Ap Glossary Part 2

Induction

Induction

• the process of reasoning to a conclusion about all members of a class through an examination of only a few members of the class

• the form of reasoning moves from the particular to the general

Irony

• occurs when a situation produces an outcome that is the opposite of what is expected

• when an author uses words or phrases that are in opposition to each other describe a person or an idea, an ironic tone results.

Juxtaposition

• when two contrasting things - ideas, words or sentence elements - are placed next to each other for comparison

• sheds light on both elements in comparison

Logos

• the use of reason as controlling principle in an argument

• authors often attempt to persuade readers by appealing to their sense of logos, or reason

• a type of argumentative proof having to do with the logical qualities of an argument: data, evidence, factual information

Metaphor

• a figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared directly

• usually for emphasis or dramatic effect

Metonymy

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

• ex. a crown is associated with royalty, and is often used as a metonym for royal authority

Mood

• the prevailing or dominant feeling of a work, scene or event

• similar to atmosphere

Narration

• one of the four basic types of prose

• to narrate is to tell a story, to tell what happened

• mostly used in fiction but also important in nonfiction

Objective/Subjective

• objective writing is factual and impersonal

• subjective writing, sometimes called impressionistic writing, relies heavily on personal interpretation

Onomatopoeia

• an effect created by words that have sounds that reinforce their meaning

Opinion

• a belief or conclusion not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof

• reveals personal feelings or attitudes or states a position

• should not be confused with argument

Organization

• the thoughtful arrangement and presentation of one’s points or ideas

• no single correct pattern of organization for a given piece of writing

Overview

a brief summary of the whole work

Oxymoron

• combines two contradictory words in one expression

• results are often unusual or thought provoking

Pacing

the speed of a story’s action, dialogue, or narration

Paradox

• a seeming contradiction that in fact reveals some truth

• ex. “he lifted himself up by his bootstraps” suggests a physical impossibility, and thus communicates a truth about the enormity of the person’s achievement

Parallelism

literary technique that relies on the use of the same syntactical structures, (phrases, clauses, sentences) in series in order to develop an argument or emphasize and idea

Parody

an effort to ridicule or make fun of a literary work or an author by writing an imitation of the work or of the author’s style

Pathos

• a sympathetic feeling of pity or compassion evoked by an artistic work

• type of argumentative proof having to do with audience: emotional language, connotative diction and appeals to certain values

Persona

• the character created by the voice and narration of the speaker of a text

• implies a fictional representation or an act of disguise

Personification

figure of speech where the ideas or objects are described as having human qualities or personalities

Point of view

the particular perspective from which a story is told

Prewriting

encompasses all the activities that take place before a writer actually starts a rough draft (chooses a subject, brainstorms ideas, thesis and purpose, rehearses portions)

Process Analysis

• type of exposition

• answers the question how?

• explains how something works or gives step-by-step directions for doing something

Publication

• stage of the writing process is when the writer shares his or her writing with the intended audience

• can take the form of a typed or an oral presentation

Pun

• a play on words

• created by using a word that has two different meanings, or using two different words with similar meaning, for a playful effect

Purpose

• what the writer wants to accomplish in a particular piece of writing

• seeks to relate (narration), to describe (description), to explain (process analysis), or to convince (argument)

Repetition

the reiteration of a word or phrase for emphasis

Revision

the writer determines what in the draft needs to be developed or clarified so that the essay says what the writer intends it to say

Rhetoric, Rhetorical Purpose

• the art and logic of a written or spoken argument

• is purposeful; examples of rhetorical purposes include to persuade, to analyze, or to expose

• to accomplish rhetoric purpose, a writer develops a rhetorical strategy, and then uses rhetorical, devices to accomplish the goal

Rhetorical, or stylistic devices

• the specific language tools that an author uses to carry out a rhetorical strategy and thus achieve a purpose for writing

• some include: allusion, diction, syntax, selection of detail, figurative language and repetition

Rhetorical question

• a question that is asked for the sake of argument

• no direct answer is provided to a rhetorical question

Rhetorical strategy

• a plan of action or movement to achieve a goal

• describes the way an author organizes words, sentences and overall argument in order to achieve a particular purpose

Satire

• to ridicule or mock ideas, persons, events or doctrines, or to make fun of human foibles or weaknesses

• ex. “A Modest Proposal”

Selection of Detail

the specific words, incidents, images or events the author uses to create a scene or narrative are referred to as the selection of detail

Sequence

• refers to the order in which a writer presents information

• writers commonly select chronological order, spatial order, order of importance, or order of complexity to arrange their points

Simile

a commonly used figure of speech that compares the words, “like” or “as.”

Slang

• the unconventional, very informal language of particular sub-groups of a culture

• such as bummed, coke, split, hurt, dis, blow off, cool and hot is acceptable in formal writing only if it is used purposefully

Slanting

the use of certain words or information that results in a biased view point

Speaker

• the narrator of a story, poem or drama

• should not be confused with the author, who creates the voice of the speaker

Specific/General

• Specific Words: name individual objects, qualities or actions within a class or group

• General Words: name groups or classes of objects, qualities, or actions

• To some extent, both of these terms are relative

• ex. dessert is a class of things, pie is more specific than dessert but more general than pecan pie or cherry pie

• good writing judiciously balances the general with the specific

Strategy

• a means by which a writer achieves his or her purpose

• includes the many rhetorical decisions that the writer makes about organization, paragraph structure, syntax and diction

• in terms of the whole essay, strategy refers to the principal; rhetorical mode that the writer uses

Style

• the individual manner in which a writer expresses his or her ideas

• the authors particular selection of words, construction of sentences and arrangement of ideas create style

Subject

• content of the essay, what it is about

• depending on the author’s purpose and the constraints of space, a subject may range from one that is broadly conceived to one that is narrowly defined

Syllogism

• is an argument that utilizes deductive reasoning and consists of a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion

• Ex:

  -All trees that lose leaves are deciduous (Major premise)

  -Maple trees lose their leaves (Minor premise)

  -Therefore, maple trees are deciduous (Conclusion)

Symbol

• a person, place or thing that represents something beyond itself

• ex. the beaver is a symbol of Canada

• literary symbols often refer to or stand for a complex set of ideas

Synecdoche

• figure of speech in which a part of something is used to signify the whole

• allows for a smaller component of something to stand in for the larger whole, in a rhetorical manner

• ex. “All hands on deck!”

Synonym

• a word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word

• ex. funny is a synonym for laughable; big for large; secret for hidden

Syntax

• refers to the way words are arranged in a sentence

• ex. “The big blue sky beckoned her” essentially says the same thing as “She was beckoned by the big blue sky”

Technical Language

• or jargon, is the special vocabulary of a trade or profession

• writers who use this do so with an awareness of their audience

• if the audience is a group of peers, technical language may be used freely

• if the audience is a more general one, technical language should be used sparingly and carefully so as not to sacrifice clarity

Tension

a feeling of excitement and expectation the reader or audience feels because of the conflict, mood, or atmosphere of the work

Texture

• describes the way the elements of a work or prose or poetry are joined together

• suggests an association with the style pf the author - whether, for instance, the author’s purpose is rough-hewn (elements at odds with one another) or smooth and graceful (elements flow together naturally)

Theme

• usually considered the central idea of a work

• there can be several themes in one piece of work

Thesis

• a statement of the main idea of an essay

• also known as the controlling ideas, a thesis may sometimes be implied rather than states directly

Title

a word or phrase set off at the beginning of an essay to identify the subject, to capture the main idea of the essay or to attract the reader’s attention

Tone

• can also be called attitude, is the way the author presents a subject

• a particular tone results from a writer’s diction, sentence structure, purpose and attitude toward the subject

• a correct perception of the author’s tone is essential to understanding a particular literary work

Topic Sentence

states the central idea of a paragraph and thus limits and controls the subject of the paragraph

Transitions

the words or phrases that link sentences, paragraphs and larger units of a composition to achieve coherence

Understatement

when an author assigns less significance to an event or thing than it deserves

Unity

• achieved in an essay when all the words, sentences and paragraphs contribute to its thesis

• the elements of a unified essay do not distract the reader

• they all harmoniously support a single idea or purpose

Voice

• how the speaker of a literary work presents himself or herself to the reader determines the speaker’s unique voice

• also a grammatical term

• a sentence can be written in either active or passive voice

• to tell the difference, remember that when the subject performs the action in a sentence, the voice is active

• ex. of active: “I sent the letter”

• when the subject is acted upon the voice is passive

• ex. of passive: “The letter was sent by me”

Writing Process

• consists of five major stages: prewriting, writing drafts, revision, editing and publication

• the process is not flexible, but there is no mistaking the fact that most writers follow some version of it most of the time

• the writing process is continuous, creative and unique to each individual writer

Zeugma

• a particular breech of sense in a sentence

• occurs when a word is used with two adjacent words in the same construction, but only makes literal sense with one of them

• ex. “She carried an old tapestry bag and a walk revealed a long history injury” the word “carried” makes sense with the word “bag” but not with the word “walk” and so is an instance of zeugma