| Term | Definition |
|---|
| rhetoric | The art of analyzing all the choices involving language that a writer, speaker, reader, or listener might make in a situation so that the text becomes meaningful, purposeful, and effective. |
| audience | The person/persons who listen to a spoken text or read a written one and capable of responding to it. |
| speaker | The person delivering a speech, or the character assumed to be speaking a poem. |
| purpose | The goal a writer or speaker hopes to achieve with the text-for example, to clarify difficult material, to inform, to convince, and/or to persuade.Also called aim and intention. In a dramatistic pentad created by a speaker or writer in order to invent material, the words the speaker or writer uses to describe the reason something happened or happens in a particular situation. |
| persona | The character that a writer or speaker conveys to the audience. |
| tone | The writer or speakers attitude toward the subject matter. |
| diction | Word choice, which is view on scales of formality/informality, concreteness/abstraction, Latinate derivation/Anglo-Saxon derivation, and denotative value/ connotative value. |
| appeal | One of three strategies for persuading audiences-logos, appeal to reason; pathos, appeal to emotion; ethos, appeal to ethics. |
| ethos | The appeal of text to the credibility and character of the speaker, writer, or narrator. |
| pathos | The appeal of text to the emotions or interests of the audience. |
| logos | The appeal of text based on the logical structure of its argument or central ideas. |
| rhetorical triangle | A diagram showing the relations of writer or speaker, reader or listener, and text in a rhetorical situation. |
| annotate | To furnish (a literary work) with critical commentary or explanatory notes |
| Zealous | Ardently active, devoted, or diligent |
| Context | The parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect |
| Metaphor | A figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance |
| Imagery | The mental pictures created by a piece of writing |
| Hyperbole | Obvious and intentional exaggeration |
| Nostalgic | A sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time |
| Naive | Having or showing a lack of experience, judgment, or information |
| Ambivalent | Uncertain or unable to decide about what course to follow |
| Pragmatic | Of or pertaining to a practical point of view or practical considerations |
| Scathing | To attack with severe criticism |
| Anaphora | The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses |
| Personification | The giving of human characteristics to inanimate objects |
| Vituperative | Using, containing, or marked by harshly abusive censure |
| Resigned | Submissive or acquiescent |
| Wistful | Full of wishful yearning or longing |
| Elegiac | Expressing sorrow or lamentation |
| Climax | The arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in order of increasing number of importance |
| Rhetorical Question | A question posed by the speaker or writer not to seek an answer but instead to affirm or deny a point by simply asking a question about it |
| Anticipated Objection | The technique a writer or speaker uses in an argumentative text to address and answer objections, even though the audience has not had the opportunity to voice these objections |
| Parallel Structure | Using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance |
| Allusion | A reference in a written or spoken text to another text or to some particular body of knowledge |
| Didactic | Intended for instruction; instructive |
| Periodic Sentence | A sentence with modifying elements included before the verb and/or compliment. |
| Loose Sentence | A sentence that adds modifying elements after the subject, verb, and compliment. |
| Latinate Diction | Vocabulary characterized by the choice of elaborate, often complicated words derived from Latin roots. |
| Anglo-Saxon Diction | Word choice characterized by simple, often one- or two-syllable nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. |
| Denotation | The dictionary definition of a word. |
| Connotation | The implied meaning of a word. |
| Jargon | The specialized vocabulary of a particular group. |
| Antimetabole | The repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order. For example, "You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy." |
| Parenthesis | An insertion of material that interrupts the typical flow of a sentence. |
| Appositive | A noun or noun phrase that follows another noun immediately or defines or amplifies its meaning. |
| Ellipses | The omission of words, where the meaning is provided by the context of the passage... |
| Asyndeton | The omission of conjunctions between related clauses. For example, "I came, I saw, I conquered." |
| pretentious | making claims to some importance; affectedly grand |
| vague | not sharp, certain, or precise in thought or expression |
| evocative | to call forth; to elicit a reaction |
| objective | existing as an object or fact, independent of the mind; determined by the realities of the thing dealt with rather than the thoughts of the writer or speaker |
| scrupulous | having or showing scruples; conscientiously honest; careful of details |
| orthodox | conforming to the usual beliefs or established doctrines; approved or conventional |
| jeering | abusing vocally; expressing contempt or ridicule |
| audacious | bold; daring; brazen; insolent |
| lugubrious | very sad or mournful, especially in an exaggerated way |
| patronizing | to be kind or helpful to, but in a haughty or snobbish way; displaying a condescending manner |
| flippant | frivolous and disrespectful; saucy |
| admonitory | serving to warn; expressing reproach as a corrective |
| motif | A recurring subject, theme, or idea in a literary, artistic, or musical work |
| apostrophe | A digression in the form of an address to someone not present, or to a personified object or idea |
| synechdoche | A part of something used to refer to the whole-for example, "50 head of cattle" referring to 50 complete animals |
| irony | Writing or speaking that implies the contrary of what is actually written or spoken |
| sarcasm | The use of mockery or bitter irony |
| analogy | a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based |
| litotes | Understatement-for example, "Death is a minor inconvenience." |
| oxymoron | Juxtaposed words with seemingly contradictory meanings-for example, "I bought something for free." |
| metonymy | use of the name of one thing for that of another associated with or suggested by it |
| enthymeme | a syllogism or other argument in which a premise or the conclusion is unexpressed. |
| major premise | A implied generalization for a logical argument |
| minor premise | A specific statement for a logical argument |
| conclusion | the end or close; final part. |
| syllogism | an argument the conclusion of which is supported by two premises, of which one (major premise) contains the term and the other (minor premise) contains the term |
| begging the question | a logical fallacy where the premises include the claim that the conclusion is true or assume that the conclusion is true. It is circular reasoning. Ex) God exists; the Bible says so->"Why believe the Bible?"->because it was written by God |
| antecedent | The noun being referred to by the pronoun |
| precedent | The pronoun being referred to by the noun |
| maxim | a principle or rule of conduct. |
| ironic | A Figure of speech. A contradiction of expectation between what is said and what is meant or an incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs. Often connected to a fatalistic or pessimistic view of life |
| satirical | the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc. |
| whimsical | Given to whimsy; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing. |
| exordium | The introduction of an essay; a grabber |
| narration | The background information of an essay |
| partition | the act of dividing or partitioning; separation by the creation of a boundary that divides or keeps apart, the thesis of an essay |
| confirmation | making something valid by formally ratifying or confirming it, portion of an essay that backs up the claim |
| refutation | any evidence that helps to establish the falsity of something, the countering portion of an essay |
| peroration | The conclusion of an essay |
| Comic | Provoking laughter; humorous; funny; laughable |
| Critical | Inclined to find fault or to judge with severity, often too readily |
| Corrective | A means of correcting; corrective agent |
| Ridiculing | A speech or action intended to cause contemptuous laughter at a person or thing; derision |
| Hyperbolic | Having the nature of hyperbole; exaggerated |
| Oxymoronic | A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a "deafening silence" and "a mournful optimist" |
| First person point of view | A point of view in which an "I" or "we" serves as the narrator of a piece of fiction |
| Second person point of view | A point of view in which the narrator tells the story to another character using "you" so that the story is being told through the addressee's point of view |
| Third person point of view | A method of storytelling in which a narrator relates all action in third person, using third person pronouns such as "he" or "she" |
| Omniscient narrator | A method of storytelling in which the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters in the story |
| Limited-Omniscient narrator | A method of storytelling in which the narrator knows only the thoughts and feelings of a single character |
| Unreliable narrator | A narrator whose credibility has been seriously compromised |
| atavistic | Reverting to the characteristics of an ancestral/primitive type. |
| censuring | Criticizing harshly with disapproval. |
| anecdotal | Full of anecdotes. |
| aphoristic | Having short, unconnected sentences. |
| fatalistic | A tone with the acceptance of all events as inevitable by fate and are predetermined. |
| anecdote | A brief narrative offered in a text to capture the audience's attention or to support a generalization or claim. |
| aphorism | The use of a shortly phrased statement |
| zeugma | Using a verb to govern 2 or more nouns |
| Allegory | an expressive style that uses fictional characters and events to resemble moral qualities Ex. an extended metaphor |
| Anadiplosis | The repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the Next. Ex) We need focus. Focus is the key to victory |
| Antithesis | The juxtaposition of contrasting words, often inf parallel structure. Ex) Place your Virtues on a pedestal; put your vices under a rock |
| dictum | an authoritative declaration, saying, or maxim |
| Dogma | Orthodox, authoritarian principle that is considered true |
| Occasion | The particular time or event when the rhetorical piece is written |
| Paean | Song of joyful praise |
| Paradigm | An illustrative parable or fable |
| Periphrasis | The substitution of a word for a proper name, or the use of a proper name to suggest a personality characteristic. Ex) The young pop singer thinks she's a real Madonna, doesn't she? |
| Pun | Play on words. Includes anataclasis=words that sound alike with different meaning, paranomasia=words sound alike but different in context, and syllepsis=words use differently in relation to other words it governs |
| Symbol | An element that stands for more than itself, and it helps convey a theme of the text |
| Acerbic | Acidic, bitter, harsh, and severe |
| Analytical | Full of analysis and reasoning |
| Blasphemy | Reviling and cursing God |
| Capricious | Erratic, variable, constantly changing |
| Conciliatory | Appeasing, gain goodwill with pleasant behavior |
| Contemplative | Full of thought |
| Exhortative | Full of advice, warnings, and encouragement |
| Grotesque | Distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous |
| Irate | Extremely angry |
| Jocular | Full of jokes |
| Judicious | Having good judgement |
| Lyrical | having the form and musical quality of a song; the character of a songlike outpouring of the poet's own thoughts and feelings |
| Morbid | corruption, sadness, sickness, gloomy |
| Self-deprecating | Excessively modest |
| Skeptical | Showing doubt, disbelieving, critical |
| Strident | Harsh, loud, irritating |
| Superficial | Shallow, apparent rather than actual, unprofound |
| Veracious | Accurate, precise, truthful |
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