APLANG summer assignment

abstract language: language that refers to things that are intangible and perceived through the mind (e.g., love, beauty, peace, etc.)

active voice: the type of voice where the subject of the sentence performs the action

allusion: an indirect or brief reference to a well-known person, event, story, etc.; this reference can be literary, historical, religious, mythological, etc.

analogy: a comparison of two things (that are similar in some way) which helps to explain something complex by comparing it to something more simple

anaphora: repeating a word or set of words (phrase) at the beginning of successive phrases, sentences, or paragraphs

anthropomorphism: a type of personification that gives human characteristics to inanimate objects and (especially) animals

antithesis: two contrasting ideas are juxtaposed through parallel structure

aphorism: a brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life.

Ex. "Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late."

argumentation: writing that attempts to prove the validity of a point of view or an idea by presenting reasoned arguments

asyndeton: when an author deliberately leaves out conjunctions usually to emphasize a point or add drama

audience: the listener, viewer, or reader of a text

bombast: pompous or pretentious talk or writing; impressive but meaningless language

circumlocution: talking in circles; an indirect way of expressing something; trying to avoid a subject

colloquialism: a word or phrase (including slang) used in everyday conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing (e.g., y'all, ain't)

compare and contrast: discussing the similarities and differences between two things to further some persuasive or illustrative purpose

concrete language: language that refers to tangible things that can be described using the five senses

connotation: an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal meaning or dictionary definition

counterargument: the argument(s) against the author's position

deductive reasoning: a form of logical reasoning where you start with a few general ideas, called premises, and apply them to a specific situation; recognized rules, laws, theories, and other widely accepted truths are used to prove that a conclusion is right (includes syllogism) (if A=B and C=A, then B=C)

dehumanization: degrading people and making them appear as less than human, usually done to villainize an enemy

denotation: the dictionary definition of a word

diction: a writer's or speaker's choice of words

eponym: a person after whom a discovery, invention, place, etc. is named or thought to be named; (e.g., the Elizabethan era was named for Queen Elizabeth I)

ethos: a rhetorical appeal in which the author seeks to establish someone or something's credibility or trustworthiness (Aristotelian appeal)

euphemism: an indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

exigence: an issue, problem, or situation that causes or prompts someone to speak or write; it is also sometimes referred to as the occasion

exposition: a type of writing that is intended to explain or give background information

extended metaphor: a metaphor developed at great length or detail, occurring throughout paragraphs or a text

figurative language: language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to express ideas in fresh, imaginative ways (e.g., metaphors, similes, hyperbole, etc.)

hyperbole: an exaggeration (sometimes an extreme one)

hypophora: when an author/speaker poses a question to the audience, but then answers it immediately

imagery: descriptions that appeal to one or more of the five senses to create a vivid sensory experience

inductive reasoning: uses a set of specific observations to reach an overarching conclusion; a few particular premises create a pattern which gives way to a broad idea that is likely true (but can be false)

jargon: vocabulary distinctive to a particular group of people or profession

juxtaposition: placing two things side by side to present a comparison or contrast

kairos:

refers to the timeliness of an argument; Greek for "right time" or "opportunity”

literal language: language that means exactly what it says; it is not metaphorical, symbolic, or ironic

logos: an appeal to logic or reason by using facts, sound reasoning, examples, statistics, etc. (Aristotelian appeal)

malapropism: the unintentional misuse of a word by confusing it with one that sounds similar (e.g., Get the fire distinguisher!)

metaphor: a comparison of two things without using "like" or "as"

metonymy: substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it, but not part of it (e.g., referring to a royal as "the crown")

mood: the feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader

narrative: a story

onomatopoeia: a word that imitates the natural sound of a thing

oxymoron: a figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase (e.g., pretty ugly)

panegyric: a public speech or public text delivered in high praise of a person or thing

paradox: a statement that seems to be self-contradictory but may include a latent truth; often used to make a reader think over an idea in an innovative way

parallel structure: repetition of the same pattern of words or phrases within a sentence or passage to highlight importance or similarity

passive voice: the type of voice where the subject of the sentence receives the action

Pathos: a rhetorical appeal to someone's emotions; the author or writer uses loaded words to evoke a certain emotion in the audience or reader (Aristotelian appeal)

periodic sentence: a long, grammatically correct sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end

personification: when an inanimate object, idea, or animal is described as having human characteristics

point of view: a particular attitude or way of considering a matter

polysyndeton: the deliberate use of many conjunctions, usually to emphasize a point

pun: a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings

purpose: the goal the speaker or author wants to achieve

repetition: repeating sounds, words, or ideas for effect and emphasis

rhetoric: the use of spoken or written word (or a visual medium) to convey your ideas and convince an audience

rhetorical context: the circumstances in which a text is written, including the intended audience, the author's aim or purpose in writing, and the audience's preexisting ideas and opinions; anything beyond the specific words of text that may be relevant to understand the meaning of the text

rhetorical fallacy: reasoning that makes an argument invalid or a belief based on an unsound argument

rhetorical question: when an author/speaker poses a question to the audience, but no real answer is expected and the author does not state an answer; usually designed to emphasize a point or make the audience think about a topic

rhetorical triangle: the relationship between the author, the audience, the text/message, and the context

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

simile: comparing two things using "like" or "as"

speaker: the person who delivers a text; can also be the persona adopted by the author to deliver their message (may or may not actually be the same person as the author)

style: the author's own personal approach to rhetoric in the piece; similar to voice

syllogism: a deductive form of reasoning in which a conclusion is inferred from two premises (e.g., Jaime is a teenager. Teens love pizza. Thus, Jaime must love pizza.)

symbol: a thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract

synecdoche: a figure of speech that refers to a thing by the name of one of its parts (e.g., referring to driving a car as "getting behind the wheel”)

syntax: the way sentences are grammatically constructed

synthesis: combining sources or ideas in a coherent way in the purpose of a larger point

tone: the author's or speaker's attitude toward a subject, event, person, etc.

understatement: the opposite of exaggeration; a technique for developing irony and/or humor where a writer/speaker makes something appear less severe, important, etc. than it really is

verbal irony: occurs when a speaker or writer says one thing while meaning the opposite