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Vocabulary A-C
words, definitions
76
English
11th Grade
04/02/2008

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Term
abstract
Definition
refers to language that describes concepts rather than concrete images; not related to the concrete or physical properties of an object, but instead pertaining to ideas, concepts, or qualities.
Term
active voice:
Definition
when the subject of the sentence performs the action denoted by the verb, like ¡°Gretchen sweeps the floor.¡±
Term
ad hominem argument
Definition
an attack on the opposing speaker or another person rather than on the opponent¡¯s ideas or the issues at hand; ¡°to the man.¡±
Term
aesthetic reading
Definition
reading to experience the world of the text.
Term
Allegory
Definition
a work that functions on a symbolic level; a form of extended metaphor in which characters and actions have meaning, often moral or philosophical, that lies outside the narrative; an extended metaphor of consonant sounds at the beginning or in the middle of two or more adjacent words.
Term
Alliteration
Definition
the repetition of identical consonant sounds at the beginning or in the middle of successive words, or of vowel sounds in successive words or syllables that repeat.
Term
Allusion
Definition
an indirect reference to something, usually a literary text or history, with which the reader is supposed to be familiar; often used with humorous intent, to establish a connection between reader and writer, to make a subtle point, or to capture the essence of something.
Term
Ambiguity
Definition
an event in a situation that may be interpreted in more than one way; use of language in which multiple meanings are possible, which can be unintentional through insignificant focus by the writer, but frequently intentional when the connotative or the denotative meaning can be valid in reading.
Term
Anachronism
Definition
use of historically inaccurate people, occurrences, customs, or ideas in a text, like a computer in the 19th century; extensively used in science fiction or fantasy.
Term
Anadiplosis
Definition
repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the next clause, like ¡°The crime was common, common be the pain.¡±
Term
Analogy
Definition
form of comparison in which the writer explains something unfamiliar by comparing it to something familiar; metaphors and similes are both types of analogy.
Term
Analysis
Definition
breaking down a subject and subjecting its components to detailed scrutiny.
Term
analytical reading
Definition
reading actively, paying close attention to both the content and the structure of the text.
Term
Anaphora
Definition
deliberate repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row to make the writer¡¯s point more coherent.
Term
Anecdote
Definition
a brief recounting of a relevant episode, often to develop a point or inject humor; a brief narrative to capture the audience¡¯s attention, to support a generalization of claims, to illuminate characters, and to present abstract ideas in concrete forms.
Term
Antagonist
Definition
a character or force in a literary work that opposes the main character or protagonist.
Term
Antecedent
Definition
the word to which a pronoun refers; a substantive word, phrase, or clause whose denotation is referred to by a pronoun; in logic, the conditional element in a proposition.
Term
Antihero
Definition
the protagonist of a literary work who is not admirable and does not embody the traditional qualities of a hero, like honor, bravery, kindness, and intelligence.
Term
Antimetabole
Definition
the repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order, like ¡°You can take the boy out of the country, but you can¡¯t take the country out of the boy.¡±
Term
Antithesis
Definition
the juxtaposition of two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, often in parallel structure.
Term
Antihimeria
Definition
the substitution of one part of speech for another, like ¡°The poet says we ¡®milestone our lives.¡¯¡±
Term
Aphorism
Definition
a concise statement designed to make a point or illustrate a commonly held belief, like ¡°Early to bed and early to rise/Make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.¡±
Term
Apologist
Definition
a person or character who makes a case for some controversial, even contentious, position.
Term
Apology
Definition
an elaborate statement justifying some controversial, even contentious, position; defense; a formal attempt to justify or defend one¡¯s actions while implying regret for them.
Term
Apostrophe
Definition
addressing a person or entity not present, generally indicative of strong emotion, especially when accompanied by ¡°O¡­¡±; type of soliloquy where nature is addressed as though human.
Term
Apotheosis
Definition
when a character or a thing is elevated to such a high status that it appears godlike.
Term
appeal to authority
Definition
the reference to words, actions, or beliefs of a person in authority as a means of supporting a claim, generalization, or conclusion; claims to be an expert or relies on information provided by experts; ethos.
Term
appeal to emotion
Definition
appeal to the emotions, interests, or sympathies of the audience; pathos.
Term
appeal to character
Definition
the author¡¯s attempt to sway readers by creating a positive impression of his or her own character.
Term
appeal to reason
Definition
the author¡¯s attempt to influence readers by means of logic, argument, and evidence; logos.
Term
appeal to style
Definition
a writer¡¯s attempt to influence readers by choosing words and expressions that create a certain tone or make what the writer says vivid and memorable.
Term
Appositive
Definition
a noun or noun phrase that follows another noun immediately or defines or amplifies its meaning, like ¡°My friend, Melissa, is here.¡±
Term
Appropriateness
Definition
related to choice of words, or diction.
Term
archaism/archaic
Definition
having the characteristics of the language of the past and surviving chiefly in specialized uses.
Term
Archetype
Definition
a theme, motif, symbol, or stock character that holds a familiar place in a culture¡¯s consciousness.
Term
Argument
Definition
the expression of a position or claim supported by reasons; a discourse intended to persuade or convince; accomplishing a goal through logical means; a statement that consists of at least one main interpretive assertion that is supported by a series of claims and evidence; a carefully constructed, well-supported representation of how a writer sees an issue, problem, or subject; assertions presented and defended by the writer; one of the four basic types of prose.
Term
Aristotelian triangle
Definition
a diagram showing the relations of writer or speaker, audience (reader or listener), and text in a rhetorical situation.
Term
Assertion
Definition
the thesis or proposition that write puts forward in an argument.
Term
Assonance
Definition
similar sounds within words close to one another; the repetition of vowel sounds in the stressed syllables of two or more adjacent words.
Term
Assumption
Definition
an opinion, a perspective, or a belief that the writer or speaker thinks the audience holds; a fact or statement that is taken for granted rather than tested or proved.
Term
Asyndeton
Definition
lack of connective words when expected; omission of conjunctions between related words, phrases, or clauses.
Term
Atmosphere
Definition
the emotional feeling or mood of a place, scene, or event.
Term
Attitude
Definition
in an adapted dramatic pentad created by a speaker or writer in order to invent materials, the manner in which an action is carried out; the feelings of a particular speaker or piece of writing toward a subject, person, or idea.
Term
Audience
Definition
the person or persons who listen to a spoken text or read a written one and are capable of responding to it; the group of intended readers.
Term
Autobiography
Definition
the nonfictional story of a person¡¯s life, told by that person.
Term
Balance
Definition
a situation in which all parts of the presentation are equal, whether in sentences or paragraphs or sections of a longer work; construction in which both halves of the sentence are about the same length and importance.
Term
bandwagon appeal
Definition
a fallacy of argument in which a course of action is recommended on the grounds that everyone else is following it.
Term
Bathos
Definition
a false or forced emotion that is often humorous, taking emotion to such an extreme that the reader finds it humorous rather than touching.
Term
beginnings/endings
Definition
what introduces and closes an essay (i.e. thesis, interest the reader, establish tone, anecdote, controversial statement, startling statistics or facts, definition, quotation, current event).
Term
Bildungsroman
Definition
a novel or story whose theme is the moral or psychological growth of the main character.
Term
Cacophony
Definition
harsh and discordant sounds in a line or passage in a literary work.
Term
Canon
Definition
one of the traditional elements of rhetorical composition ¨C invention, arrangement, style, memory, or delivery; the works of an author that have been accepted as authentic.
Term
Catharsis
Definition
purification or cleansing of the spirit through the emotion of pity and terror as a witness to a tragedy; a cleaning or purification of one¡¯s emotions through art.
Term
cause and effect analysis
Definition
one of the types of exposition to answer the question why?; explains the reasons for an occurrence on the consequences of an action.
Term
Chiasmus
Definition
arrangement of repeated thoughts in the pattern of XYYX; often short and summarizes a main idea; the order of terms in the first of parallel clauses is reversed in the second.
Term
Claim
Definition
the ultimate conclusion, generalization, or point that a syllogism or enthymeme expresses; the supported point of an argument; an assertion of something as fact; to demand as right or as due; a statement or assertion that is open to challenge and requires support.
Term
Classification
Definition
one of the types of exposition; arranges and sorts people, places, or things into categories according to differing characteristics, thus making them more manageable for the writer and more understandable for the reader.
Term
Clich¨¦
Definition
an expression that has become ineffective through overuse; normally avoided for fresh and forceful language.
Term
Climax
Definition
the arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in order of increasing number, importance, or emotional effect; the moment of greatest intensity in a text; the major turning point in the plot.
Term
Coherence
Definition
quality of good writing hat results when all sentences, paragraphs, and longer divisions of an essay that are naturally connect, achieved through logical sequence, thoughtful repetition, suitable pace, and use of transitions.
Term
colloquialism/colloquial expression
Definition
informal speech or writing, such as a local or regional saying, to create local color and to provide an information tone; acceptable in conversation but not usually in formal writing.
Term
common knowledge
Definition
shared beliefs or assumptions; a writer may argue that if something is widely believed, then readers should accept it.
Term
Comparison
Definition
focuses on the similarities between two or more things.
Term
complex sentence
Definition
a sentence with one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
Term
compound-complex sentence
Definition
a sentence with two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clause.
Term
Concrete
Definition
language used to describe observable or physical qualities.
Term
Confirmation
Definition
the part of speech in which the speaker or writer would offer proof or demonstration of the central idea, in ancient Roman oratory.
Term
Connotation
Definition
the implied meaning of a word, in contrast to its directly expressed ¡°dictionary meaning.¡±
Term
consonance
Definition
the repetition of two or more consonants with a change in the intervening vowels, like ¡°pitter-patter.¡±
Term
Context
Definition
the convergence of time, place, audience, and motivating factors in which a piece of writing or a speech is situated.
Term
Contradiction
Definition
a direct opposition between things compared; inconsistency.
Term
Contrast
Definition
focuses on the differences between two or more things.
Term
controlling idea
Definition
a statement of the main idea of an essay; thesis.
Term
Convention
Definition
an accepted manner, model, or tradition; a practice or principle, like a rule of spelling, grammar, or usage, that is accepted as true or correct.
Term
Credibility
Definition
an impression if integrity, honesty, and trustworthiness conveyed by a writer in an argument.
Term
critical reading
Definition
actively engaging with a text.
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