Literary Terms Master List PDF

1\. **ad hominem** A fallacy of logic in which the writer attacks the character of the arguer rather than discuss the ideas. i.e. Vicky makes the claim that Professor Rushek is not a good teacher. Professor Rushek comes back by saying Vicky is an \"idiot\" rather than discussing the claim at hand....

1\. **ad hominem** A fallacy of logic in which the writer attacks the character of the arguer rather than discuss the ideas. i.e. Vicky makes the claim that Professor Rushek is not a good teacher. Professor Rushek comes back by saying Vicky is an \"idiot\" rather than discussing the claim at hand. 2\. **alliteration** The repetition of the same sound or letter at the beginning of consecutive words or syllables. \"Peter Pieper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers.\" 3\. **allusion** An indirect reference, often to another text or an historic event. \"When she lost her job, she acted like a Scrooge, and refused to buy anything that wasn't necessary.\" 4\. **ambivalence** lack of clarity; wavering; being undecided 5\. **analogy** An extended comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things. A longer simile. 6\. **analytical** intending to understand the nature of something 7\. **anaphora** The repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses. \"My heart is a boulder. My heart is a stone. My heart is a pebble. My heart is alone.\" 8\. **anecdote** A short account of an interesting event. 9\. **annotation** Explanatory or critical notes added to a text. 10\. **antanaclasis** A rhetorical device in which a word is repeated in two or more different senses. \"If you aren\'t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.\" 11\. **antecedent** The noun to which a later pronoun refers. \"Professor Rushek is out of her mind.\" Her is the pronoun, the antecedent is Professor Rushek. 12\. **antimetabole** The repetition of words in an inverted order to sharpen a contrast. "We do what we like and we like what we do." 13\. **antithesis** Parallel structure that juxtaposes contrasting ideas, such as \"You cannot live without learning, you cannot learn without living.\" Or \"You win some, you lose some.\" 14\. **aphorism** A short, astute statement of a general truth. Similar to an attention-getter. It\'s purpose could be to not marginalize, or leave out, any reader of an essay. Such as \"Youth is a blunder; Manhood a struggle; Old age regret." 15\. **apologist** one who writes in defense of a cause or institution 16\. **apostrophe** a figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction. "Oh! Stars and clouds and winds, ye are all about to mock me; if ye really pity me, crush sensation and memory; let me become as nought; but if not, depart, depart, and leave me in darkness." 17\. **archaic diction** The use of words common to an earlier time period; antiquated language. 18\. **argument** A statement put forth and supported by evidence. 19\. **assertion** An emphatic statement; declaration. An assertion supported by evidence becomes an argument. 20\. **assumption** A belief or statement taken for granted without proof. 21\. **asyndeton** Leaving out conjunctions between words, phrases, clauses. There are no FANBOYS (For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) joining the clauses. This purpose would be to show the importance of what is being said or makes the author seem as though he or she is rushing because of the importance of the matter. \"I came, I saw, I conquered.\" 22\. **attitude** The speaker\'s position on a subject as revealed through his or her tone. 23\. **audience** One\'s listener or readership; those to whom a speech or piece of writing is addressed. 24\. **authority** A reliable, respected source---someone with knowledge. A writer often uses authority to appeal to the reader\'s logos. An example would be when Swift discussed what his friend, the King, thought about poor children. 25\. **bias** Prejudice or predisposition toward one side of a subject or issue. 26\. **circular logic (or Begging the Question)** A logical fallacy in which the evidence makes the same claim as the argument. For example, if your claim was \"Professor Rushek is a great teacher,\" and your evidence was \"she\'s a great teacher because she teaches well.\" This is **circular logic**. 27\. **cite** Identifying a part of a piece of writing as being derived from a source. 28\. **claim** An assertion, usually supported by evidence. 29\. **close reading** A careful reading that is attentive to organization, figurative language, sentence structure, vocabulary, and other literary and structural elements of a text. i.e., what you should do to the passage of Essay \#2, the rhetorical analysis essay. 30\. **colloquial/ism** An informal or conversational use of language. 31\. **common ground** Shared beliefs, values, or positions. An author may use this to appeal to the reader\'s pathos. Make the reader feel like the author and he/she have something in common. An example might be in using the first person, such as \"We all come from a mother\'s womb, therefore, we all know how important a woman\'s role is.\" 32\. **concession** A thing that is granted, especially in response to demands; a thing conceded. This applies to arguments in which you concede that there is a different view point other than your own. You would then refute the validity of this other view point. 33\. **connotation** That which is implied by a word, as opposed to the word\'s literal meaning 34\. **context** Words, events, or circumstances that help determine meaning. AKA the blurb about the author and time period before a passage. 35\. **counterargument** A challenge to a position; an opposing argument. 36\. **credible** Worthy of belief; trustworthy. 37\. **declarative sentence** A sentence that makes a statement. 38\. **deduction** reasoning from general to specific. 39\. **denotation** The literal meaning of a word; its dictionary definition. 40\. **diction** Word choice. 41\. **double entendre** a statement that has two meanings, one of which is dirty or vulgar. Beyonce\'s song \"Ego\" 42\. **elegiac** Mournful over what has passed or been lost; often used to describe tone. 43\. **engender** to produce, cause, or bring about 44\. **epigram** A brief witty statement. 45\. **epithet** An adjective or other descriptive phrase that is regularly used to characterize a person, place, or thing. A nickname. 46\. **ethos** A Greek term referring to the character of a person; one of Aristotle\'s three rhetorical appeals 47\. **euphemism** An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant. i.e. \"he went to his final resting place,\" rather than \"He died.\" 48\. **figurative language** The use of tropes or figures of speech; going beyond literal meaning to achieve literary effect. 49\. **hasty generalization** A fallacy of logic in which an argument is based on insufficient (not enough) evidence. i.e. \"The juniors will outscore the seniors on the ACT because they looked like they were taking the test well.\" 50\. **hyperbole** Exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis. 51\. **imagery** Vivid use of language that evokes a reader\'s senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing). 52\. **induction** Reasoning from specific to general. 53\. **irony** A contradiction between what is said and what is meant; incongruity between action and result. 54\. **juxtaposition** Placement of two things side by side for emphasis. 55\. **litotes** Understatement used deliberately. 56\. **logos** A Greek term that means \"word\"; an appeal to logic; one of Aristotle\'s three rhetorical appeals 57\. **melodramatic** overly emotional or sentimental 58\. **metaphor** A figure of speech or trope through which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else, thus making an implicit comparison. 59\. **metonymy** Use of an aspect of something to represent the whole. "The suits were hard at work on the deal.\" 60\. **non sequiturs** Those literary devices which include the statements, sayings and conclusions that do not follow the fundamental principles of logic and reason. They are frequently used in theater and comedies to create comedic effects. 61\. **nostalgic** wishing for a return to the way things used to be; longing for the past; homesick 62\. **occasion** An aspect of context; the cause or reason for writing. 63\. **omniscient narrator** An all-knowing, usually third-person narrator. 64\. **Onomatopoeia** Use of words whose sound correspond with their semantic value. 65\. **oxymoron** A figure of speech that combines two contradictory terms, such as \"a small crowd,\" \"jumbo shrimp,\" or \"pretty ugly.\" 66\. **pacing** The relative speed or slowness with which a story is told or an idea is presented. 67\. **paradox** A statement that seems contradictory but is actually true. What would happen if Pinocchio states that his nose will grow right now? 68\. **parallelism** The repetition of similar grammatical or syntactical patterns. 69\. **paranomasia** Using words that sound alike but that differ in meaning (punning). \"Champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends.\" 70\. **parody** A piece that imitates and exaggerates the prominent features of another; used for comic effect or ridicule. 71\. **pathos** A Greek term that refers to suffering but has come to be associated with broader appeals to emotion; one of Aristotle\'s three rhetorical appeals 72\. **periphrasis** Substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name or of a proper name for a quality associated with the name. i.e. \"I need your John Hancock on this line.\" 73\. **persona** The speaker, voice, or character taken on by the author of a piece of writing. i.e. the persona Swift wrote in for \"A Modest Proposal\" was not, in fact, the thoughts of the author himself. 74\. **personification** Assigning lifelike characteristics to inanimate objects. 75\. **polysyndeton** The deliberate use of a series of conjunctions. The opposite of a syndenton. Purpose to show excitement or inability to choose sides. i.e. \"My favorite student is Jerrieca, or Jaquorian, or Jamaira, or Johnathan, or Jessica, or everyone in my 4th period.\" 76\. **propaganda** A negative term for writing designed to sway opinion rather than present information. 77\. **purpose** One\'s intention or objective in a speech or piece of writing. 78\. **Red Herring** A fallacy of logic in which a desperate arguer often tries to change the ground of the argument by changing the subject. 79\. **refute** To discredit an argument, particularly a counterargument. 80\. **rhetoric** The study of effective, persuasive language use; according to Aristotle, use of the \"available means of persuasion.\" 81\. **rhetorical modes** Patterns of organization developed to achieve a specific purpose; modes include but are not limited to narration, description, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, definition, exemplification, classification and division, process analysis, and argumentation. 82\. **rhetorical question** A question asked more to produce an effect than to summon an answer. 83\. **rhetorical triangle** A diagram that represents a rhetorical situation as the relationship among the speaker, the subject, and the audience (see Aristotelian triangle). 84\. **satire** An ironic, sarcastic, or witty composition that claims to argue for something, but actually argues against it. 85\. **scheme** A pattern of words or sentence construction used for rhetorical effect. 86\. **sentence variety** Using a variety of sentence patterns to create a desired effect. 87\. **simile** A figure of speech that uses \"like\" or \"as\" to compare two things. 88\. **speaker** A term used for the author, speaker, or the person whose perspective (real or imagined) is being advanced in a speech or piece of writing. 89\. **straw man** A logical fallacy that involves the creation of an easily refutable position; misrepresenting, then attacking an opponent\'s position. 90\. **style** The distinctive qualitiy of speech or writing created by the selection and arrangement of words and figures of speech. 91\. **subject** In rhetoric, the topic addressed in a piece of writing. 92\. **syllogism** A form of deductive reasoning in which the conclusion is supported by a major and minor premise (see premise; major, and minor). 93\. **Synecdoche** a rhetorical device in which a whole is represented by naming one of its parts. 94\. **syntax** Sentence structure. 95\. **thesis** The central idea in a work to which all parts of the work refer. 96\. **tone** The speaker\'s attitude toward the subject or audience. 97\. **treatise** a methodically and thoroughly written discussion of a topic 98\. **trope** Artful diction; the use of language in a nonliteral way; also called a figure of speech. 99\. **understatement** Lack of emphasis in a statement or point; restraint in language often used for ironic effect. 100\. **voice** In grammar, a term for the relationship between a verb and a noun (active or passive voice). In rhetoric, a distinctive quality in the style and tone of writing.