prove an idea or point of view. Presents sound reasoning, thoughtful discussion and insightful argument. Persuasion is one of the most common forms of argumentation. | 36 | |
| 4754001638 | Rhetorical mode Description | Writing which describes a scene, thing, place or idea. Intended to create mental images for the reader. | 37 | |
| 4754003906 | Rhetorical mode Narration | Writing that takes the form of a story. | 38 | |
| 4754006739 | Rhetorical Strategies | Types and/or approaches a writer employs when making an argument. They may include strategies such as: Religious Appeals, Appeals to Personal beliefs, Emotional appeals, Use of Parallelism, Repetition, Personal Stories, Anecdotes, even heavy use of statistics. | 39 | |
| 4754013023 | Simile | A comparison between unlike things using the words "like" or "as": "The overcooked brisket was as stringy as a miser's heart." USE CAUTION HERE! the AP loves to ask simile questions about sentences that are not similes but use the words "like" or "as". | 40 | |
| 4754019291 | Subject Verb Inversion | Sentences in which the verb appears before the subject. They are often identified by opening a sentence with the phrase, There are: There are farmhouses which dot the landscape of the Shenandoah Valley. | 41 | |
| 4754023035 | Syllogism | A deductive system of logic that that involves a series of statements that lead to a logical conclusion. Some syllogisms are based on unfair or false premises and lead to incorrect conclusions. All Men are mortal. Mr. Hewitt is a man. Mr. Hewitt is mortal. Killer dogs have long teeth. My dog has long teeth. My dog is a killer dog. | 42 | |
| 4754028570 | Syntax | The arrangement of words in a sentence. This can involve short, brief direct sentences or long complex sentences. This can also involve the type of sentences- questions, exclamations, declarative, etc. | 43 | |
| 4754031737 | Understatement | Presents something as less important than it is, often used for comic effect. Someone after receiving the news that they had won 75 million dollars in the lottery says, "I've had worse days than this." | 44 | |
| 5018414110 | Degree | If one thing is good or bad than more or less of it must be better or worse. {If an 18 year old can die for his country in war then they should be allowed to buy alcohol.} | 45 | |
| 5018414111 | Analogies | A complex or extended comparison. {Allowing a teenager to vote is like hiring a blind man to paint your house.} | 46 | |
| 5018460951 | Precedent | When some event, action or ruling has created a standard expectation. {Once we allow one student to wear a hoodie, than we must all to wear hoodies.} | 47 | |
| 5018460952 | Arguments of definition | Arguments about the nature of things. {Is golf a sport?} | 48 | |
| 5022824211 | Cause and effect | An argument in which the writer/speaker claims that an action or event (cause) leads directly (or sometimes indirectly) to an outcome. {Franklin's consumption of large amounts of soda led to his development of juvenile diabetes.} | 49 | |
| 5022824212 | Slippery slope arguments | An argumentation in which a speaker/writer suggests that if we start a new program that it will inevitably lead to a series of responses which eventually result in a terrible outcome. {Direct TV commercial} | 50 | |
| 5051353446 | Syllogistic argument | An argument in which a line of reasoning leads to a reasonably logical conclusion. Can be negative OR positive outcomes. {Spending tax dollars on infrastructure will help boost the economy and eventually reduce the deficit.} | 51 | |
| 5051353447 | Reductio Ad Absurdum | A form of argument in which a proposition is disproven by following its implications; usually like arguments of degree but more extreme. {If a glass of wine a night is good for one's heart, why not drink a gallon every night?} | 52 |
