APL Rhetorical Terms

Question 1

Abstract

Answer 1

refers to language that describes concepts rather that concrete images (ideas and qualities rather than observable things, people, or places). the observable or “physical” is usually described in concrete language.

Question 2

Allegory

Answer 2

An extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities and in which the writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface of the story; the underlying meaning may be moral, religious, political, social, or satiric.

Question 3

Anecdote

Answer 3

a short simple narrative of an incident; often used for humorous effect or to make a point.

Question 4

Annotation

Answer 4

Explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources, or give bibliographical ideas

Question 5

Antithesis

Answer 5

the presentation of two contrasting images. the ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraphs. “to be or not to be” “ask not what your country can do for you, but what can you do for your country…”

Question 6

Aphorism

Answer 6

a short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life: “Early bird gets the worm.”

Question 7

Apostrophe

Answer 7

usually in poetry but sometimes in prose, the device of calling out an imaginary, dead, or absent person of to a place, thing, or personified absttraction

Question 8

Argumentation

Answer 8

writing that attempts to prove the validity of a point of view or an idea by presenting reasoned arguments; persuasive writing is a form of arguementation

Question 9

Cacophony

Answer 9

dissonance harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose; the opposite of euphony

Question 10

Caricature

Answer 10

descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a persons appearance or a faucet of personality

Question 11

Colloquialism

Answer 11

a word or phrase (including slang) used in everyday conversation and informal writing bu that is often inappropriate in formal writing.

Question 12

concrete language

Answer 12

language that describes specific observable things, people, or places rather than ideas or qualities

Question 13

connotation

Answer 13

implied or suggested meaning of a word because of its association in the readers mind.

Question 14

consonance

Answer 14

repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximity, as in boost/best it can also be seen within several compound words, such as fulfill and ping-pong

Question 15

conumdrum

Answer 15

a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun, it may also be a paradox or difficult problem

Question 16

coherence; unity

Answer 16

quality peice of writing in which all the parts contribute to the development of the central idea, theme, or organizing principle.

Question 17

deduction

Answer 17

the process of moving from a general rule to a specific example

Question 18

denotation

Answer 18

literal meaning of a word as defined

Question 19

description

Answer 19

the picture meaning in words of something or someone through detailed observation of color, motion, sound, taste, smell, and touch; one of the four modes of disciurse

Question 20

diction

Answer 20

word choice; an element of style; diction creates tone, attitude and style, as well as meaning. different types and arrangements of words have significant effects on meaning. an essay written in academic diction would be much less colorful but perhaps more precise than street slang.

Question 21

didactic

Answer 21

writing whose purpose is to instruct or to teach. a didactic work is usually formal and focus on moral and ethical concerns. didactic writing may be fiction or be nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking

Question 22

discourse

Answer 22

spoken or written language including literary works; the four traditionally classified modes of discourse are: description, exposition, narration, and persuasion

Question 23

emotional appeals - pathos

Answer 23

when a writer appeals to readers emotions (often through pathos) to excite and involve them in the arguement

Question 24

epigraph

Answer 24

the use of a quotation at the beginning of a work that hints at its theme. hemingway begins the sun also rises with two epigraphs, one of them is “you are all a lost generation” by gertrude stein

Question 25

ethical appeal - thos

Answer 25

when a writer tries to persuade the audience to respect or believe him or her based on a presentation of image of self through the text. reputation is sometimes a factor in ethical appeal, but in all cases the aim is to gain the audiences confidence

Question 26

euphemism

Answer 26

a more acceptable and usually more pleasant way of saying something that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable. "he went to his final reward." is a common one to say he died. they are often used to obscure the reality of a situation. the military uses "collateral damage" to indicate civilian deaths in military operations

Question 27

euphony

Answer 27

a succession of harmonius sounds used in poetry or prose; the opposite of cocophony

Question 28

example

Answer 28

an individual sentence taken to be a representative of a general pattern

Question 29

explication

Answer 29

interpreting or discovering the meaning of text

Question 30

exposition

Answer 30

the immediate revelation to the audience of setting and other background information necessary for understanding the plot

Question 31

generalization

Answer 31

when a writer bases a claim upon an isolated example or asserts that a claim is certain rather than probable

Question 32

genre

Answer 32

a type of literary work

Question 33

humor

Answer 33

anything that causes laughter or amusement

Question 34

hyperbole

Answer 34

deliberate exaggeration in order to create humor or emphasis

Question 35

image

Answer 35

a word or words used to describe a sensory experience or an object percieved by the sense

Question 36

parallelism

Answer 36

the technique of aranging words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures by placing them side by side and making them similar in form

Question 37

parody

Answer 37

a work that ridicules another work by imitating and exaggerating

Question 38

pathetic appeal; pathos

Answer 38

when a writer tries to persuade an audience by appealing to their emotions

Question 39

pendantic

Answer 39

a term used to describe writing that borders on lecturing

Question 40

persuasion

Answer 40

a form of argumentation, one of the four modes of discourse; language intended to convince through appeals to reason or emotion

Question 41

regionalism

Answer 41

an element in literature that conveys a realistic portrayal of a specific geographical location

Question 42

repitition

Answer 42

word or phrase used two or more times in close proximity

Question 43

rhetorical modes

Answer 43

exposition, description, narration,argumentation

Question 44

rhetorical question

Answer 44

one that does not expect an explicit answer

Question 45

sarcasm

Answer 45

harsh personal remarks to or about someone, less tha subtle iron

Question 46

satire

Answer 46

a work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way

Question 47

speaker

Answer 47

the voice of a work

Question 48

sterotype

Answer 48

a character who represents a trait that is usually attributed to a particular social or racial group

Question 49

style

Answer 49

a authors characteristic manner of expression

Question 50

subjectivity

Answer 50

a personal presentation of events and characters influenced by authors feelings and opinions

Question 51

syllogism

Answer 51

a form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn

Question 52

synechdoche

Answer 52

a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent a whole

Question 53

syntactic fluency

Answer 53

a ability to create a variety of sentence structures that are extremely complex

Question 54

syntax

Answer 54

the grammatical structure of a sentence

Question 55

theme

Answer 55

the central idea of a literary work

Question 56

thesis

Answer 56

the main idea of a peice of writing

Question 57

tone

Answer 57

the characteristic emotion or attitude of an author toward the charaters

Question 58

transition

Answer 58

a word or phrase that links one idea to the next and carries the reader from sentence

Question 59

understatement

Answer 59

the opposite of exaggeration

Question 60

voice

Answer 60

refers to two different areas of writing. one refers to the relationship between a sentences subject and verb the second refers to the total sound of a writers style