English Vocab Terms #3

Abstract

words or phrases denoting ideas, qualities, and conditions that exist but cannot be seen. For example love, happiness, beauty, and patriotism are this.

Ad populem argument

A fallacious argument that appeals to the passions and prejudices of a group rather than its reason. An appeal for instance, to support an issue because it’s the “American Way” is this.

Allegory

The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning.

Anaphora

The repetition of a group of words at the beginning of successive clauses.

Audience

The group for whom a work is intended. For a writer, the audience is the reader who the writer desires to persuade, inform, or entertain.

Cliche

A stale image or expression, and the bane of good expository writing. “White as a ghost”

Concrete

Said of words or terms denoting objects or conditions that are palpable, visible, or otherwise evident to the senses. This word is the opposite of abstract.

Genre

The major category into which a literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry, and drama. However this is a flexible term.

Inversion

The reversal of the normal order of words in a sentence to achieve some desired effect, usually emphasis.

Loose sentence

A type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) comes first followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses.

Metonymy

A term from the Greek meaning “changed label” or substitute “substitute name”, this word is a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it.

Process analysis

A type of development in writing that stressed how a sequence of steps produces a certain effect. For instance, explaining to the reader all of the steps involved in balancing a checkbook would be this term.

Rhetorical question

A question posed with no expectation of receiving an answer. THis device is often used in public speaking in order to launch further discussion.

Synecdoche

A part of something used to refer to the whole- for example, “50 head of cattle” referring to 50 complete animals

Syntax

The order of words in a sentence and their relationships to each other. Good use of this device requires correct grammar as well as effective sentence patterns, including unity, coherence, and emphasis.