SLO Vocabulary Terms

Question 1

evaluate

Answer 1

examine and judge carefully. to judge or determine the significance, worth, or quality of something; to assess

Question 2

analysis

Answer 2

the process or result of identifying the parts of a whole and their relationships to one another

Question 3

explicit

Answer 3

clearly expressed or fully stated in the actual text

Question 4

connotation

Answer 4

the range of associations that a word or phrase suggests in addition to its dictionary meaning

Question 5

irony

Answer 5

incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the expected result

Question 6

inference

Answer 6

a judgement based on reasoning rather than on a direct or explicit statement. a conclusion based on facts or circumstances

Question 7

tone

Answer 7

the attitude of the author toward the audience, characters, subject or the work itself

Question 8

refutation

Answer 8

countering of anticipated arguments

Question 9

juxtaposition

Answer 9

placing one thing adjacent to another, especially for comparison and contrast

Question 10

rhetoric

Answer 10

the art and study of effective writing and speech

Question 11

diction

Answer 11

specific word choices an author makes to persuade or to convey tone

Question 12

phrase

Answer 12

a group of words that do not contain at least one paired subject and predicate

Question 13

clause

Answer 13

a group of words containing at least one paired subject and predicate

Question 14

ethos

Answer 14

mode of persuasion requiring speakers to establish their credibility, skill, or morality on a given subject to an intended audience

Question 15

pathos

Answer 15

mode of persuasion speakers use when appealing to the various emotions of the audience, including fear, inspiration, intimidation, idealism, anger, nostalgia, despair, optimism, etc.

Question 16

logos

Answer 16

mode of persuasion speakers use when appealing to the audience’s ability to distinguish, through discourse, the difference between what is reasonable or unreasonable

Question 17

evidence

Answer 17

proof coming from sources, fieldwork, and research that validates any logical support of an argument

Question 18

reasons

Answer 18

statements of logic that offer support for an argument

Question 19

comma splice

Answer 19

a type of run-on sentence in which the writer has erroneously place only a comma between two independent clauses, resulting in a failure to link the two according to grammatical convention

Question 20

claims

Answer 20

any statements of belief that can be contested; argument

Question 21

claim of value

Answer 21

a statement made to show that something is moral or immoral

Question 22

claim of policy

Answer 22

a statement made to endorse specific courses of action

Question 23

claim of fact

Answer 23

a statement made to verify the authenticity of something

Question 24

fallacy

Answer 24

rationales for claims that might seem reasonable, but are actually unsound – and usually false

Question 25

loose sentence

Answer 25

a sentence structure in which a main clause is followed by subordinate phrases and clauses

Question 26

parallelism

Answer 26

the similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses

Question 27

periodic sentence

Answer 27

a long and frequently involved sentence, marked by suspended syntax, in which the sense is not completed until the final word

Question 28

ambiguity

Answer 28

the presence of two or more possible meanings in any passage

Question 29

fused sentence

Answer 29

a type of run-on sentence in which the writer has failed to make any attempt either to link or separate two independent clauses, utilizing neither punctuation, nor conjunctions.

Question 30

concession

Answer 30

an argumentative strategy by which a speaker or writer acknowledges the validity of an opponent’s point