| Term | Definition |
| efferent reading | reading for information, for the facts or ideas that readers can do something with |
| aesthetic reading | reading for experience, for the chance to enter the world that the text presents |
| stance | a writer's apparent attitude toward the audience |
| repertoire | a set of assumptions, skills, and experiences that a reader brings to a text to make meaning |
| jovial | markedly good- humored |
| efferent | to carry away |
| prologue | the preface or intro to a literary work |
| leery | suspicious- "proceed with caution" |
| convalescent | to recover health and strength gradually after sickness or weakness |
| effacement | to eliminate as if by wearing away a surface (to cause to vanish) |
| encumbered | weigh down or burden |
| waif | a piece of property found but unclaimed or something found without an owner and especially by chance |
| invalid | not valid or proven true--- or being sickly |
| ghetto | a quarter of a city in which members of a minority, example: jews, live especially because of social, economic, or legal pressure |
| allusion | reference to another text or body of knowledge |
| hyperbole | over exaggeration |
| aphorism | concise statement of a principle |
| anaphora | repitition of group of words at the beginning of successive clauses |
| inversion | change in normal world order- placement of verb before subject |
| paternal | of or relating to or like that of a father |
| exhortative | serving to urge strongly |
| contemptuous | feeling of that of despising or disdain |
| ingratiating | capable of winning favor-pleasing |
| detached | standing by itself or seperate |
| apostrophe | type of monologue where nature is addressed as though human (personification) |
| analogy | compare two things |
| euphemism | indirect expression of unpleasant information in such a way to lesson its impact |
| hypothetical(s) | involving an assumption or concession made for sake of argument |
| litotes | understatement |
| chiasmus | inverted relationship between syntactic element of parallel phrases |
| rhetorical question | a question posed by speaker not to seek an answer but to affirm or deny a point |
| ellipsis | omission of words meaning at which is provided by overall context of passage |
| dramatistic pentad | invention strategy developed by Kenneth Burke that invites a speaker/ writer to create indentities for the act, agent, agency, scene, and purpose |
| konnoi topoi | people's topics (ordinary patterns of reasoning) |
| exordium | in ancient roman oratory, it is the introduction of the speech |
| partition | In ancient roman oratory, it is the part of a speech where the speaker would divide the main topic into parts |
| peroration | in ancient roman oratory, its the part of the speech in which the speaker would draw together the entire argument |
| simple sentence | a sentence with one independent clause |
| compound sentence | a sentence with two or more independent clauses |
| complex sentence | a sentence with one independent and 1 or more dependent clause |
| compound- complex sentence | a sentence with two or more independent clauses and one or more independent clauses |
| parallelism | a set of similarly structured words , phrases, or clauses that appears in a sentence or paragraph |
| jargon | the specialized vocab of a particular group |
| dialect | describable patterns of language--- or grammar or vocab used by a particular ethnic or cultural population |
| scheme | artful variations from typical formation and arrangement of words or sentences |
| trope | variations from expected modes of expression of thoughts and ideas |
| alliteration | repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning/middle of adjacent wordss |
| assonance | repetition of vowel sounds at the beginning/middle of adjacent words |
| personification | giving of human characteristics to inanimate objects |
| onomatopoeia | literary device in which the sound of a word is related to its meaning |
| mnemonic | a systematic aid to memory |
| rhetor | the speaker who uses elements of rhetoric in effectively in oral or written text |
| correct rhetoric definition | the art of analyzing all the choices involving language that a writer , speaker might make in a situation so that the text becomes meaningful and effectively |
| incorrect rhetoric definition | the art of writing/ reading in a purposeful/meaningful way |
| rhetorical choices | the particular choices a writer or speaker makes to achieve meaning and effect |
| rhetorical triangle | a diagram showing the relations of a writer or speaker and text in a rhetorical situation |
| intention | the goal the speaker hopes to achieve with the text aka purpose |
| persona | the person the speaker pretends to be or conveys |
| context | the convergence of time and audience |
| genre | classification of writing |
| claim(s) | the ultimate generalization backed up by support |
| diction | word choice |
| syntax | the order of words in a sentence |
| simile | a type of comparison that uses the word like/as |
| metaphor | comparison without using the words like/as |
| rhetoric | art of analyzing all the choices so that the text becomes meaningful |
| logos | appeal to logic/knowledge |
| pathos | appeal to emotion |
| ethos | appeal to creditability/ character |
| mood | the feeling that a text is intended to produce in the audience |
| style | the choices that the writers/speakers make in language for effect |
| oxymoron | words with contradictory meanings (ex: jumbo shrimp) |
| syllogism | logical reasoning from inarguable premises |
| major premise | some irrefutable generalization about the world |
| minor premise | particular statement that falls under the general category |
| generalization | a point that a speaker/writer generates on the basis of considering a number of examples |
| affable | courteous and pleasant, sociable, easy to speak to |
| aggrandize | to increase in greatness, power, or wealth, to build upon or intensify |
| amorphous | shapeless, without definite form, of no particular type or character, without organization |
| aura | that which surrounds (as an atmosphere), a distinctive air or personal quality |
| contraband | illegal traffic, smuggled goods, illegal |
| erudite | scholarly, learned |
| gossamer | thin, light, delicate, a very thin, light cloth |
| infer | to find out by reasoning, to hint or suggest |
| inscrutable | incapable of being understood |
| insular | relating to, situated on an island, isolated in outlook |
| irrevocable | incapable of being changed |
| propensity | a natural inclination |
| querulous | peevish, complaining |
| remonstrate | to argue or plead with something |
| repudiate | to disown, reject |
| resilient | able to return to an original shape or form |
| reverberate | to re-echo, resound, to reflect |
| scurrilous | coarsely abusive, foul- mouthed |
| sedulous | persistent, showing determination |
| sleazy | thin or flimsy in texture, cheap, ethically low or disreputable |
| amnesty | a general pardon for an offense against a government |
| autonomy | self- government, political- control |
| axiomatic | self- evident, expressing a universally accepted principle or ruler |
| blazon | to adorn or embellish, to publish widely |
| caveat | a warning or caution to prevent misunderstandings |
| equitable | fair, just |
| extricate | to free from entanglements, to remove with effort |
| filch | to steal, especially in a sneaky way |
| flout | to mock, treat with contempt |
| fractious | tending to be troublesome, unruly |
| precept | to rule of conduct or action |
| salutary | beneficial, helpful |
| scathing | bitterly severe, causing great harm |
| scourge | to whip, punish severely |
| sepulchral | funereal, typical of a tomb, extremely gloomy |
| soporific | tending to cause sleep |
| straitlaced | extremely strict in regard to moral standards or conduct, prudish |
| transient | lasting only a short time |
| unwieldy | not easily carried, handled because of size or complexity |
| vapid | dull, uninteresting, tiresome |