APL Rhetorical Terms

Question 1

Abstract

Answer 1

refers to language that describes concepts rather than concrete images.

Question 2

allegory

Answer 2

an extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities and which the writer intends a second meaning

Question 3

anecdote

Answer 3

a short simple narrative of an incident; humorous point or to make a prior

Question 4

annotation

Answer 4

explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources, or give bibliographical data

Question 5

anatithesis

Answer 5

the presentation of two contrasting things

Question 6

aphorism

Answer 6

a short often witty statement of a principle or truth about life

Question 7

apostrophe

Answer 7

usually in poetry but sometimes in phrase; the device of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or abstract person or to a place,thing, or personified abstraction

Question 8

argumentation

Answer 8

writing that attempts to prove the validity of a point of view or an idea by presenting reasoned arguments

Question 9

cacophony; dissonance

Answer 9

harsh awkward, or dissonant sounds deliberately in poetry

Question 10

caricature

Answer 10

descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a person’s appearance or a fact of personality

Question 11

colloquialism

Answer 11

a word or phrase used in everyday conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing

Question 12

coherence; unity

Answer 12

quality of a piece of writing in which all the parts contribute to the development of the central idea, theme, or organizing principle

Question 13

concrete language

Answer 13

language that describes specific things, people, or phrases rather than ideas

Question 14

connotation

Answer 14

implied or suggested meaning of a word because of its association in the readers mind

Question 15

consonance

Answer 15

repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximity, as in boost/best; it can also be seen within several compound words

Question 16

conundrum

Answer 16

a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun

Question 17

deducation

Answer 17

the process of moving from a general rule to a specific example

Question 18

denotation

Answer 18

literal meaning of a word ad defined

Question 19

description

Answer 19

the picturing in words of something or someone through detailed observation of color, motion, sound, taste smell,and touch; one of the four modes of discourse

Question 20

diction

Answer 20

word choice, an element of style, it creates tone, attitude, and style, as well as meaning. different types and arrangements of words have significant effects on meaning. an essay written in academic diction would be much less colorful, but more precise than street slang

Question 21

didactic

Answer 21

writing whose purpose is to teach. its works is usually formal and focuses on moral or ethical concerns. may be fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking

Question 22

discourse

Answer 22

spoken or written language, including literary works; the four traditionally classified modes of discourse are description, exposition, narration and persuasion

Question 23

emotional appeal

Answer 23

when a writer appeals to reader’s emotions to excite and involve them in an acquirement

Question 24

epigraph

Answer 24

the use of quotation at the begging of a work that hints at its theme

Question 25

ethical appeal

Answer 25

when a writer tries to persuade the audience to respect and believe him/her based on a presentation of image of self through the text

Question 26

euphemism

Answer 26

a more accepted and usually more pleasant way of saying something that might be inappropriate

Question 27

euphony

Answer 27

a succession of humorous sounds in poetry or prose; the opposite of cacophony

Question 28

emaple

Answer 28

an individual instance taken to be representative of a general pattern

Question 29

explication

Answer 29

the art of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text

Question 30

exposition

Answer 30

the immediate revelation to the audience of the setting and other background info necessary for understanding the plot

Question 31

generalization

Answer 31

when a writer bases a claim upon an isolated ex. or assents that a claim is certain rather than probable.

Question 32

Genre

Answer 32

a type of literary work, such as a novel or poem

Question 33

humor

Answer 33

anything that causes laughter or amusment

Question 34

hyperbole

Answer 34

deliberate exaggeration in order to create humor or emphasis

Question 35

image

Answer 35

a word/words, either figurative or literal, used to describe a season experience or an object perceived by the sense

Question 36

imagery

Answer 36

words or phrase that use a collection of images to appeal to one or more of the five senses in order to create a mental picture

Question 37

induction

Answer 37

the process that moves from a given series of specific to a generalization

Question 38

inference

Answer 38

a conclusion one can draw from the presented details

Question 39

invective

Answer 39

a vertically abusive attack

Question 40

inversion

Answer 40

reversing the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase

Question 41

jargon

Answer 41

the special language of a profession or group. the term usually has pejorative associations with the implication that jargon is evasive, tedious, and unintelligible to others.

Question 42

logical appeal; Logo

Answer 42

when a writer tries to persuade the audience based on statistics, facts, and reason

Question 43

lyrical

Answer 43

song like; characterized by emotions, subjectivity, and imagintaton

Question 44

mode

Answer 44

the method or form of a literary work; the manner in which a work of literature is written

Question 45

mood

Answer 45

similar to tone, mood is the primary emotional attitude of a work

Question 46

narration

Answer 46

the telling of a story in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama

Question 47

objectivity

Answer 47

an impersonal presentation of events and characters. it is a writers attempt to remove himself/herself from any subjective, personal involvement in a story

Question 48

paradox

Answer 48

a statement that seems to contradict itself but that turns out to have a rational meaning

Question 49

parallesim

Answer 49

the technique of arranging words, phrases, clauses or larger structures by placing them side by side and making them similar in form

Question 50

parody

Answer 50

a work that ridicules the style of another work by imitating and exaggerating its elements

Question 51

pathetic appeal

Answer 51

when a writer tries to persuade the audience by appealing to their emotions. seeks pity

Question 52

pedantic

Answer 52

a term used to describe writing that borders on lecturing

Question 53

persuassion

Answer 53

a form of argumentation; language intended to convince through appeals to reason of emotion

Question 54

regionalism

Answer 54

an element in literature that conveys a realistic portrayal of a specific geographical locale, using the local and its influences as a major part of the plot

Question 55

repetition

Answer 55

word or phrase used two or more times in close proximty

Question 56

rhetorical modes

Answer 56

exposition, description, narration, argumentation

Question 57

rhetorical question

Answer 57

one that does not expect an explicit answer. it is used to pose an idea to be considered by the speaker or audience

Question 58

sarcasm

Answer 58

harsh, caustic personal remarks to or about someone

Question 59

satire

Answer 59

a work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior or portraying it in an extreme way.

Question 60

speaker

Answer 60

the voice of the work

Question 61

stereotype

Answer 61

a character who represents a trait that is usually attributed to a particular social or racial group and who lacks individuality

Question 62

style

Answer 62

an authors characteristic manner of expression

Question 63

subjectivity

Answer 63

a personal presentation of events and characteristics

Question 64

syllogism

Answer 64

a form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them

Question 65

synecdouche

Answer 65

a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent a whole, such as using "boards" to mean a stage

Question 66

syntactic fluency

Answer 66

ability to create a variety of sentence structures, approximately complex and/or simple and varied in length

Question 67

syntactic permutation

Answer 67

sentence structures that are extraordinary complex and involved

Question 68

syntax

Answer 68

the grammatical structure of a sentence; arrangement of words in a sentece

Question 69

theme

Answer 69

the central idea or "message" of a literary work

Question 70

thesis

Answer 70

the main idea of a piece of writing

Question 71

tone

Answer 71

the characteristic emotion or attitude of an author toward the characters, subject, and audience

Question 72

transition

Answer 72

a word or phrase that links one idea to the next and carries the reader from sentence to sentence paragraph to paragraph

Question 73

understatment

Answer 73

the opposite of exaggeration technique for developing irony and humor where one writes an essay or says less than intended

Question 74

voice

Answer 74

refers to two different areas of writing.