Useful Terms BBR

Cliché

A worn-out, trite expression that a writer employs thoughtlessly. Although at one time the expression may have been colorful, from heavy use it has lost its luster.

Example

Also called exemplification or illustration, a method of development in which the writer provides instances of a general idea.

Fallacies

Errors in reasoning.

Satire

A form of writing that employs wit to attack folly. Unlike most comedy, the purpose of satire is not merely to entertain, but to bring about enlightenment— even reform. Usually, satire employs irony— as in Linnea Saukko's "How to Poison the Earth." See also IR O N Y .

Journal

A record of one's thoughts, kept daily or at least regularly. Keeping a journal faithfully can help a writer gain confidence and develop ideas

Essay

A short nonfiction composition on one central theme or subject in which the writer may offer personal views. Essays are sometimes classified as either formal or informal. In general, a formal essay is one whose D IC T IO N is that of the writ ten language (not colloquial speech), serious in TONE, and usually focused on a subject the writer believes is important. (For example, see Bruce Catton's "Grant and Lee.") An informal essay, in contrast, is more likely to admit C O LLO Q U IA L E X P R E S S IO N S ; the writer's tone tends to be lighter, perhaps humorous, and the sub ject is likely to be personal, sometimes even trivial. (See Dave Barry's "Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out.") These distinctions, however, are rough ones: An essay such as Judy Brady's "I Want a Wife" uses colloquial language and speaks of personal experience, but its tone is serious and its subject important.

anecdote

A brief N A R R A T IV E , or retelling o f a story or event. Anecdotes have many uses: as essay openers or closers, as examples, as sheer entertainment.

Person

A grammatical distinction made between the speaker, the one spoken to, and the one spoken about. In the first person (I, we), the subject is speaking. In the second person (you), the subject is being spoken to. In the third person (he, she, it), the subject is being spoken about. The point of view of an essay or work of fiction is often specified according to person: "This short story is told from a first-personpointofview."See POINT OFVIEW.

paragraph

A group of closely related sentences that develop a central idea. In an essay, a paragraph is the most important unit of thought because it is both self- contained and part of the larger whole. Paragraphs separate long and involved ideas into smaller parts that are more manageable for the writer and easier for the reader to take in. Good paragraphs, like good essays, possess U N IT Y and C O H E R ENCE. The central idea is usually stated in a TOPIC SENTENCE, often found at the beginning of the paragraph that relates directly to the essay's TH ESIS. All other sentences in the paragraph relate to this topic sentence, defining it, explaining it, illustrating it, providing it with evidence and support. If you meet a unified and coherent paragraph that has no topic sentence, it will contain a central idea that no sentence in it explicitly states, but that every sentence in it clearly implies.

Critical thinking, reading, and writing

A group of interlocking skills that are essential for college work and beyond. Each seeks the meaning beneath the sur face of a statement, poem, editorial, picture, advertisement, Web site, or other TEXT. Using ANALYSIS, INFERENCE, SYNTHESIS, andoften EVALUATION, the critical thinker, reader, and writer separates this text into its elements in order to see and judge meanings, relations, and A S S U M P T IO N S that might otherwise remain buried.

Parallelism

A habit of good writers: keeping ideas of equal importance in similar grammatical form. A writer may place nouns side by side ("Trees and streams are my weekend tonic") or in a series ("Give me wind, sea, and stars"). Phrases, too, may be arranged in parallel structure ("Out of my bed, into my shoes, up to my classroom— that's my life"); or clauses ("Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country"). Parallelism may be found not only in single sentences but in larger units as well. A paragraph might read: "Rhythm is everywhere. It throbs in the rain forests of Brazil. It vibrates ballroom floors in Vienna. It snaps its fingers on street comers in Chicago." In a whole essay, parallelism may be the principle used to arrange ideas in a balanced or harmonious structure. See the famous speech given by Martin Luther King, Jr. (p. 523), in which paragraphs 11-18 all begin with the words "I have a dream" and describe an imagined future

Irony

A manner of speaking or writing that does not directly state a discrepancy, but implies one. Verbal irony is the intentional use of words to suggest a mean ing other than literal: "What a mansion!" (said of a shack); "There's nothing like sunshine" (said on a foggy morning). (For more examples, see the essays by Jessica Mitford, Linnea Saukko, and Judy Brady.) If irony is delivered contemptuously with an intent to hurt, we call it sarcasm: "Oh, you're a real friend!" (said to someone who refuses to lend the speaker the coins to operate a clothes dryer). With situational irony, the circumstances themselves are incongruous, run con trary to expectations, or twist fate: Juliet regains consciousness only to find that Romeo, believing her dead, has stabbed himself. See also S A T IR E .

Classification

A method of development in which a writer sorts out plural things (contact sports, college students, kinds of music) into categories.

Process analysis

A method of development that most often explains step by step how something is done or how to do something

Persuasion

A mode of writing intended to influence people's actions by engaging their beliefs and feelings. Persuasion often overlaps A R G U M E N T

Argument

A mode of writing intended to win readers' agreement with an assertion b y engaging their powers of reasoning. Argument often overlaps P E R S U A S IO N

description

A mode of writing that conveys the evidence of the senses: sight, hear ing, touch, taste, smell.

Data

A name for E V ID E N C E favored by philosopher Stephen Toulmin in his concep tion of ARGUM ENT

premise

A proposition or ASSUM PTION that leads to a conclusion.

sentimentality

A quality sometimes found in writing that fails to communicate. Such writing calls for an extreme emotional response on the part of an A U D IE N C E , although its writer fails to supply adequate reason for any such reaction. A senti mental writer delights in waxing teary over certain objects: great-grandmother's portrait, the first stick of chewing gum baby chewed (now a shapeless wad), an empty popcorn box saved from the World Series of 1996. Sentimental writing usually results when writers shut their eyes to the actual world, preferring to snuffle the sweet scents of remembrance.

rhetorical question

A question posed for effect, one that requires no answer. Instead, it often provokes thought, lends emphasis to a point, asserts or denies something without making a direct statement, launches further discussion, introduces an opinion, or leads the reader where the writer intends. Sometimes a writer throws one in to introduce variety in a paragraph full of declarative sentences. The fol lowing questions are rhetorical: "When will the United States learn that sending people into space does not feed them on the earth?" "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" "What is the point of making money if you've no one but yourself to spend it on?" Both reader and writer know what the answers are supposed to be. (1) Someday, if the United States ever wises up. (2) Yes. (3) None.

Types of figurative language

A simile (from the Latin, "likeness") states the comparison directly, usually connecting the two things using like, as, or than: "The moon is like a snowball," "He's as lazy as a cat full of cream," "My feet are flatter than flyswatters." • A metaphor (from the Greek, "transfer") declares one thing to be another: "A mighty fortress is our God," "The sheep were bolls of cotton on the hill." (A dead metaphor is a word or phrase that, originally a figure of speech, has come to be literal through common usage: "the hands of a clock.") • Personification is a simile or metaphor that assigns human traits to inanimate objects or abstractions: "A stoop-shouldered refrigerator hummed quietly to itself," "The solution to the math problem sat there winking at me." Other figures of speech consist of deliberate misrepresentations: • Hyperbole (from the Greek, "throwing beyond") is a conscious exaggeration: "I'm so hungry I could eat a saddle," "I'd wait for you a thousand years." • The opposite of hyperbole, understatement, creates an ironic or humorous effect: "I accepted the ride. At the moment, I didn't feel like walking across the Mojave Desert." • A paradox (from the Greek, "conflicting with expectation") is a seemingly self-contradictory statement that, on reflection, makes sense: "Children are the poor person's wealth" (wealth can be monetary, or it can be spiritual). Paradox may also refer to a situation that is inexplicable or contradictory, such as the restriction of one group's rights in order to secure the rights of another group.

Generalization

A statement about a class based on an examination of some of its members: "Lions are fierce." The more members examined and the more repre sentative they are of the class, the sturdier the generalization. The statement "Solar heat saves home owners money" would be challenged by home owners who have yet to recover their installation costs. "Solar heat can save home own ers money in the long run" would be a sounder generalization. Insufficient or nonrepresentative EVIDENCE often leads to a hasty generalization, such as "All freshmen hate their roommates" or "Men never express their feelings." Words such as all, every, only, never, and always have to be used with care: "Some men don't express their feelings" is more credible. Making a trustworthy generaliza tioninvolvestheuseofINDUCTIVEREASONING

definition

A statement of the literal and specific meaning or meanings of a word or a method of developing an essay. In the latter, the writer usually explains the nature of a word, a thing, a concept, or a phenomenon.

Flashback

A technique of N A R R A T IO N in which the sequence of events is inter rupted to recall an earlier period.

Syllogism

A three-step form of reasoning that employs D E D U C T IO N

Audience

A writer's readers. Having in mind a particular audience helps the writer in choosing strategies.

Purpose

A writer's reason for trying to convey a particular idea (T H E S IS ) about a particular subject to a particular A U D IE N C E of readers. Though it may emerge gradually during the writing process, in the end purpose should govern every ele ment of a piece of writing. In trying to define the purpose of an essay you read, ask yourself, "Why did the writer write this?" or "What was this writer trying to achieve?" Even though you cannot know the writer's intentions with absolute certainty, an effective essay will make some purpose clear.

Analogy

An extended comparison based on the like features of two unlike things: one familiar or easily understood, the other unfamiliar, abstract, or complicated. For instance, most people know at least vaguely how the human eye works: The pupil adjusts to admit light, which registers as an image on the retina at the back of the eye. You might use this familiar information to explain something less familiar to many people, such as how a camera works: The aperture (like the pupil) adjusts to admit light, which registers as an image on the film (like the retina) at the back of the camera

Grounds

AnameforEVIDENCE favoredby philosopherStephenToulmininhiscon ception of ARGUM ENT.

Illustration

Another name for EXAM PLE.

Text

Any creation— written, visual, auditory, physical, or experiential— that can be interpreted or used as a source for writing. The starting point for most A C A D E M IC W R IT IN G , texts include written documents such as essays, articles, and books, of course, but also photographs, paintings, advertisements, Web sites, per formances, musical scores, experiments, conversations, lectures, field observa tions, interviews, dreams, jokes— anything that invites a response, sparks an idea, orlendsitselftoCRITICAL READING,THINKING,AND WRITING.

To take something for granted (assume), or a belief or opinion taken for granted (assumption). Whether stated or unstated, assumptions influ ence a writer's choices of subject, viewpoint, E V ID E N C E , and even language.

Assume, assumption

Diction

The choice of words. Every written or spoken statement contains diction of some kind. To describe certain aspects of diction, the following terms may be useful:

Style

The distinctive manner in which a writer writes. Style may be seen especially in the writer's choice of words and sentence structures. Two writers may write on the same subject, even express similar ideas, but it is style that gives each writer's work a personality.

academic writing

The kind of writing generally undertaken by scholars and stu dents, in which a writer responds to another's work or uses multiple sources to develop and support an original idea. Typically based on one or more TEXTS, all academic writing calls on a writer's CRITICAL THINKING, READING, AND WRITING and shares the common goal of using reading and writing to build and exchange knowledge.

Dominant impression

The main idea a writer conveys about a subject through D E S C R IP T IO N — that an elephant is gigantic, for example, or an experience scary.

Deductive reasoning, deduction

The method of reasoning from the general to the particular

Narration

The mode of writing that tells a story.

Warrant

The name for ASSUMPTION favored by philosopher Stephen Toulmin in his conception of ARGUM ENT

Analyze, analysis

To separate a subject into its parts (analyze), or the act or result of doing so (analysis, also called division).

Colloquial Expressions

Words and phrases occurring primarily in speech and in informal writing that seeks a relaxed, conversational tone. "My favorite chow is a burger and a shake" or "This math exam has me wired" may be acceptable in talk ing to a roommate, in corresponding with a friend, or in writing a humorous essay for general readers. Such choices of words, however, would be out of place in for mal writing— in, say, a laboratory report or a letter to your senator.

Symbol

visible object or action that suggests further meaning. The flag suggests country, the crown suggests royalty— these are conventional symbols familiar to us. Life abounds in such clear-cut symbols. Football teams use dolphins and rams for easy identification; married couples symbolize their union with a ring.

Cause and effect

A method of development in which a writer A N A L Y Z E S reasons for an action, event, or decision, or analyzes its consequences.

Figures of speech

Expressions that depart from the literal meanings of words for the sake of emphasis or vividness. To say "She's a jewel" doesn't mean that the subject of praise is literally a kind of shining stone; the statement makes sense because its C O N N O T A T IO N S come to mind: rare, priceless, worth cherishing. Some figures of speech involve comparisons of two objects apparently unlike:

paraphrase

Putting another writer's thoughts into your own words. In writing a research paper or an essay containing E V ID E N C E gathered from your reading, you will find it necessary to paraphrase— unless you are using another writer's very words with quotation marks around them— and to acknowledge your sources.

Focus

The narrowing of a subject to make it manageable. Beginning with a general subject, you concentrate on a certain aspect of it. For instance, you may select crafts as a general subject, then decide your main interest lies in weaving. You could focus your essay still further by narrowing it to operating a hand loom. You also focus your writing according to who will read it (A U D IE N C E ) or what you want it to achieve (PURPOSE).

Conclusion

The sentences or paragraphs that bring an essay to a satisfying and log ical end. A conclusion is purposefully crafted to give a sense of unity and com pleteness to the whole essay. The best conclusions evolve naturally out of what has gone before and convince the reader that the essay is indeed at an end, not that the writer has run out of steam.

Drafting

The stage of the writing process during which a writer expresses ideas in complete sentences, links them, and arranges them in a sequence

Plagiarism

The use of someone else's ideas or words as if they were your own, with out acknowledging the original author.

Signal phrase

Words used to introduce a quotation, PARAPHRASE, or SUMMARY, often including the source author's name and generally telling readers how the source material should be interpreted: "Nelson argues that the legislation will backfire."

Scene

In a N A R R A T IO N , an event retold in detail to re-create an experience

Point of view

In an essay, the physical position or the mental angle from which a writer beholds a subject. On the subject of starlings, the following three writers would likely have different points of view: An ornithologist might write OBJEC T IV E L Y about the introduction of these birds into North America, a farmer might advise other farmers how to prevent the birds from eating seed, and a bird-watcher might SUBJECTIVELY describe a first glad sighting of an unusual species. Whether objective or subjective, point of view also encompasses a writer's biases and A S S U M P T IO N S about a subject. For instance, the scientist, farmer, and bird-watcher would likely all have different perspectives on starlings' reputation as nuisances: Although such perspectives may or may not be expressed directly, they would likely influence each writer's approach to the subject. See also PERSON.

Voice

In writing, the sense of the author's character, personality, and attitude that comes through the words

Objective/Subjective

Kinds of writing that differ in emphasis. In objective writ ing, the emphasis falls on the topic; in subjective writing, it falls on the writer's view of the topic. Objective writing occurs in factual journalism, science reports, certain P R O C E S S A N A L Y S E S (such as recipes, directions, and instructions), and logical arguments in which the writer attempts to downplay personal feelings and opinions. Subjective writing sets forth the writer's feelings, opinions, and interpretations. It occurs in friendly letters, journals, bylined feature stories and columns in newspapers, personal essays, and A R G U M E N T S that appeal to emotion. Few essays, however, contain one kind of writing exclusive of the other.

Suspense

Often an element in N A R R A T IO N : the pleasurable expectation or anxiety we feel that keeps us reading a story. In an exciting mystery story, suspense is con- stant: How will it all turn out? Will the detective get to the scene in time to pre vent another murder? But there can be suspense in less melodramatic accounts as well.

Types of emphasis

Proportion: Important ideas are given greater coverage than minor points. • Position: The beginnings and ends of sentences, paragraphs, and larger divi sions are the strongest positions. Placing key ideas in these spots helps draw attention to their importance. The end is the stronger position, for what stands last stands out. A sentence in which less important details precede the main point is called a periodic sentence: "Having disguised himself as a guard and walked through the courtyard to the side gate, the prisoner made his escape." A sentence in which the main point precedes less important details is a loose sentence: "Autumn is orange: gourds in baskets at roadside stands, the harvest moon hanging like a pumpkin, and oak leaves flashing like goldfish." • Repetition: Careful repetition of key words or phrases can give them greater importance. (Careless repetition, however, can cause boredom.) • Mechanical devices: Italics (underlining), capital letters, and exclamation points can make words or sentences stand out. Writers sometimes fall back on these devices, however, after failing to show significance by other means. Italics and exclamation points can be useful in reporting speech, but excessive use sounds exaggerated or bombastic.

Appeals

Resources writers draw on to connect with and persuade readers: • A rational appeal asks readers to use their intellects and their powers of rea soning. It relies on established conventions of logic and evidence. • An emotional appeal asks readers to respond out of their beliefs, values, or feelings. It inspires, affirms, frightens, angers. • An ethical appeal asks readers to look favorably on the writer. It stresses the writer's intelligence, competence, fairness, morality, and other qualities desir able in a trustworthy debater or teacher.

Types of diction

Standard English: the common American language, words, and grammatical forms that are used and expected in school, business, and other sites. Nonstandard English: words and grammatical forms such as theirselves and ain't that are used mainly by people who speak a dialect other than standard English. Dialect: a variety of English based on differences in geography, education, or social background. Dialect is usually spoken but may be written. Maya Angelou's essay in Chapter 4 transcribes the words of dialect speakers ('"He gone whip him till that white boy call him Momma' "). Slang: certain words in highly informal speech or writing, or in the speech of a particular group— for example, blow off, dis, dweeb. Colloquial expressions: words and phrases from conversation. See C O L L O QUIAL EXPRESSIONS for examples. • Regional terms: words heard in a certain locality, such as spritzing for "rain ing" in Pennsylvania Dutch country. • Technical terms: words and phrases that form the vocabulary of a particu lar discipline (monocotyledon from botany), occupation (drawplate from die- making), or avocation (interval training from running). See also JA R G O N . • Archaisms: old-fashioned expressions, once common but now used to suggest an earlier style, such as ere and forsooth. • Obsolete diction: words that have passed out of use (such as the verb werien, "to protect or defend," and the noun isetnesses, "agreements"). Obsolete may also refer to certain meanings of words no longer current (fond for foolish, clip ping for hugging or embracing). • Pretentious diction: use of words more numerous and elaborate than neces sary, such as institution of higher learning for college, and partake of solid nourish- ment for eat.

Jargon

Strictly speaking, the special vocabulary of a trade or profession. The term has also come to mean inflated, vague, meaningless language of any kind. It is characterized by wordiness, A B S T R A C T IO N S galore, pretentious D IC T IO N , and need lessly complicated word order. Whenever you meet a sentence that obviously could express its idea in fewer words and shorter ones, chances are that it is jar gon. For instance: "The motivating force compelling her to opt continually for the most labor-intensive mode of operation in performing her functions was con sistently observed to be the single constant and regular factor in her behavior pat terns." Translation: "She did everything the hard way.

General and specific

Terms that describe the relative number of instances or objects included in the group signified by a word. General words name a group or class (flowers); specific words limit the class by naming its individual members (rose, violet, dahlia, marigold). Words may be arranged in a series from more general to more specific: cbthes, pants, jeans, Levis. The word cat is more specific than ani mal, but less specific than tiger cat, or Garfield.

chronological order

The arrangement of events as they occurred or occur in time, firsttolast.

Genre

The category into which a piece of writing fits. Shaped by PURPOSE, AUDI E N C E , and context, genres range from broad types (such as fiction and nonfic tion) to general groups (novel, essay) to narrower groups (science fiction novel, personal narrative) to specific document formats (steampunk graphic novel, post on a retail workers' community forum)— and they tend to overlap. The genres of college writing vary widely. Examples appear on pages 107-09 (case study), 143-44 (field observation), 185-86 (job-application letter), 223-24 (review), 263 (lab report), 309 (annotated bibliography), 347 (resume), 394-95 (letter to the editor), 437-38 (essay exam), and 480-81 (proposal).

Thesis

The central idea in a work of writing, to which everything else in the work refers. In some way, each sentence and P A R A G R A P H in an effective essay serves to support the thesis and to make it clear and explicit to readers. Good writers, while writing, often set down a thesis statement or thesis sentence to help them define their purpose. They also often include this statement in their essay as a promise and a guide to readers

Coherance

The clear connection of the parts in effective writing so that the reader can easily follow the flow of ideas between sentences, paragraphs, and larger divi sions, and can see how they relate successively to one another

Evidence

The details that support an argument or an explanation, including facts, examples, and expert opinions. A writer's opinions and G E N E R A L IZ A T IO N S must rest upon evidence.

Editing

The final stage of the writing process, during which a writer corrects errors and improves stylistic matters by, for example, using the A C T IV E V O IC E and reworking sentences to achieve PARALLEL STRUCTURE.

Passive voice

The form of the verb when the sentence subject is acted upon: The report[subject]waspublished[passiveverb]anonymously.ContrastACTIVE VOICE.

active voice

The form of the verb when the sentence subject is the actor: Trees [subject] shed [active verb] their leaves in autumn. Contrast PASSIVE VOICE

Exposition

The mode of prose writing that explains (or exposes) its subject. Its function is to inform, to instruct, or to set forth ideas: the major trade routes in the Middle East, how to make a dulcimer, why the United States consumes more energy than it needs. Exposition may call various methods to its service: EXAM PLE, COMPARISON AND CONTRAST, PROCESS ANALYSIS, andsoon. Mostcollegewriting is at least partly exposition, and so are most of the essays in this book.

Introduction

The opening of a written work. Often it states the writer's subject, narrows it, and communicates the writer's main idea (T H E S IS ). Introductions vary in length, depending on their purposes. A research paper may need several para graphs to set forth its central idea and its plan of organization; a brief, informal essay may need only a sentence or two for an introduction. Whether long or short, good introductions tell readers no more than they need to know when they begin reading. Here are a few possible ways to open an essay effectively: • State your central idea, or thesis, perhaps showing why you care about it. • Present startling facts about your subject. • Tell an illustrative ANECDOTE. • Give background information that will help your reader understand your sub ject, or see why it is important. • Begin with an arresting quotation. • Ask a challenging question. (In your essay, you'll go on to answer it.)

inductive reasoning

The process of reasoning to a conclusion about an entire class by examining some of its members.

claim

The proposition that an ARGUMENT demonstrates, generally expressed in a THESIS STATEMENT

Unity

The quality of good writing in which all parts relate to the T H E S IS . In a uni fied essay, all words, sentences, and P A R A G R A P H S support the single central idea. Your first step in achieving unity is to state your thesis; your next step is to orga nize your thoughts so that they make your thesis clear.

Effect

The result of an event or action, usually considered together with C A U S E as a method of development. See the discussion of cause and effect in Chapter 11. In discussing writing, the term effect also refers to the impression a word, a sentence, a paragraph, or an entire work makes on the reader: how convincing it is, whether it elicits an emotional response, what associations it conjures up, and so on.

Discovery

The stage of the writing process before the first draft. It may include decid ing on a topic, narrowing the topic, creating or finding ideas, doing reading and other research, defining PURPOSE and AUDIENCE, planning and arranging mate rial. Discovery may follow from daydreaming or meditation, reading, or perhaps carefully ransacking memory.

Revision

The stage of the writing process during which a writer "re-sees" a draft from the viewpoint of a reader. Revision usually involves rethinking fundamental matters such as PURPOSE and organization as well as rewriting to ensure COHER ENCE andUNITY

Topic sentence

The statement of the central idea in a P A R A G R A P H , usually asserting one aspect of an essay's T H E S IS . Often the topic sentence will appear at (or near) the beginning of the paragraph, announcing the idea and beginning its develop ment. Because all other sentences in the paragraph explain and support this cen tral idea, the topic sentence is a way to create U N IT Y .

Emphasis

The stress or special importance given to a certain point or element to make it stand out. A skillful writer draws attention to what is most important in a sentence, a paragraph, or an essay by controlling emphasis in any of the following ways:

Rhetoric

The study (and the art) of using language effectively. Rhetoric also has a negative C O N N O T A T IO N of empty or pretentious language meant to waffle, stall, or even deceive. This is the meaning in "The president had nothing substantial to say about taxes, just the usual rhetoric."

Narrator

The teller of a story, usually either in the first PERSON (I) or in the third (he, she, it, they)

Euphemism

The use of inoffensive language in place of language that readers or lis teners may find hurtful, distasteful, frightening, or otherwise objectionable— for instance, a police officer's announcing that someone passed on rather than died, or a politician's calling for revenue enhancement rather than taxation. Writers some times use euphemism out of consideration for readers' feelings, but just as often they use it to deceive readers or shirk responsibility.

summarize

To condense a work (essay, movie, news story) to its essence (summarize), or the act or result of doing so (summary). Summarizing a piece of writing in one's own words is an effective way to understand it. (See p. 17.) Summarizing (and acknowledging) others' writing in your own text is a good way to support your ideas.

Infer

To draw a conclusion (infer), or the act or result of doing so (infer- ence). In CRITICAL THINKING, READING, AND W RITING, inference is the means to understanding a writer's meaning, ASSUMPTIONS, PURPOSE, fairness, and other attributes.

evaluate, evaluation

To judge the merits of something (evaluate) or the act or result ofdoingso(evaluation).

Synthesis

To link elements into a whole (synthesize), or the act or result ofdoingso(synthesis). InCRITICAL THINKING, READING, AND WRITING, synthesisis the key step during which you use your own perspective to reassemble a work you haveANALYZED ortoconnecttheworkwithothers

Allude, allusion

To refer to a person, place, or thing believed to be common knowl- edge (allude), or the act or result of doing so (allusion). An allusion may point to a famous event, a familiar saying, a noted personality, a well-known story or song. Usually brief, an allusion is a space-saving way to convey much meaning.

Abstract and concrete

Two kinds of language. Abstract words refer to ideas, condi tions, and qualities we cannot directly perceive: truth, love, courage, evil, poverty, progressive. Concrete words indicate things we can know with our senses: tree, chair, bird, pen, motorcycle, perfume, thunderclap. Concrete words lend vigor and clarity to writing, for they help a reader to picture things. See IMAGE.

Compare and contrast

Two methods of development usually found together. Using them, a writer examines the similarities and differences between two things to reveal their natures

Connotation/Denotation

Two types of meanings most words have. Denotation is the explicit, literal, dictionary definition of a word. Connotation refers to a word's implied meaning, resonant with associations.

strategy

Whatever means a writer employs to write effectively. The methods set forth in this book are strategies; but so are narrowing a subject, organizing ideas clearly, using T R A N S IT IO N S , writing with an awareness of your reader, and other effective writing practices.

Transitions

Words, phrases, sentences, or even paragraphs that relate ideas. In mov ing from one topic to the next, a writer has to bring the reader along by showing how the ideas are developing, what bearing a new thought or detail has on an earlier discussion, or why a new topic is being introduced. A clear purpose, strong ideas, and logical development certainly aid COHERENCE, but to ensure that the reader is following along, good writers provide signals, or transitions. To bridge sentences or paragraphs and to point out relationships within them, you can use some of the following devices of transition: • Repeat or restate words or phrases to produce an echo in the reader's mind. • Use PARALLEL STRUCTURES to produce a rhythm that moves the reader for ward. • Use pronouns to refer back to nouns in earlier passages. • Use transitional words and phrases. These may indicate a relationship of time (right away, later, soon, meanwhile, in a few minutes, that night), proximity (beside, close to, distant from, nearby, facing), effect (therefore, for this reason, as a result, consequently), comparison (similarly, in the same way, likewise), or contrast (yet, but, nevertheless, however, despite). Some words and phrases of transition simply add on: besides, too, also, moreover, in addition to, second, last, in the end.

Tone

purpose in nonfiction because they often communicate an idea in a compact and concrete way. Synthesize, synthesis To link elements into a whole (synthesize), or the act or result ofdoingso(synthesis). InCRITICAL THINKING, READING, AND WRITING, synthesisis the key step during which you use your own perspective to reassemble a work you haveANALYZED ortoconnecttheworkwithothers.(Seepp.19and30.)Synthe sis is a hallmark of ACADEM IC W RITING in which you respond to others' work or use multiple sources to support your ideas. (See pp. 63-64, 70-71.) Text Any creation— written, visual, auditory, physical, or experiential— that can be interpreted or used as a source for writing. The starting point for most A C A D E M IC W R IT IN G , texts include written documents such as essays, articles, and books, of course, but also photographs, paintings, advertisements, Web sites, per formances, musical scores, experiments, conversations, lectures, field observa tions, interviews, dreams, jokes— anything that invites a response, sparks an idea, orlendsitselftoCRITICAL READING,THINKING,AND WRITING. Seepages62-64- Thesis The central idea in a work of writing, to which everything else in the work refers. In some way, each sentence and P A R A G R A P H in an effective essay serves to support the thesis and to make it clear and explicit to readers. Good writers, while writing, often set down a thesis statement or thesis sentence to help them define their purpose. They also often include this statement in their essay as a promise and a guide to readers. See also pages 20, 39-40, 42, and 306. Tone The way a writer expresses his or her regard for subject, A U D IE N C E , or self. Through word choice, sentence structures, and what is actually said, the writer conveys an attitude and sets a prevailing spirit. Tone in writing varies as greatly as tone of voice varies in conversation. It can be serious, distant, flippant, angry, enthusiastic, sincere, sympathetic. Whatever tone a writer chooses, usually it informs an entire essay and helps a reader decide how to respond. For works of strong tone, see the essays by Maya Angelou, Jessica Mitford, Judy Brady, Russell Baker, Edwidge Danticat, and Martin Luther King, Jr