Unit 1 Course Vocabulary

Flashcards providing definitions for the Unit 1 course vocabulary list covering literary devices, essay forms, research practices, and critical concepts.

essayette / micro essay

An extremely short essay, often under 1,000 words, that closely examines a single idea, image, moment, or question.

auto-referential vs. self-referential

Auto-referential describes a work that refers directly to itself or its own construction, while self-referential broadly describes a text, narrator, or subject that refers to oneself or reflects back on its own identity.

memoir

A form of autobiographical creative nonfiction focused on specific memories, themes, or personal experiences from the author's life.

autofiction

A genre of writing that blurs autobiography and fiction, typically featuring the author as a protagonist or narrator within a fictionalized narrative.

symbol

A literary device in which a concrete object, character, or event represents a larger, abstract concept or meaning.

motif

A recurring element, image, phrase, or theme that appears throughout a work to reinforce a central idea or mood.

conceit

An elaborate, extended, and often surprising metaphor that compares two vastly different things over the course of a text.

diction

An author's specific choice and use of words and vocabulary in speech or writing.

syntax

The arrangement and ordering of words, phrases, and clauses to form sentences and create meaning, rhythm, or emphasis.

tone

The attitude, mood, or emotional perspective conveyed by a writer toward their subject, characters, or audience.

jargon

Specialized terminology, idioms, or technical vocabulary used by a particular profession, field, or group that is difficult for outsiders to understand.

vignette

A brief, evocative scene or descriptive passage that captures a single impression, character, or setting without a full plot structure.

block quotation

A long quotation set apart from the main text body as an indented block, typically formatted without quotation marks.

partial quotation

A citation method that selects specific words or short phrases from a source and weaves them directly into the writer's own grammatical sentence.

paraphrase

Restating information, ideas, or arguments from a source using one's own words while preserving the original meaning.

citational praxis

The deliberate, ethical, and political practice of choosing who to cite, acknowledging intellectual lineages, and evaluating how citations shape discourse.

knowledge production

The social, institutional, and intellectual processes through which ideas, research, and theories are created, validated, and circulated.

social reproduction

The ongoing social, cultural, and material processes through which societal systems, hierarchies, and cultural values are maintained and transmitted over time.

hermit crab form

An essay or piece of writing that adopts an existing, non-literary shell or format (such as an obituary, syllabus, recipe, or instruction manual) to contain its narrative.

epistolary form

A literary structure composed through a series of letters, diary entries, emails, or other direct correspondence.

travelogue

A piece of writing or narrative account documenting an author's journeys, travels, places visited, and cultural observations.

intertextuality

The relationship, dialogue, and interconnectedness between texts, including references, allusions, and borrowings that shape a reader's interpretation.