Definitions

Question 1

ad hominem

Answer 1

An argument based on the perceived failings of an adversary rather than on the merits of the case; a logical fallacy that involves a personal attack

Question 2

allegory

Answer 2

a literary device in which characters or events represent/symbolize ideas and concepts

ex: The Wizard of Oz: cowardice in the lion, panic in the tin man

Question 3

allusion

Answer 3

a figure of speech that makes a reference to people, places, events, literary works, or works of art directly or by implication

Question 4

analogy

Answer 4

a similarity between like features of two things

Question 5

antecedent

Answer 5

a substantive word, phrase or clause whose denotation is referred to by a pronoun

Question 6

antithesis

Answer 6

contrary ideas expressed in a balanced sentence

ex: One small step for a man, one giant leap for all mankind.

Question 7

apostrophe

Answer 7

a figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something non human is addressed as if it were alive/ able to reply

Question 8

chiasmus

Answer 8

a figure of speech by which the order of the terms in the first of two parallel clauses is reversed in the second

ex: You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget.

Question 9

conceit

Answer 9

an extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs a poetic passage or entire poem

ex: All the world’s a stage Shakespeare poem

Question 10

concrete detail

Answer 10

the discrete info, facts, offered to explain/justify something

Question 11

connotation

Answer 11

the implied subtext of words rather than the literal meaning

Question 12

euphemism

Answer 12

an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or too harsh

ex: passed away instead of died

Question 13

hyperbole

Answer 13

extravagant exaggeration

Question 14

invective

Answer 14

strong use of language used to attack

Question 15

irony

Answer 15

incongruity between what might be expected and what actually happens

Question 16

metaphor

Answer 16

a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity

Question 17

metonymy

Answer 17

using a vaguely suggestive, physical object to embody a more general idea

ex: a crown for royalty

Question 18

oxymoron

Answer 18

conjoining contradictory terms

Question 19

paradox

Answer 19

a statement that contradicts itself

ex: you can save money by spending it.

Question 20

parallelism

Answer 20

a balance within one or more sentences of similar phrases or clauses that have the same grammatical structure

Question 21

personification

Answer 21

the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas

Question 22

post hoc fallacy

Answer 22

a logical fallacy that states “since that event followed this one, that event must have been caused by this one”

ex: a person buys a good luck charm, does well on his exam, and then concludes that the good luck charm caused him to do well.

Question 23

logos

Answer 23

appeal to logic

Question 24

ethos

Answer 24

appeal to credibility

Question 25

pathos

Answer 25

appeal to emotion

Question 26

rhetorical question

Answer 26

a figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked in order to make a point

Question 27

satire

Answer 27

witty language used to convey insults or scorn

Question 28

synecdoche

Answer 28

using a part of a physical object to represent the whole object ex: Twenty eyes watched our every move.

Question 29

litotes

Answer 29

ironical understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary ex: She was not a bad cook.

Question 30

anaphora

Answer 30

The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs

Question 31

abstract idea

Answer 31

is a general statement about a quality or state, about a class of persons, objects, ideas. It is opposed to a specific fact or concrete statement

Question 32

pun

Answer 32

A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words

Question 33

trope

Answer 33

figures of speech with an unexpected twist in the meaning of words ex: metaphor, simile, metonymy, synecdoche, puns, personification, hyperbole, oxymoron, paradox, litotes, apostrophe

Question 34

scheme

Answer 34

figures of speech that deal with word order, syntax, letters, and sounds, rather than the meaning of words ex: Chiasmus, parallelism, antithesis

Question 35

warrant

Answer 35

Warrants that work persuade the reader of the connection between the argument or claim being made and the evidence

Question 36

claim

Answer 36

The evidence the author gives to support his side