Random Literary and Rhetorical Terms Flashcards
ad hominem
Attacking the person instead of the argument proposed by that individual.
Example: “Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot,” writes left-wing comedian Al Franken.
adverbial phrases
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.
allegory
Characters and other elements may be symbolic of the ideas referred to in the allegory.
Example: The Pilgrim‘s Progress by John Bunyan or A Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
allusion
A reference, explicit or indirect, to a person, place, or event, or to another literary work or passage.
Example: “In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings.”
analogy
A comparison to a directly parallel case, arguing that a claim reasonable for one case is reasonable for the analogous case.
anaphora
Repetition of a word, phrase or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row.
anecdote
A brief recounting of a relevant episode. Used in fiction and nonfiction.
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.
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….”
oxymoron
Rhetorical antithesis, juxtaposing two contradictory terms like “wise fool” or “eloquent silent.”
aphorism
Pithy statement of a maxim, an opinion, or a general truth. Sometimes an epigram or an epigraph.
apostrophe
The addressing of a usually absent person or a usually personified thing.
Example: In “On Doing Good to Our Neighbours,” John Winthrop writes, “Neighbours!”
appositive
Nonessential word groups (phrases and clauses) that follow nouns and identify or explain them.
archetype
Meaning: model, example, standard, original, classic. In literature, applies to narrative designs, character types, or images.
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.‖
asyndeton
Sentence where commas are used with no conjunctions to separate a series of words.
bathos
Noun. An anticlimax.
bombast
Adopted to signify verbose and inflated diction that is disproportionate to the matter it expresses.
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.
chiasmus
Arrangement of repeated thoughts in the pattern of X Y Y X.
common knowledge
Shared beliefs or assumptions between the reader and the audience.
consonance
Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.
Example: “And all the air a solemn stillness holds.” from Thomas Gray‘s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.”
conventional
Following certain conventions, or traditional techniques of writing.
deconstruction
A critical approach that debunks single definitions of meaning based upon the instability of language.
diacope
Repetition of a word with one or more in between, usually to express deep feeling.
diatribe
A bitter and abusive speech or writing. Ironical or satirical criticism.
diction
Means “word choice.”
didactic
Fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.
double entendre
The term is used to indicate a word or phrase that is deliberately ambiguous, especially when one of the meanings is risque or improper.
either-or reasoning
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.
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."
epigraph
A quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of the theme of the fiction or nonfiction text.
epigram
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).
epiphany
Literally means “a manifestation.”
epistrophe
Repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses.
epithet
Denotes an adjective or adjectival phrase used to define the special quality of a person or thing. Sometimes, the phrase stands in place of a noun.
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.
ethical appeal
When a writer tries to persuade the audience to respect him or her based upon a presentation of self through the text.
ethos
Noun. A person‘s character or disposition. The ethical basis for an argument in an essay; the authority of the author; the credibility of the author; the good will of the author.
euphemism
Has come to mean: to speak well in the place of the blunt, disagreeable, terrifying or offensive term.
Example: death becomes “to pass away.”
exigency; exigence
Noun.
A pressing or urgent situation for the author.
That which is moving the author to write the essay; the power behind the tone, purpose, point of view in the essay.
exposition
Background information provided by author to enhance the audience‘s understanding of the context of a fiction or nonfiction story.
freight-train
Sentence consisting three or more very short independent clauses joined by conjunctions.
Example: Solomon Grundy was born on Monday, and he was christened on Tuesday, and he was married on Wednesday, and he took ill on Thursday, and he grew worse on Friday, and he died on Saturday, and that was the end of poor old Solomon Grundy.
hyperbole
A bold overstatement or extravagant expression of fact, used for serious or comic effect.
imagery
Use of sensory details to create images that support the theme of the essay.
inversion
Variation of the normal word order (subject,
verb, complement) which puts the verb or
complement at the head of the sentence.
Example: Instead of ―I love you,‖ the author may compose “You, I love,” thereby emphasizing ―You‖ more the “love.”
irony
Four kinds of irony: verbal, structural, dramatic, and situational.
irony (verbal)
Example: Sarcasm.
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.
irony (structural)
Instead of using occasional verbal irony, the author introduces a structural feature which serves to sustain duplicity of meaning.
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.
irony (situational)
When the writer shows a discrepancy between the expected results of some action or situation and it actual results.
Example: Surprise ending.
kenning
Noun. A compound expression used in place of a noun to describe a person, place, thing, activity.
Examples: “Sea of Swords‖ could describe a battle; or a “a whale road‖ the sea.
litotes
Noun. Assertion of an affirmative by negating its contrary.
Example: “He‘s not the brightest man in the world,” meaning “he is stupid.”
logos
Noun. For the writer, it is the embodied thought, the logic, including the evidence and the reasons, for the tone, purpose and point of view of the author in the essay written.
melodramatic redundancy
Unnecessary repetition that is exaggerated, sensational and overly dramatic.
metaphor
A figure of speech that compares two things which are basically dissimilar without using a connective word.
metonymy
Noun. 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 power of the monarchy.
monologue
A long speech by one person; a dramatic speech by one actor.
Soliloquy if only the audience hears it. Aside if it is a short soliloquy.
mood
The atmosphere in the text created by the author‘s tone towards the subject.
naturalistic novel
A novel centering upon nature and excluding supernatural or spiritual elements, with special effects of environment and heredity on human nature and action.
new journalism
Noun. Features author‘s subjective responses to people and events covered in essay.
novel and forms thereof
Extended fictional narrative that allows greater complication of plot and more subtle examinations of character.
Novelette or Novella: fictional narrative of middle length
paean
Any song of joy, praise or triumph.
paradox
A statement that reveals a kind of truth, although it seems at first to be self-contradictory and untrue.
parallelism
Sentence construction which places in close proximity two or more equal grammatical constructions.
Simple Example: He lived well, and he died well.
paraprosdokian
it is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence is a surprise—forcing the reader or listener to reinterpret or re-frame the first part of the sentence.
Example: “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don‘t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
parody
An exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes. Sometimes called “burlesque” and “travesty.”
pathos
Noun. The emotional appeal in an essay.
periodic
Sentence that places the main idea or central complete thought at the end of the sentence, after all introductory elements.
Example: “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”—Patrick Henry, Speech to the Virginia Convention, 1775
polysyndeton
Sentence that uses and or other conjunctions multiple times with no commas to separate items in a series.
Formula: X and Y and Z
post hoc, ergo propter hoc
When a writer implies that because one thing follows another, the first caused the second. Considered a logical fallacy.
pun
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.”
purple patch
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.
red herring
When a writer raises an irrelevant issue to draw attention away from the real issue.
refrain
Noun. A line, or part of a line, or a group of lines which is repeated in the course of a poem or an essay.
refutation
The art of mustering relevant opposing arguments. The author “refutes” through evidence logical opposition.
rhetoric
The art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse.
sarcasm
In common speech, sarcasm is often used as a blanket term for all irony. Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony.
satire
Text that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way. satire uses laughter as a weapon against a target existing outside the work itself.
sentimentalism
What is perceived as an excess of emotion to an occasion.
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.
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).
straw man
An exaggerated or hyperbolic statement regarding a position held by an individual or a group. The overstatement (the straw man) is perpetuated by the opposition, in order to discredit the opponent, by effectively arguing against the weaker, misrepresented argument. This move diverts attention away from the real issues.
style
The choices in diction, tone, syntax that a writer makes.
syllogism; syllogistic
Noun. A form of argument or reasoning, consisting of two premises and a conclusion.
Formula: A = B. B = C. Therefore, A = C.
symbol
An object, place, setting, prop, event or person that represents or stands for some idea or event.
synecdoche
A part of something is used to signify the whole.
Examples: “Give us this day our daily bread,” with bread symbolizing all of our daily needs.
syntactic fluency
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.
syntax
The study of how sequences of words are formed into phrases, clauses, and sentences that have meaning. To a writer, syntax is a recognition of the particular manner in which a writer arranges phrases, clauses, sentences. It is a reflection of the writer‘s style, tone, purpose, point of view.
tautology
Noun. A repetition of the same statement.
theme
Central idea of a work of fiction or nonfiction; an opinion developed.
tone
Author‘s attitude toward subject matter as revealed through style, syntax, diction, figurative language, and organization.
tricolon
Sentence consisting of three parts of equal importance and length.
Example: In “The Ring of Time” by E. B. White, he writes, “Out of its wild disorder comes order; from its rank smell rises the good aroma of courage and daring; out of its preliminary shabbiness comes the modesty of most of its people.”
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).
