Terms : Hide Images
| 7468062839 | Concession | An acknowledgement that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable. In a strong argument, it is usually accompanied by a refutation challenging the validity of the opposing argument. | 0 | |
| 7468084886 | Polemic | Greek for "hostile". An aggressive argument that tries to establish the superiority of one opinion over all others. | 1 | |
| 7468112848 | Rhetorical Triangle (Aristotelian Triangle) | A diagram that illustrates the interrelationship among the speaker, audience, and subject in determining a text. | 2 | |
| 7468132690 | Ad Hominem | Latin for "to the man," this fallacy refers to the specific diversionary tactic of switching the argument from the issue at hand to the character of the other speaker. | 3 | |
| 7468143017 | Allegory | A figure of speech in which abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of characters, figures and events. It can be employed in prose and poetry to tell a story with a purpose of teaching an idea and a principle or explaining an idea or principle. The objective of its use is to preach some kind of a moral lesson. | 4 | |
| 7468151649 | Alliteration | Repetition of the same sound beginning several words or syllables in sequence. | 5 | |
| 7468157097 | Allusion | Brief reference to a person, event, or place (real or fictitious) or to a work of art. | 6 | |
| 7468162332 | Ambiguity | The quality of being open to more than one interpretation; uncertainty. | 7 | |
| 7468162333 | Analogy | A comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things. It often uses something simple or familiar to explain something unfamiliar or complex. | 8 | |
| 7468164799 | Anecdote | A brief story used to illustrate a point or claim. | 9 | |
| 7468164800 | Antecedent | A literary device in which a word or pronoun in a line or sentence refers to an earlier word. Ex: "Marcus put his book on the table." | 10 | |
| 7468167097 | Antithesis | Opposition, or contrast, of ideas or words in a parallel construction. Ex: "We shall... support any friend, oppose any foe..." | 11 | |
| 7468171596 | Aphorism | A statement of truth or opinion expressed in a concise and witty manner. This term is often applied to philosophical, moral and literary principles. | 12 | |
| 7468171597 | Apostrophe | When a writer or speaker in a literary work speaks to an object, an idea, or someone who doesn't exist as if it is a living person. | 13 | |
| 7468173697 | Atmosphere | The feeling, emotion, or mood a writer conveys to a reader through the description of setting and objects. | 14 | |
| 7468173698 | Caricature | A device used in descriptive writing and visual arts where particular aspects of a subject are exaggerated to create a silly or comic effect. | 15 | |
| 7468177020 | Chiasmus | A rhetorical device in which a sentence or phrase is followed by a sentence or phrase that reverses the structure and order of the first one. Ex: "Her life was full of children, and her children full of life." | 16 | |
| 7468177021 | Clause | A combination of words within a sentence that is comprised of a subject and a predicate. | 17 | |
| 7468179729 | Colloquialism | The use of informal words, phrases, or even slang in a piece of writing. | 18 | |
| 7468179730 | Conceit | A comparison between two very unlike things, whose dissimilarity is very obvious. Ex: "Marriage is like getting a root canal." | 19 | |
| 7468183348 | Connotation | Meanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition, or denotation. They are often positive or negative, and they often greatly affect the author's tone. Ex: That cat is plump. That cat is fat. That cat obese. | 20 | |
| 7468183349 | Denotation | The literal or dictionary definition of a word. | 21 | |
| 7468185337 | Diction | A speaker's choice of words. | 22 | |
| 7468185338 | Didactic | A type of literature that is written to instruct the reader, especially morally. | 23 | |
| 7468187714 | Euphemism | A polite or mild word or expression used to refer to something embarrassing, taboo, or unpleasant. | 24 | |
| 7468187715 | Extended Metaphor | A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph, or lines in a poem. It is often comprised of more than one sentence, and sometimes consists of a full paragraph. | 25 | |
| 7468191624 | Figurative Language | Nonliteral language, sometimes referred to as tropes or metaphorical language, often evoking strong imagery, figures of speech often compare one thing to another explicitly (simile) or implicitly (metaphor). | 26 | |
| 7468191625 | Figure of Speech | A phrase or word having different meanings than its literal meanings. It conveys meaning by identifying or comparing one thing to another, which has connotation or meaning familiar to the audience. That is why it is helpful in creating vivid rhetorical effect. | 27 | |
| 7468194713 | Generic Conventions | The features shown by texts that allow them to be put into a specific genre. For example almost all Westerns use the Iconography of cowboy hats, six shooters, horses and spurs to place them in their genre. | 28 | |
| 7468194714 | Genre | The type of art, literature or music characterized by a specific form, content and style. | 29 | |
| 7468196590 | Homily | A religious sermon or speech that is intended to provide spiritual education, or any moral lessons that are being imparted, especially when being imparted or taught in a tedious way. | 30 | |
| 7468196591 | Hyperbole | Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic or ironic effect; an overstatement to make a point. | 31 | |
| 7468198523 | Imagery | A description of how something looks, feels, tastes, smells, or sounds. It may use literal or figurative language to appeal to the senses. | 32 | |
| 7468198524 | Infer | To make an educated guess. The speaker does the implying, and the listener does the inferring. You listen closely to someone and guess at things they mean but haven't actually said. You're making deductions — guesses based on logic. | 33 | |
| 7468202110 | Invective | Denotes speech or writing that attacks, insults, or denounces a person, topic, or institution. It involves the use of abusive and negative use of language. | 34 | |
| 7468202111 | Irony | A figure of speech that occurs when a speaker or character says one thing but means something else, or when what is said is the opposite of what is expected, creating a noticeable incongruity. | 35 | |
| 7468203807 | Juxtaposition | Placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences. | 36 | |
| 7468205782 | Logical Fallacy | A potential vulnerability or weakness in an argument. It often arises from a failure to make a logical connection between the claim and the evidence used to support it. | 37 | |
| 7468208308 | Loose Sentence | (Also known as a cumulative sentence) is a sentence that starts with an independent clause or main clause, which is simple and straight, provides main idea, and then adds subordinate elements or modifiers. Ex: The fire alarm went off, making a loud clanging noise, startling everyone, and causing some people to knock over their chairs. | 38 | |
| 7468208309 | Metaphor | Figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as. | 39 | |
| 7468211051 | Metonymy | Figure of speech in which something is represented by another thing that is related to it or emblematic of it. Ex: "The pen is mightier than the sword." | 40 | |
| 7468213051 | Modes of Discourse | Any written or spoken communication. It can also be described as the expression of thought through language. While every act of communication can count as an example of this term, some scholars have broken it down into four primary types: argument, narration, description, and exposition. | 41 | |
| 7468213052 | Mood | The feeling or atmosphere created by a text. | 42 | |
| 7468214879 | Narrative | A report of related events presented to the listeners or readers in words arranged in a logical sequence. A story is taken as a synonym of this term. | 43 | |
| 7468214880 | Onomatopoeia | The figurative term for words that attempt to represent a sound. | 44 | |
| 7468218509 | Oxymoron | A paradox made up of two seemingly contradictory words. Ex: "But this peaceful revolution..." | 45 | |
| 7468218510 | Paradox | A statement or situation that is seemingly contradictory on the surface, but delivers an ironic truth. Ex: "To live outside the law you must be honest." | 46 | |
| 7468220640 | Parallelism | Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses. | 47 | |
| 7468222871 | Parody | An imitation of a particular writer, artist or a genre, exaggerating it deliberately to produce a comic effect. | 48 | |
| 7468222872 | Pathos | Greek for "suffering" or "experience." Speakers appeal to it to emotionally motivate their audience. More specific appeals might play on the audience's values, desires, and hopes, on the one hand, or fears and prejudices, on the other. | 49 | |
| 7468224808 | Pedantic | Someone who is concerned with precision, formalism, accuracy, minute details in order to make an arrogant and ostentatious show of learning. He could be a writer, a character, feelings, tone or words. | 50 | |
| 7468224809 | Periodic Sentence | Sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end. | 51 | |
| 7468227424 | Personification | Attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea. | 52 | |
| 7468227425 | Point of View | The mode of narration that an author employs to let the readers "hear" and "see" what takes place in a story, poem, essay etc. | 53 | |
| 7468231000 | Predicate Adjective | An adjective that follows a linking verb and modifies (i.e., refers back to) the subject of the linking verb. Ex: Lee seems drunk. | 54 | |
| 7468231001 | Predicate Nominative | (Also called a predicate noun) is a word or group of words that completes a linking verb and renames the subject. Ex: John was a policeman. | 55 | |
| 7468233483 | Prose | A form of language that has no formal metrical structure. It applies a natural flow of speech, and ordinary grammatical structure rather than rhythmic structure, such as in the case of traditional poetry. | 56 | |
| 7468847996 | Repetition | A literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer. | 57 | |
| 7468850455 | Rhetoric | The art of finding ways of persuading an audience. | 58 | |
| 7468854880 | Rhetorical Appeal | Rhetorical technique used to persuade an audience by emphasizing what they find most important or compelling. The three major appeals are to ethos (character), logos (reason), and pathos (emotion). | 59 | |
| 7468856654 | Rhetorical Question | Figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer. Ex: "Will you join in that historic effort?" | 60 | |
| 7468863604 | Sarcasm | A literary and rhetorical device that is meant to mock with often satirical or ironic remarks with a purpose to amuse and hurt someone or some section of society simultaneously. | 61 | |
| 7468869051 | Satire | The use of irony or sarcasm to critique society or an individual. | 62 | |
| 7468869052 | Simile | A figure of speech used to explain or clarify an idea by comparing it explicitly to something else, using the words like, as, or as though. | 63 | |
| 7468874214 | Style | The literary element that describes the ways that the author uses words — the author's word choice, sentence structure, figurative language, and sentence arrangement all work together to establish mood, images, and meaning in the text. | 64 | |
| 7468878465 | Subject Complement | A word or phrase that follows a linking verb and describes or identifies the subject. Ex: That pie looks burnt to a cinder. | 65 | |
| 7468882011 | Subordinate Clause | (Dependent clause) a clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence because it does not express a complete thought. | 66 | |
| 7468885305 | Syllogism | A logical structure that uses the major premise and minor premise to reach a necessary conclusion. Ex: Major Premise: Exercise contributes to better health. Minor Premise: Yoga is a type of exercise. Conclusion: Yoga contributes to better health. | 67 | |
| 7468889629 | Symbol | A literary device that contains several layers of meaning, often concealed at first sight, and is representative of several other aspects, concepts or traits than those that are visible in the literal translation alone; Using an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning. | 68 | |
| 7468889630 | Syntax | The arrangement of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. | 69 | |
| 7468897297 | Theme | A main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work, which may be stated directly or indirectly. | 70 | |
| 7468897298 | Thesis | A statement in a non-fiction or a fiction work that a writer intends to support and prove. | 71 | |
| 7468901643 | Tone | A speaker's attitude toward the subject conveyed by the speaker's stylistic and rhetorical choices. | 72 | |
| 7468901644 | Transition | Words and phrases that provide a connection between ideas, sentences and paragraphs. | 73 | |
| 7468906019 | Understatement | A figure of speech in which something is presented as less important, dire, urgent, good, and so on, that it actually is, often for satiric or comical effect. Also called litotes, it is the opposite of hyperbole. | 74 | |
| 7470946340 | Wit | In rhetoric, the use of laughter, humor, irony, and satire in the confirmation or refutation of an argument. | 75 | |
| 7655426456 | Antimetabole | Repetition of words in reverse order. | 76 | |
| 7655434196 | Archaic Diction | Old-fashioned or outdated choice of words. | 77 | |
| 7655447437 | Anaphora | Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines. | 78 | |
| 7655455725 | Asyndeton | Omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words. | 79 | |
| 7655466248 | Hortative Sentence | Sentence that exhorts, urges, entreats, implores, or calls to action. | 80 | |
| 7655478507 | Imperative Sentence | Sentence used to command or enjoin. | 81 | |
| 7655481410 | Inversion | Inverted order of words in a sentence. | 82 | |
| 7655498316 | Synedoche | Figure of speech that uses a part to represent the whole. | 83 | |
| 7655508748 | Zeugma | Use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings. | 84 | |
| 7655558533 | Ad Populum (bandwagon appeal) | This fallacy occurs when evidence boils down to "everybody's doing it, so it must be a good thing to do." | 85 | |
| 7655589263 | Appeal to False Authority | This fallacy occurs when someone who has no expertise to speak on an issue is cited as an authority. | 86 | |
| 7655632895 | Argument | A process of reasoned inquiry; a persuasive discourse resulting in a coherent and considered movement from a claim to a conclusion. | 87 | |
| 7655670877 | Backing | In the Toulmin model, it consists of further assurances or data without which the assumption lacks authority. | 88 | |
| 7655695849 | Begging the Question | A fallacy in which a claim is based on evidence or support that is in doubt. It "begs" a question whether the support itself is sound. | 89 | |
| 7655754673 | Circular Reasoning | A fallacy in which the writer repeats the claim as a way to provide evidence. | 90 | |
| 7655780250 | Claim | Also called an assertion or a proposition, it states the argument's main idea or proposition. This term differs from a topic or subject in that it has to be arguable. | 91 | |
| 7655805661 | Claim of Fact | A claim that asserts something is true or not true. | 92 | |
| 7655847658 | Claim of Policy | A claim that proposes a change. | 93 | |
| 7655856404 | Claim of Value | A claim that argues something is good or bad, right or wrong. | 94 | |
| 7655886441 | Classical Oration | Five-part argument structure used by classical rhetoricians. The five parts are introduction, narration, confirmation, refutation, and conclusion. | 95 | |
| 7655925311 | Introduction (exordium) | Introduces the reader to the subject under discussion. | 96 | |
| 7655938625 | Narration (narratio) | Provides factual information and background material on the subject at hand or establishes why the subject is a problem that needs addressing. | 97 | |
| 7657068657 | Confirmation (confirmatio) | Usually the major part of the text, it includes the proof needed to make the writer's case. | 98 | |
| 7657083264 | Refutation (refutatio) | Addresses the counterargument. It is a bridge between the writer's proof and conclusion. | 99 | |
| 7657094464 | Conclusion (peroratio) | Brings the essay to a satisfying close. | 100 | |
| 7657099268 | Closed Thesis | A statement of the main idea of the argument that also previews the major points the writer intends to make. | 101 | |
| 7657112219 | Deduction | A logical process whereby one reaches a conclusion by starting with a general principle or universal truth and applying it to a specific case. | 102 | |
| 7657146338 | Either/Or (false dilemma) | A fallacy in which the speaker presents two extreme options as the only possible choices. | 103 | |
| 7657156717 | Faulty Analogy | A fallacy that occurs when an analogy compares two things that are not comparable. | 104 | |
| 7657168072 | First-Hand Evidence | Evidence based on something the writer knows, whether it's from personal experience, observations, or general knowledge of events. | 105 | |
| 7657180664 | Hasty Generalization | A fallacy in which a faulty conclusion is reached because of inadequate evidence. | 106 | |
| 7657194141 | Induction | From the Latin inducere "to lead into"; a logical process whereby the writer reasons from particulars to universals, using specific cases in order to draw a conclusion, which is also called a generalization. | 107 | |
| 7657228781 | Open Thesis | A thesis that does not list all the points the writer intends in an essay. | 108 | |
| 7657248346 | Post hoc ergo propter hoc | This fallacy is Latin for "after which therefore because of which," meaning that it is incorrect to always claim that something is a cause just because it happened earlier. | 109 | |
| 7657266410 | Qualifier | In the Toulmin model, it uses words like usually, probably, maybe, in most cases, and most likely to temper the claim, making it less absolute. | 110 | |
| 7662692165 | Quantitative Evidence | Evidence which includes things that can be measured, cited, counted, or otherwise represented in numbers--for instance, statistics, surveys, polls, census information. | 111 | |
| 7662710807 | Rebuttal | In the Toulmin model, it gives voice to possible objections. | 112 | |
| 7662721300 | Reservation | In the Toulmin model, it explains the terms and conditions necessitated by the qualifier. | 113 | |
| 7662732859 | Rogerian Arguments | Developed by psychiatrist Carl Rogers, these arguments are based on the assumption that having a full understanding of an opposing position is essential to responding to it persuasively and refuting it in a way that is accommodating rather than alienating. | 114 | |
| 7662766403 | Second-hand Evidence | Evidence that is accessed through research, reading, and investigation. It includes factual and historical information, expert opinion, and quantitative data. | 115 | |
| 7662785142 | Straw Man | A fallacy that occurs when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an idea. | 116 | |
| 7662819863 | Toulmin Model | An approach to analyzing and constructing arguments created by British philosopher Stephen Toulmin in his book "The Uses of Argument" (1958). | 117 | |
| 7662841352 | Warrant | In the Toulmin model, it expresses the assumption necessarily shared by the speaker and the audience. | 118 |
