English- Thayer - Final

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Expository

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explanatory. An expository composition explains something complicated.

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Personification

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to describe something not human in human terms. “Death made its way into the parlor on Christmas Eve.”

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Irony

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When the literal meaning is the opposite of the actual meaning.

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Verbal irony

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spoken irony

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Situational irony

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when events seem ironic.

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Dramatic irony

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in drama/fiction when the audience knows something a character does not know

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Mood

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feeling or atmosphere that results from the text

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Tone

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Author’s emotional attitude toward his subject.

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Analogy

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a comparison of similar things, often using something familiar to explain something unfamiliar

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Satire

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writing/speaking about something where we deliberately make them seem foolish, so that people will see their faults. Humor that inspires reform.

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Parody

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a humorous imitation of something serious, for the sake of being humorous

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Foreshadowing

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a technique of giving hints or clues that suggest or prepare for events that occur later in a text

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Symbolism

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using something concrete like an object or character, to represent or suggest something abstract or absent.

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Theme

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the central idea or “message” of a text

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Characterization

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the method an author uses to acquaint a reader with his or her characters

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Cliché

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an expression or phrase that is so overused as to become trite and meaningless: “cool as a cucumber,” “off the hook,” are examples

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Hyperbole

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a figure of speech involving great exaggeration

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Style

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a writer’s particular manner of expression: the sum total of the literary, rhetorical, and stylistic choices made by the author.

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Pastoral

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Literature portraying the life of shepherds or country people especially in an idealized manner

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Narrative

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Something that is narrated; a story, an account.

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Onomatopoeia

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the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it.

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Archetype

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the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies. Wicked Witches adhere to the Crone archetype.

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Alliteration

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repetition of leading sounds: The dirty dog died digging.

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Complicity

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Involvement as an accomplice in a crime or wrongdoing

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Deploy

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To station (persons or forces) systematically over an area. B) To spread out (troops) to form an extended front.

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Explicate

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To explain; make meaning clear

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Implicate

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To involve or connect incriminatingly

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Implicit

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Implied or understood although not expressed. B) Contained in the nature of something, although not readily apparent.

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Inexplicable

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Incapable of being explained or interpreted.

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Plight

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A condition or situation of difficulty or adversity

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Replica

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A copy or reproduction of a work of art, especially one made by the original artist. B) A copy or reproduction.

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Replicate

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To duplicate, copy, or repeat

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Supple

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Readily bent; pliant. B) Moving and bending with agility; limber

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Aspersion

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A damaging or false statement.

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Deprecate

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To express disapproval of. b. To belittle; depreciate

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Deride

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To laugh at in scorn; scoff at; mock

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Execrable

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Extremely inferior; very bad. b. Detestable; hateful.

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Ostracize

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To banish or exclude from a group; shun

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Rebuke

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To criticize or reprimand sharply and sternly

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Scurrilous

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Using or expressed in vulgar and abusive language; foul-mouthed

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Spurn

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To reject or refuse disdainfully

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Vitriolic

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Bitterly severe; harsh; sharp

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Vituperation

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Sustained and bitter attack or condemnation; blame

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Accommodating

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Willing to help; obliging.

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Accord

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Agreement; harmony. B) a settlement or compromise of conflicting opinions

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Acquiesce

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To consent or comply passively or without protest: accept.

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Adamant

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Firm and unyielding in purpose or opinion; inflexible

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Camaraderie

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A spirit of loyalty, mutual trust, and good will between or among friends or comrades.

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Compliance

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An act of doing as another wishes or yielding to a request or command.

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Propitiate

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To prevent or reduce the anger of; soothe; appease.

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Tractable

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Easily managed or controlled; docile.

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Volition

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An act of willing, choosing, or deciding; power or capability of determining.

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Willfulness

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Unreasonable stubbornness. B) The inclination to impose one’s will on others.

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Auspices

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Protection or support; patronage

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Auspicious

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Attended by favorable circumstances.

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Circumspect

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Heedful of circumstances or consequences; prudent

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Despicable

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Deserving of scorn or contempt; vile.

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Introspective

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Self examining; thinking about one’s own thoughts and feelings.

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Perspicuity

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The quality of being clearly expressed or easily understood.

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Prospective

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Likely to become or be.

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Specious

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Having the ring of truth but actually false.

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Specter

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A phantom; apparition

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Spectrum

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A broad sequence or range of related qualities, ideas, or activities.

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Acuity

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Acuteness of perception; keenness.

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Consummate

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Supremely accomplished or skilled

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Cunning

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Skill or adeptness in performance; dexterity.

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Deft

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Skillful; adroit.

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Endowment

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A natural gift or quality. B) Funds or property donated to an institution, individual, or group as a source of income.

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Facile

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Done or achieved with little effort or difficulty; easy.

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Incompetent

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Not capable; not properly or well qualified.

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Inept

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Awkward or clumsy.

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Proficient

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Performing in a given art, skill, or branch of learning with expert correctness and facility; adept.

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Propensity

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An innate inclination; tendency.

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Rhetoric

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the art of speaking or writing to persuade or influence people

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Aesthetic effect

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Aesthetic relates to beauty. The aesthetic effect of something measures how beautiful it is. “The frog’s love song” has a greater aesthetic effect than “The toad’s croak.”

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Parallelism

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similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases or clauses.

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Metaphor

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an implied comparison between two things of unlike nature that yet have something in common.

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Repetition

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repeating an idea for rhetorical effect.

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Connotation

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the secondary, implied, or suggested meaning of a word. The word “weasel” has a negative connotation, aside from describing a lower mammal.

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Denotation

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the actual, literal meaning of the word. Weasel simply means a slender, carnivorous mammal

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Diction

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(word choice) a writer or speaker’s choice of words. Synonymous with style.

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Explicit

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Directly stated. Leaving no question about the meaning.

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Implicit

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implied, but not directly stated. Hinted at.

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Appellation

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A name or title that distinguishes or identifies.

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Diphthong

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A speech sound that consists of either two vowels or a vowel and a semivowel (such as y) contained in a single syllable. (ex: the i in hi)

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Eponym

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A person for whom something is or is thought to be named.

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Linguistics

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The study of human speech, especially its components, structure, and nature, and how it changes.

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Neologism

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A newly made-up word, phrase, or expression.

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Parlance

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a particular manner or kind of speech.

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Patois

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A dialect other than the standard dialect of a language, especially a regional or uneducated form of speech.

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Polyglot

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consisting of many groups speaking different languages. B) Speaking or writing several languages.

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Solecism

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The ungrammatical usage of a word or construction of a sentence.

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Vulgar

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Spoken by or using the language spoken by the common people rather than literary, cultured, or learned people; vernacular.

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Amulet

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An object worn to bring luck or to protect against evil or injury; charm.

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Capricious

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Characterized by or subject to sudden, unpredictable changes, fickle.

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Fatalism

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The belief that all events are determined in advance by fate and cannot be changed by human means.

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Incantation

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a set of words spoken as a magic charm or to cast a magic spell.

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Propitious

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Presenting favorable circumstances: auspicious; advantageous.

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Providential

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Resulting from or seeming to result from divine will; fortunate; opportune.

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Quirk

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A peculiarity of behavior; mannerism; idiosyncrasy.

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Serendipity

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The ability to make valuable discoveries by chance: luck.

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Vagary

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A wild or unpredictable notion or action; odd fancy.

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Vicissitude

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One of the sudden or unexpected changes or shifts often encountered in one’s life, activities, or surroundings. B) A change or variation.

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Continuity

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The condition of being without a stop or interruption. B) An uninterrupted succession or flow.

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Converge

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To approach the same point from different directions: meet.

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Crux

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The basic or essential feature of something. B) A baffling or puzzling point that is difficult to explain.

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Initiate

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To begin; originate; cause to begin.

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Pivotal

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Central or crucial to something: very important. B) Pertaining to a pivot, the shaft about which a related part rotates or swings.

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Sequel

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Something that follows; continuation.

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Subordinate

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One subject to the authority of another.

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Tangential

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Only superficially relevant or related.

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Terminate

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To bring to an end; conclude.

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Ultimate

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Last: coming at the end. B) Farthest; extreme.