Vocab Quiz 1

Question 1

Rhetoric

Answer 1

The art of persuasion. Everything you say, do, dress, body language, speeches, commercials, social media, stop signs, colors, etc.

Question 2

Ethos

Answer 2

Establishes credibility in a speaker. “Ethos” means the common attitudes, beliefs, and characteristics of a group or time periods. This appeal sets up believability in the writer.

Question 3

Pathos

Answer 3

Plays on the reader’s emotions and interests. A sympathetic audience is more likely to accept a writer’s assertions, so this appeal draws upon that understanding and uses it to the writer’s advantage.

Question 4

Logos

Answer 4

Employs logical reasoning, combining clear ideas with well-thought-out and appropriate examples and details. These supports are logically presented and rationally reach the writer’s conclusions.

Question 5

Ad Hominem Argument

Answer 5

Latin meaning “to or against the man.” Appeals to emotion (pathos) rather than reason. Attacking the speaker.

Question 6

Archetypal Symbols

Answer 6

Symbols with universal meanings.

Question 7

Alliteration

Answer 7

Tounge-twisters. The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words.

Question 8

Allegory

Answer 8

Same story, different characters. The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning.

Question 9

Allusion

Answer 9

A direct or indirect reference to something that is presumably commonly known, such as one event, book, myth, place, or work of art. Can be historical, literary, religious, mythical, and more.

Question 10

Analogy

Answer 10

A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them. Can explain something unfamiliar by pointing out its similarity to something more familiar.

Question 11

Antithesis

Answer 11

“Not” or opposites. “It’s not you, it’s me.” A figure of speech involving a seeming contradiction of ideas, words, clauses, or sentences within a balance grammatical structure. The resulting parallelism serves to emphasize opposition of ideas.

Question 12

Ambiguity

Answer 12

The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage. Almost similar to an opinion where it is left up for interpretation or up in the air.

Question 13

Atmosphere

Answer 13

The emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author’s choice of objects that are described. Frequently, atmosphere foreshadows events.

Question 14

Apostrophe

Answer 14

Apostrophes “point” up, like they are talking to something higher up. Funerals, Hamlet. A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.

Question 15

Aphorism

Answer 15

Bumper stickers, action speak louder than words, “live, laugh, love.” A terse statement of known authorship that expresses a general truth of moral principle. An aphorism can be a memorable summation of the author’s point.

Question 16

Caricature

Answer 16

Stereotype. Calpurdia being a “happy maid.” A representation, in which the subject’s distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque effect.

Question 17

Colloquialism

Answer 17

Slang or informality in speech or writing. Not generally acceptable for formal writing, colloquialisms give work a conversational, familiar tone. Colloquial expressions in writing include local or regional dialects.

Question 18

Connotation

Answer 18

School means education, friends, work. Connotations may involve ideas, emotions, or attitudes.

Question 19

Denotation

Answer 19

School means institution for educating children. The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color.

Question 20

Diction

Answer 20

Word choice. Related o style, diction refers to the writer’s word choices especially in regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness.