| Term | Definition |
|---|
| allusion | An instance of indirect reference |
| ambiguity | The quality or state of being ambiguous; doubtfulness or uncertainty, particularly as to the signification of language, arising from its admitting of more than one meaning; an equivocal word or expression |
| analogy | A resemblance of relations; an agreement or likeness between things in some circumstances or effects, when the things are otherwise entirely different |
| anaphora | A repetition of a word or of words at the beginning of two or more successive clauses |
| antithesis | The direct or exact opposite |
| apostrophe | The direct address of an absent or imaginary person or of a personified abstraction, especially as a digression in the course of a speech or composition |
| attitude | The posture, action, or disposition of a figure or a statue |
| detail | To relate in particulars; to particularize; to report minutely and distinctly; to enumerate; to specify; as, he detailed all the facts in due order |
| diction | Choice and use of words in speech or writing |
| ethos | The disposition, character, or fundamental values peculiar to a specific person, people, culture, or movement |
| euphemism | The act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive |
| figure of speech | An expression that uses language in a nonliteral way, such as a metaphor or synedoche, or in a structured or unusual way, such as anaphora or chiasmus, or that employs sounds, such as alliteration or assonance, to achieve a rhetorical effect. |
| hyperbole | A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect |
| imagery | The use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas |
| logos | logic, reasoning |
| metaphor | a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity |
| mood | Temper of mind; temporary state of the mind in regard to passion or feeling; humor; as, a melancholy mood; a suppliant mood |
| organization | the arrangement of a work of literature |
| oxymoron | conjoining contradictory terms |
| paradox | a nonsensical underlying truth |
| pathos | quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow); |
| perspective | a way of regarding situations or topics |
| point of view | A manner of viewing things; an attitude |
| repetition | The act or process or an instance of repeating or being repeated |
| rhetorical question | A question to which no answer is expected, often used for rhetorical effect |
| sentence structure | the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences |
| simile | a comparison using 'like' or 'as' |
| syntax | That part of grammar which treats of the construction of sentences; the due arrangement of words in sentences in their necessary relations, according to established usage in any language |
| tone | the quality of a person's voice |
| understatement | a statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said (used for irony) |
| Ad hominem | 'against the man' When a writer personally attacks his or her opponents instead of their arguments |
| Allegory | A story, fictional or nonfictional, in which characters, things, and events represent qualities or concepts; they reveal an abstract truth |
| Anecdote | A brief recounting of a relevant episode; usually inject humor or develop a point |
| Asyndeton | Commas used with no conjunction |
| Begging the question | often called circular reasoning, begging the question occurs when the believablity of the evidence depends on the believability of the claim |
| Didactic | used to describe fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking |
| Elliptical | Sentence structure which leaves out something in the second half. |
| Epigraph | When a writer uses the same term in two different senses in an argument |
| Inversion | subject first, then verb, then complement; the element that is first is emphasized |
| Freight-train | sentence consisting of three or more very short independent clauses joined by conjunction |
| Non-sequiter | When on statement isn't logically connected to another |
| Polysyndeton | Sentence with uses 'and' or another conjunction without commas |
| Post hoc, ergo propter hoc | When a writer implies that because one thing follow another, the first caused the second. But sequence is not cause. |
| Red herring | When a writer raises an irrelevant issue to draw attention away from the real issue |
| Persona | A writer oftens adopts a fictional voice (or mask) to tell a story. |
| Satire | A work that reveals a critcial attitude toward some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way. Satire targets groups rather than individuals |
| Straw Man | When a writer argues against a claim that nobody actually holds or is universally considered weak. Setting up a straw man diverts attention from the real issue |
| Tricolon | Sentence consisting of three parts of equal importance and length, usually three independent clauses |
| Syntactic Permutation | Sentence structures that are extraordinarily complex and involved. Often difficult for a reader to follow |
| Aphorism | A terse statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle. Can be a memorable summation of the author's point. |
| Connotation | The nonliteral, associative meaning of a wrod; the implied suggested meaning |
| denotation | the strict literal meaning ; devoid of any emotion , attitude or color |
| syllogism | a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises- first one a major and the second a minor |
| Periodic sentence | A sentence that expresses the main thoughts at the END. OPPOSITE OF Loose Sentence |
| Loose Sentence | Sentence of standard order : subject & verb |
| Expose | Journalistic writing to expose weakness, faults or shortcomings |
| Abstract | Brief synopsis of longer work of scholarship or research. (Book --> single page) |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace