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54 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Absolute |
a word free from limitations or qualifications ("best" "all") |
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adage |
a familiar proverb or wise saying |
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ad hominem arguemnt |
an argument attacking an individual's charachter rather than his positin on an issue |
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allegory |
a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions |
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alliteration |
the repetition of intitial sounds in successive or neighboring words |
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allusion |
a reference to something literary, mythological, etc. |
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anaphora |
repititon of words or phrases at beginning of phrases |
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antecedent |
word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers |
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antithesis |
a statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced |
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aphorism |
a concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance |
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apostrophe |
a figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person |
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aysyndeton |
a series of things presented without conjuctions |
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bathos |
insincere or overly sentimental quality of writing/speech to evoke pity |
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chiasmus |
"ask not what you can do for your country but what your country can do for you" |
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colloquialism |
slang not accepted in formal writing |
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complex sentence |
one independent and one dependent |
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compound sentence |
two independent clauses joined by a conjunction |
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conceit |
a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphore |
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cumalitive sentence |
main independent clause is elaborated by modifying phrases |
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deductive reasoning |
"The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on tuesday morning." From general to specific |
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inductive reasoning |
"Every cat I have ever seen has four legs; cats are four legged animals." From specific to general |
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dissonance |
harsh, inharmonious, or discordant sounds |
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elegy |
a formal poem presenting a mediation on death or another solemn theme |
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ellipsis |
"Some people prefer cats; others, dogs." |
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epigram |
brief paradoxical saying |
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epithet |
a nickname to point out a characteristic of a person |
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frame device |
a story within a story Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" |
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homily |
moralistic lecture |
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hubris |
excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist |
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invective |
highly emotional verbal attack |
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limerick |
light verse consisting of five lines of regular rhythm, in which the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme, and the second and third lines rhyme |
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litotes |
a type of understatment Describing a war scene as "It was not a pretty picture." |
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malaproism |
"The doctor wrote a SUBSCRIPTION" |
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maxim |
a concise statement offering advice |
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metonymy |
"The pen (writing) is mightier than the sword (fighting)." |
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non sequiter |
illogical, "does not follow" |
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oxymoron |
"controlled sanity" |
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parable |
simple story that illustrates moral lesson |
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paradox |
apparently contradictory statement that contains some truth |
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parenthetical |
comment that inturrupts the immediate subject |
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pedantic |
excessive display of learning/scholarship |
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phillipic |
strong verbal denunciation |
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sarcasm |
harsh, cutting language to ridicule |
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satire |
use of humor to emphasize human weakness |
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scapegoat |
person that bears the blame for another |
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surrealism |
artistic movement emphasizing imagination and characterized by incongruous juxtapositions and lack of conscious control |
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syllepsis |
a word is used in two difference senses |
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syllogism |
"All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal." |
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synecdoche |
referring to a car as "wheels" |
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synesthesia |
"a loud color." "a sweet sound." |
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syntax |
sentence structure |
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tautology |
needless repitition which adds no meaning |
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trite |
overused |
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vernacular |
everyday speech of a particular country or region |
