| A | B |
|---|
| Ad hominem | [Latin for “against the man”] will ignore what the opponent is supporting and instead attack his personal flaws—even his/her appearance |
| Appeal to authority | Will argue that something has to be true because an expert (or a person in power) believes it to be true |
| appeal to ignorance | an argument for or against a proposition on the basis of a lack of evidence against or for it |
| circular argument | Will argue for something without ever giving the reasoning or proof—something is correct because it’s correct—the speaker goes in circles |
| fallacy | Incorrect reasoning in argumentation resulting in a misconception |
| hasty generalization | Will argue that you can judge an entire group after seeing only one or two of that group |
| ethos | Appeal to authority |
| pathos | Appeal to emotion |
| logos | Appeal to logic |
| analogy | A comparison of two things made to explain something unfamiliar |
| epsitrophe | the repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences |
| eulogy | a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired |
| extended metaphor | A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem |
| hyperbole | Deliberate exaggeration used to achieve an effect |
| colloquialism | A word, phrase, or form of pronunciation that is acceptable in casual conversation but not in formal, written communication |
| allegory | A narrative technique in which characters representing things or abstract ideas are used to convey a message or teach a lesson |
| parody | A composition that imitates the style of another composition normally for comic effect |
| allusion | An indirect or implied reference to a person, place, thing, character, or event from mythological, biblical, literary , or historical contexts |
| situational irony | A contrast between what is intended or expected and what actually occurs |
| dramatic irony | When the audience of a play or the reader of a work of literature knows something that a character in the work itself does not know |
| verbal irony | A contrast between what is said and what is actually meant |
| paradox | A statement that appears illogical or contradictory at first, but may actually point to an underlying truth |
| sarcasm | A type of verbal irony in which a person appears to be praising something but is actually insulting it |
| satire | A work that uses ridicule, humor, and wit to criticize and provoke change in human nature and institutions |
| oxymoron | A form of paradox that combines a pair of contrary terms into a single expression |
| tone | The author’s attitude toward his or her audience or subject matter |
| style | A writer’s distinctive manner of arranging words to suit his or her ideas and purpose in writing |
| voice | Associated with the basic vision of a writer, his or her general attitude toward the world |
| point of view | The narrative perspective from which a literary work is presented to the reader |
| mood | The prevailing emotions of a work or of the author in his or her creation of the work |
| alliteration | The practice of beginning several consecutive or neighboring words with the same sound |
| figurative language | The author temporarily interrupts the order, construction, or meaning of the writing for a particular effect |
| imagery | A concrete representation of an object or sensory experience |
| metaphor | A figure of speech that expresses an idea through the image of another object without using like or as |
| metonymy | A closely related object, person, or idea represents the subject at hand |
| onomatopoeia | The use of words whose sounds express or suggest their meaning |
| personification | A type of metaphor that gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics |
| synechoche | A part of something stands for the whole |
| simile | A figure of speech which makes a comparison between two unlike things using words like or as |
| repetition | The repeated use of the same word or word pattern as a rhetorical device |
| anaphora | The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses (or poetic lines) |
| antithesis | Opposing or contrasting ideas balance against each other in the same grammatical structure |
| chiasmus | Repetition of ideas and grammatical structures in inverted order |
| parallelism | A method of comparison of two ideas in which each is developed in the same grammatical structure |
| symbol | A person, object, image, word, or event that evokes a range of additional meaning beyond and usually more abstract than its literal significance |
| induction | The process of reaching a conclusion through reasoning from general premises to a specific premise |
| invective | An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language |
| prose | Fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms, because they are written in ordinary language and most closely resemble everyday speech |
| refutation | The part of an argument in which a speaker or writer counters opposing points of view |
| rhetorical question | a figure of speech in the form of a question posed for its persuasive effect without the expectation of a reply |
| syllogism | A method of presenting a logical argument consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion |
| subordination | A group of words that has both a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone as a sentence |
| antencedent | That which goes before, especially in the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers |
| thesis | The theme, meaning, hypothesis, or position that a writer undertakes to prove or support |
| syntax | The way the sequence of works are ordered into phrases, clauses, and sentences |
| clause | A group of words containing a subject and its verb that may or may not be a complete sentence |
| conjunction | a part of speech that connects two words, phrases or clauses together |
| connotation | An association that comes along with a particular word |
| deduction | A process of reasoning in which a conclusion follows necessarily from the premises presented, so that the conclusion cannot be false if the premises are true. |
| denotation | The definition of a word, apart from the impressions or feelings it creates in the reader |
| diction | The selection and arrangement of words in a literary work |
| pedantic | An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish |
| rhetoric | The art of ethical persuasion |
| juxtaposition | The act of positioning close together (or side by side) |
| narrative | The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events |
| exposition | The purpose of which is to inform, explain, describe, or define the author's subject to the reader |
| argumentation | Takes a stand on an issue and attempts to convince readers by presenting a logical sequence of points supported by evidence |
| descriptive | Presents a word picture of a thing, a person, a situation, or a series of events |
