APEL Vocab List 1

audience

the person(s) reached by a piece of writing

attitude:

a writer’s intellectual position or emotion regarding the subject of the writing.

tone:

The attitude a literary work/author takes toward its subject, audience, and/or theme. It reflects the narrator’s tone. Without tone, a piece of literature would evoke no emotion, and may seem very dull.

diction:

an author’s choice of words to convey a tone or effect

ethos:

the ethical appeal; to convince an audience of the author’s credibility or character

logos:

the appeal to logic; to convince an audience by use of logic or reason

pathos:

the emotional appeal; to persuade an audience by appealing to their emotions

fallacy:

a mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound argument

ad hominem argument:

From the Latin meaning “to or against the man,” this is an argument that appeals to emotion rather than reason, to feeling rather than intellect; falls under the umbrella of a fallacy.

infer:

to draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented

break

yay

connotation

The nonliteral, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning, which may involve ideas, emotion, or attitudes.

denotation

 the dictionary definition of a word; the direct and specific meaning

apostrophe

a figure of speech in which a person, thing, or abstract quality is addressed as if present

imagery

 Sensory details in a work; the use of figurative language to evoke a feeling, call to mind an idea, or describe an object. Imagery involves any or all the five senses.

deductive

reasoning from the general to the specific.

inductive

reasoning from the specific to the general.

structure

the framework or organization of a literary selection

synthesis

the joining of two or more ideas or arguments to produce a new idea or argument

warrant

 connection, often unstated and assumed, between the claim and the supporting reason(s). The assumption makes the claim seem plausible. Audience needs to share the writers'/speakers' assumptions or the argument will not be effective.

syntax

the way words are put together to form phrases, clauses, and sentences

symbol/symbolism

 Generally, anything that represents, stands for, something else.  Usually, this is concrete (an object, character, or scene) and represents something much more abstract.

mood

The feeling or ambiance resulting from the tone of a piece as well as the writer/narrator’s attitude and point of view. The effect is created through description of feelings or object that establishes a particular feeling such as gloom, fear, or hope.

atmosphere

The emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author’s choice of objects that are described.

abstract

 not related to the concrete properties of an object; pertaining to ideas, concepts, or qualities, as opposed to physical attributes

ambiguity

use of language in which multiple meanings are possible; the quality of being open to more than one interpretation

persona

the voice or figure of the author who tells the story and who may or may not share the values of the actual author.

rhetoric

the art of persuasion, using language purposefully, in order to get something done; the use of spoken or written word (or a visual medium) to convey ideas and convince an audience 

rhetorical situation

the context or set of circumstances out of which a text arises. It can be described in five parts: audience, author (rhetor), purpose, context, content/topic

rhetorical analysis

this considers all elements of the rhetorical situation in which a text was generated and delivered in order to make an argument about the text; including the evaluation of the text and its effectiveness

rhetorical mode

 these are ways of using language with a specific focus. Some examples are narration, description, definition, division/classification, comparison/contrast, cause/effect, etc. 

prose

the ordinary of form of written language without metrical structure, as distinguished from poetry or verse

colloquial

informal words, phrases or even slang in a piece of writing

sarcasm

A sharp, caustic remark. A form of verbal irony in which apparent praise is actually bitterly or harshly critical. For example, a coach saying to a player who misses the ball, “Nice catch.”

satire

 a literary style used to make fun of or ridicule an idea or human vice or weakness

motif

recurrent device, formula, or situation that often serves as a signal for the appearance of a character or event.

metaphor

a comparison of two unlike things that have something in common but not using “like” or “as”: e.g., “Time is money.”

simile

a comparison of two different things or ideas through the use of the words “like” or “as.” It is a definitely stated comparison which says one thing is like another: e.g., “The warrior fought like a lion.” "My love is like a red, red rose."

catharsis

 purification or cleansing of the spirit through the emotions of pity and terror as a witness to a tragedy

cliché

an expression or idea that has been overused to the extent that it loses its original meaning or novelty

irony

verbal, dramatic, and situational – A situation or statement characterized by significant difference between what is expected or understood and what actually happens or is meant.

paradox

occurs when the elements of a statement contradict each other. Although the statement may appear illogical, impossible, or absurd, it turns out to have a coherent meaning that reveals a hidden truth: e.g., “Much madness is divinest sense.”

juxtaposition

placing of two items side by side to create a certain effect, reveal an attitude, or accomplish some other purpose.

oxymoron

a figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory terms into a single unusual expression, as in “jumbo shrimp” or “deafening silence.”

allegory

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

allusion

a direct or indirect reference to something that is presumable commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art

epigraph

quote set at the beginning of a literary work or at its divisions to set the tone or suggest a theme

elegiac

expressing sorrow often for something past; sorrowful

contradiction

 a direct opposition between things compared; inconsistency

understatement

the opposite of hyperbole. It is a kind of irony that deliberately represents something as being much less than it really is: e.g., “I could probably manage to survive on a salary of two million dollars per year.”

hyperbole

an overstatement characterized by exaggerated language. e.g., “The shot heard ‘round the world.”

metonymy

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

antithesis

the juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced phrases or clauses. Example: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…”

epiphany

a sudden or intuitive insight or perception into the reality or essential meaning of something usually brought on by a simple or common occurrence or experience

anecdote

a brief story or tale

pun

a play on words that are either identical or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings

wit

In modern usage, intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights. This usually uses terse language that makes a pointed statement.

didactic

intended for teaching or to teach a moral lesson

syllogism

a form of deductive reasoning; an extremely subtle, sophisticated, or deceptive argument; a formal argument consisting of a major and a minor premise and a conclusion

invective

the use of angry or insulting language in satirical writing

euphemism

substitution of a milder or less direct expression for one that is harsh or blunt. For example, using “passed away” for “dead.”