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acquiese v. to consent or comply passively or without protest altruistic adj. unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness ambivalence n. uncertainty or fluctuation, esp. when caused by inability to make a choice or by a simultaneous desire to say or do two opposite or conflicting things amorphous adj. lacking definite form; having no specific shape; formless anomaly one that is peculiar, irregular, abnormal, or difficult to classify apocryphal adj. of doubtful authorship or authenticity astute having or showing shrewdness and discernment, especially with respect to one's own concerns audacious adj. extremely bold or daring; recklessly brave austere adj. unadorned; unembellished; severely simple banal adj. devoid of freshness or originality; hackneyed; trite benevolent adj. characterized by or suggestive of doing good cajole v. to persuade by flattery or promises capricious adj. governed or characterized by impulse or whim censure v. to criticize or reproach in a harsh or vehement manner clemency n. willingness or ability to moderate the severity of a punishment coercion force or the power to use force in gaining compliance conciliatory making or willing to make concessions credulity willingess to believe or trust too readily cryptic having hidden meaning; mystifying, secret or occult cursory adj. going rapidly over something, without noticing details levity lightness of mind, character, or behavior; lack of appropriate seriousness or earnestness lurid glaringly vivid or sensational; shocking magnanimous generous in forgiving; eschewing resentment or revenge; unselfish meticulous taking or showing extreme care about minute details; precise; thorough mundane common; ordinary; banal; unimaginative notorious widely and unfavorably known nullify to render or declare legally void or inoperative obdurate hardened against feeling; hardhearted; cold ostentatious intended to attract notice and impress others partisan an adherent or supporter of a person, group, party, or cause, esp. a person who shows a biased, emotional allegiance perfunctory done routinely and with little interest or care pervasive having power to spread without placate to appease or pacify, esp. by concessions or conciliatory gestures pragmatic of or pertaining to a practical point of view or practical considerations preclude to prevent the presence, existence, or occurence of; make impossible precocious unusually advanced or mature in development, esp. mental development predilection a partiality or disposition in favor of something; a preference prolific producing abundant works or results rebuff a blunt or abrupt rejection, as of a person making advances rectify to set right; correct relegate to send or consign to an infenior position, place, or condition reprehensible deserving rebuke or censure; blameworthy resplendent shining brilliantly; gleaming; splendid reticence the state or quality of being reluctant; unwillingness scrupulous having scruples; arising from a sense of right and wrong; principled servile of or suitable to a slave or servant. of or relating to servitude or faced labor soporific inducing or tending to induce sleep spurious not genuine, authentic, or true; not from the claimed, pretended, or proper source; counterfeit stoic one who is seemingly indifferent to or unaffected by joy, grief, pleasure, or pain succinct characterized by conciseness or verbal brevity superfluous being more than is sufficient or required; excessive surreptitious obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized; clandestine sycophant a self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite torpor lethargic indifference; apathy trepidation a state of alarming or dread; apprehension vacillate to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute venerate to regard with respect, reverence, or heartfelt deference viable capable of living vilify to speak ill of; defame; slander virulent extremely infectious, malignant, or poisonous zealot a fanatically committed person delineate to depict in words or gestures; describe depravity moral corruption or degradation deprecate to depreciate; belittle diminish to make or cause to seem smaller or less important; to reduce dissonance disagreement or incongruity dogmatic arrogantly authoritative or opinionated duplicity the quality or state of being twofold or double eclectic selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles efface to wipe out; do away with; expunge emulate to try to equal or excel; imitate with effort to equal or surpass enervate to deprive of force or strength engender to bring into existence; give rise to ephemeral lasting for a markedly brief time equivocal allowing the possibility of several different meanings, as a word or phrase, esp. with intent to deceive or misguide; susceptible of double interpretation; deliberately ambiguous esoteric understood by or meant for only the select few who have special knowledge or interest euphemism a way of describing an offensive thing by an inoffensive expression; a mild name for something disagreeable exacerbate to increase the severity, bitterness, or violence of fallacious tending to mislead; deceptive fastidious excessively particular, critical, or demanding; hard to please fervor great warmth and intensity of emotion florid flowery; excessively ornate gravity solemnity or dignity of matter gregarious seeking and enjoying the company of others; sociable hackneyed made commonplace or trite; stale haughty scornfully and condescendingly proud hedonist a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification immutable not subject or susceptible to change incongruous not harmonious in character; inconsonant; lacking harmony of parts incontrovertible impossible to dispute; unquestionable incorrigible impervious to constraints or punishment; willful; unruly; uncontrollable; incapable of changing indefatigable incapable or seemingly incapable of being fatigued; tireless innocuous having no adverse effect; harmless insipid without sufficient taste to be pleasing, as food or drink; bland intractable not easily controlled or directed; not docile or manageable; stubborn; obstinate irresolute unsure of how to act or proceed; undecided jocular given to, characterized by, intended for, or suited to joking or jesting; waggish; facetious; jokish laconic using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise; brief, most likely deliberately lampoon a sharp, often virulent satire directed against an individual or institution; a work of literature, art, or the like, ridiculing severely the character of behavior of a person, society, etc. laud to praise; extol anecdote a short account of an interesting event quantitive data statistical information expert testimony citing an expert on the topic one is speaking of rhetoric faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion. Aristotle. context the occasion or the time and place it was written or spoken. bias an unfair/untruthful point of view that misconstrues something from the truth due to the author's opinions. rhetorical triangle audience, speaker, subject. persona character the speaker creates when he/she speaks or writes. ethos character. demonstration of reliability and trustworthiness. logos reason. having a main idea with specific details. assumption underlying belief counterargument anticipate objections or opposing views. concede agree refute deny pathos emotion. connotations -> negative, possitive. propagandistic writing designed to sway opinion rather than present information. polemical argument against an idea satiric ironic, sarcastic, or witty composition patterns of development patterns change depending on the purpose of the peice. description emphasizes senses by creating a visual, smell, feel, etc. process analysis explains how something works, how to do something, how something was done. CLARITY. exemplification using examples. induction using examples for logical proof, series of examples leads to a general conclusion. compare & contrast juxtaposing two things with similarities and differences. can be organized in two different ways: subject by subject, or point by point. classification & division important for both reader and writer to organize and break down main ideas. definition words need to be defined before we can determine them. often first step in argument. definition, then elaborates. cause & effect causal analysis depends on logic. important to trace chain of cause & effect and recognize contributing causes. close reading analysis of a text. caloquialisms informal or conversational use of language. style quality of speech/writing created by selection and arrangement of words, figures of speech. tone speaker's attitude toward subject/audience. diction choice of words. syntax arrangement of words. trope artful diction. scheme artful syntax. parallelism repetition of similar grammatical/syntactical patterns. juxtapositions placement of two things side by side for emphasis. antitheses contradictory. periodic moving toward something important at the end. cumulative adding details that support idea in beginning of sentence. annotation taking notes in margins of text. zeugma connecting two different things in one construction. archaic old fashioned/outdated choice of words. complex sentences sentences that contain a subordinate clause. declaritive sentences make statements. anaphora repetition of word/phrase at beginning of successive phrases, clauses, lines. hortative language that urges/calls to action. imperative "ask" & "ask not" antimetorbole repetition of words in reverse order. antithesis opposition, contrast, ideas, words in balanced/parallel construction. asynaction omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, words. inversion inverted order of words in a sentence. metonymy(sp?) using a single feature to represent whole. emigrate to leave one's country to settle elsewhere. immigrate to enter a country from another to settle there. imply to suggest something indirectly. infer to interpret or get a certain meaning from a remark or action. persecute to attack/annoy constantly prosecute to bring legal action against. passive voice subject and object flip flop. subject becomes passive, recipient of the action.