Have to know before Sept 14
asyndeton
leaves out a conjunction between a list for effect.
Ex. He was tall, dark, handsome.
conduplicatio
it takes an important word from anywhere in the statement and repeats it again.
Ex. The law destroys the fruits of thirty years of struggle bringing us back to a sadder time. Law should build up not tear down.
understatement
intentionally giving a lesser description.
Ex. I did NOTHING at school today.
hyperbole
extreme exaggeration
antithesis
contrasting any of the parts of a statement
Ex. The love that was once an oasis is now a barren desert.
hypophora
asking a question and then answering it
Ex. Why am I putting more police officers on the street? Their presence prevents crime.
rhetorical question
asking a question and the answer is implied
Ex. How can we expect a man to give more than we ourselves are willing to give?
procatalepsis
stating something and then objecting to the statement as if the speaker anticipates the audience’s concerns
allusion
a reference to a well-known event, place, or person
Ex. He hammered the ball the way Babe Ruth did.
eponym
referring to a specific famous person to compare his or her attributes to someone else.
exemplum
providing the reader an example to prove your point
Ex. The U.S. government gives its citizens freedoms; one illustration of this is that we have the right to criticize our leaders.
anadiplosis
takes the last word of a sentence or phrase and repeats next to the beginning of the next sentence or phrase.
Ex. In education we find the measure of our own ignorance; in ignorance we find the meaning of wisdom.
aphorism
a short statement that gives an observation about life
Ex. A stitch in time saves nine
idiom
a statement that makes no literal sense but has a meaning you understand
Ex. The old man is over the hill.
Ex. falling in love
paradox
a statement that seems self-contradictory but later reveals a truth
Ex. Much madness is the divinest sense
anecdote
a brief story meant to prove a point
personification
giving things human characteristics
aporia
a device a writer uses to express doubt about an idea; it can also be used to show the many sides of an argument.
EX. I'm unsure whether to be in favor of the death penalty or not as the arguments to both sides seem strong.
amplification
writers repeat something they just said while adding more detail
EX. It was a cold day, a wicked day, a day of biting winds and bitter frost.
parataxis
a series of clauses without correct punctuation
Ex. I came, I saw, I conquered.
synecdoche
using a part of something instead of referring to the whole
ex. The rancher boasted about how many head of cattle he had.
ex. The captain needed all hands on deck.
metonymy
referring to something closely related to the actual object, person, or thing
ex. The White House made a last minute decision.
ex. The brass showed up to take witness statements.
hyperbaton
arrange words in a sentence in an unexpected order (word inversion)
ex. Intentions profit nothing; only promises kept matter.
Transcendentalism
A 19th-century idealistic philosophical and social movement that taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity.
Romanticism
an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1840. The movement valued feeling over reason.
zeugma
a device in which unexpected items in a sentence are linked together by shared words.
Ex. The runner lost the race and then lost his scholarship.
Ex. He ran hundreds of miles and then ran out of time.
didactic
its primary goal is to teach the reader a lesson
ex. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
Ex. Paul's letters in the Bible.
genre
type or kind
motif
recurring images, symbols, themes, or characters
Denotation
a word’s literal meaning
Connotation
the association evoked by words beyond its literal meaning. It reflects broad cultural associations (ethos)
logos
rhetorical appeal focusing on logic
ethos
rhetorical appeal focusing on ethics (what is accepted among people who live in same time and place)
pathos
rhetorical appeal focusing on emotions
Allegory
type of narrative that has two levels of meaning: surface and deeper.
Ambiguity
result of something being stated in such a way that its meaning cannot be determined definitely.
Syntax
the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language
Linguistics
the science of language
the study of the rules for the formation of grammatical sentences in a language.
the study of the patterns of formation of sentences and phrases from words.
the rules or patterns so studied: English syntax.
dissemination
as in "of ideas" to scatter; to disperse or spread
jargon
language used by a particular group (teachers saying we are giving a TLI or a Chunk Test or referring to an "AYP."
discourse
1. thoughts, statements, or dialogue of individuals especially characters in a literary work.
2. the language in which a subject or area of knowledge is discussed.
catharsis (noun) cathartic (adjective)
the emotional effect a drama has on its audience/ the purging of emotions or relieving emotional tensions especially through certain kinds of art like drama and music
epiphany
insight or revelation gained when one suddenly understands
epitaph
an inscription on a tomb to commemorate the deceased
sententia
fancy term for a quotation of life saying
maxim
wise saying
analogy
a comparison of the similar characteristics of two unlike things
antagonist
character who opposes protagonist
apostrophe
addressing or speaking to some abstract quality or non-human entity
archetype
story or pattern repeated from generation to generation
i.e. searching for the fountain of youth, selling your soul to the devil,
assonance
repetition of vowel sounds
colloquial
language that is informal or familiar to a group of people
consonance
where a poet repeats the identical consonant sounds typically in the last syllable of words
doppelganger
a German phrase that asserts that for each person there exists an exact replica, a shadow image.
elegy
a poem that reflects upon death
enjambment
occurs when a poet continues the grammatical sentence into the next line
epanalepsis
repetition of the beginning at the end of a clause or sentence
i.e. Blood hath brought blood, and blows have answered blows.
hubris
a Greek term that means excessive pride
juxtaposition
the placement of items close together often for purposes of contrasting or comparison
stance
attitude author has toward the audience
chiasmus (a.k.a inverted parallelism)
a figure of speech in which a grammatical structure is repeated but in inverse order/ a reversal of ideas expressed in parallel clauses or phrases.
i.e. Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
situational irony
contrast between what you think will happen and what actually happens
dramatic irony
the audience knows something the characters do not
verbal irony
contrast between what is stated and what is meant
pedantic
overly concerned in one's learning
euphemism
substitution of words that sound not as harsh (example-- He "passed away" instead of he "died."
anachronism
something or someone not in correct time period (dinging clock in Julius Caesar).
colloquialism
informal speech or expression "I wasn't born yesterday."
invective
insulting or abusive words or expressions
discernible
distinguishable
ambiguity
unclear; doubtful
nostalgic
sentimental yearning for the happiness felt in a former time, place or situation.
simile
comparing two things to clarify how they are alike...uses words like or as
metaphor
comparing two things without using like or as
red herring
meant to deter or throw off readers or speakers/ occurs when the writer creates a distraction
exordium
Latin word for beginning/ introduction to an essay
peroratio
brings the essay to a close
claim
assertion or proposition
claim of fact
asserts if something is true or not true
claim of value
argues if something is good or bad
claim of policy
proposing a change
closed thesis
statement of the main idea of the argument that ALSO previews the major points the writer tends to make
open thesis
the main idea of an argument but does not list all the points the writer intends to cover
counterargument thesis statement
this statement usually contains an although or a but BEFORE the writer's opinion
ex. Although the Harry Potter series may have some literary merit, its popularity has to do less with storytelling and more with merchandising
logical fallacies
potential weaknesses in an argument
fallacies of relevance
using evidence that is not relevant to the claim
ad hominem
tactic of switching from the topic at hand to attacking the CHARACTER of the other speaker
fallacies of accuracy
using information that is inaccurate (straw man fallacy- using an oversimplified example in order to ridicule an opponent's view
ex. Candidate A wants continue to fund space exploration. Candidate B mocks him for "looking for little green men."
fallacies of insufficiency
hasty generalizations/ not enough evidence to support/ circular reasoning is repeating bad evidence resulting in no evidence at all
satire
the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues in order to raise awareness or to bring about change; Â ridiculing something in an attempt to bring about change or to raise awareness.
warrant
the general, hypothetical and often implicit logical statements that serve as bridges between the claim and the data
qualifier
statements that limit the strengths of the argument or statements that propose the conditions under which the argument is true
rebuttal
counter arguments or statements indicating circumstances when the general argument does not hold true
backing
statements that serve to support the warrants
syllogism
a logical structure that uses major premise and minor premise to reach a necessary
Rogerian arguments
based on the assumption that having a full understanding of an opposing position is essential to refuting it in a way that is accommodating rather than alienating.
post hoc ergo propter hoc
(italicize foreign words or underline them when you use them in your writing)
correlation does not imply causation/ incorrect to claim that something is a cause just because it happened earlier
bathos
insincere pathos
ad populum
bandwagon appeal
SOAPStone
subject, occasion, audience, purpose, speaker, tone Be able to write out and explain each.