TERM
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Definition
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ABSTRACT
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Refers to language that describes concepts rather than concrete images (ideas and qualities rather than observable or specific people places and things) The observable or “physical” is usually described in concrete language.
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ALLEGORY
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story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other
people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities. Example: Animal Farm; Dante’s Inferno; Lord of the Flies
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ALLITERATION
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repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are
close together.
EXAMPLE: “When the two youths turned with the flag they saw that much of the regiment had crumbled away, and the dejected remnant was coming slowly
back.” –Stephen Crane (Note how regiment and remnant are being used; the
regiment is gone, a remnant remains…)
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ALLUSION
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reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture. An indirect reference to something (usually from literature, etc.).
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ANALOGY
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Comparison made between two things to show how they are alike
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ANAPHORA
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Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer’s point more coherent. The opposite of anaphora is epistrophe.
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ANASTROPHE
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Inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence. Purpose is rhythm or emphasis or euphony. It is a fancy word for inversion.
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ANECDOTE
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Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something,
often shows character of an individual
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ANNOTATION
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Explanatory notes added to a test to explain, cite sources, of give bibliographical data.
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ANTITHESIS
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The presentation of two contrasting images by balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by means of grammatical structure. Example: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
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APHORISM
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brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life, or of a principle or accepted general truth. Also called maxim, epigram.
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APOSTROPHE
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calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea. If the character is asking a god or goddess for inspiration it is called an invocation.
EXAMPLE: Josiah Holland ---“Oh God! Thou great embodiment/ Of human life and human history!”
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APPOSITION
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Placing in immediately succeeding order of two or more coordinate elements, the latter of which is an explanation, qualification, or modification of the first (often set off by a colon). Paine: “These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it Now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
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ARGUMENTATION
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Writing that attempts to prove the validity of pint of view or an idea by presenting reasoned arguments; persuasive writing is a form of argumentation.
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ASSONANCE
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the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds especially in words that are together.
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ASYNDETON
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Commas used without conjunction to separate a series of words, thus emphasizing the parts equally: instead of X, Y, and Z... the writer uses X,Y,Z.... The opposite of asyndeton is polysyndeton.
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CACOPHONY
(DISSONANCE)
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Harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose; the opposite of euphony.
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CARICATURE
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Descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a person’s appearance or a facet of personality.
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CLICHE
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is a word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless because of overuse. Avoid clichés like the plague. (That cliché is intended.)
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COLLAQUIALISM
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a word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing but is inappropriate for formal situations.
EXAMPLE: “He’s out of his head if he thinks I’m gonna go for such a stupid idea.
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COHERENCE
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Unity quality of a piece of writing in which all the parts contribute to the development of the central idea, theme, or organizing principle.
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CONCRETE LANGUAGE
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Language that describes specific, observable things, people, or places, rather than ideas or qualities. Abstract is the opposite concrete language.
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CONNOTATION
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the associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition.
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CONSONANCE
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Repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximity, as in boost/best; it can also be seen within several compound words such as fulfill and ping-pong.
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CONUNDRUM
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A riddle whose answer is or involves a pun; it may also be a paradox or difficult problem
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DEDUCTION
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The process of moving from a general rule to a specific example. Think Sherlock Holmes
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DENOTATION
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Literal meaning of a word as defined by a dictionary
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DESCRIPTION
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The picturing in words of something or someone through detailed observation of color, motion, sounds, taste, smell, and touch: one of the four modes of discourse.
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DICTION
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a speaker or writer’s choice of words. Diction creates tone, attitude, and style, as well as meaning. Different types and arrangements of words have significant effects on meaning. An essay written in academic diction would be much less colorful, but perhaps more precise than street slang.
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DIDACTIC
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form of fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking. A didactic work is usually formal and focuses on moral or ethical concerns.
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DISCOURSE
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Spoken or written language, including literary works; the four traditionally classified modes of discourse are description, exposition, narration and persuasion.
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EMOTIONAL APPEAL
(PATHOS) ((PATHETIC APPEAL))
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When a writer appeals to reader’ emotions to excite or involve them in the argument.
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EPANALEPSIS
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device of repetition in which the same expression (single word or
phrase) is repeated both at the beginning and at the end of the line, clause, or sentence.
EXAMPLE Voltaire: “Common sense is not so common.”
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EPISTROPHE
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Device of repetition in which the same expression (single word or phrase) is repeated at the end of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences (it is the opposite of anaphora).
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EPIGRAPH
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a quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of
the theme.
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ETHICAL APPEAL
(ETHOS)
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When a writer tries to persuade the audience to respect and believe them based on a presentation of image of self through the test. Reputation is sometimes a factor in ethical appeal, but in all cases the aim is to gain the audience’s confidence.
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ESSAY
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a short piece of nonfiction prose in which the writer discusses some aspect of a
subject.
ESSAY TYPES TO KNOW:
ARGUMENTATION one of the four forms of discourse which uses logic,
ethics, and emotional appeals (logos, ethos, pathos) to develop an effective means
to convince the reader to think or act in a certain way.
PERSUASION relies more on emotional appeals than on facts
ARGUMENT form of persuasion that appeals to reason instead of
emotion to convince an audience to think or act in a certain way.
CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP Form of argumentation in which the writer
claims that one thing results from another, often used as part of a logical
argument.
DESCRIPTION a form of discourse that uses language to create a mood or
emotion.
EXPOSITION one of the four major forms of discourse, in which something
is explained or “set forth.”
NARRATIVE the form of discourse that tells about a series of events.
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EULOGY
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A great praise or commendation, a laudatory speech, often about someone who has died.
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EUPHEMISM
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A more acceptable and usually more pleasant way of saying something that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable. “He’s pushing up daisies” is a common euphemism for death. Euphemisms are also often used to obscure the reality of a situation. The military uses “collateral damage” to indicate civilian deaths in a military operation.
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EUPHONY
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A succession of harmonious sounds used in poetry or prose; the opposite of cacophony.
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EXAMPLE
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An individual instance taken to be representative of a general pattern. Arguing by example is considered reliable if examples are demonstrable true or factual as well as relevant.
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EXPLICATION
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act of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text, usually involves close reading and special attention to figurative language.
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EXPOSITION
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The immediate revelation to the audience of the setting and other background information necessary for understanding the plot; also, explanation; one of the four modes of discourse.
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GENERALIZATION
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When a writer bases a claim upon an isolated example or asserts that a claim is certain rather than probable. Sweeping generalizations occur when a writer asserts that a claim applies to all instances rather than some.
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GENRE
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The type of literary work, such as a novel or poem; there are also subgenres, such as science fiction or sonnet, within the large genres.
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FABLE
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a very short story told in prose or poetry that teaches a practical lesson about how to succeed in life.
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HUMOR
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Anything that causes laughter or amusement; up until the end of the renaissance, humor meant a person’s temperament.
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HYPERBOLE
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a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect. The opposite of understatement. EX. “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times….”
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IMAGE
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A word or words, either figurative or literal, used to describe a sensory experience or an object perceived by the sense. An image is always a concrete representation.
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IMAGERY
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the use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person , a thing, a place, or an experience. It is the use of several images.
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INDUCTION
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The process that moves from a given series of specifics to a generalization
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INFERENCE
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A conclusion one can draw from presented details
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INVECTIVE
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A verbally abusive attack
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INVERSION
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the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase. (think of it as Yoda speak)
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IRONY
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a discrepancy between appearances and reality.
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JARGON
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The special language of a profession or group. The term jargon usually has pejorative associations with the implication that jargon is evasive, tedious, and unintelligible to outsiders. The writings of the lawyer and the literary critic are both susceptible to jargon.
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JUXTAPOSITION
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rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit.
EXAMPLE Ezra Pound: “The apparition of these faces in the crowd;/ Petals on a wet, black bough.”
Juxtaposition is also a form of contrast by which writers call attention to dissimilar ideas or images or metaphors.
Martin Luther King: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
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LOGICAL APPEAL
(LOGOS)
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When a writer tries to persuade the audience based on statistics, facts, and reasons.
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LYRICAL
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Songlike; characterized by emotions, subjectivity, and imagination
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METAPHOR
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a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles.
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MOOD
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An atmosphere created by a writer’s diction, syntax, and the details selected. Similar to tone.
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NARRATION
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The telling of a story in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama. One of the four modes of discourse.
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OBJECTIVITY
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An impersonal presentation of events and characters. It is a writer’s attempt to remove himself or herself from any subject, personal involvement in a story. Hard news journalism is frequently prized for its objectivity, although even fictional stories can be told without a writer rendering personal judgment.
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ONOMATOPOEIA
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the use of words whose sounds echo their sense. “Pop.” “Zap.”
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OVERSIMPLIFICATION
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When a writer obscures or denies the complexity of the issues in an argument.
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OXYMORON
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a figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. “Jumbo shrimp.” “Pretty ugly.” “Bitter-sweet”
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PACING
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The movement of a literary piece from one point or one section to another
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PARABLE
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a relatively short story that teaches a moral, or lesson about how to lead a good life.
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PARADOX
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a statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth. EXAMPLE: “I have never found a companion more companionable than solitude.”
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PARALLELISM
(PARALLEL STRUCTURE)
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the repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures and are placed side by side. Parallel structure may be formed by the listing of two or more modifiers in a row to describe the same noun or verb, it may take the form of two or more of the same phrases that modify the same noun or verb, or it may be the complex bend of a single word phrase. If you have parallelism being used you may have anaphora or epistrophe being used as well (but not always)
EXAMPLE: “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields” (the three clauses are paralleled to one another) ((NOTE: the previous example could also be said to use anaphora as well)
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PARODY
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a work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer’s style.
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PEDANTIC
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A term used to describe writing that borders on lecturing. It is scholarly and academic and often overly difficult and distant.
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PERSONIFICATION
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a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.
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PERSUASION
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A form of argumentation, one of the four modes of discourse; language intended to convince through appeals to reason or emotion.
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POLYSYNDETON
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sentence which uses a conjunction with NO commas to separate the
items in a series. Instead of X, Y, and Z... Polysyndeton results in X and Y and Z...The opposite of polysyndeton is asyndeton.
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REGIONALISM
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An element in literature that conveys a realistic portrayal of specific geographical locale, using the locale and its influence as a major part of the plot. EXAMPLE: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
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REPETITION
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Word or phrase used two or more times in close proximity in a work as a whole. (this does not apply to epistrophe or anaphora)
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RHETORIC
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Art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse.
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RHETORICAL QUESTION
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a question asked for an effect, and not actually requiring an answer.
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RHETORICAL MODES
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The method or form of a literary work; the manner in which a work of literature is written. The four types of mode are exposition, description, narration, and argumentation. This is sometimes referred to as simply the mode.
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RHETORICAL QUESTION
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One that does not expect an explicit answer. It is used to pose an idea to be considered by the speaker or audience. .
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SARCASM
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Harsh, caustic personal remarks to or about someone; less subtle than irony.
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SATIRE
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a type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change. Satire doesn’t simply abuse (as in invective) or get personal (as in sarcasm). Satire tends to target groups or large concepts rather than individual.
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SENTENCE
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a set of words that is complete in itself, typically containing a subject and predicate, conveying a statement, question, exclamation, or command, and consisting of a main clause and sometimes one or more subordinate clauses.
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SIMILE
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a figure of speech that makes an explicitly comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as , than, or resembles.
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SPEAKER
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The voice of a work; an author may speak as himself or herself or as a fictitious persona.
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STEREOTYPE
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a fixed idea or conception of a character or an idea which does not allow for any individuality, often based on religious, social, or racial prejudices.
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STYLE
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the distinctive way in which a writer uses language: a writer’s distinctive use of diction, tone, and syntax.
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SUBJECTIVITY
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A personal presentation of events and characters, influenced by the author’s own feelings and opinions
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SYLLOGISM
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A form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them. A syllogism is the format of a formal argument that consists of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.
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SYNECDOCHE
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a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole. “If you don’t drive properly, you will lose your wheels.” The wheels represent the entire car.
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SYNTAX
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The grammatical structure of a sentence; the arrangement of words in a sentence. Syntax includes length of a sentence, kinds of sentences (questions, exclamation, declarative, rhetorical, simple, complex, or compound)
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THEME
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the insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work.
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THESIS
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The main idea in a piece of writing. It presents the author’s assertion or claim that they are actively working to prove. The effectiveness of a presentation is often based on how well the writer presents, develops, and supports the thesis.
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TONE
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the attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or
the audience, revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization.
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UNDERSTATEMENT
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a statement that says less than what is meant. It is the opposite of hyperbole.
Example: During the second war with Iraq, American troops complained of a
fierce sand storm that made even the night-vision equipment useless. A British
commando commented about the storm: “It’s a bit breezy.”
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VOICE
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Refers to two different areas of writing. One refers to the relationship between a sentence’s subject and verb (active and passive voice). The second refers to the total “sound” of a writer’s style. This relates directly to style.
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