Lang Study

Abstract Language

The ability to understand a concept or theme without saying it.

Ad Hominem

a fallacy that attacks the person rather than dealing with the real issue in dispute

Allegory

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds

Allusion

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event

Ambiguity

An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way.

Analogy

A comparison of two different things that are similar in some way

Anaphora

The use of a word referring to or replacing a word used earlier in a sentence, to avoid repetition, such as do in I like it and so do they.

Anecdote

a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person

Annotation

A brief explanation, summary, or evaluation of a text or work of literature.

Antecedent

The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.

Antithesis

The direct opposite, a sharp contrast

Aphorism

A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life. "if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Apostrophe

Address to an absent or imaginary personAssonance

Assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity

Asyndeton

A construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions

Balance

A state of equilibrium

Begging the Question

A fallacy in which a claim is based on evidence or support that is in doubt.

Cacophony

A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds

Causal Relationships

Relationships in which a condition or variable leads to a certain consequence

Chiasmus

A reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases Ex. 'Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds.'.

Citation

A quotation from or reference to a book, paper, or author, especially in a scholarly work.

Documentation

The act of creating citations to identify resources used in writing a work.

Cluase

A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb.

Colloquialism

A word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation.

Common Knowledge

Information that is readily available from a number of sources, or so well-known that its sources do not have to be cited.

Conceit

a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor

Concrete Language

Describes specific, observable things rather than ideas or qualities

Connotation

All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests

Consonance

Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.

Cumulative Sentence

Sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on

Deduction

The process of moving from a general rule to a specific example

Denotation

The literal meaning of a word

Diction

A writer's or speaker's choice of words

Didactic

Intended to instruct

Either

Or

Ellipsis

Three periods (...) indicating the omission of words in a thought or quotation

Elliptical Sentence

Sequence of words in which some words have been omitted

Emotional

Pertaining to feelings or psychological states

Appeal/ Pathos

Appeal to emotion

Equivocation

When a writer uses the same term in two different senses in an argument.

Ethical Appeal/ Ethos

When a writer tries to persuade the audience to respect and believe him or her based on a presentation of image of self through the text. Reputation is sometimes a factor in ethical appeal, but in all cases the aim is to gain the audience's confidence.

Euphemism

An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

Euphony

Pleasant, harmonious sound

Exposition

A narrative device, often used at the beginning of a work that provides necessary background information about the characters and their circumstances.

False Analogy

When two cases are not sufficiently parallel to lead readers to accept a claim of connection between them.

Figurative Language

Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid.

Generalization

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses

Homily

A sermon

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Imagery

Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste)

Induction

Factual reasoning

Invective

An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language.

Inverted Sentence

A sentence in which the subject follows the verb

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality

Verbal Irony

A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant

Dramatic Irony

when a reader is aware of something that a character isn't

Situational Irony

An outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected

Litotes

A form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite

Logic

Rational thinking

Logical Appeal / Logos

When a writer tries to persuade the audience based on statistics, facts, and reasons. The process of reasoning

Logical Fallacy

A mistake in reasoning

Metaphor

A comparison without using like or as

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it

Mood

Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader

Narrative

The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events.

Non-Sequitur

Something that does not logically follow

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

Oversimplification

When a writer obscures or denies the complexity of the issues in an argument

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.

Parable

A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson

Paradox

A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

Parallelism

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses

Parody

A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.

Pathos

Appeal to emotion

periodic/loose sentence

A sentence that is not grammatically complete until the end, periodic they come first, loose they come last

Sentence

A group of words that expresses a complete thought

Persona

Greek for "mask." The face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience.

Personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

Persuasion

A kind of speaking or writing that is intended to influence people's actions.

Point of view

The perspective from which a story is told

First person

"I" and "Me" standpoint. Personal perspective.

Third person

Point of view in which the narrator is outside of the story - an observer

Limited point of view

The story is told from the perspective of one of the characters whose information is restricted to what he/she sees, hears, and feels.

Omniscient

Knowing everything; having unlimited awareness or understanding

Polysyndeton

The use, for rhetorical effect, of more conjunctions than is necessary or natural

post hoc ergo propter hoc

This fallacy is Latin for "after which therefore because of which," meaning that it is incorrect to always claim that something is a cause just because it happened earlier. One may loosely summarize this fallacy by saying that correlation does not imply causation.

Red Herring

A fallacy that introduces an irrelevant issue to divert attention from the subject under discussion

Refutation

A denial of the validity of an opposing argument. In order to sound reasonable, refutations often follow a concession that acknowledges that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable.

Repetition

Repeated use of sounds, words, or ideas for effect and emphasis

Rhetoric

The art of using language effectively and persuasively

Rhetorical modes

This flexible term describes the variety, the conventions, and the purposes of the major kinds of writing.

Exposition (rhetorical mode)

To explain and analyze information by presenting an idea, relevant evidence, and appropriate discussion

Argumentation

Writing that attempts to prove the validity of a point of view or an idea by presenting reasoned arguments; persuasive writing is a form of argumentation

Description

A spoken or written summary of observations

Narration

Writing that tells a story

Rhetorical Question

A question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer

Satire

A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies.

Sarcasm

The use of irony to mock or convey contempt

Sentence Structure

The arrangement of the parts of a sentence