ALL RHETORICAL VOCAB TEST REVIEW [CHP 1-5]
ethos
(____ appeal) can simply mean the disposition, character, or fundamental values peculiar to a specific person, people, culture, or movement; refers to the spirit which motivates the ideas and customs. In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass has credibility as a source of information about slavery, because he was born into slavery himself and is telling his own life story about what it was like.
trite
(of a remark, opinion, or idea) overused and consequently of little import; lacking originality or freshness; hackneyed, cliché -they all lived happily ever after.
parallelism
(parallel construction/parallel structure) meaning "beside one another." It refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity; repetition of a grammatical element such as a preposition or verbal phrase; adds emphasis and organization, or provides a musical rhythm. "And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy." [William Golding Lord of the Flies] "Today's students can put dope in their veins or hope in their brains. If they can conceive it and believe it, they can achieve it. They must know it is not their aptitude but their attitude that will determine their altitude." [Jesse Jackson]
style
-the sum of the choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary devices. -the classification of authors into a group. Such classifications help to define a historical period, such as the Renaissance or the Victorian period, or a literary movement, such as the romantic, transcendental, or realistic movements.
parenthetical
A comment that interrupts the immediate subject, often to qualify or explain
syllepsis
A construction in which one word is used in two different senses - "We consumers like names that reflect what the company does. We know, for example, that International Business Machines makes business machines, and Ford Motors makes Fords, and Sara Lee makes us fat." (Dave Barry, "Dave's World." International Herald Tribune, April 8, 2001)
syllogism
A deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises (the first one called "major" and the second, "minor") that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion; a ________'s conclusion is valid only if each of the two premises is valid. If A=B and B=C, then A=C -major premise: All men are mortal. minor premise: Socrates is a man. conclusion: Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
figure of speech
A device used to produce figurative language. Many compare dissimilar things. _____ include apostrophe, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron, paradox, personification, simile, synecdoche, and understatement. Understatement: "I have to have this operation. It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain." [J. D. Salinger] Holden Caulfield in The Catcher In The Rye Paradox: "I must be cruel to be kind." [William Shakespeare] Hamlet Apostrophe: "Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!" [Edgar Allen Poe] "The Raven"
allusion
A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. can be historical, literary, religious, topical, or mythical. "When she lost her job, she acted like a Scrooge, and refused to buy anything that wasn't necessary." Scrooge was an extremely stingy character from Charles Dickens', A Christmas Carol.
conceit
A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects. A _____ displays intellectual cleverness as a result of the unusual comparison being made. In the poem "The Sun Rising" by John Donne, Donne personifies the sun to be an intruder in his bedroom that he shares with his lover. Donne does not want to start the day and instead stay there with his beloved; the fear he has is not of a person cutting their time short together, but instead the unstoppable sun. Later in the poem, Donne reverses the _____ and gives himself the power of the sun, saying that he could eclipse the sun's beams and "cloud them with a wink." This ______ shows both his own feelings for the woman he's with and the power he feels when with her.
personification
A figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions; used to make these abstractions, animals, or objects appear more vivid to the reader.
apostrophe
A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. It is an address to someone or something that cannot answer. The effect may add familiarity or emotional intensity. "twinkle, twinkle, little star, how i wonder what you are."
hyperbole
A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement. _____ often have a comic effect; however, a serious effect is also possible; often, ______ produces irony. "I had to wait in the station for ten days-an eternity." The Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad "People moved slowly then. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County." To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
metaphor
A figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity. Metaphorical language makes writing more vivid, imaginative, thought provoking, and meaningful. "Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. [...] Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself — soul-less and evil." [J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban] Rowling uses Dementors as a metaphor for depression. While the magical community knows that it is Dementors, non-magical people only feel the effects and have given it the name of depression.
clause
A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. An independent, or main, ____ expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent, or subordinate _____ cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent _____. "Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy." --LOTF (simple sentence, one independent clause) "That's the wonderful thing about man; he never gets so discouraged or disgusted that he gives up doing it all over again, because he knows very well it is important and WORTH the doing." ―Fahrenheit 451 (compound-complex sentence, two independent clauses, one dependent clause)
coherence
A principle demanding that the parts of any composition be arranged so that the meaning of the whole may be immediately clear and intelligible. Words, phrases, clauses within the sentence; and sentences, paragraphs, and chapters in larger pieces of writing are the units that, by their progressive and logical arrangement, make for _________.
anecdote
A short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event. The term most frequently refers to an incident in the life of a person. In Julius Caesar, Cassius retelling the story of Caesar drowning to Brutus to emphasize Cesar being weak and unfit to rule
Analogy
A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them. An ______ can explain something unfamiliar by associating it with or pointing out its similarity to something more familiar. "My momma always said "life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get!" Forrest Gump The structure of an atom is like a solar system. Nucleus is the sun and electrons are the planets revolving around their sun.
paradox
A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity. "I must be cruel to be kind." [William Shakespeare] Hamlet "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." [George Orwell] Animal Farm
metonymy
A term from the Greek meaning "changed label" or "substitute name," _________ is a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it; the substituted term generally carries a more potent emotional impact. "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears." Julius Caesar William Shakespeare "The party preserved a dignified homogeneity, and assumed to itself the function of representing the staid nobility of the countryside-East Egg condescending to West Egg, and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gayety." The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald
aphorism
A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle; can be a memorable summation of the author's point. Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late. -Benjamin Franklin Well done is better than well said. -Benjamin Franklin No gains without pains. -Benjamin Franklin
loose sentence
A type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses; a work containing many loose sentences often seems informal, relaxed, and conversational. Generally loose sentences create loose style. "I was fairly sure Boo Radley was inside that house, but I couldn't prove it, and felt it best to keep my mouth shut or I would be accused of believing in Hot Steams, phenomena I was immune to in the daytime." Harper Lee To Kill A Mockingbird
satire
A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule; is thought provoking and insightful about the human condition; recognized by the many devices used effectively by the satirist: irony, wit, parody, caricature, hyperbole, understatement, and sarcasm.
idiom
An expression in a given language that cannot be understood from the literal meaning of the words in the expression; or, a regional speech or dialect 'A fool's paradise' 'too much of a good thing'
euphemism
From the Greek for "good speech," _____ are a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept; used to adhere to standards of social or political correctness or to add humor or ironic understatement. shortening a word or expression (Jeez, What the); intentional mispronunciations (shoot, shut the front door, dang, fudge); using an acronym or one letter to represent a curse word (WTF, B-hole, S-word).
oxymoron
From the Greek for "pointedly foolish," an _______ is a figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox. open secret tragic comedy seriously funny foolish wisdom original copies liquid gas deafening silence
exposition
In essays, one of the four chief types of composition, the others being argumentation, description, and narration. The purpose of ____ is to explain something. In drama, the ____ is the introductory material, which creates the tone, gives the setting, and introduces the characters and conflict.
anaphora
One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression (word or words) is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair." -Charles Dickens
irony/ironic
The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant; the difference between what appears to be and what actually is true. (1) In verbal _______, the words literally state the opposite of the writer's (or speaker's) true meaning. (2) In situational _____, events turn out the opposite of what was expected. What the characters and readers think ought to happen is not what does happen. (3) In dramatic ______, facts or events are unknown to a character in a play or piece of fiction but known to the reader, audience, or other characters in the work SI: Ralph fought so hard to keep the fire going, when no one else cared, arguing that it would be what saved them, is what almost kills him (situational irony) --LOTF
allegory
The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. meaning usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence. Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a fictional tale about school boys stranded on a deserted island, and an _______ because it is representative of a microcosm (smaller version of) of the world as a whole.
atmosphere
The emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author's choice of objects that are described. Even such elements as a description of the weather can contribute to the ____. Frequently ______ foreshadows events. In LOTF, the violent storm described prior to/as Simon is being killed adds to the frenzied, out of control mood/feeling of the scene. Shakespeare creates tension in scenes where Caesar speaks about the glory he expects to come; the reader knows every arrogant word out of Caesar's mouth brings him closer to his death.
malapropism
The intentional substitution of one word for another that sounds similar "Our watch, sir, have indeed comprehended two auspicious persons." Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare (comprehended/apprehended and suspicious/auspicious) "I was most putrified with astonishment," The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain (putrified/petrified)
understatement
The ironic minimizing of fact, ______ presents something as less significant than it is. The effect can frequently be humorous and emphatic. _____ is the opposite of hyperbole.
genre
The major category into which a literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry, and drama. However, ___ is a flexible term; within these broad boundaries exist many subdivisions that are often called ______ themselves. prose can be divided into fiction (novels and short stories) or nonfiction (essays, biographies, autobiographies, etc.). poetry can be divided into lyric, dramatic, narrative, epic drama can be divided into tragedy, comedy, melodrama, farce, etc.
ambiguity
The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage. "Brave men run in my family."
connotation
The nonliteral, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning. may involve ideas, emotions, or attitudes. A possible ____ of "home" (dewelling) is a place of warmth, comfort, and affection. Racial slurs or derogatory terms towards women or minorities might have one literal, neutral meaning (denotation) but a very different, negative figurative meaning.
alliteration
The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words. This repetition can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of the passage. "From forth the fatal loins of these two foes." William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet
anadiplosis
The repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause. "Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering." Yoda
imagery
The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. On a physical level, _____ uses terms related to the five senses; we refer to visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, or olfactory ____; on a broader and deeper level, however, one _____ can represent more than one thing. "It was a rimy morning, and very damp. I had seen the damp lying on the outside of my little window... Now, I saw the damp lying on the bare hedges and spare grass,.... On every rail and gate, wet lay clammy; and the marsh-mist was so thick, that the wooden finger on the post directing people to our village—a direction which they never accepted, for they never came there—was invisible to me until I was quite close under it." Great Expectations Charles Dickens
denotation
The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color. "Wind" = air in natural motion. "Labrador" = a specific breed of dog.
colloquial
The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing. Not generally acceptable for formal writing, _____ give a work a conversational, familiar tone. ______ expressions in writing include local or regional dialects. "y'all" "gonna" "ain't" "Yes-en I's rich now, come to look at it. I owns mysef, en I's wuth eight hund'd dollars. I wisht I had de money, I wouldn' want no.'" -Jim from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
polysyndeton
The use, for rhetorical effect, of more conjunctions than is necessary or natural
generic conversations
This term describes traditions for each genre. These conventions help to define each genre; for example, they differentiate an essay and journalistic writing or an autobiography and political writing. Poetry: figurative language, imagery, rhyme, meter Persuasive Writing: evidence, logos, pathos
figurative language
Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid. ex, Irony: "Upon the murderer I invoke this curse - whether he is one man and all unknown, or one of many - may he wear out his life in misery to miserable doom!" Oedipus Rex Sophocles Oedipus is unknowingly cursing himself as his father's murderer.
extended metaphor
a _____ developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work. "O Captain! My Captain!" Walt Whitman (Whitman compares Abraham Lincoln's leadership of the US to captaining a ship) "The Road Not Taken" Robert Frost (Frost compares a life's journey with hard choices to a forked path)
onomatopoeia
a figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words "He saw nothing and heard nothing but he could feel his heart pounding and then he heard the clack on stone and the leaping, dropping clicks of a small rock falling." (For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway) 'How they clang, and clash, and roar! What a horror they outpour On the bosom of the palpitating air! "The Bells" Edgar Allen Poe
pun
a play on words, often achieved through the use of words with similar sounds but different meanings
rhetorical question
a question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer
paraphrase
a restatement of a text in a different form or in different words, often for the purpose of clarity
periodic sentence
a sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end; the independent clause is preceded by a phrase or clause that cannot stand alone "To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, that is genius." - Ralph Waldo Emerson Self-Reliance
zeugma
a trope, one word (usually a noun or main verb) governs two other words not related in meaning. -"He maintained a business and his innocence."
litotes
a type of understatement in which an idea is expresses by negating it's opposite It wasn't a pretty picture. (double negative, understating that the scene must have been awful.)
antecedent
a word, phrase, or clause that is replaced by a pronoun in the same or in another sentence Jane lost a glove and she can't find it. (Jane is the _____ of she and glove is the _____ of it.)
parody
a work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule
pedantic
an adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish
trope
an artful variation from expected modes of expression of thoughts and ideas., a figure of speech involving a "turn" or change of sense—a use of the word in a sense other than its proper or literal one; common types of _____ include: metaphor, synecdoche, metonymy, personification, hyperbole, litotes, irony, oxymoron, onomatopoeia, etc.
undertone
an attitude that may lie under the ostensible tone of the piece. Under a cheery surface, for example, a work may have threatening __________
invective
an emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language. "I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth." Jonathan Swift "I didn't attend the funeral but I sent a nice letter saying I approved." Mark Twain
unreliable narrator
an untrustworthy or naïve commentator on events and characters in a story
symbol/symbolism
anything that represents itself and stands for something else; usually something concrete--such as an object, action, character, or scene--that represents something more abstract.
synthesia
describing one kind of sensation in terms of another "Back to the region where the sun is silent." Inferno Dante
rhetoric
from the Greek for "orator," this term describes the principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively
sarcasm
from the Greek meaning "to tear flesh," ____ involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something; may use irony as a device
didactic
from the Greek, literally means "teaching." works have the primary aim of teaching or instructing, especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles. The exodos of a Greek tragedy, for example, Oedipus ("Let no man count himself happy until he has passed the final limit of his life, free from pain.") A fable such as The Hare and the Tortoise (moral—slow and steady wins the race.) The parable of The Prodigal Son. (principal—forgiveness and mercy)
wit
intellectually amusing language that surprises and delight; suggests the speaker's or writer's verbal power in creating ingenious and perceptive remarks.
pathos
means persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions
logos
means persuading by the use of reasoning; logic, what is sound or makes sense "More than one hundred peer-reviewed studies have been conducted over the past decade, and none of them suggests that this is an effective treatment for hair loss."
tautology
needless repetition which adds no meaning or understanding -He is always making predictions about the future.
solecism
nonstandard grammar usage; a violation of grammatical rules -This was the most unkindest cut of all. (Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare)
mood
one meaning is grammatical and deals with verbal units and a speaker's attitude. The second meaning is literary, meaning the prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work "The river, reflecting the clear blue of the sky, glistened and sparkled as it flowed noiselessly on." (calm, peaceful) Charles Dickens "Penwick Papers" "There was no moon, and everything beneath lay in misty darkness: not a light gleamed from any house, far or near all had been extinguished long ago: and those at Wuthering Heights were never visible..." (depressing) Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights
prose
one of the major divisions of genre, ___ refers to fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms; in ___, the printer determines the length of the line; in poetry, the poet determines the length of the line
juxtaposition
placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast compare/contrast Dante's version of Satan/Devil to the devil in Lord of the Flies compare/contrast characteristics of one od Shakespeare's tragedies (Julius Caesar) to one of his comedies (Taming of the Shrew)
diction
related to style, refers to the writer's word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness; combined with syntax, figurative language, literary devices, etc., creates an author's style. choosing ma'am miss lady chick or broad for a woman, depending on the author's audience/purpose
tone
similar to mood, ____ describes the author's attitude toward his material, the audience, or both; easier to determine in spoken language than in written language. Some words describing ___ are playful, serious, businesslike, sarcastic, humorous, formal, ornate, sardonic, and somber.
semantics
the branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, their historical and psychological development, their connotations, and their relation to one another.
repetition
the duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern
vernacular
the everyday speech of a particular country or region, often involving nonstandard usage
epistrophe
the opposite of anaphors, repetition at the end of successive clauses. "They saw no evil, they spoke no evil, and they heard no evil."
point of view
the perspective from which a story is told
jargon
the specialized language or vocabulary of a particular group; this specialized language is used to convey hidden meanings accepted and understood in that context The Ministry of Truth, which concerned itself with news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts. The Ministry of Peace, which concerned itself with war. The Ministry of Love, which maintained law and order. And the Ministry of Plenty, which was responsible for economic affairs. Their names, in Newspeak: Minitrue, Minipax, Miniluv, and Miniplenty. (1984 by George Orwell) In this quote from the novel, Orwell shows how the jargon both the real purpose of each ministry and how their abbreviations can further make them incomprehensible to regular people.
narrative
the telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass --Frederick Douglass (autobiographical story of his life as a slave) The Hobbit —J.R.R. Tolkien (fantasy) Beloved--Toni Morrison (fictional tale of an escaped slave haunted by her past)
syntax
the way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences; it can also be thought of as word order or sentence structure
homily
this term literally means "sermon," but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice. A _____ is a public discourse on a moral or religious subject. Priests read it from the Bible to give an insight into the exact meanings of the scriptures. Afterward, they relate it with lives of followers. "He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel that has found means to fortify himself...So 'tis easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that anything hangs by; thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down." (Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards, delivered at Enfield, Connecticut on July 8, 1741) This is a popular American sermon in which Edwards has emphasized the idea of Great Awakening. The underlying idea is that God has given a chance to humanity to rectify their sins, as will of God has kept them away from depths of hell.
inference/infer
to draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented Jack's increasing bloodlust in hunting for the pigs in Lord of the Flies leads the reader to infer that soon that will not be enough to satisfy him and he will go after the thrill in other ways Caesar's increasing arrogance in Julius Caesar leads the reader to infer that his overconfidence will blind him towards things he should be seeing happening around him
synedoche
using one part of an object to represent the entire object or the entire object to represent a part - "Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean." Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare
