ap random literary terms and rhetorical tools Flashcards

249618370	ad hominem	-Attacking the person instead of the argument proposed by that individual. -An argument directed to the personality, prejudices, previous words and actions of an opponent rather than an appeal to pure reason. -An argument that appeals to the prejudices of the audience and thus strays from the topic. -Latin for "against the man."	0
249618371	adverbial phrases	A group of words that modifies, as a single unit, a verb, verb form, adjective or another adverb.	1
249618372	allegory	-A fiction or nonfiction narrative, in which characters, things, and events represent qualities, moral values, or concepts. -Playing out of the narrative is designed to reveal an abstraction or truth.	2
249618373	allusion	A reference, explicit or indirect, to a person, place, or event, or to another literary work or passage.	3
249618374	analogy	-A comparison to a directly parallel case, arguing that a claim reasonable for one case is reasonable for the analogous case. -A comparison made between two things that may initially seem to have little in common but can offer fresh insights when compared. -Used for illustration and/or argument.	4
249618375	anaphora	-Repetition of a word, phrase or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. -Deliberate form of repetition to reinforce point or to make it more coherent.	5
249618376	anecdote	A brief recounting of a relevant episode.	6
249618377	anticlimax	-Denotes a writer's intentional drop from the serious and elevated to the trivial and lowly, in order to achieve a comic or satiric effect. -An event (as at the end of a series) that is strikingly less important than what has preceded it. -The transition towards this ending.	7
249618378	antithesis	A balancing of two opposite or contrasting words, phrases or clauses.	8
249618379	aphorism	Pithy statement of a maxim, an opinion, or a general truth.	9
249618380	appositive	Nonessential word groups (phrases and clauses) that follow nouns and identify or explain them.	10
249618381	archetype	-Meaning: model, example, standard, original, classic. -Elemental patterns of ritual, mythology and folklore that recur in the legends, ceremonies and stories of the most diverse cultures. -In literature, applies to narrative designs, character types, or images which are said to be identifiable in a wide variety of works of literature, as well as myths, and even ritualized modes of social behavior.	11
249618382	assonance	Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words, usually with different consonant sounds either before or after the same vowel sounds.	12
249618383	asyndeton	Sentence where commas are used with no conjunctions to separate a series of words.	13
249618384	bathos	-A sudden drop from the sublime or elevated to the ludicrous. -Another word for anticlimax.	14
249618385	bombast	Adopted to signify verbose and inflated diction that is disproportionate to the matter it expresses.	15
249618386	bowdlerize	Means to expurgate from a work any passages considered indecent or indelicate.	16
249618387	chiasmus	Arrangement of repeated thoughts in the pattern of X Y Y X.	17
249618388	coin a verb	To "____ _ ____" is to "invent a verb."	18
249618389	common knowledge	Shared beliefs or assumptions between the reader and the audience.	19
249618390	truism	A self-evident, obvious truth, especially one too obvious to mention.	20
249618391	consonance	Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.	21
249618392	conventional	Following certain conventions, or traditional techniques of writing.	22
249618393	deconstruction	A critical approach that debunks single definitions of meaning based upon the instability of language.	23
249618394	deconstructionist	Reexamines literary conventions in light of the belief that because of the instability of language, the text has already dismantled itself.	24
249618395	diacope	Repetition of a word with one or more in-between, usually to express deep feeling.	25
249618396	diatribe	-Archaic meaning: a prolonged discourse. -A bitter and abusive speech or writing. -Ironical or satirical criticism.	26
249618397	diction	word choice	27
249618398	didactic	-Fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking. -Designed to expound a branch of theoretical, moral, or practical knowledge, or else to instantiate, in an impressive and persuasive imaginative or fictional form, a moral, religious, or philosophical theme or doctrine.	28
249618399	double entendre	The term is used to indicate a word or phrase that is deliberately ambiguous, especially when one of the meanings is risqué or improper.	29
249618400	either-or reasoning	Reducing an argument or issue to two polar opposites and ignoring any alternatives.	30
249618401	emotional appeal	-Appealing to the emotions of the reader in order to excite and involve them in the argument. -Makes use of pathos: the quality in an experience, narrative, literary work, etc., which arouses profound feelings of compassion or sorrow.	31
249618402	epic simile	-Formal and sustained similes that are developed far beyond its specific points of parallel to the primary subject. -Primary subject is called "tenor." -Secondary subject (the simile) is called "vehicle."	32
249618403	epigraph	A quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of the theme of the fiction or nonfiction text.	33
249618404	aphorism	A short clever saying parting truth.	34
249618405	epigram	-Originally, in Greek, _____ meant "an inscription." -Extended to encompass a very short poem whether amorous (sexual love), elegiac (longing for the past), meditative (contemplative), anecdotal (description, story, episode), or satiric (witty, sarcasm). -Poem is polished, condensed, and pointed, often with a witty end. In other words, it is pithy. -Essayists sometimes cite another writer's ______, by first setting the _____ off within the body of the essay, and then by reacting to the insightful content of the _____ as the essay continues.	35
249618406	epiphany	An instance or moment of revelation.	36
249618407	epithet	Denotes an adjective or adjectival phrase used to define the special quality of a person or thing.	37
249618408	equivoque	Special type of pun that makes use of a single word or phrase which has two disparate meanings, in a context which makes both meanings equally relevant.	38
249618409	ethical appeal	-When a writer tries to persuade the audience to respect him or her based upon a presentation of self through the text. -Reputation of the author is often a factor in ________ _________s. -Regardless of the topic or over-all purpose of the essay, the _________ _______ is always done to gain the audience's confidence.	39
249618410	ethos	-Etymology: Greek, ____, meaning "moral character, nature, disposition, habit, custom." -A person's character or disposition. -The ethical basis for an argument in an essay; the authority of the author; the credibility of the author; the good will of the author. -The characteristic spirit or prevalent tone of a people or a community or that of the author in an essay. -The essential identity of an institution or system or a written work. -Ideal excellence; nobler than reality.	40
249618411	euphemism	Has come to mean: to speak well in the place of the blunt, disagreeable, terrifying or offensive term.	41
249618412	exigency	-A pressing or urgent situation for the author. -That which is moving the author to write the essay; the power behind the tone, purpose, point of view in the essay.	42
249618413	exposition	Background information provided by author to enhance the audience's understanding of the context of a fiction or nonfiction story.	43
249618414	freight-train	Sentence consisting three or more very short independent clauses joined by conjunctions.	44
249618415	hyperbole	A bold overstatement or extravagant expression of fact, used for serious or comic effect.	45
249618416	imagery	-Use of images, especially in a pattern of related images, often figurative, to create a strong, unified sensory impression. -Use of sensory details to create images that support the theme of the essay.	46
249618417	inversion	-Variation of the normal word order (subject, verb, complement) which puts the verb or complement at the head of the sentence. -The sentence element appearing first is emphasized more than the subject that is buried in the sentence.	47
249618418	verbal irony	Might be simple reversal of literal meanings of words spoken or more complex, subtle, indirect and unobtrusive messages that require the collection of hints from within the text.	48
249618419	structural irony	Instead of using occasional verbal irony, the author introduces a structural feature which serves to sustain duplicity of meaning.	49
249618420	dramatic irony	Involves a situation in a play or narrative in which the audience shares with the author knowledge of which the character is ignorant.	50
249618421	situational irony	When the writer shows a discrepancy between the expected results of some action or situation and it actual results.	51
249618422	litotes	Assertion of an affirmative by negating its contrary.	52
249618423	logos	The embodied thought, the logic, including the evidence and the reasons, for the tone, purpose and point of view of the author in the essay written.	53
249618424	melodramatic redundancy	Unnecessary repetition that is exaggerated, sensational and overly dramatic.	54
249618425	metaphor	A figure of speech that compares two things directly which are basically dissimilar.	55
249618426	metonymy	A figure of speech where the term for one thing is applied for another with which it has become closely associated in experience, or where a part represents the whole.	56
249618427	monologue	A long speech by one person; a dramatic speech by one actor.	57
249618428	mood	The atmosphere in the text created by the author's tone towards the subject.	58
249618429	naturalistic novel	Extended fictional narrative that centers upon nature and excluding supernatural or spiritual elements, with special attention to effects of environment and heredity on human nature and action.	59
249618430	new journalism	Features author's subjective responses to people and events covered in essay.	60
249618431	novel	extended fictional narrative that allows greater complication of plot and more subtle examinations of character.	61
249618432	novelette/novella	Fictional narrative of middle length	62
249618433	oxymoron	A figure of speech in which two contradictory words are placed side-by-side for effect.	63
249618434	paean	Any song of joy, praise or triumph.	64
249618435	paradox	A statement that reveals a kind of truth, although it seems at first to be self-contradictory and untrue.	65
249618436	parallelism	Sentence construction which places in close proximity two or more equal grammatical constructions.	66
249618437	parody	-Imitates the serious materials and manner of a particular work, or the characteristic style of a particular author, and applies it to a lowly or grossly discordant subject. -An exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes.	67
249618438	pathos	The emotional appeal in an essay.	68
249618439	periodic	Sentence that places the main idea or central complete thought at the end of the sentence, after all introductory elements.	69
249618440	polysyndeton	Sentence that uses "and" or other conjunctions multiple times with no commas to separate items in a series.	70
249618441	post hoc, ergo propter hoc	When a writer implies that because one thing follows another, the first caused the second.	71
249618442	pun	A play on words that are either identical in sound (homonyms) or similar in sound, but are sharply diverse in meaning.	72
249618443	purple patch	Signifies a sudden heightening of rhythm, diction, and figurative language that makes a section of verse or prose—especially a descriptive passage—stand out from its context.	73
249618444	red herring	When a writer raises an irrelevant issue to draw attention away from the real issue.	74
249618445	refrain	A line, or part of a line, or a group of lines which is repeated in the course of a poem or an essay.	75
249618446	refutation	The art of mustering relevant opposing arguments.	76
249618447	rhetoric	The art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse.	77
249618448	sarcasm	-In rhetorical discussions, it is better to restrict the term to obvious praise or dispraise. -________ is a form of verbal irony.	78
249618449	satire	Text that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way.	79
249618450	sentimentalism	-What is perceived as an excess of emotion to an occasion. -In a more limited sense, refers to overindulgence in the "tender" emotions of pathos and sympathy.	80
249618451	signal words	Words in an essay that alert the reader to a change in tone, direction, section, or category.	81
249618452	simile	A figure of speech, comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of a specific word of comparison (like, as, or than, for example).	82
249618453	straw man	-Argues against a claim that nobody actually holds or is universally considered weak. -Diverts attention away from the real issues.	83
249618454	style	The choices in diction, tone, syntax that a writer makes.	84
249618455	syllogism	A form of argument or reasoning, consisting of two premises and a conclusion.	85
249618456	symbol	An object, place, setting, prop, event or person that represents or stands for some idea or event.	86
249618457	synecdoche	A part of something is used to signify the whole.	87
249618458	syntactic fluency	Ability to create a variety of sentence structures, appropriately complex and/or simple and varied in length.	88
249618459	syntactic permutation	Sentence structures that are extraordinarily complex and involved.	89
249618460	tautology	-A repetition of the same statement. -The repetition, within the immediate context, of the same word or phrase or the same meaning in different words; usually as a fault of style.	90
249618461	theme	Central idea of a work of fiction or nonfiction; an opinion developed.	91
249618462	tone	Author's attitude toward subject matter as revealed through style, syntax, diction, figurative language, and organization.	92
249618463	tricolon	Sentence consisting of three parts of equal importance and length.	93
249618464	verisimilitude	The achievement of an illusion of reality in the audience.	94