APLang Midterm

Allusion

a brief, indirect reference to a well-known person, place, event, or work (like the Bible, Shakespeare, history, or pop culture) that adds deeper meaning, connects to shared cultural knowledge, and evokes associations without explicit explanation, helping authors quickly layer complex ideas or emotions.

EXAMPLE : "He was a modern Icarus, flying too close to the sun"

Anecdote

 a short, engaging personal story or real incident used to illustrate a point, build credibility (ethos), evoke emotion (pathos), clarify complex ideas, entertain, or persuade

EXAMPLE: The Anthropocene by John green

Antecedent

 the noun, phrase, or clause that a pronoun (like he, she, it, they) refers back to, providing clarity and avoiding repetition

Diction

an author's deliberate word choice, crucial for establishing tone, audience, and purpose

Connotation/Denotation

C=The feeling a word evokes or its associated meaning,

D=Its literal or dictionary definition

Vernacular

the everyday, informal language, dialect, or speech patterns used by ordinary people within a specific region, group, or culture

EXAMPLE: "gonna" instead of "going to

Allegory

a narrative (story, poem, picture) where characters, settings, and events symbolize abstract ideas or moral concepts, functioning on both a literal and a deeper, symbolic level 

EXAMPLE: animal farm

Aphorism

short, concise statement of known authorship that expresses a general truth or moral principle

EXAMPLE :"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Euphemism

:a mild, indirect word or phrase replacing one that sounds harsh, unpleasant, or offensive

EXAMPLE: unemployment ("between jobs")

analogy

an extended comparison explaining an unfamiliar idea by linking it to a familiar one

hyperbole, an intentional, exaggerated statement not meant literally, used for emphasis, humor

idiom

a phrase or expression with a figurative meaning that is different from the literal interpretation of its individual words

EXAMPLE:Bite the bullet

metaphor

a figure of speech directly comparing two unlike things by stating one is the other, without using "like" or "as,"

synecdoche

a part of something is used to refer to the whole, or occasionally, the whole is used to refer to a part, All hands on deck

simile

comparing two unlike things using connecting words like "like," "as

Personification

giving human qualities, emotions, or actions to inanimate objects

Irony

 a contrast exists between appearance and reality, or between what is expected and what actually occurs. This gap is used by writers to create humor

Juxtaposition

 placing contrasting elements (ideas, characters, settings, words) side-by-side to highlight their differences

Mood

the atmosphere or emotional setting an author creates for the reader, distinct from tone (author's attitude)

Oxymoron

a figure of speech combining contradictory terms

Syntax

the author's deliberate arrangement of words, phrases, and clauses to create specific effects, impacting rhythm, emphasis, and meaning,

Polysydeton

is the rhetorical use of repeated conjunctions (like and, or, nor) between words or clauses for emphasis

Anaphora

repeating a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses,

Paradox

statement or situation that seems self-contradictory but, upon deeper examination, reveals a profound, underlying truth

Parallelism

is repeating similar grammatical forms (words, phrases, clauses) to create balance, rhythm, and emphasis

pun

a play on words

Sarcasm

a sharp, mocking form of verbal irony

Satire

the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize human vices

Symbol

an object, person, place, or action with a literal meaning that also suggests deeper, abstract ideas or concepts

Tone

the author or speakers feeling/attitude towards the subject

Understatement

deliberately minimizes or downplays something as less significant

Red herring

irrelevant information is introduced into an argument to distract from the main point

Straw man

Misrepresent (exaggerate or oversimplify) an opponents argument to make it easier to refute

Ad hominem

an attack on the character motives or personal attributes of the person making the argument

Slippery slope

claiming a small first step will inevitably lead to a chain of increasingly extreme, negative events

Bandwagon

When a course of action or belief is validated on the grounds that everyone else is doing it so it must be right

Hasty generalization

When a speaker or writer draws broad conclusions about an entire group or population

false dilema/ either or

presenting two extreme options as the only possible choices

post hoc

an incorrect claim that something is the cause just because it happened prior to the event