Lang terms Flashcards
Connotation vs. denotation
An idea or meaning suggested by
or associated with a word or thing
vs. Literal definition of a word
Pedantic vs. simple
Characterized by a narrow, often
ostentatious concern for book
learning and formal rules vs. pure,
easy, plain, basic.
Monosyllabic vs. polysyllabic
One syllable vs. more than one
syllable.
Euphonious vs. cacophonic
Pleasing or agreeable to the ear vs.
discordant, unpleasant sounding,
jarring.
Literal vs.figurative
What you see vs. what you get
from language, tone, symbol, etc.
Active vs. passive
Subject of the sentence is
performing or causing the action
rather than a state of being vs.
subject is the object of the action or
the effect of the verb.
Overstated vs. understated
Exaggerated vs. expressed with
restraint, lack of emphasis
Colloquial vs. formal
Informal, conversational vs. formal,
proper language
Non-Standard-Slang/Jargon
Not adhering to the standard,
usually associated with a language
the variety used by uneducated
speakers or socially disfavored
groups.
Alliteration
The recurrence of initial consonant
sounds. The repetition is usually
limited to two words.
Onomatopoeia
The use of words which in their
pronunciation suggest their meaning.
“Hiss,” for example, when spoken is
intended to resemble to sound of
steam or of a snake.
Basic
Subject + verb + object
Interrupted
A sentence that is interrupted by a
parenthetical aside
Inverted
Begin with a part of speech other
than the subject. These inverted
sentence patterns are used
sometimes to delay revealing what
the sentence is about and
sometimes to create tension or
suspense. Still other times, these
patterns can be used to connect
ideas between sentences more
clearly.
Listing
A sentence with multiple phrases
that create a list.
Cumulative/Loose
Begins with subject and verb and
adds modifying elements at end.
Periodic
Opens with modifiers, withholds
subject and verb until the end.
Parallelism-Antithesis
Establishing a clear, contrasting
relationship between two ideas by
joining them together or
juxtaposing them, often in parallel
structure.
Parallelism-Chiasmus
A crossing parallelism, where the
second part of a grammatical
construction is balanced or
paralleled by the first part, only in
reverse order
Parallelism-Balanced
Expressing parallel or like ideas–
often compound.
Declarative
A declarative sentence does
exactly what its name implies: It
“declares” or states something
Imperative
commands, requests, or instructs.
The subject is most often you—
unstated,
but understood
Exclamatory
expresses strong emotion.
Interrogative
“interrogates”—it asks a question.
Simple
contains a least one subject and at
least one predicate; it can stand
alone because it expresses a
complete thought.
Compound
Contains two or more independent
clauses
Complex
Contains one independent clause
and one or more dependent
clauses
Compound-Complex
Contains two or more independent
clauses and one or more
dependent clauses.
Ellipsis
A rhetorical figure in which one or
more words are omitted.
Asyndeton
The omission of a conjunction from
a list. In a list of items, asyndeton
gives the effect of unpremeditated
multiplicity, of an extemporaneous
rather than a labored account.
Anadiplosis
A rhetorical trope formed by
repeating the last word of one
phrase, clause or sentence at or
very near the beginning of the next.
It can be generate in series for the
sake of beauty or to give a sense of
logical progression.
Anaphora
Repetition of a word or phrase at
the beginning of successive
phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Epistrophe
The repetition of the same word or
words at the end of successive
phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Counterpart to anaphora.
Polysyndeton
The use of a conjunction between
each word, phrase, or clause, and
is thus structurally the opposite of
asyndeton. The rhetorical effect of
polysyndeton, however, often
shares with that of asyndeton a
feeling of multiplicity, energetic
enumeration, and building up.
Parenthetical
Aside
Consists of a word, phrase, or
whole sentence inserted as an
aside in the middle of another
sentence
Colon
The punctuation mark (:) used to divide distinct but related sentence
components such as clauses in
which the second elaborates on the
first, or to introduce a list,
quotation, or speech.
Semi-Colon
a punctuation mark (;) which
connects two independent parts of
a sentence.
Dashes
A punctuation mark (—) used to
indicate a sudden break in thought,
to set off parenthetical materia
Allegory
A form of extended metaphor in which objects and persons in a narrative, either in prose or verse, are equated with meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. Many works contain allegories or are allegorical in part,
but not many are entirely allegorical.
Autobiography
The biography of a person written by that person
Biography
An account of a person’s life as written or told by another.
Chronicle
An extended account of historical events without
interpretation or comment
Diary
A daily written record of (usually personal) experiences
and observations.
Essay
A short literary composition on a single subject, usually presenting the personal view of the author; analytic or interpretive
Fiction
A literary work based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact
Non-fiction
A work that draws its information from history or fact, rather than the imagination.
Parody
A literary form in which the style of an author or particular work is mocked in its style for the sake of comic effect.
Prose
Writing distinguished from poetry by its greater variety of rhythm and its closer resemblance to the patterns of
everyday speech.
Satire
A literary work which exposes and ridicules human vices or folly. Historically perceived as tending toward
didacticism, it is usually intended as a moral criticism directed against the injustice of social wrongs.
Sermon
An oration by a prophet or member of the clergy.
Stream-OfConsciousness
A technique that records the multifarious thoughts and
feelings of a character without regard to logical or
narrative sequence. The writer attempts by the stream of
consciousness to reflect all the forces, external and
internal, influencing the psychology of a character at a
single moment.
Allusion
An indirect or passing reference to
some event, person, place or artistic
work, the nature and relevance of which
is not explained by the writer but relies
on the reader’s familiarity with what is
thus mentioned
Ambiguity
Something of doubtful meaning; an
expression whose meaning cannot be
determined from its context, may have
more than one meaning
Anachronism
The representation of someone as
existing or something as happening in
other than chronological, proper, or
historical order
Aphorism
A brief statement which expresses an
observation on life, usually intended as
a wise observation.
Audience
The people the author is speaking to
Invective
Abuse (tongue
-lashing, diatribe,
condemnation)
Juxtaposition
Placing two things side by side, usually
to show contrast.
Malapropism
An incorrect usage of a word, usually
with comic effect.
Rhetorical Question
A question posed by the speaker or
writer not to seek an answer but instead
to affirm or deny a point simply by
asking a question about it
Sensory Detail
An item used to appeal to the sense
(sight, taste, touch, etc)
Shift
A general term in linguistics for any
slight alteration in a word’s meaning, or
the creation of an entirely new words by
changing the use of an expression
Tone
The writer’s attitude toward his reader
and his subject; his mood or moral view.
A writer can be formal, informal, playful,
ironic, and especially, optimistic or
pessimistic. While both Swift and Pope
are satirizing much the same subjects,
there is a profound difference in their
tone.
Point of View
A way the events of a story are
conveyed to the reader, it is the
“vantage point” from which the narrative
is passed from author to the reader. In
the omniscient point of view, the person
telling the story, or narrator, knows
everything that’s going on in the story.
In the first
-person point of view, the
narrator is a character in the story.
Using the pronoun “I,” the narrator tells
us his or her own experiences but
cannot reveal with certainty any other
character’s private thoughts. In the
limited third
-person point of view, the
narrator is outside the story
—like an
omniscient narrator
—but tells the story
from the vantage point of one character
Theme
-Thesis
The message conveyed by a literary
work
Voice
The textual features, such as diction
and sentence structure, that convey a
writer’s or speaker’s persona
Analogy
The comparison of two things, which are alike in
several respects, for the purpose of explaining or
clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by
showing how the idea or object is similar to some
familiar one. While simile and analogy often overlap,
the simile is generally a more artistic likening, done
briefly for effect and emphasis, while analogy serves
the more practical purpose of explaining a thought
process or a line of reasoning or the abstract in terms
of the concrete, and may therefore by more
extended.
Apostrophe
The direct address of a person or personified thing,
either present or absent. Its most common purpose
in prose is to give vent to or display intense emotion,
which can no longer be held back.
Cliché
An expression so often used that its original power
has been drained away.
Conceit
An elaborate, usually intellectually ingenious poetic
comparison or image, such as an analogy or
metaphor in which, say a beloved is compared to a
ship, planet, etc.
Epithet
An adjective or adjective phrases appropriately
qualifying a subject (noun) by naming a key or
important characteristic of the subject.
Euphemism
The expression of an unpleasant or embarrassing
notion by a more inoffensive substitute
Hyperbole
Exaggeration used for emphasis. Hyperbole can be
used to heighten effect, to catalyze recognition, or to
create a humorous perception
Imagery
The collection of images within a literary work. Used
to evoke atmosphere, mood, tension.
Verbal Irony
the contrast is between the literal meaning of what is
said and what is meant.
Situational Irony
the result of an action is the reverse of what the actor
expected
Extended Metaphor
A metaphor which is drawn
-out beyond the usual
word or phrase to extend throughout a stanza or an
entire poem, usually by using multiple comparisons
between the unlike objects or ideas.
Metonymy
Another form of metaphor, very similar to
synecdoche, in which the thing chosen for the
metaphorical image is closely associated with (but
not an actual part of) the subject with which it is to be
compared.
Oxymoron
A paradox reduced to two words, usually in an
adjective
-noun (“eloquent silence”) or adverb
-
adjective (“inertly strong”) relationship, and is used for
effect, to emphasize contrasts, incongruities,
hypocrisy, or simply the complex nature of reality.
Paradox
A statement that seems untrue on the surface but is
true nevertheless
Personification
The metaphorical representation of an animal or
inanimate object as having human attributes—
attributes of form, character, feelings, behavior, and
so on. As the name implies, a thing or idea is treated
as a person.
Pun
A play on words, sometimes on different senses of
the same word and sometimes on the similar sense
or sound of different words.
Simile
A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike
things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by
“like” or “as.”
Synaesthesia
A condition in which one type of stimulation evokes
the sensation of another, as when the hearing of a
sound produces the visualization of a color. A
sensation felt in one part of the body as a result of
stimulus applied to another, as in referred pain. The
descriptions of one kind of sense impression by using
words that normally describe another.
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part of something
stands for the whole or the whole for a part
Understatement
Expressing an idea with less emphasis or in a lesser
degree than is the actual case. The opposite of
hyperbole. Understatement is employed for ironic
emphasis.
Argument
A way of reasoning where a subject is
proved correct/incorrect
Ethos (ethical)
A rhetorical appeal to an audience
based on the speaker/writer’s
credibility.
Pathos (emotion)
The emotional appeal to an audience
in an argument.
Logos (rational)
Rhetorical appeals based on logic or
reasoning.
Claim
To make an assertion; to state as true
Deductive Reasoning
(syllogism)
Reasoning that utilizes elements of
persuasion by asserting a claim;
consists of a major premise, a minor
premise, and a conclusion
Inductive Reasoning
Reasoning that begins by citing a
number of specific instances or
examples and then shows how
collectively they constitute a general
principle.
Evidence/Data
Support from a claim/assertion
Warrant
An assumption that there is a
connection between evidence and
claim
Ad hominem Argument
An attack on another person instead of their
point of view
Begging the question
The situation that results when a writer or
speaker constructs an argument on an
assumption that the audience does not accept
Doubtful authority
The authority is not an expert, their colleagues
disagree, or the reference to the authority is out
of context of the situation
Either/or reasoning
An argument that something complex can be
looked at in only two different ways
False analogy
Comparing two things that are irrelevant, do not
pose a valid comparison
Hasty generalization
Not enough support for the inductive reasoning
used
Circular Argument
This restates the argument rather than actually
proving it.
Slippery Slope
This is a conclusion based on the premise that if
A happens, then eventually through a series of
small steps, through B, C,…, X, Y, Z will
happen, too, basically equating A and Z. So, if
we don’t want Z to occur A must not be allowed
to occur either. Example:
Non-sequitur
A conclusion that had no visible connection to
the support for the claim
Oversimplification
Reducing an idea too much so it loses the point
trying to be made
Expository
Informs, instructs or presents ideas
and general truths
Classification
Identifies the subject as part of a
larger group with shared features
Cause and Effect
Arguing from the presence/absence
of the cause to the (non) existence of
the result
Comparison/contrast
The subject is shown more clearly by
point out similarities or differences
Definition
Places the subject in a group and
then differentiates the subject from
other sections of the group
Analysis
The discussion of a subject based on
content and style
Description
Depicts images verbally in space and
time arranges those images in a
logical pattern
Narration
Organizes the events or actions in
time or relates them in space. Tells
what happened, when it happened,
and where it happened.
Persuasion/Argument
Convinces an audience by proving or
refuting a point of view using
induction or deduction
