ENG 170 Final Exam Terms and Definitions

Myths about American Childhood (5)

"A final myth, which is perhaps the most difficult to overcome, is a myth of progress, and its inverse, a myth of decline" (Mintz 2)

Myths about American Childhood (4)

"A fourth myth is that the United States is a peculiarly child-friendly society, when in actuality Americans are deeply ambivalent about children" (Mintz 2)

Myths about American Childhood (3)

"A third myth is that childhood is the same for all children, a status transcending class, ethnicity, and gender" (Mintz 2)

Myths about American Childhood (2)

"Another myth is that of the home as a haven and bastion of stability in an ever-changing world" (Mintz 2)

Myths about American Childhood (1)

"One is the myth of a carefree childhood" (Mintz 2)

DOI

Digital Object Identifier, used as a unique, permanent link to a text. A doi is considered more secure than a hyperlink and should be cited when available

MLA

Modern Language Association, documentation style for much of the humanities

The Giver

The story itself (i.e., you should have read it and be able to discuss it)

Summarize

a broad overview, often of an entire text or a large piece of text; requires the author's last name, or, if no author, the title of the work

Social Construct

a concept or definition that exists within a cultural because of human agreement rather than objectivity

Denotation

a dictionary-style definition of a word

Paraphrase

a passage, usually not longer than a paragraph, of someone else's ideas put into your own words; requires the author's last name, and, if available, the page number

Wicked Question

a question that doesn't have a single right answer, and one that's so complex that there are multiple different disciplinary approaches

Rogerian Argument

a structure that seeks to identify the problem, understand the audience, and ultimately build a proposal by seeking common ground between rhetorician and audience

Copia

abundance of style

Reference Work

an informational text that's meant to provide quick access for general information about a topic. Examples include dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, textbooks

Definitional Argument

analyzing what a term/concept means and its consequences

Slippery slope

arguing that a course of action will unleash uncontrollable destruction

Bandwagon Fallacy

assuming that because something is popular it is also good, true, and/or right

Ad Hominem

attacking the person instead of the argument

Subjective Description

based on personal perspective, feelings, and individual interpretation

Synthesis

bringing texts into conversation with each other; showing that you, as the writer, are mediating the conversation; they say/I say

Negative Definition

definition by negation, describing what something is not to emphasize its characteristics

Demographics

descriptions of audience characteristics

Audience Analysis

determining the audience's knowledge and attitude about a topic and their expectations of the rhetorician and the argument

Rhetoric

discerning the available means of persuasion in any given situation (Aristotle)

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

drawing conclusions about causes because one event follows another; also known as if this, then that

Appeal to Pity

emotional manipulation that is not relevant to the argument

Rhetorical Appeals

ethos (credibility, authorship, and authority), pathos (the values and emotions), and logos (the use of logic)

Objective Description

fact-based description

Works Cited

formal list of citations at the end of an essay

Utopia/Dystopia

ideal world/a world where everything has gone wrong; both imaginary

Parenthetical Citations

in-text citations that must match the first term of the Works Cited entry to which it refers

Plagiarism

intentionally or unintentionally misrepresenting work as your original ideas unique to that course

Enumeration

listing qualities to establish a definition

Appeal to Authority

over-relying on authority without logic or evidence; making arguments outside of the scope of one's authority

Stasis Theory

part of the rhetorical process of invention (brainstorming); four stages (facts, definition, evaluation, proposal) that are intended to move the audience through the argument and reach agreement

False Binary

providing an either/or solution when there are other possibilities; also known as black-and-white thinking or the false dichotomy

Hasty Generalization

reaching a broad conclusion based on a single example or insufficient evidence

Kenneth Burke's Parlor Metaphor

research as participating in an ongoing conversation

Neoteny

retaining juvenile characteristics into adulthood

Peer-Reviewed

scholarly work that is evaluated by professional colleagues, often "blindly" (i.e., without either party knowing the identity of the other), to maintain accuracy and rigor

Kairos

seizing the moment, the opportunity for an argument

Scope

setting the boundaries of an argument; establishing a disciplinary framework or lens

Straw Man Argument

setting up a weak argument that's easy to defeat without dealing with the issue's complexity

Exemplification

showing vs. telling, using examples to illustrate a point

Criteria

specific traits within the category of scope to further refine the argument

Banned Books

texts removed from library shelves or school curricula based on challenges (usually from patrons or parents); tracked by the American Library Association (ALA)

MLA vs. APA Format

the first is more author- and text-focused; the second is more focused on dates and currency

Rhetorician

the good [person] speaking well (Quintilian)

Connotation

the larger context around what a word means by considering what it signifies

Perspective/Point-of-View

the position from which a story is told; first-person narration uses "I," third-person limited uses a narrator who sees all the characters' actions; third-person omniscient uses a narrator who sees all the characters' actions and thoughts

Rhetorical Triangle

the relationship between the rhetorical appeals

Primary Source

the text that is being analyzed; the original research

Secondary Source

the texts about the original piece of work

Rhetorical Situation

thesis (the main argument), purpose (to inform, entertain, and/or persuade), audience (the intended receivers of the message), and exigency (why it matters, the urgency)

Popular, Professional/Trade, Scholarly

types of sources that are named based on the intended audience; moving from general to specific

Definition by Analogy

using "X is like" structure to show how two terms are related and how they might overlap

Red Herring

using a distraction to avert the conversation from the actual terms of the argument

Quote

using another author's words when you can't say it better yourself (it's significant, or pithy, or filled with technical language); requires the author's last name, and, if available, the page number

Sensory Detail

using description of the five senses (touch, hearing, sight, smell, taste) to engage the reader

Definition by Example

using exemplification to illustrate the meaning of a term/concept

Circular Reasoning

using the evidence as the grounds for the argument; an argument that reaches no conclusion