Abstract language

Language describing ideas or qualities rather than observable,

specific things

Allegory

Anachronism

Out of time, placing something in time where it does not belong

Anaphora

Repetition of the first word, phrase, or clause at the beginning

of 2 or more sentences

Anecdote

A short narrative detailing the particulars of an event

Aphorism

A short statement of containing a general truth or moral wisdom

assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound in words in close proximity

Asyndeton

Using only commas, but no conjunctions; speeds up the flow

of the sentence; equalizes all parts

Carpe Diem

A philosophy of living for the day and not thinking about

tomorrow

Chiasmus

XYYX pattern

Connotation

The non-literal, associative meaning of a word

Conceit

An extended metaphor or a surprising analogy between two

dissimilar objects

Clause

Santa’s Last Name

A grammatical unit containing both a subject and a verb

Didactic

A term used to describe fiction or nonfiction that teaches a lesson

Doublespeak

Evasiveness in writing or speech

Euphemism

Replacing a word with a more pleasant sounding one

Hyperbole

A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration

Metonymy

A figure of speech where the name of the object is substituted with a word closely associated

with it

Oxymoron

Grouping contradictory terms together to suggest a paradox

Paradox

A statement that seems opposed to common sense, but upon

closer examination contains some validity or truth

Parallelism

Similar grammatical words, phrases or clauses

Loose sentence

A sentence in which the main idea comes first

Pedantic

A tone that is overly bookish or educated

Periodic sentence

A sentence in which the main idea comes at the end

Exposition

Writing that expresses ideas, explains and analyzes ideas

Satire

Writing that targets human folly, social institutions, or conventions

for reform or ridicule

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which the part signifies the whole or the

whole signifies the part

“Foul is fair and fair is foul.”

Macbeth

Paradox

And antimetabole

I want you to want meI need you to need me

I’d love you to love me

Cheap Trick

Anaphora

And Epistrophe

Cruel kindness

Oxymoron

“They were the best of times; they were the worst of times.”

Charles Dickens

Parallelism

And epistrophe

And paradox

Beware of the suits!

Metonymy

My grandmother, a centenarian, had a keen sense of smell until her death.

Appositive

A noun describing a noun

The alien, teeth bared, devoured every human it could sink its

teeth into.

Absolute

A noun and a participle describing something in a sentence

Breathing heavily, the human barely evaded the alien.

Participle phrase

• Particples end in –ed, -ing, or they can be irregular as in “gone” form the word “go”

To run was the only option to survive the alien’s jaws.

What kind of sentence?

Simple

It is best to run from the alien, or you will get eaten.

Compound Sentence

As she faced certain death, Ripley sprayed the alien with

acid.

Complex sentence

While the alien appeared to be dead, the survivors had to be

wary, or they too would end up as a fricassee.

Compound-Complex sentence

The android tried to persuade Ripley that he was human, but

Ripley didn’t believe him.

Compound-Complex Sentence

First the alien killed humans; soon, however, the humans and

androids were killing each other.

Another days dawns in the universe.

Simple

The alien and Ripley never really did become friends.

Simple

deduction

Using logic, particularly a syllogism to arrive at a

conclusion or truth

induction

Using an array of evidence and appeals to arrive at a conclusion

or truth

The three parts of a syllogism

Major premise, minor premise, conclusion

Enthymeme

A syllogistic structure in which the major premise is assumed to

be true by the audience and therefore, unstated by the writer

or speaker

Syllogism or Enthymeme?

• To drink alcohol, legally in the U.S., you must be 21.

• Emma is 16.

• Emma cannot drink alcohol legally.

Syllogism

Syllogism or Enthymeme?

• All people that wear glasses are smart.

• Mrs. Trang wears glasses.

• Mrs. Trang must be smart.

Syllogism or Enthymeme?

• All marijuana smokers drank milk when they were children

• Bill drank milk when he was a child.

• Bill smokes marijuana.

Enthymeme

Syllogism or Enthymeme?

People who eat a lot of sweets are putting themselves at risk for diabetes.Susie eats a lot of sweets.Susie is putting herself at risk for diabetes.

Syllogism

How does an enthymeme differ from a syllogism?

The major premise is an unstated assumption the writer believes

the audience will accept as true.

How is an argumentative essay different from a persuasive

essay?

The persuasive essay will have an additional paragraph at the

end calling the reader to action.

Definitions:Sardonic

Bitter, scathing

erudite

scholarly

Ad hominem

Attacking the person instead of what the person is saying

Pathetic fallacy

Giving nature human emotions or characteristics

elegiac

mournful

Homily

a sermon

Periodic sentence

A sentence in which the main idea appears at the end (used to build

suspense)

Exigence

The event that causes a writer to write