IB English 11 Flashcards

Ad Hominem A personal attack rather than arguing against the idea or issue.

Allusion A reference to a person, place, or event in history or another literary work.

Anadiplosis Repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause.

Analogy A comparison between two things for explanation or clarification.

Anaphora Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses.

Anastrophe The inversion of the usual order of words or clauses.

Anecdote A personal story or example used within a larger work to make a point.

Anticlimactic When an expectation is created, but something happens to diminish or frustrate that expectation.

Antithesis Placing contrasting ideas side by side, often using parallel structure.

Antecedent The noun a pronoun refers to.

Appeal to Tradition An argument that claims something should continue because it has always been done that way.

Asyndeton The omission of conjunctions between a series of clauses.

Assonance Repetition of similar vowel sounds in the stressed syllables of adjacent words.

Bandwagon An argument that suggests that because everyone is doing something, you should too.

Chiasmus The repetition of grammatical structures in reverse order in successive phrases or clauses.

Clause The basic building block of a sentence, which can be independent or dependent.

Climatic The arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in order of increasing importance.

Colloquialism Phrases used in informal conversation, often associated with specific regions.

Concede To acknowledge or accept something as true or valid.

Connotation / Denotation Connotation refers to the implied or understood meaning of a word; denotation is its literal or dictionary definition.

Dash A punctuation mark (—) used to separate a word or phrase after an independent clause or to set off a parenthetical remark.

Epigraph A short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme.

Epistrophe Repetition of the same word or group of words at the ends of successive clauses.

Euphemism A milder or indirect word or expression used in place of one considered too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.

Ethos Appeal Using the speaker’s credibility, authority, and trustworthiness to support an argument.

Hyperbole The use of exaggerated language for emphasis or effect.

Imagery Words that create pictures for the reader.

Irony A contrast between expectation and reality; types include verbal, situational, or dramatic irony.

Isocolon A series of similarly structured elements, all of the same length.

Jargon Specialized language used by a particular profession or group.

Juxtaposition Placement of two items (ideas, words, phrases) next to each other.

Logos Appeal Using logical evidence to support an argument.

Loose sentence A sentence where the main idea (subject/verb) comes first, followed by subordinate clauses.

Meiosis The deliberate understatement of something.

Metaphor Referring to one thing as another, implying a comparison.

Oxymoron Placing two opposing terms directly next to each other; a compressed paradox.

Paradox A seemingly contradictory statement that contains a measure of truth.

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

Parody An exaggerated imitation of a particular writer, artist, or genre, usually for comic effect.

Pathos Appeal Using emotion to support an argument (25% how the writer feels / 75% how the writer makes the audience feel).

Periodic sentence A sentence in which subordinate clauses come first, with the main idea (subject/verb) concluding the sentence.

Personification Attributing human characteristics to something nonhuman, or representing an abstract quality in human form.

Phrase A group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence.

Polyptoton Repeating the same root word in different forms.

Polysyndeton Opposite of asyndeton, a superabundance of conjunctions.

Preposition Shows relationships among words in a sentence, often illustrating location, direction, amount, or manner.

Pronoun A word that takes the place of a noun.

Pun A joke that plays on the different meanings of a word or on words that sound alike but have different meanings.

Refute To prove something wrong by argument or evidence.

Rhetorical Question Asking a question for the purpose of asserting or denying something, not to elicit an answer.

Sentence Variety The length of a sentence can increase or decrease engagement with the text or be used as a tool for emphasis.

Shift Not exactly a term, but recognizing changes in a text, such as in tone, style, or content.

Simile An explicit comparison using the words "like" or "as."

Slippery Slope An argument that assumes if one thing is allowed, other, more serious things will inevitably follow.

Subject Who or what performs or expresses the verb.

Symbol Something that represents or suggests something other than what it is literally.

Tone Particular words and their specific meanings, which connote an author's attitude toward the subject.

Unclear pronoun references When it is unclear to which subject a pronoun refers.

Verb The action or state of being.