Part 1 - #1-30 Flashcards
Acronym
A word formed by combining the initial letters or syllables of a series of words to form a name (ex. Radar, or radio detection and ranging).
Adjective
Word modifies or tells rye the reader something about a person, place or thing–or noun–“modifies” it. Adjectives answer the questions Which one? What kind? How many? Whose? About a noun.
Adverb
Word which modifies or tells the reader something about a verb, adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs answer the questions When? Where? How? To what extent? Why?
Aesthetic effect
The pleasure, sense of beauty, emotion, or lack of such that readers, speakers, or listeners derive from aural, visual, and print texts.
Aesthetic purpose
The pleasure, sense of beauty, and/or emotion a writer sets out to evoke constitutes the work’s aesthetic purpose. Often writers set out to achieve these particular aesthetic effects through subject matter, word choice, structure, and/or figurative devices.
Aim
The goal of a writer or speaker hopes to achieve with a text–for example, to explain or clarify difficult material, to inform, to persuade. Also called purpose.
Allegory
The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. In some allegories, for example, an author may intend the characters to personify an abstraction like hope or freedom. The allegorical meaning usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence.
Alliteration
The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words (as in she sells sea shells). Although the term is not used frequently in the multiple-choice section, you can look for alliteration in any essay passage. The repetition can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of the passage.
Allusion
A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. Allusions can be historical, literary, religious, topical, or mythical. There are many more possibilities, and a work may simultaneously use multiple layers of allusion.
Ambiguity
The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.
Analogy
A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them. An analogy can explain something unfamiliar by associating it with or pointing out its similarity to something more familiar. Analogies can also make writing more vivid, imaginative, or intellectually engaging.
Analysis
A method by which we examine a piece of art or literature in detail in order to understand it better or to draw conclusions from it. Also, we may separate the work into its “components” to find out what it contains, to examine individual parts, or to study the structure of the whole.
Anaphora
One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression (word or words) is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences. “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”
Anecdote
A short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event. The term most frequently refers to an incident in the life of a person.
Abstract
A piece of writing which summarizes the principles ideas or arguments advanced in a much longer work.
Anecdotal scripting
When the reader makes notes in the margins of a text, notes that highlight important point, pose questions, summarize, or paraphrase, ect., the reader is scripting anecdotally. Another term for “marginalia”
Annotated bibliography
An annotated bibliography includes a list of resources, formated according to a particular style sheey, along with prose commentary for each source. This commentary usually includes a brief summary or overview of the recource, followed by an evaluation and/or recommendation reading the usefulness of the resource.
Antecedent
The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.
Antithesis
The juxtaposition of sharply contrasting in balanced or parallels words, phrases, and grammatical structures or ideas. Alexander pope reminds us that”to err is human, to forgive is divine.”
Aphorism
A terse statement of unknown authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle. (If the author is unknown, the statement is generally considered to be a folk proverb.) an aphorism can be a memorable summation of the authors point.
Appeal
One of the three strategies for persuading audiences–logos, appeal to reason; pathos, appeal to emotion; and ethos, appeal to ethics.
Apostrophe
A figure of speech that directly addresses an abstract or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. It is an address to someone or something that cannot answer. The effect may add familiarity or emotional intensity. William wordsworth adresses john milton as he writes, “milton, thou shouldst be living at this hour: / England hath need of thee.”
Argument
In persuasive or expository writing, an argument is the course of reasoning used to deliver the point of view or main idea that the author is trying to get across to the reader. An argument can also refer to a particular statement, fact, or example, ect., that a writer uses to make his/her point.
Argument by analogy
Analogies can be used as support for arguments or claims in exposition and/or persuasion. Here the speaker or writer supports or proves an unknown by comparing it to something known or already proven or explains or describes something unfamiliar by comparing it to something familiar.
Argument by authority
Writers and speakers can support an assertion or claim by invoking the words of an expert or authority. The quality of this type of argument is dependent on the credibility of the expert in the area or field related to the topic at hand.
Argument by causation
This type of argument is based on the assumption that even A leas directly to result B. Cause and effect arguments may be unconvincing or difficult to sustain unless the casual relationship between A ans B is generally accepted.
Argument by emotion
When a speaker or writer appeals to the heart rather than the mind in order to convince the audience. See also pathos.
Article
Part of speech–a short word that comes before and points to the noun. Articles are the words a, an, and the.
Argument by logic
A logical argument attempts to demonstrate the truth or validity of an assertion or conclusion through the relating of a set of premises or body of evidence. See also logos.
Assertion
An unproven statement. Assertions supported by evidence and reasoning make arguments.
