English 1201 final exam terms

Satire

a blend of wit, irony, and humor used to reveal and criticize human characteristics.

Anecdote

a brief story or account of a single incident without the elaboration (character development, figurative language, symbolism, etc.) of a short story.

Analogy

a comparison between two things sharing some similar qualities, usually for the purpose of explanation or clarification; e.g., comparing a computer to a human brain

Oxymoron

a figure of speech in which contradictory words are placed together for the purpose of expressing deep feelings, or to emphasize a point; e.g., cold fire, feather of lead, honourable villain, silent speech

Stereotype

a fixed mental picture that one draws upon in making judgments instead of taking a fresh, open-minded look each time; e.g., All teenagers are troublemakers.

Euphemism

a less offensive way of saying something negative; e.g., "pass away" instead of "die".

Advertisement (media)

a print publication often consisting of text and images intent on attracting attention in order to compel people to purchase a product or to raise awareness concerning a particular issue

Unity

a quality of oneness, in which the parts hang together; each part of a work is interdependent and no part is irrelevant.

Motif

a recurring important idea or image. A ______ differs from a theme in that it can be expressed as a single word or fragmentary phrase, while a theme usually must be expressed as a complete sentence.

Allusion

a reference to a familiar literary or historical person or event, used to make an idea more easily understood

Topic sentance

a sentence stating the main idea of a paragraph

Poster

a sign usually consisting of a combination of print and visuals; mainly designed to attract and hold the attention of the audience; may convey a message to make people think.

Bias

a slanted viewpoint that prevents a fair and open-minded assessment; can occur in a piece of writing when the author leaves out information that is necessary to give an accurate presentation of a person or subject.

Eulogy

a speech or essay written in praise of a person, usually soon after the subject's death.

Epiphany

a sudden grasp of reality is achieved in a quick flash or recognition in which something, usually simple and commonplace, is seen in a new light.

Allegory

a symbolic story having a second, deeper meaning beneath the readily apparent one

Blog

a web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks provided by the writer.

Testimonials (strategies)

also known as expert opinion, but not necessarily limited to that; ______ intend to show endorsement of a product, implying the people in question have used it with great results, and these results are readily available to the consumer

Argumentative essay

an essay that attempts to persuade the reader to the writer's point of view; the writer can be either serious or funny, but always tries to convince the reader of the validity of his or her opinion.

Hyperbole

an exaggerated statement used not to deceive, but for humorous or dramatic effect; e.g, "It rained cats and dogs."

Cliché

an idea or expression that has become tired from overuse, its clarity having worn off; e.g., the bottom line is...

Prejudice

an opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.

Intent (media)

another term for purpose; when considering media deconstruction also consider agenda (the motive behind constructing the message/media this way)

Coherence

anything which serves as a means of connecting one sentence to another or (connectives) one paragraph to another; e.g., transitions, repetition, parallel structure, pronoun antecedent references, etc.

Bandwagon (strategies)

appeal to as wide a market as possible in order to get everyone to jump on board; to miss out would mean missing out on something widely popular

Propaganda

attempts to sway popular opinion and beliefs through distortions of the truth or outright lies.

Proportion or symmetry (visuals)

balance in which the parts are visually equal; also called formal balance

Deconstruction

breaking a text down into its components to see what messages and assumptions it carries.

Snob appeal (strategies)

can be considered opposite to both plain folks and bandwagon, implies distinction and elevation; rather than one with the crowd, the consumer is above it

Logical fallacies

defects that weaken arguments, such as hasty generalizations and missing the point, based on flawed reasoning.

Product placement (media)

deliberate use of specific brand within image, television show or movie to promote this product to that audience; why Bond drank Heineken in the last movie

Comparison

describes similarities and differences between two or more items, either feature by feature or subject by subject.

Format (media)

design of the media product (poster; brochure; blog; webpage, etc)

Form (media)

design or configuration of a media product, can include elements of both text and image

Logo (media)

graphic or emblem quickly associated with particular brand, product or agency; Nike 'swoosh' for example

Sarcasm

harsh or bitter verbal irony in what one is saying.

Emotional appeal (strategies)

intent is to convince consumers by way of their feelings (as opposed to rational thinking, reliance on stats and other data) to support causes or purchase particular items

Thesis

is the central argument of an essay; a complete sentence (although sometimes it may require more than one sentence) that establishes the topic of the essay in clear, unambiguous language.

Voice

is the personality of the speaker or creator that is revealed in a work through such elements as style, tone, diction, etc.

Colloquial language

language characteristic of everyday informal speech; e.g.; You're getting on me nerves!

Imagery

language that creates pictures in a reader's mind to bring life to the experiences and feelings described in a poem; words that appeal to the reader's senses and enables us to see (visual), hear (auditory), smell (olfactory), taste (gustatory), and touch (tactile) what the writer is describing.

Literal meaning

language that means exactly what it says.

Image (media)

literally meaning, picture; deeper meaning, the perception we hold in our minds concerning self, or abstract, imagined concepts

Cartoon/cute characters (strategies)

meant to play on emotions and appeal to younger demographics, to personify something ordinary (ie. Cereal or paper products) and appeal to consumers

Belief

mental acceptance of a claim as truth; something believed.

Plain folks (strategies)

ordinary people, just like a regular audience, meant to establish common grounds rather than separation; it plays upon a sense of belonging; that we are just the same in the purchase of a particular product; Ford pick-up commercials rely on this

Focal (visuals)

part of a photograph, drawing or painting that is the main area of interest.

Focal point

part of a visual that is the main area of interest.

Bias (media)

particular slant or stance in favor of one view over others; can be synonymous with prejudice; in media, intended to sway the audience to a specific response, be it via purchasing or some other reaction

Name calling (strategies)

playing on emotion in a negative light in order to diminish the influence or create doubt concerning a person or idea, to get the audience to reject same; political ads often rely on this

Media

plural of medium; means of communication (newspaper, Internet, television, etc)

Icon (media)

public figure, generally well known to audience, emblematic of a characteristic associated with the product; for example, man in the Old Spice commercials

Endorsement (media)

public support for products or some other form of media campaign; often by way of celebrity or research-based support to lend appeal or credibility to the product/campaign

Contrast (visuals)

refers to dark and light or other differences used to create strong feelings in a visual; contrasting textures may be rough and smooth colour hue or tint (name of a colour, such as blue or red), intensity (purity and strength of a colour). And value (the lightness or darkness of a colour); used represent the way things really look and also to create feelings

Denotation

refers to the specific, exact, and concrete dictionary meaning of a word, independent of any associated or secondary meanings; e.g., "home" is "a place where one lives".

Mass media (media)

refers to those media that are designed to be consumed by large audiences through the agencies of technology

Gender/sex appeal (strategies)

reliance on good looking models to attract attention of target audience; implicit in the sub-text is that if consumers use this product, they will be as attractive as those in the ads

Shock appeal (strategies)

stronger than emotional appeal, meant to heighten audience response by playing upon the exaggerated or unexpected in an image or commercial

Celebrity endorsement (strategies)

subtext is at play here; that a well-known figure supports this product; to persuade consumers that by use of this product they have something in common with someone famous

Suspense

techniques used by the author to keep readers interested in the story and wondering what will happen next.

Composition (visuals)

the arrangement of visual elements within a picture; way in which the parts of an artistic work are brought together into a visually satisfying whole

Connotations

the associations a word or image evokes that go beyond the literal meaning; e.g., "home" connotes "comfort, love, security", etc.

Tone

the author's attitude towards the subject that he/she is writing about such as anger or approval, pride or piety, joy or pain.

Dominant impression or image

the central thought or object that stands out in a work

Style

the characteristic ways that an individual author used language; includes word choice, length and complexity of sentences, patterns of sound, and use of imagery and symbols.

Subtext (media)

the deeper meaning, sometimes hidden message, of a text; is not only what the creator intended but also what past experience/perception the audience brings to it

Message (media)

the deliberate construct behind media product with intent and purpose; however, since media requires audience, ______ is also influenced by the perspective of that audience

Parallelism/parallel structure

the deliberate repetition of the same or similar grammatical structure, often used for effect in emotional or dramatic passages; e.g., I came, I saw, I conquered.

Repetition

the deliberate use of the same word, words, or events to create an effect.

Description/Descriptive writing

the exercise of representing characters, scenes, ideas or actions to make the writing more vivid or appealing for the reader.

Message (visuals)

the general idea that an artist wishes to express

Demographic (media)

the group specifically targeted by advertising and promotion, considering such factors as age, gender, education, income

Pun

the humorous use of words that sound the same or nearly the same but differ in meaning. Example: "to make dandelion biscuits, you need two cups of flower"

Atmosphere

the overall emotional impression we get from the words, images, and setting of a text and the pace set by the story's plot., e.g., cheerful, anxious, foreboding.

Mood

the overall feeling (e.g., light and happy or dark and brooding) created by an author's choice of words

Scale (visuals)

the relative size of objects within visual; large objects attract the viewer's attention first

Whitespace (media)

the space in visuals deliberately left blank in order to emphasize other aspects of the image

Emphasis

the stress or focus on a part or a whole. In writing, it can help specific elements stand out for the reader.

Balance

the way shapes are arranged within a visual; when shapes are balanced, they create a feeling of order or harmony.

Balance (visuals)

the way shapes are arranged; balanced shapes create a feeling or order or harmony; unbalanced shapes create tension

Caption

the words beneath a photograph that explain the subject and give background information; help to shape the meaning of the photo, sometimes in misleading ways.

Headline (media)

title of newspaper/online articles found above and in larger, bolder font; intent is to attract attention to relevant article

Deconstruct (media)

to critically take apart media images and products in order to understand how and why they were developed in that fashion; to evaluate the construction of meaning within text

Contrast

to examine two or more items by looking at only their differences.

Juxtaposition

to place together or side by side, especially for comparison and contrast.

Facts and figures (strategies)

use of statistics, graphs, surveys and percentages in order to persuade the audience that this product or issue has research behind it; intent to legitimize the product or process

Dramatic irony

when the audience knows more about a character's situation than the character does

Situational irony

when there is a difference between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen

Verbal irony

when what a character says and thinks he or she means is actually different from what the audience perceives is meant

Persuasive writing

writing meant to convince an audience to think in a certain way or to take a particular action

Expository writing

writing that is systematically explanatory, and communicates information; see essay.