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111 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
abstract language
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Language that describes concepts rather than concrete images; ideas and qualities rather than observable or specific things, people, or places. The observable or “physical” is usually described in concrete language.
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aim
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The goal a writer or speaker hopes to achieve with the text—for example, to clarify difficult material, to inform, to convince, to persuade. Also called INTENTION and PURPOSE.
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allegory
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A story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities. A sort of extended METAPHOR.
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alliteration
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The REPETITION of consonant sounds at the beginning or in the middle of two or more adjacent words.
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allusion
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A reference in a written or spoken text to another text or to some particular body of knowledge.
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analogy
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Comparison of two seemingly dissimilar things, usually to clarify an action or a relationship—for example, “The heart is like a pump.”
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anaphora (un-NA-fuh-ruh)
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The REPETITION of a group of words at the beginning of successive clauses—for example, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven; A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up…”
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anecdote
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A brief narrative offered in a text to capture the AUDIENCE’s attention or to support a GENERALIZATION or a CLAIM.
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antimetabole (an-ti-me-TA-boh-lee)
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The REPITITION 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.”
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antithesis
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The juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas, often in parallel structure—for example, “Place your virtues on a pedestal; put your vices under a rock.”
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apostrophe
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A technique by which a writer addresses an inanimate object, an idea, or a person who is either dead or absent.
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appeal
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One of three strategies for persuading AUDIENCES—LOGOS, appeal to reason; PATHOS, appeals to emotion; and ETHOS, appeals to ethics.
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appeal to authority
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In a text, the reference to words, action, or beliefs of a person in authority as a means of supporting a CLAIM, GENERALIZATION, or CONCLUSION.
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archaic diction
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Old-fashioned or outdated choice of words—for example, “…beliefs for which our forebears fought.
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Aristotelian triangle
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A diagram showing the relations of writer or speaker, AUDIENCE (reader or listener), and text in a RHETORICAL SITUATION.
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arrangement
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In a spoken or written text, the placement of ideas for effect.
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assonance
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The REPETITION of vowel sounds in the stressed syllables of two or more adjacent words.
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assumption
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An opinion, a perspective, or a belief that a writer or speaker thinks the audience holds.
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asyndeton (UH-SIN-DUH-TON)
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The omission of conjunctions between related clauses—for example, “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
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audience
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The person or persons who listen to a spoken text or read a written one and are capable of responding to it.
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authority
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A reliable, respected source—someone with knowledge
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bias
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Prejudice or predisposition toward one side of a subject or issue.
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cacophony
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Harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose; the opposite of euphony.
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canon
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One of the traditional elements of rhetorical composition; INVENTION, ARRANGEMENT, STYLE, MEMORY, or DELIVERY.
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close reading
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A careful reading that is attentive to organization, figurative language, sentence structure, vocabulary, and other literary and structural elements of a text.
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coherence
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The 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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colloquial/ism
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An informal or conversational use of language concrete language; Language that describes specific, observable things, people, or places, rather than ideas or qualities.
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connotation
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The implied meaning of a word, in contrast to its directly expressed “dictionary definition.”
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context
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The convergence of time, place, AUDIENCE, and motivating factors in which a piece of writing or a speech is situated.
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deduction
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The process of moving from a general claim to a specific example. (Thesis first, then supporting examples.)
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denotation
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The literal meaning of a word; its dictionary definition
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description
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Writing that relies on sensory IMAGES to characterize a person or place.
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diction
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Word choice, which is viewed on scales of formality/informality, concreteness/abstraction, and denotative value/connotative value.
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didactic
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Writing whose purpose is to instruct or to teach. The work is usually formal and focuses on moral or ethical concerns. This type of writing may be fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.
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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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elegiac
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Mournful over what has passed or been lost; often used to describe tone.
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element
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In visual argument; elements in a text might include specific words or phrases, colors, and individual images that are used—all of which audiences can read individually—to form an overall, cohesive meaning for the text.
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emphatic sentence
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A sentence of 5-10 words, for emphasis.
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ethos
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The appeal of a text to the credibility and character of the speaker, writer, or narrator.
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euphemism
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An indirect expression of unpleasant information is such a way as to lessen its impact—for example, saying a person’s position was eliminated rather than saying the person was fired.
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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 illustration or incident offered in support of a GENERALIZATION, CLAIM, or point.
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exigence
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That which has compelled the writer to write.
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explication of text
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Explanation of a text’s meaning through an analysis of all of its constituent parts, including the literary devices used; also called close reading.
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exposition
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Explanation, one of the four modes of discourse.
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extended metaphor
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A sustained comparison, often referred to as a conceit, that is developed as far as the author wishes.
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figurative language
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The use of tropes or figures of speech; going beyond literal meaning to achieve literary effect.
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foreshadowing
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The use of a hint or clue to suggest a larger event that occurs later in the work.
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generalization
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A point that the speaker or writer generates on the basis of considering a number of particular EXAMPLES.
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genre
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A piece of writing classified by type—for example, letter, narrative, eulogy, or editorial.
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hortatory
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Urging, or strongly encouraging.
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hortative sentence
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A sentence that exhorts, advises, calls to action.
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hyperbole
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An exaggeration for effect.
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image
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A passage of text that evokes sensation or emotional intensity.
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imagery
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Vivid use of language that evokes a reader’s senses;(sight [visual imagery]; taste [gustatory imagery]; touch[tactile imagery]; sound [auditory imagery]; smell [olfactory imagery].)
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implied metaphor
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A METAPHOR embedded in a sentence rather than expressed directly as a sentence. For example, “His voice cascaded through the hallways” contains an implied metaphor; “His voice was a cascade of emotion” contains a direct metaphor.
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induction
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Reasoning that begins by citing a number of specific instances or EXAMPLES and then shows how collectively they constitute a general principle. (Supporting examples, then thesis.)
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intention
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The goal a writer or speaker hopes to achieve with the text—for example, to clarify difficult material, to inform, to convince, or to persuade. Also called AIM and PURPOSE.
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invective (n.)
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Strongly abusive or critical language.
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irony
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Writing or speaking that implies the contrary of what is actually written or spoken.
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jargon
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The specialized vocabulary of a profession or group. Technical language of a profession.
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juxtaposition
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Placement of two things side by side for emphasis.
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metaphor
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An implied comparison that does not use the word like or as—for example, “His voice was a cascade of emotion”; the most important of all the TROPES.
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metonymy (muh-TAH-nuh-mee)
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An entity referred to by one of its attributes or associations—for example, “The admissions office claims applications have risen.”
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mood
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The feeling that a text is intended to produce in the AUDIENCE.
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narration
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An ANECDOTE or a story offered in support of a GENERALIZATION, CLAIM, or point. Also, a function in texts accomplished when the speaker or writer tells a story.
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occasion
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An aspect of context; the cause or reason for writing.
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onomatopoeia
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The use of words that sound like what they mean, such as “hiss,” “buzz,” “slam,” and “boom.”
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OPTIC
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An acronym for analyzing visual arguments.
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oxymoron
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Juxtaposed words with seemingly contradictory meanings—for example “meager abundance.”
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pacing
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The relative speed or slowness with which a story is told or an idea is presented.
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paradigm
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An accepted way of thinking in a given CONTEXT.
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paradox
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A statement that seems to contradict itself but that turns out to have a rational meaning, as in this quotation from Henry David Thoreau: “I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”
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pathos
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The appeal of a text to the emotions or interests of the audience.
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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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persona
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The character that a writer or speaker conveys to the AUDIENCE; the plural is personae.
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personification
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Assigning lifelike characteristics to inanimate objects.
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polemic
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An argument against an idea, usually regarding philosophy, politics, or religion.
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polysyndeton
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A sentence which uses and or another conjunction to separate the items in a series. It makes the sentence slower and the items more emphatic than in the asyndeton.
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purpose
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One’s intention or objective in a speech or piece of writing.
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rhetor
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The speaker or writer who uses elements of RHETORIC effectively in oral or written text.
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rhetoric
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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; the specific features of texts, written or spoken, that cause them to be meaningful, purposeful, and effective for readers or listeners in a situation.
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rhetorical choices
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The particular choices a writer or speaker makes to achieve meaning, PURPOSE, or EFFECT.
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rhetorical modes
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Patterns of organization developed to achieve a specific purpose; modes include but are not limited to narration, description, exemplification, classification and division, process analysis, and argumentation.
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rhetorical question
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A question asked more to produce an effect than to summon an answer.
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rhetorical situation
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a) writer, speaker, rhetor; b) purpose; c) audience; d) topic; e) context
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rhetorical triangle
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A diagram that represents a rhetorical situation as the relationship among the speaker, the subject, and the audience.
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sarcasm
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The use of mockery or bitter irony.
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satire
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An ironic, sarcastic, or witty composition that claims to argue for something, but actually argues against it.
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scheme
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Artful syntax, such as parallelism, juxtapositions, and antitheses.
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serif, sans serif fonts
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serif- with feet; sans serif- without. Serif fonts appear more traditional.
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simile
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A type of comparison that uses the word like or as.
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slang
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Informal language, often considered inappropriate for formal occasions and text.
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speaker
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A term used for the author, speaker, or the person whose perspective (real or imagined) is being advanced in a speech or piece of writing.
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style
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The distinctive quality of speech or writing created by the selection and arrangement of words and figures of speech.
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subject
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One of the points on the Aristotelian or RHETORICAL TRIANGLE; the subject matter a writer or speaker is writing or speaking about.
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support
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In a text, the material offered to make concrete or to back up a GENERALIZATION, CONCLUSION, or CLAIM.
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symbol
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In a text, an element that stands for more than itself and, therefore, helps to convey a THEME of the text.
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syntax
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The order of words in a sentence.
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synecdoche (suh-NEK-duh-kee)
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A part of something used to refer to the whole—for example, “50 head of cattle” referring to 50 complete animals.
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telegraphic sentence
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a sentence of 1-5 words.
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text
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This term, used broadly, describes a piece of communication.
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theme
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The message conveyed by a literary work.
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thesis
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The main idea in a text, often the main GENERALIZATION, CONCLUSION, or CLAIM.
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tone
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The speaker’s attitude toward the subject or audience.
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trope
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Artful diction; the use of language in a non-literal way; also called a figure of speech.
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understatement
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Lack of emphasis in a statement or point; restraint in language often used for ironic effect.
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unity
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The sense that a text is, appropriately, about only one subject and achieves one major PURPOSE or EFFECT.
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voice
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The textual features, such as diction and sentence structure, that convey a writer’s or speaker’s persona.
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volta
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the Italian term for the ‘turn’ in the argument or mood of a sonnet.
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zeugma
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A TROPE in which one word, usually a noun or the main verb, governs two other words not related in meaning (“He maintained a business and his innocence”).
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