Transcript Random Literary Terms - La Canada Unified School District

5 Literary Devices
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ad hominem
Latin for "against the man."
 Attacking the person instead of the argument
proposed by that individual.
 An argument directed to the personality,
prejudices, previous words and actions of an
opponent rather than an appeal to pure reason.
 Example: "Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot,"
writes left-wing comedian Al Franken.
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adverbial phrases
First, let's define an adverb: word that
modifies a verb, verb form, adjective or
another adverb.
 Thus, an adverbial phrases is a group of
words that modifies, as a single unit, a
verb, verb form, adjective or another
adverb.
 Example: He lost the first game due to
carelessness.
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allegory
A fiction or nonfiction narrative, in which
characters, things, and events represent
qualities, moral values, or concepts.
 Playing out of the narrative is designed to reveal
an abstraction or truth.
 Characters and other elements may be symbolic
of the ideas referred to in the allegory.
 Example: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel
Hawthorne
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allusion
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A reference, explicit or indirect, to a person,
place, or event, or to another literary work or
passage.
Generally speaking, the writer assumes the
educated reader will recognize the reference.
Often humorous, but not always.
Establishes a connection between writer and
reader, or to make a subtle point.
Example: "In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren
sings."
analogy
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A comparison to a directly parallel case, arguing that a
claim reasonable for one case is reasonable for the
analogous case.
A comparison made between two things that may
initially seem to have little in common but can offer
fresh insights when compared.
Used for illustration and/or argument.
Example: "We advance in years somewhat in the
manner of an invading army in a barren land; the age
that we have reached, as the phrase goes, we but hold
with an outpost, and still keep open our
communications with the extreme rear and first
beginnings of the march."
– Robert Louis Stevenson, "On Marriage."
anaphora
Repetition of a word, phrase or clause at the
beginning of two or more sentences in a row.
 Deliberate form of repetition to reinforce point
or to make it more coherent.
 Example: In the Declaration of Independence,
Thomas Jefferson places the subject, "He," at
the beginning of twenty accusations in a row,
each as a single paragraph, to put the weight of
responsibility for the problems with King George
III, whom Jefferson refers to in the third person.
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anecdote
A brief recounting of a relevant episode.
 Used in fiction and nonfiction.
 Develops point or injects humor.
 Commonly used as an illustration for an
abstract point being made.
 Example: Mark Twain is famous for his
short anecdotes about growing up in
Missouri intertwined with humor and an
abstract truth about human nature.
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anticlimax
In writing, denotes a writer's intentional
drop from the serious and elevated to the
trivial and lowly, in order to achieve a
comic or satiric effect.
 An event (as at the end of a series) that is
strikingly less important than what has
preceded it.
 The transition towards this ending.
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antithesis
A balancing of two opposite or contrasting
words, phrases or clauses.
 Example: ". . .one seeing more where the other
sees less, one seeing black where the other sees
white, one seeing big where the other sees
small. . . ."
 Example: Shakespeare's Macbeth, Act I, Scene I,
Line 11: "Fair is foul and foul is fair."
 Oxymoron: rhetorical antithesis, juxtaposing two
contradictory terms like "wise fool" or "eloquent
silent."
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appositive
Nonessential word groups (phrases and clauses) that
follow nouns and identify or explain them.
 Example: My aunt, who lives in Montana, is taking
surfing lessons in Hawaii.
 The sentence above is a "nonrestrictive clause," because
it is not necessary to the meaning of the sentence and it
can easily be put in another sentence and still make
sense. Thus, it is set off by commas.
 A restrictive clause also follows a noun but is necessary
to the meaning of the sentence. It is not an appositive.
Thus, no commas. "That" always signals restrictive.
 Example: People who can speak more than one
language are multilingual.
 Example: Please repair all the windows that are broken.
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archetype
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Meaning: model, example, standard, original, classic.
Elemental patterns of ritual, mythology and folklore that
recur in the legends, ceremonies and stories of the most
diverse cultures.
In literature, applies to narrative designs, character
types, or images which are said to be identifiable in a
wide variety of works of literature, as well as myths, and
even ritualized modes of social behavior.
Example: Over 300 different versions of the Cinderella
tale exist from around the world, and all of them have
certain archetypal characteristics: wicked step-mother,
mean sisters, handsome prince who rescues the girl.
These common characteristics are qualities that strike a
strong emotional reaction in all who own the story.
assonance
Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more
words, usually with different consonant sounds
either before or after the same vowel sounds.
 Example: "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I
pondered, weak and weary," Edgar Allan Poe's
"The Raven."
 Example: "Thou foster child of silence and slow
time," John Keat's "Ode on a Grecian Urn."
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asyndeton
Sentence where commas are used with no
conjunctions to separate a series of
words.
 Gives equal weight to each part.
 Speeds up the flow of the sentence.
 Formula: X, Y, Z. As opposed to X, Y, and
Z.
 See polysyndeton for variation.
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bathos
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Noun.
Etymology: Greek.
A sudden drop from the sublime or elevated to
the ludicrous.
An anticlimax.
Example: Within the last decade, the Catholic
community in North America has faced its
greatest bathos as they wrestle with the dozens
of arrests and convictions of priests for child
molestation.
bombast
Originally meant "cotton stuffing."
 Adopted to signify verbose and inflated diction
that is disproportionate to the matter it
expresses.
 Popular with the heroic drama of the late
seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.
 Although a century after the height of this style,
James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Sagas
(Last of the Mohicans for example) are typical of
bombastic speeches.
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bowdlerize
Named after Thomas Bowdler, who tidied
up his Family Shakespeare in 1815 by
omitting whatever is unfit to be read by a
gentleman in the presence of a lady.
 Means to expurgate from a work any
passages considered indecent or
indelicate.
 High school and some college texts are
guilty of this censuring.
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chiasmus
Arrangement of repeated thoughts in the
pattern of X Y Y X.
 Usually short and summarizes the main
idea.
 Example: From Yeats' "An Irish Airman
Foresees His Death," the poet writes:
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"The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind."
coin a verb
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This is not a literary term, but it confused more than one
student. So, I am including it here.
coin (intransitive verb) means "to invent."
Thus, to "coin a verb" is to "invent a verb."
Shakespeare "coined" more than 1,700 words by
changing nouns to verbs, making verbs adjectives,
making new combination of words paired together, etc.
Example: Olivia: "There lies your way, due west."
Viola: "Then westward ho!"
From Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Act III, Scene I, Line 135.
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Some words Shakespeare coined: advertising, alligator,
anchovy, countless, gust, investment, obscene, puke,
puppy dog, tranquil, zany.
common knowledge
Shared beliefs or assumptions between
the reader and the audience.
 Used to argue that if something is widely
believed, readers should accept it.
 A self-evident, obvious truth, especially
one too obvious to mention is a truism.
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consonance
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Repetition of a consonant sound within two or
more words in close proximity.
Sometimes refers to repetition of consonant
sounds in the middle or at the end of words.
Example: "And all the air a solemn stillness
holds." from Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a
Country Churchyard."
Sometimes refers to slant rhyme or partial
rhyme: Initial and final consonants are the same
but the vowels are different.
Example: litter and letter, or green and groan.
conventional
Following certain conventions, or
traditional techniques of writing.
 Over-reliance on conventions may result in
a lack of originality.
 Example: Five-paragraph theme is a
conventional format of argument.
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deconstruction
A critical approach that debunks single
definitions of meaning based upon the
instability of language.
 Deconstructionist: reexamines literary
conventions in light of the belief that
because of the instability of language, the
text has already dismantled itself.
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diatribe
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From Latin diatriba meaning "to spend time," or
"to wear away."
Archaic meaning: a prolonged discourse.
A bitter and abusive speech or writing.
Ironical or satirical criticism.
Example: The challenging candidate shouted his
diatribe against the incumbent platform to
several thousand supporters in attendance.
diction
Means "word choice."
 Refers to word choice as a reflection of
style.
 Different types and arrangements of
words have significant effects on meaning.
 Purpose, tone, point of view, persona,
verve, color, all are affected by diction.
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didactic
Fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific
lesson or moral or provides a model of correct
behavior or thinking.
 Designed to expound a branch of theoretical,
moral, or practical knowledge, or else to
instantiate, in an impressive and persuasive
imaginative or fictional form, a moral, religious,
or philosophical theme or doctrine.
 Example: "On the Nature of Things" by
Lucretius; "Essay on Man" by Pope; "Faerie
Queene" by Spencer; "The Pilgrim's Progress" by
Bunyan.
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double entendre
A corruption of a French phrase meaning
"double meaning."
 The term is used to indicate a word or
phrase that is deliberately ambiguous,
especially when one of the meanings is
risqué or improper.
 Example: The Elizabethan usage of the
verb "die," which refers both to death and
to orgasm.
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either-or reasoning
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Reducing an argument or issue to two
polar opposites and ignoring any
alternatives.
emotional appeal
Appealing to the emotions of the reader in
order to excite and involve them in the
argument.
 Makes use of pathos: the quality in an
experience, narrative, literary work, etc.,
which arouses profound feelings of
compassion or sorrow.
 Pathos is Greek for "suffering."
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epic simile
Formal and sustained similes that are developed far
beyond its specific points of parallel to the primary
subject.
 Primary subject is called "tenor."
 Secondary subject (the simile) is called "vehicle."
 Homer (Iliad and Odyssey) invented the technique;
Virgil, Milton and other epic writers copied the style.
 Example: Milton in Paradise Lost I, lines 768-76
describes the fallen angels (tenor) thronging towards
their newly built palace of Pandemonium by an elaborate
comparison to swarming of bees (vehicle) that lasts an
entire stanza.
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epigraph
A quotation or aphorism at the beginning
of a literary work suggestive of the theme
of the fiction or nonfiction text.
 An aphorism is a short clever saying
parting truth. Example: "waste not, want
not."
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epigram
Originally in Greek meant "an inscription."
 Extended to encompass a very short poem whether
amorous (sexual love), elegiac (longing for the past),
meditative (contemplative), anecdotal (description,
story, episode), or satiric (witty, sarcasm).
 Poem is polished, condensed, and pointed, often with a
witty end.
 In his epigram "On a Volunteer Singer" Coleridge
explains:
Swans sing before they die—'twere no bad thing
Should certain people die before they sing!
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epiphany
Literally means "a manifestation."
 Traditionally, Christianity used the word to
signify a manifestation of God's presence in the
world.
 Irishman James Joyce, in A Portrait of the Artist
as a Young Man, first adapted the word to a
secular meaning: a sudden radiance and
revelation while observing a commonplace
object.
 Joyce replaced what earlier writers had called
"the moment," an instance or moment of
revelation.
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equivoque
Special type of pun that makes use of a
single word or phrase which has two
disparate meanings, in a context which
makes both meanings equally relevant.
 The art of writing this pun is equivocation.
 As an example, an epitaph for a bank
teller might read:
He checked his cash, cashed in his checks,
And left his window. Who is next?
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ethical appeal
When a writer tries to persuade the
audience to respect him or her based
upon a presentation of self through the
text.
 Reputation of the author is often a factor
in ethical appeals.
 Regardless of the topic or over-all purpose
of the essay, the ethical appeal is always
done to gain the audience's confidence.
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ethos
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Etymology: Greek.
A person's character or disposition.
The characteristic spirit or prevalent tone of a
people or a community.
The essential identity of an institution or system.
Ideal excellence; nobler than reality.
Example: "The real is preferred to the ideal,
transient emotions to permanent lineaments,
pathos to ethos."
euphemism
Originally in Greek meant "to speak well."
 Has come to mean: to speak well in the
place of the blunt, disagreeable, terrifying
or offensive term.
 Example: death becomes "to pass away."
 Example: "Damn it" becomes "Darn it!"
 Example: Victorians first used "limb" for
leg or "privates" for sexual organs.
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exposition
Background information provided by
author to enhance the audience's
understanding of the context of a fiction
or nonfiction story.
 Example: Robert Louis Stevenson gives
the reader plenty of cultural background
on the small seaside village of his youth in
hopes the audience will better appreciate
the context of "The Lantern-Bearers."
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freight-train
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Sentence consisting three or more very
short independent clauses joined by
conjunctions.
hyperbole
Originally in Greek meant "overshooting."
 A bold overstatement or extravagant expression of fact,
used for serious or comic effect.
 Easily recognized as exaggeration for effect.
 Example: There must have been ten million people at
our Wal-Mart on the day after Thanksgiving.
 Or, Shakespeare's, Othello, Act III, Scene III, Lines 33033 reads:
Not poppy nor mandragora,
Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,
Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep
Which thou ow 'dst yesterday.
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imagery
Use of images, especially in a pattern of
related images, often figurative, to create
a strong, unified sensory impression.
 Use of sensory details to create images
that support the theme of the essay.
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inversion
Variation of the normal word order
(subject, verb, complement) which puts
the verb or complement at the head of the
sentence.
 The sentence element appearing first is
emphasized more than the subject that is
buried in the sentence.
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irony
Originated in Greek comedy with the character
eiron, who was a "dissembler." Appeared less
intelligent than he was, spoke in
understatement, and triumphed over the
alazon—the self-deceiving and stupid braggart.
 Greek dramatist Sophocles developed the
"tragic" or "dramatic" irony in his 100-plus
tragedies, including Antigone and Oedipus Rex.
 Four kinds of irony: verbal, structural, dramatic,
and situational.
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irony (verbal)
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Verbal irony: demands the most audience sophistication. This
requires "reading between the lines."
Also, this irony takes the greatest risks with the audience who might
misinterpret what is irony and what is literal.
Might be simple reversal of literal meanings of words spoken or
more complex, subtle, indirect and unobtrusive messages that
require the collection of hints from within the text.
Compliments the intelligence of the reader, who, by perceiving the
irony, is in partnership with the author and the minority of
characters who understand, too.
Example: "It is truth universally acknowledged that a single man in
possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife" (Jane
Austen Pride and Prejudice). The subtle irony is that a single
woman is in want of a rich husband as manifested by the evidence
in the novel that follows this opening line.
Sarcasm: a type of verbal irony that is crude and blatant praise or
dispraise. Example: "Oh, you're God's great gift to women, you
are!"
irony (structural)
Structural irony: some works show sustained irony
throughout the text.
 Instead of using occasional verbal irony, the author
introduces a structural feature which serves to sustain
duplicity of meaning.
 Common device: naïve hero or naïve narrator.
 Example: Jonathan Swift's well-meaning but insanely
rational economist who is the naïve narrator in "A
Modest Proposal." The reader perceives the irony of one
who, though well meaning, proposes the conversion of
the excess children of the oppressed and povertystricken Irish into financial and gastronomical assets.
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irony (dramatic)
Involves a situation in a play or narrative in
which the audience shares with the author
knowledge of which the character is ignorant.
 The character expects the opposite of what is
destined, or says something that anticipates the
outcome, but not in a way that is meant when
said.
 Example: In Macbeth, by Act I, Scene I, the
audience knows that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
have already planned out Duncan's murder—yet
King Duncan never suspects that he is walking
into a trap.
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irony (situational)
When the writer shows a discrepancy between
the expected results of some action or situation
and it actual results.
 The work has a surprise ending, that, although a
"surprise," still fits the purpose, point of view,
evidence and tone of the text.
 Example: In Thomas Hardy's "The Three
Strangers," it is a surprise to the characters and
the audience when the two strangers at the
chimney corner turn out to be the hangman and
his intended victim.
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litotes
Noun.
 From Greek lítōtēs for "plain" or "simple."
 Assertion of an affirmative by negating its contrary.
Example: "He's not the brightest man in the world,"
meaning "he is stupid."
 It is a simple form of understatement, often in AngloSaxon poetry, like Beowulf, it is a statement of grim
irony. Example, in describing the dwelling place of the
monster Grendel, Hrothgar states, "That is not a
pleasant place."
 General example: "He is two bricks shy of a full load,"
meaning his reasoning powers are not all there.
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melodramatic redundancy
This AP exam phrase incorporates two
terms: melodramatic and redundancy.
 Melodramatic: exaggerated, sensational,
overly dramatic.
 Redundancy: the state of being
unnecessarily repetitive or superfluous
 Thus, melodramatic redundancy means,
"unnecessary repetition that is
exaggerated, sensational and overly
dramatic."
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metaphor
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A figure of speech that compares two things which are basically
dissimilar. (Example: The ship plowed the sea.)
Unlike a simile, metaphors do not have a connective word (like, as,
or than).
Many metaphors are implied or suggested. (Example: Anne
Bradstreet in "Upon the Burning of Our House" calls heaven "the
beautiful house" built by "the mightiest architect.")
An "extended" or "controlling" metaphor is used throughout the
essay.
A dead metaphor is one that is overly used and is no longer
considered figurative, but rather literal. (Example: the leg of a
chair.)
A mixed metaphor is the use of two or more inconsistent metaphors
in one expression. Mixed metaphors make no sense upon
examination and are often used as humorous. (Example: To hold
the fort, he'd have to shake a leg.)
metonymy
Noun.
 From Greek metōnymía for "change of name."
 A figure of speech where the term for one thing is
applied for another with which it has become closely
associated in experience, or where a part represents the
whole.
 Example: "the crown" is figuratively the king.
 Example: the word "petticoat" represents femininity;
whereas the word "pants" represents being in control.
 Reminder: This is not a synecdoche; the tools are
different. For one, a metonymy is used so much that it
has become a figure of speech.
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monologue
From Greek monologos meaning "to speak
alone."
 A long speech by one person; a dramatic
speech by one actor.
 Also known as a "soliloquy" if the
character speaks inner thoughts to the
audience and no other character hears.
 An "aside" is a short soliloquy.
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mood
The atmosphere in the text created by the
author's tone towards the subject.
 Sometimes called "atmosphere" or "ambience."
 Tools used:
-Style (how sentences are combined)
-syntax (strength, length and complexity of each
sentence)
-diction (individual word choice)
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naturalistic novel
This AP exam phrase incorporates two literary
terms: naturalism and novel.
 Naturalism: centering upon nature and excluding
supernatural or spiritual elements, with special
attention to effects of environment and heredity
on human nature and action.
 Novel: extended fictional narrative that allows
greater complication of plot and more subtle
examinations of character.
 Example: Jack London's Call of the Wind and
White Fang are naturalistic novels, where
premise of "survival of the fittest" is examined.
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new journalism
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Noun.
Became popular during the Modernism movement in
American culture following WWII, but is an earlier
phenomenon.
No longer objective; doesn't make any pretense to being
objective.
Features author's subjective responses to people and
events covered in essay.
Sometimes includes fictional elements meant to
illuminate and dramatize those responses of the author.
Example: "The Execution of Tropmann" by Ivan
Turgenev in which the author reacts subjectively to the
sights and sounds of attending his first public execution.
His opinion about such government events is clear by
the last paragraph of the essay. Persuasion is the key.
novel and forms thereof
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Novel: extended fictional narrative that
allows greater complication of plot and
more subtle examinations of character.
 Novelette or Novella: fictional narrative of
middle length. Examples: Old Man and
the Sea by Ernest Hemingway or Heart of
Darkness by Joseph Conrad.
oxymoron
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Noun.
From Greek: oxi means "sharp, keen, acute,
pungent, acid"; moron means "dull, stupid,
foolish."
A figure of speech in which two contradictory
words are placed side-by-side for effect.
Words are obviously opposed or markedly
contradictory terms.
Casually reference: contradiction of terms.
Examples: "civil war," "alone together,"
"deafening silence," or "jumbo shrimp."
paean
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From Greek paian meaning "hymn to Apollo" (Paian or
Paion, being a name for Apollo).
Pronounced "pie-un."
Any song of joy, praise or triumph.
Shakespeare's Hamlet, the protagonist offers a paean to
man:
What a piece of work is man, how noble in reason,
how infinite his faculties, in form and moving how
express and admirable, in action how like an angel,
in apprehension, how like a god: the beauty of the
world, the paragon of animals . . . . (II, ii, 292-95)
paradox
A statement that reveals a kind of truth,
although it seems at first to be self-contradictory
and untrue.
 Rhymes with "in your socks"
 Examples: Books are a poor man's wealth. Or,
as Emily Dickinson writes, "Much madness is
Divinest Sense."
 In John Donne's sonnet, "Death, Be Not Proud,"
he declares:
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One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
parallelism
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Sentence construction which places in close proximity
two or more equal grammatical constructions.
Might be as simple as listing two or three modifiers in a
row to describe the same noun or verb.
Might be two or more of the same type of phrases
(prepositional, participial, gerund, appositive).
Might be two or more subordinate clauses that modify
the same noun or verb.
Might be a complex blend of single-word, phrase, and
clause parallelism all in the same sentence.
Simple Example: He lived well, and he died well.
parody
Imitates the serious materials and manner of a particular
work, or the characteristic style of a particular author,
and applies it to a lowly or grossly discordant subject.
 An exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous
purposes.
 Sometimes called "burlesque" and "travesty."
 An English essayist of the early twentieth century, Max
Beerbohm is known for his parody.
 James Thurber of The New Yorker magazine was an
American writer also known for parody.
 The cartoon series The Simpsons often does a parody of
a famous poem or novel.
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pathos
Noun.
 Etymology: Greek.
 A quality in an experience, narrative, literary work, etc.,
which arouses profound feelings of compassion or
sorrow.
 Pathetic expression or emotion; transient or emotional.
 Example: For many audience members, the first time
viewing Braveheart in a darkened theatre produced a
profound pathos while watching William Wallace scream
out "Freedom!" in his last dying moments after suffering
a barbaric torture at the hands of the civilized English.
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periodic
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Sentence that places the main idea or
central complete thought at the end of the
sentence, after all introductory elements.
polysyndeton
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Sentence that uses and or other conjunctions
multiple times with no commas to separate
items in a series.
Stresses equally each member of the series.
Slows the flow of the sentence for effect,
making items more emphatic than in the
asyndeton.
Formula: X and Y and Z.
See asyndeton for variation.
post hoc, egro propter hoc
Latin for "after this, therefore because of
this."
 When a writer implies that because one
thing follows another, the first caused the
second.
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pun
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A play on words that are either identical in sound (homonyms) or
similar in sound, but are sharply diverse in meaning.
Example: "Thou art Peter (Petros) and upon this rock (petra) I will
build my church."
Early puns had roots in serious literature, that like Shakespeare, can
also have a comical effect in a very serious situation.
Example: In Romeo and Juliet, while bleeding to death, Mercutio
says "Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man."
By the eighteenth century and after, the literary use of puns has
been almost exclusively comic.
Equivoque: the use of a single word or phrase which has two
disparate meanings, in a context which makes both meanings
equally relevant.
Example: An epitaph suggested for a bank teller, which states, "He
checked his cash, cashed in his checks. And left his window. Who
is next?"
purple patch
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Translation of "purpureus . . . Pannus" from Horace's Ars Poetica.
Signifies a sudden heightening of rhythm, diction, and figurative
language that makes a section of verse or prose—especially a
descriptive passage—stand out from its context.
Sometimes applied to a set piece, separable and quotable, in which
an author rises to an occasion.
Example: From the 1999 film Cider House Rules, in which Dr. Wilbur
Larch (Michael Caine) salutes the boy orphans crowded in the attic
bedroom with, "Goodnight, you princes of Maine. You kings of New
England," thereby heightening just how precious these orphaned
lads and the struggling orphanage are to the doctor.
Example: Shakespeare's eulogy of England by the dying John of
Gaunt in Shakespeare's Richard II (Act II, Scene I, lines 40-43).
The dying John says:
This royal throne of kings, this scept'red isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise . . . .
red herring
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When a writer raises an irrelevant issue to
draw attention away from the real issue.
refrain
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A line, or part of a line, or a group of lines which is
repeated in the course of a poem or an essay.
There might be slight variations within the repeated
refrain.
The repetition is done for effect.
Example: If an essay incorporated repeated phrases like
"I believe" or "This is love" each refrain focuses the
audience on a particular subject.
Perhaps the most famous refrain in American writing is
from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" which is simply
"Nevermore." The audience is focused on the concept of
never will the narrator be able to forget his lost love,
find relief from the pain, or be able to hold her again.
refutation
The art of mustering relevant opposing
arguments.
 The author "refutes" through evidence
logical opposition.
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rhetoric
The art of effective communication, especially
persuasive discourse.
 Focuses on the interrelationship of invention,
arrangement, and style in order to create fitting
and appropriate discourse.
 Might also be used as an adjective to describe
the elements of effective communication
(rhetorical situation, rhetorical question,
rhetorical example, etc.).
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satire
Text that reveals a critical attitude toward some element
of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way.
 Satire is meant to improve society through humor, not to
tear it down through vicious ridicule.
 Doesn't simply abuse (as in invective) or get personal
(as in sarcasm).
 Targets groups or large concepts rather than individuals.
 As opposed to sarcasm, which is meant to abuse and
ridicule an individual.
 Very creative and takes audience knowledge and
perception to appreciate.
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sentimentalism
What is perceived as an excess of emotion
to an occasion.
 In a more limited sense, refers to an
overindulgence in the "tender" emotions of
pathos and sympathy.
 Relative to audience and cultural
perceptions.
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signal words
Words in an essay that alert the reader to
a change in tone, direction, section, or
category.
 Examples: however, on the other hand,
contrary to, and now, next, following, etc.
 Time Examples: At one in the morning, by
sunset, at noon, etc.
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simile
A figure of speech, comparing two
essentially unlike things through the use
of a specific word of comparison (like, as,
or than, for example).
 Example: "This is the Arsenal. From the
floor to ceiling, like a huge organ, rise the
burnished arms."
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straw man
Argues against a claim that nobody
actually holds or is universally considered
weak.
 Diverts attention away from the real
issues.
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style
The choices in diction, tone, syntax that a writer
makes.
 Together, these choices create the manner of
expression in a text, which is style.
 Evolves over time as writing habits are
developed naturally.
 Considered both conscious and unconscious and
thus may be altered to fit the purpose of the
text.
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syllogistic
Noun.
 From the Greek word syllogismos,
meaning "inference or conclusion."
 A form of argument or reasoning,
consisting of two premises and a
conclusion.
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symbol
An object, place, setting, prop, event or
person that represents or stands for some
idea or event.
 Never hidden, but interwoven throughout
the text.
 It may also retain its own literal meaning
while taking on the symbolic qualities.
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synecdoche
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Greek, for "taking together."
A part of something is used to signify the whole.
Or, more rarely, a whole to signify a part.
Examples: Milton in "Lycidas" calls the corrupt
clergy of the Church of England "blind mouths,"
meaning their misguided sermons represent
their total corruption.
Example: "Give me your hand," does not mean
literally just your hand, but your entire physical
help.
Reminder: do not mix this term with metonymy.
They are different tools.
syntactic fluency
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Ability to create a variety of sentence
structures, appropriately complex and/or
simple and varied in length.
syntactic permutation
Sentence structures that are
extraordinarily complex and involved.
 Often difficult for the reader to follow.
 Wordiness beyond effectiveness.
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tautology
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Noun.
From Late Latin tautologia.
A repetition of the same statement.
The repetition, within the immediate context, of the
same word or phrase or the same meaning in different
words; usually as a fault of style.
Example: "essential necessaries."
A repetition of something already said.
A mere repetition of acts, incidents or experiences.
Modern Logic: A self-evident truth, a truism; a
compound proposition which is unconditionally true for
all possibilities.
theme
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Central idea of a work of fiction or nonfiction.
Revealed and developed in the course of a story or explored
through argument.
An abstract claim, or doctrine, whether implicit or asserted, which
the text is designed to incorporate and makes persuasive to the
reader.
Often discussed as a main idea when confined to the parameters of
the text.
Often discussed as a theme when presented in abstract terms that
go beyond the boundaries of the text.
Example: The main idea of Great Expectations is that Pip has to
learn to judge others by evidence and not by appearance, through
which Dickens presents the theme that humans create most of their
own problems by being prejudice, pompous and placing importance
on social status rather than on personal character.
tone
Author's attitude toward subject matter as
revealed through style, syntax, diction,
figurative language, and organization.
 Author's tone creates mood in the text by
use of the above tools.
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tricolon
Sentence consisting of three parts of equal
importance and length.
 Usually three independent clauses.
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verisimilitude
The achievement of an illusion of reality in the
audience. This is one of the "three unities" of
Italian and French drama: unity of place, unity
of time, and unity of truth (the drama must have
a sense of reality and believability in the
audience).
 The appearance of being true.
 Having a resemblance to truth, reality or fact.
 A statement which has the mere show of being
true or in accordance with fact; an apparent
truth.
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