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| 7408503148 | ad hominem fallacy | (Latin for "to the man") a fallacy of logic in which a person's character or motive is attacked instead of that person's argument. | 0 | |
| 7408511793 | allegory | a story in which the people, places, and things represent general concepts or moral qualities. | 1 | |
| 7408517037 | allusion | a brief reference to a person, place, event, or passage in a work of literature or the Bible assumed to be sufficiently well known to be recognized by the reader; e.g. "I am Lazarus, come from the dead." T.S. Eliot | 2 | |
| 7408565829 | analogy | a comparison between two things in which the more complex is explained in terms of the more simple; e.g. comparing a year-long profile of the stock index to a roller-coaster ride. | 3 | |
| 7408577731 | anaphora | repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines. | 4 | |
| 7408596535 | anecdote | a short entertaining account of some happening, frequently personal or biographical. | 5 | |
| 7408604306 | appeal to authority/credibility (ethos) | citation of information from people recognized for their special knowledge of a subject for the purpose of strengthening a speaker or writer's arguments. don't forget about appeals to logic (logos) and appeals to emotions (pathos). (see part one of Heinrichs book) | 6 | |
| 7408628426 | argumentation | exploration of a problem by investigating all sides of it; persuasion through reason. | 7 | |
| 7408635961 | asyndeton | conjunctions are omitted, producing a fast-paced and rapid prose. "But, in a larger sense, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground." Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address | 8 | |
| 7408650084 | begging the question | a fallacy of logical argument that assumes as true the very thing that one is trying to prove; e.g. "Murder is morally wrong. So active euthanasia is morally wrong. " The premise that gets left out is "active euthanasia is murder.' | 9 | |
| 7408666055 | cause and effect | examination of the causes and/or effects of a situation or phenomenon;e.g. Essay topics such as "how did the incumbent mayor lose the election?" or "what causes obesity?" are well suited to cause and effect exposition. | 10 | |
| 7408678402 | classification as a means of ordering | arrangement of objects according to class: e.g. media classified as print, television, and radio. | 11 | |
| 7408684857 | colloquial expression | words and phrases used in everyday speech but avoided in formal writing; e.g. Jack was bummed out about chemistry grade instead of Jack was upset about his chemistry grade. | 12 | |
| 7408693350 | concession | when you show an audience that you have anticipated potential opposition and objections, and have an answer for them, you defuse the audience's ability to oppose you and persuade them to accept your point of view. If there are places where you agree with your apposition, conceding their points creates goodwill and respect without weakening your thesis. | 13 | |
| 7408715755 | connotation | the set of associations implies by a word in addition to its literal meaning. | 14 | |
| 7445799183 | deduction (deductive reasoning) | a form of reasoning that begins with a generalization, then applies the generalization to a specific case or cases;opposite to induction. | 15 | |
| 7445917832 | denotation | the literal meaning of a word, the dictionary meaning. Opposite of connotation. | 16 | |
| 7445944624 | diction | a writer's choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language, which combine to help create meaning. | 17 | |
| 7445979004 | didactic | tone word; instructional, designed to teach an ethical, moral, or religious lesson. | 18 | |
| 7445998887 | digression | a temporary departure from the main subject in speaking or writing. | 19 | |
| 7446022550 | elegiac | tone word; Of, relating to, or involving elegy or mourning or expressing sorrow for that which is irrecoverably past. | 20 | |
| 7446046838 | epigraph | a quotation set at the beginning of a literary work or one of its divisions to suggest its theme. | 21 | |
| 7446070102 | euphemism | the use of a word or a phrase that is less direct, but that is also less distasteful or less offensive than another; e.g. "he is at rest" is a euphemism for "he is dead." | 22 | |
| 7446115727 | expository writing | writing that explains or analyzes | 23 | |
| 7446128370 | false dilemma | the either-or fallacy, either-or reasoning, fallacy of false choice, fallacy of false alternatives, black-and-white thinking, the fallacy of exhaustive hypotheses, bifurcation, excluded middle, no middle ground, polarization) | 24 | |
| 7446166798 | figurative language/figures of speech | language used to create a special effect or feeling; most commonly alliteration, hyperbole, metaphor, etc. | 25 | |
| 7446185581 | hyperbole | an extravagant exaggeration of fact, used either for serious or comic effect; e.g. | 26 | |
| 7446199866 | inductive reasoning | a form of reasoning which works from a body of fact to the formulation of a generalization; opposite to deduction; frequently used as the principal form of reasoning in science and history. | 27 | |
| 7446428297 | invective | of, relating to, or characterized by insult or abuse. | 28 | |
| 7446441675 | inverted syntax | reversing the normal word order of a sentence; e.g. "whose woods these are i think i know." Robert Frost | 29 | |
| 7446463778 | irony | a method of humorous or sarcastic expression in which the intended meaning of the words is the opposite of their usual meaning; e,g, saying that a cold, windy, rainy day is "lovely" | 30 | |
| 7446503588 | juxtaposition | placing two or more things side by side for comparison or contrast | 31 | |
| 7446548611 | litotes | in rhetoric, a figure in which an affirmative is expressed by a negation of the contrary. A "citizen of no mean city" is, therefore, "a citizen of an important or famous city." (a type of understatement) | 32 | |
| 7458993059 | metaphor | a figure of speech in which one thing is compared to another by being spoken of as though it were that thing; e.g."a sea of troubles." William Bradford, The History of Plymouth Plantation | 33 | |
| 7459023485 | metonymy | a figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing of for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated. e.g. He is a man of the cloth. or the penis mightier than the sword. | 34 | |
| 7459090209 | mood | the feeling apiece of literature arouses in the reader. | 35 | |
| 7459095108 | motif | a recurring thematic element, especially a dominant idea or central theme. If you have a number, three is the magic number before something can be a motif. | 36 | |
| 7459151227 | non sequitur | a statement that does not follow logically from what preceded it. | 37 | |
| 7459167748 | oxymoron | a figure of speech in which contradictory terms or ideas are combined; e.g. "thunderous silence." | 38 | |
| 7459184526 | parable | a short story from which a lesson may be drawn; Christ used the parable of the sower and the Good Samaritan are examples of his parables. | 39 | |
| 7459211271 | parallelism | using the same part of speech or syntactic structure in (1) each element of a series, (2) before and after coordinating conjunctions (and, but, yet, or, for, nor), and (3) after each of a pair of correlative conjunctions (not only...but also, neither...nor, both... and, etc.). Below are examples for definitions (1) and (3): (1) over the hill through the woods, and to grandmother's house we go (3) that vegetable is both rich in vitamins and low in calories. | 40 | |
| 7459458541 | paradox | a statement which seems self-contradictory, but which may be true in fact. "success is counted sweetest/ By those who ne'er succeed..." Emily Dickerson | 41 | |
| 7459487609 | parody | a literary composition which imitates the characteristic style of a serious work or writer and uses its features to treat trivial, nonsensical material in an attempt at humor or satire. | 42 | |
| 7459523057 | personification | a figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstract concept is endowed with human attributes; e.g. the hand of fate. | 43 | |
| 7459549589 | periodic sentence structure | a sentence written so that the full meaning cannot be understood until the end; e.g. across the stream, beyond the clearing, form behind a fallen tree, the lion emerged. | 44 | |
| 7459598010 | point of view | the way that something is viewed by one or more people. | 45 | |
| 7459598011 | polysyndeton | the use of many conjunctions has the effect of slowing the pace or emphasizing the numerous words or clauses. "We lived and laughed and loved and left." James Joyce or "Let the whitefolks have their money and power and segregation and sarcasm. and big houses and schools and lawns like carpets, and books, and mostly--mostly--let them have their whiteness." Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings | 46 | |
| 7459604874 | post hoc fallacy | (from the Latin: post hoc, ergo propter hoc meaning 'after this, therefore because of this.") This fallacy of logic occurs when the writer assumes that an incident that precedes another is the cause of the second incident. For example: "Governor X began his first term in january. Three months later, the state suffered severe economic depression. Therefore, Governor X causes the states depression." The chronological order of events does not establish a cause-effect relationship. | 47 | |
| 7459604875 | pun | a humorous play on words | 48 | |
| 7459609508 | rhetoric | the art of using words effectively in writing or speaking so as to influence or persuade | 49 | |
| 7459612061 | rhetorical question | a question asked for rhetorical effect to emphasize a point, no answer being expected; e.g. "Robert, is this any way to speak to your mother?" | 50 | |
| 7459612062 | sarcasm | a type of irony in which a person appears to praise something but actually insults it; its purpose is to injure or hurt. | 51 | |
| 7459620469 | satire | a literary work in which vices, abuses, absurdities, etc. are held up to ridicule and contempt; use of ridicule, sarcasm, irony, etc. to expose vices, abuse, etc. | 52 | |
| 7459624110 | simile | a figure of speech involving a comparison using like or as; e.g. "O my love is like a red, red rose." Robert Burns | 53 | |
| 7459635257 | stream of consciousness | technique that records the thoughts and feelings of a character without regard to logical argument or narrative sequence; reflects all the forces, internal and external, affecting the character's psyche at the moment. | 54 | |
| 7459635258 | syllogism | a form of reasoning in which two statements or premises are made and a logical conclusion is drawn from them; a form of deductive reasoning. Example: Major Premise: J and G Construction builds unsafe buildings Minor Premise: J and G Construction built the Tower Hotel. Conclusion: The Tower Hotel is an unsafe building. (see deduction) | 55 | |
| 7459639242 | symbol | something stands for another thing; frequently an object used to represent an abstraction, e.g. the dove is a symbol of peace. | 56 | |
| 7459639243 | synecdoche | a type of metonymy, it is the rhetorical substitution of a part for the whole. "Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6 "The US won three gold medals." instead of the members of the US boxing team won three gold medals. | 57 | |
| 7459644435 | syntax | in grammar, the arrangement of words as elements in a sentence to show their relationship. | 58 | |
| 7459644436 | tone | author's attitude toward the subject matter; the tone may be angry, matter-of-fact, pedantic, ironic, etc. | 59 | |
| 7459655579 | understatement | deliberately representing something as much less than it really is. Jonathon Swift wrote, "last week i saw a woman flayed, and you will hardly believe how much it altered her appearance." | 60 | |
| 7459655580 | vernacular | the characteristic language of a particular group (see also colloquialism); often slang or informal. | 61 | |
| 7459658520 | wit | a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter (see also parody, pun, satire). | 62 |
