Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
80 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Ad Hominem
|
An argument based on the failings of an adversary rather than on the merits of the case; a logical fallacy that involves a personal attack.
|
|
Allegory
|
Extending a metaphor so that objects, persons, and actions in a text are equated with meanings that lie outside the text.
|
|
Alliteration
|
The repetition of an initial consonant sound.
|
|
Allusion
|
A brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, r even -- real of fictional (usually the Bible, Shakespeare, or Greek mythology)
|
|
Ambiguity
|
The presence of two or more possible meanings in any passage.
|
|
Analogy
|
Reasoning or arguing from parallel cases.
|
|
Anaphora
|
The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.
|
|
Antithesis
|
The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.
|
|
Aphorism
|
(1) A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion. (2) A brief statement of a principle.
|
|
Apostrophe
|
A rhetorical term for breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing.
|
|
Appeal to Authority
|
A fallacy in which a rhetor seeks to persuade not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for the famous.
|
|
Appeal to Ignorance
|
A fallacy that uses an opponent's inability to disprove a conclusion as proof of the conclusion's correctness.
|
|
Argument
|
A course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating truth or falsehood.
|
|
Arrangement
|
The order in which ideas are presented in speaking and writing, although not all parts occur in every text: exordium, narratio, propositio, partitio, confirmatio, refutatio, and peroratio.
|
|
Assonance
|
The similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.
|
|
Chiasmus
|
A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed.
|
|
Circular Argument
|
An argument that commits the logical fallacy of assuming what it is attempting to prove.
|
|
Claim
|
An arguable statement.
|
|
Clause
|
A group of words that contains a subject and a predicate.
|
|
Climax
|
Mounting by degrees through words or sentences of increasing weight and in parallel construction with an emphasis on the high point or culmination of a series of events.
|
|
Colloquial
|
Characteristic of writing that seeks the effect of informal spoken language as distinct from formal or literary English.
|
|
Comparison
|
A rhetorical strategy in which a writer examines similarities and/or differences between two people, places, ideas, or objects.
|
|
Concession
|
An argumentative strategy by which a speaker or writer concedes a disputed point or leaves a disputed point to the audience or reader to decide.
|
|
Confirmation
|
The main part of a text in which logical arguments in support of a position are elaborated.
|
|
Connotation
|
The emotional implications and associations that a word may carry.
|
|
Deduction
|
A method of reasoning in which a conclusion follows necessarily from the stated premises.
|
|
Denotation
|
The direct or dictionary meaning of a word, in contrast to its figurative or associated meanings.
|
|
Dialect
|
A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary.
|
|
Diction
|
(1) The choice and use of words in speech of writing. (2) A way of speaking, usually assessed in terms of prevailing standards of pronunciation and elocution.
|
|
Encomium
|
A tribute or eulogy in prose or verse glorifying people, objects, or events.
|
|
Enthymeme
|
A shortened syllogism that serves as a more practical and expedient way to argue, since it leaves out the major premise.
|
|
Epiphora
|
The repetition of a word or phrase at the end of several clauses.
|
|
Ethos
|
A persuasive appeal based on the projected character of the speaker or narrator.
|
|
Euphemism
|
The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.
|
|
Exposition
|
A statement or type of composition intended to give information about (or an explanation of) an issue, subject, method, or idea.
|
|
Extended Metaphor
|
A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem.
|
|
Fallacy
|
An error in reasoning that renders an argument invalid.
|
|
False Dilemma
|
A fallacy of oversimplification that offers a limited number of options (usually two) when in reality more options are available.
|
|
Figurative Language
|
Language in which figures of speech (such a metaphors, similes, and hyperbole) freely occur.
|
|
Figures of Speech
|
The various uses of language that depart from customary construction, order, or significance.
|
|
Flashback
|
A shift in a narrative to an earlier event that interrupts the normal chronological development of a story.
|
|
Hasty Generalization
|
A fallacy in which a conclusion is not logically justified by sufficient or unbiased evidence.
|
|
Hyperbole
|
A figure or speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect; and extravagant statement.
|
|
Imagery
|
Vivid descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the senses.
|
|
Induction
|
A method of reasoning by which a rhetor collects a number of instances and forms a generalization that is meant to apply to all instances.
|
|
Invective
|
Denunciatory or abusive language; discourse that casts blame on somebody or something.
|
|
Invention
|
The process of coming up with ideas to speak or write about.
|
|
Irony
|
THe use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement or situation where the meaning is directly contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.
|
|
Jargon
|
The specialized language of a professional, occupational, or other group, often meaningless to outsiders.
|
|
Logos
|
The means of persuasion that appeals to the audience's logical reasoning
|
|
Metaphor
|
A figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something important in common.
|
|
Metonymy
|
A figure of speech in which one word or phrase in substituted for another with which it is closely associated (such as "crown" for "royalty").
|
|
Mood
|
The quality of a verb that conveys the writer's attitude toward a subject.
|
|
Narrative
|
A rhetorical strategy that recounts a sequence of events, usually in chronological order.
|
|
Onomatopoeia
|
The formation or use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.
|
|
Oxymoron
|
A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.
|
|
Paradox
|
A statement that appears to contradict itself.
|
|
Parallelism
|
The similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.
|
|
Parody
|
A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule.
|
|
Pathos
|
The means of persuasion that appeals to the audience's emotions.
|
|
Periodic Sentence
|
A long and frequently involved sentence, marked by suspended syntax, in which the sense is not completed until the final word -- usually with an emphatic climax.
|
|
Personification
|
A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.
|
|
Point of View
|
The perspective from which a speaker or writer tells a story or presents information.
|
|
Prose
|
Ordinary writing (both fiction and nonfiction) and distinguished from verse (poetry).
|
|
Refutation
|
The part of an argument wherein a speaker or writer anticipates and counters opposing points of view.
|
|
Rhetoric
|
The study and practice of effective communication.
|
|
Rhetorical Question
|
A question asked merely for effect with no answer expected.
|
|
Running Style
|
Sentence style that appears to follow the mind as it worries a problem through, mimicking the "rambling, associative syntax of conversation" -- the opposite of periodic sentence style.
|
|
Sarcasm
|
A mocking, often ironic or satirical remark.
|
|
Satire
|
A text or performance that uses irony, derision, or wit to expose or attack human vice, foolishness, or stupidity.
|
|
Simile
|
A figure of speech in which two fundamentally unlike things are explicitly compared, usually in a phrase introduced by "like" or "as."
|
|
Style
|
Narrowly interpreted as those figures that ornament speech or writing; broadly, as representing a manifestation of the person speaking or writing.
|
|
Syllogism
|
A form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.
|
|
Symbol
|
A person, place, action, or thing that (by association, resemblance, or convention) represents something other than itself.
|
|
Synecdoche
|
A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole, the whole for a part, the specific for the general, the general for the specific, or the material for the thing made from it.
|
|
Syntax
|
(1) The study of the rule that govern the way words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. (2) The arrangement of words in a sentence.
|
|
Thesis
|
The main idea of an essay or report, often written as a single declarative sentence.
|
|
Tone
|
A writer's attitude toward the subject and audience. Tone is primarily conveyed through diction, point of view, syntax, and a level of formality.
|
|
Transition
|
The connection between two parts of a piece of writing, contributing to coherence.
|
|
Understatement
|
A figure of speech in which a writer deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is.
|