Vocab Weeks 1-9 Flashcards
Ethos
Ethical Appeal.
Ex) The doctor established ethos by hanging his various degrees throughout his office.
Pathos
Emotional Appeal.
Ex) Pathos was triggered after Jennifer saw her father in the hospital.
Logos
Logical Appeal.
Ex) The lawyer established logos by presenting the lack of evidence for the case.
Diction
Word choice.
Ex) Though the paper was written by a 30 year old, the diction made it seem as though a high schooler wrote it.
Concrete Language
Language that describes specific, observable things, people or places, rather than ideas or qualities.
Ex) The writing didn’t appear to have a deeper meaning considering only concrete language was used.
Voice
In writing, it refers to two things. Either the relationship between the subject and the verb or the overall “sound” of a piece.
Ex) While the voice seemed happy to Claire, there were sad elements within it as well.
Objective
A third person narrator who only reports what would be visible to a camera.
Ex) The objective writing made the book very boring to read.
Rhetoric
The art of effective communication.
Ex) Her rhetoric helped her to better communicate her point to the audience.
Animosity
Bitter dislike directed at someone or something.
Ex) Clyde harbored deep animosity toward his boss after he was demoted.
Disparage
To speak or write negatively of.
Ex) His disparaging remarks damaged both her character and her pride.
Gamut
The full extent or range.
Ex) His house featured an entertainment center whose components ran the gamut of state-of-the-art equipment.
Incognito
Hidden or unknown.
Ex) The movie star wore sunglasses in hopes of remaining incognito at restaurants, but he was still pestered by autograph hounds.
Lurid
Gruesome.
Ex) The lurid illustrations made it clear to Megan that this was no children’s book she had bought.
Emulate
To strive to match or better by means of imitation.
Ex) Someone who emulates another uses that person’s actions as a model for future success or mastery.
Adulation
Extreme praise, admiration, or flattery, especially of a servile nature.
Ex) Despite great hardship resulting from the violent tactics of the secret police, adulation of Stalin continued.
Syntax
The grammatical structure of a sentence.
Ex)
Transition
A word or phrase that links one idea to the next and carries the reader from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph.
Ex)
Tone
The characteristic emotion or attitude of an author toward the characters, subject, and audience.
Ex)
Style
An author’s characteristic manner of expression.
Ex)
Point of View
The perspective from which a story is presented.
Ex)
First person narrator
A narrator, referred to as “I,” who is a character in the story and relates the actions through his or her own prospective, also revealing his or her own thoughts.
Ex) Since the book was presented from a first person narrator, it was extremely biased.
Stream of Consciousness
Like a first person narrator, but instead placing the reader inside the character’s head.
Ex) Not accustomed to reading books with a stream of consciousness perspective, Ben was extremely confused.
Omniscient
Third person narrator, referred to as “he,” “she,” or “they,” who is able to see into each character’s mind and understand all actions.
Ex) An omniscient point of view seemed to be the least biased.
Limited Omniscient
A third person narrator who reports the thoughts of only one character and generally only what one character sees.
Ex) Clarice enjoyed the limited omniscient point of view novel since it wasn’t confusing,
Mood
The primary emotional attitude of a work.
Ex) Though the book about dogs was meant to be happy, a sad mood was evoked considering Henry’s dog had just died.
Coherence
Quality of a piece of writing.
Ex) Brian couldn’t stand reading his student’s essay due to the lack of coherence.
Jargon
The special language of a profession or group.
Ex) The writings of the lawyer and the literary critic are both susceptible to jargon.
Corroborate
To confirm or increase in certainty.
Ex) Mrs. Watson saw her son sneaking out of the basement window at 2 a.m.; her husband can corroborate her story.
Enunciate
To articulate or pronounce.
Ex) Shandra made sure to enunciate during her presentation to maximize understanding.
Malleable
Easily shaped or reformed.
Ex) A child’s personality is more malleable before he begins school and develops more individuality.
Allegory
An extended narrative in which the writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface of the story.
Ex) Arthur Miller’s Crucible (“Red Scare”).
Allusion
A reference to a well-known person, place, or thing from literature, history, etc.
Ex) Mother Theresa
Analogy
Comparison of two similar but different things.
Ex) The heart is like a pump.
Aphorism
A short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life.
Ex) The early bird gets the worm.
Figurative Language
Language that contains figures of speech, such as similes and metaphors, in order to create associations that are imaginative rather than literal.
Ex) In order to reach the word count required, Gladice filled the paper with figurative language.
Parallelism
The technique of arranging words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures by placing them side by side and making them similar in form.
Ex) You need to work quickly and decisively.
Imagery
Words or phrases that use a collection of images to appeal to one or more of the five senses in order to create a mental picture.
Ex) The use of imagery to describe the pie made Rochelle’s mouth water
Satire
A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way.
Ex) The daily show with John Oliver was filled with Satire.
Penurious
Lacking money- very poor; or careful with money- stingy.
Ex) Joan, raised in comfortable surroundings, was not cut out for such a penurious lifestyle.
Prosaic
Commonplace or dull.
Ex) Mary’s prosaic outlook on life left little room for fun and games.
Capitulate
To give in to a demand for surrender.
Ex) The ambassador has been instructed to refuse to capitulate to the demands of the terrorist.
Morose
Frightening or gloomy.
Ex) arl knew his company was headed for bankruptcy; he spent several long morose nights alone staring silently at the accounting ledger.
Skittish
Nervous and lacking confidence.
Ex) Joyce is still a bit skittish about the computer; she cannot find the on button.
Verbose
Wordy. That which uses unnecessary language.
Ex) The professor’s lectures were often boring because of his verbose notes.
Aplomb
Assurance, poise, finesse, self-confidence.
Ex) Although college
finals were difficult and intimidating, the freshman handled them with unusual
aplomb.
Logical Fallacy
A mistake in reasoning.
Ex) The logical fallacy at the beginning go the paper rendered it all moot.
Red Herring
When a writer raises an irrelevant issue to draw attention away from the real issue.
Ex) By setting up a red herring, the author took attention away from the real issue at hand.
Reductio ad Absurdum
The Latin for “to reduce to the absurd.”
Ex)
Straw Man
When a writer argues against a claim that nobody actually holds or is universally considered weak.
Ex) Everyone became extremely angry at the parent for using a straw man and wasting time.
Non-sequitur
Latin for “it does not follow.” When one statement isn’t logically connected to another.
Ex) She drives a BMW. I own a bird.
Oversimplification
When a writer obscures or denies the complexity of the issues in an argument.
Ex) A phone is something you yell into so you can communicate.
Freight-Train
Sentence consisting of three or more very short independent clauses joined by conjunctions.
Ex) The kitchen smelled like pies and different spices and banana pudding.
False Analogy
When two cases are not sufficiently parallel to lend readers to accept a claim or connection between them.
Ex) A broken plate is like a pillow, both comfortable to sleep on.
Faux pas
A social error or social blunder.
Ex) It is a definite faux pas when a lady passes gas at the dinner table.
