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ENGLISH COMPOSITION
Next: Composing Sentences
PunctuationCommasCommas indicate slight pauses in reading and di"erentiate sentence parts. You must
use commas:
1. Before any conjunction that connects two independent clauses:
I thought it would rain, and it did.
2. After an introductory phrase:
After the rainfall, the sun finally came out.
3. To separate items in a series:
I like rock, pop, blues, country, and hip-hop.
4. To set o"a parenthetical phrase:
Amateur dancers, who often know little about traditional Spanish music,
sometimes confuse dances such as the mambo and the samba.
5. With dates:
On August 8, 1976, the music world changed forever.
6. To set o!quotations that occur inside a sentence:
Sarah said, I love you, and she meant it.
7. To subdivide numbers into groups of three digits:
4,251,730
8. To indicate direct address:
Greg, give me the remote control.
9. To separate adjectives:
The hot, humid, nasty day made Alison irritable.
10. To indicate omissions of verbs in parallel clauses:
Jenny likes the Mets; Pedro, the Angels; and Frank, the Marlins.
Apostrophes
http://sparkcharts.sparknotes.com/writing/englishcomp/section2.phphttp://sparkcharts.sparknotes.com/writing/englishcomp/section2.php -
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1. Indicate possession when added to a noun or pronoun.
In certain academic corners, Philippa Foots mid-century philosophy is
influential.
2. Indicate that letters have been left out when used as part of a contraction.
I dont speak French.
3. Do not indicate plurals and are not necessary in verbs.
Incorrect: The cats play outside.
Incorrect: He calls his dog.
Quotation Marks1. Represent text as speech:
I would have been great, he insisted.
2. Indicate material excerpted from another wriers work:
Not every love a"air is star-crossd.
3. Indicate titles of poems, essays, and short stories:
Shelleys Ode to a Skylark meditates on spontaneous artistic creation.
4. May not be used in place of underlining or italicizing for emphasis.
Incorrect: Hey Dad! This wins for you.
# Periods and commas go inside punctuation marks.# Question marks, exclamation marks, colons, semicolons, and dashes go
outside quotation marks unless they are part of the quotation.
Semicolons1. Take the place of a conjunction that joins independent clauses. In such
cases, if a period replaces the comma, the sentence still will make sense.
Betsy liked to sew; it was her passion.
2. Separate items in series that contain commas within single-itemdescriptions.
He had an old, unraveling sweater; a new, hand-knit sweater; and a faded, torn
pair of jeans.
Composing SentencesSubject-Verb Agreement
1. Singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects take plural verbs.
Correct: The dog eats his food.
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Incorrect: The dog eat his food.
2. Separated subjects and verbs: If the verb and subject are separated by other
words, the verb should agree with its subject rather than with the nearest
noun.
Correct: The actors in the movie, which we went to see before dinner on
Tuesday, were impressive.Incorrect: The actors in the movie, which we went to see before dinner on
Tuesday, was impressive.
3. Collective nouns:When the subject is a singular noun that refers to a group,
the verb remains singular.
Correct: The band of soldiers piles into the chopper.
Incorrect: The band of soldiers pile into the chopper.
4. A singular subject that is part of a plural element:When a singular subject
is isolated from a larger group, use a singular verb.Correct: One of the backup singers was unable to perform at the Presidents
Day concert.
Incorrect: One of the backup singers were unable to perform at the Presidents
Day concert.
5. Two singular subjects joined by and take a plural verb.
Correct: Frankie and Edmund love dancing.
Incorrect: Frankie and Edmund loves dancing.
6. Two subjects combined to form a single unit take a singular verb.Correct: Cutting and pasting is a good technique to master.
Incorrect: Cutting and pasting are a good technique to master.
7. Two singular subjects joined by or or nor take a singular verb.
Correct: Either Darla or Judith is going with me to the dance.
Incorrect: Either Darla or Judith are going with me to the dance.
8. A mixed subject joined by or or nor: The verb agrees with the closest
noun.
Correct: Neither milk nor eggs contain much Vitamin A.
Correct: Neither eggs nor milk contains much Vitamin A.
Subject-Phrase CorrespondenceDescriptive phrases that introduce sentences must agree with the grammatical
subject of the sentence.
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Correct: Hanging in the closet, my dress smelled like mothballs.
Incorrect: Hanging in the closet, I saw my dress.
Comparisons1. To compare two items, use -er or more.
Julia is shorter than Isabelle.Isabelle is the more imaginative of the two girls.
2. To indicate a superlative among more than two items, use -est or most.
Jack is the fastest runner in the group.
Luther is the most gifted dancer in New York.
Pronouns
1. Pronouns must agree with the nouns they replace in person, number, andgender.
Original: Jenny and Sarah crashed Matts car into a tree.
With pronouns: They crashed his car into it.
2. None takes a singular verb when it indicates no one or not one and a
plural verb when it indicates more than one thing or person.
Correct: None of us is perfect.
Correct: None are as angry as those whose money was stolen.
3. Pronouns should refer clearly to a particular noun.Correct: As John showed his house to Joseph, John asked him what he thought
of it.
Incorrect: John asked Joseph what he thought of his house.
4. Do notchange a sentences perspective by switching personal pronoun
reference midway.
Incorrect: They thought of calling a cab, but you cant always trust cab drivers,
so they didnt.
Correct: They thought of calling a cab, but they didnt trust cab drivers, so
they didnt.
Things to Avoid1. Fragments. Dont use incomplete sentences as complete sentences.
Incorrect: She liked all sorts of movies. Such as dramas, comedies, and
mysteries.
Correct: She liked all sorts of movies, including dramas, comedies, and
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mysteries.
2. Double negatives. If two negations (words like not or never) occur in the
same phrase, they confuse the meaning of the phrase by canceling one
another out.
Incorrect: You should never not change the batteries in your smoke detector.
Correct: You should always change the batteries in your smoke detector.
3. Comma splice. Using a comma instead of a semicolon or period to separate
independent clauses is incorrect and creates a run-on sentence.
Incorrect: There are many people in India, the country has a high population
density.
Correct: There are many people in India; the country has a high population
density.
Composing Paragraphs
A paragraph can be divided into three parts: the topic sentence, the body, and theconcluding sentence.
1. The topic sentence introduces your paragraph and states its main idea.
2. The body provides evidence and support for your topic sentence.
3. The concluding sentence summarizes the main argument of the paragraph.
Not every paragraph needs a concluding sentence: short paragraphs, or
paragraphs that are part of a larger flow of argument, often do better without
them.
Example of a paragraph:
Although most people believe that April showers bring May flowers, May often
proves to be a far rainier month than April. For the past five years, the average EastCoast rainfall in May has been 4.6 inches, as opposed to just 3.2 inches for April.
When confronted with this statistic, some meteorologists argue that April once was
rainier than May, before ocean current patterns shifted to increase Mays average
rainfall. Others point out that, in some parts of the world, April remains rainier than
May. A third group o$cially opposes any inquiry into the statistical anomaly,
asserting that April showers bring May flowers is a totally unscientific proverb
perpetuated by TV weather reporters who lack real understanding of the weather.
Although no one doubts the fallacy of the ever-popular adage, the scientific
community does not agree on the reason for the statements untruthfulness.
Composing an EssayThe Thesis Statement
A thesis statement notifies your reader of your original idea regarding a topic.
While your general argument may be something like Slavery didnt cause the
Civil War, your thesis statement gives your original, specific idea about a
subject. A thesis statement should be neither obvious nor vague. A thesis
must be controversial and arguable; it should be possible for someone to
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come up with a reasonable argument contradicting your own.
Example of a good thesis statement:
Disagreement between the North and South over tariffs and states rights was a
more significant cause of the Civil War than were opposing views aboutslavery.
This thesis statement is strong. It makes a controversial claim against
which people could argue and clearly identifies specific economic and
political factors.
Thesis Paragraph
The first paragraph of the paper describes the focus of your argument and your
reason for making it. In the paragraph, you should:
1. Give background material and context. Assume that your reader is
well educated and can understand an argument about a book or event
with which he or she is unfamiliar. Give only the most relevant
background information in your first paragraph.
2. State your motive and thesis. Your introductory paragraph should tell
your reader why your paper is relevant. Typically, youll want to make
your thesis statement in the final sentences of the introductory paragraph.
Example of a good thesis paragraph:
Almost as soon as the Civil War ended, Americans began to search for a wayto understand the reasons for the bitter conflict. Even today, strong feelings
and personal bias influence debate over the causes of the war. Because the
years leading up to the war were characterized by growing conflicts over a
series of political and economic disagreements between the Northern and
Southern states, isolating individual causes of the war is difficult. It is easy to
assume that the main cause of the war was disagreement over slavery simply
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because the outcome of the war had such dramatic effects on the institution of
slavery. In fact, disagreement between the North and South over tariffs and
states rights was a more significant cause of the Civil War than were
opposing views about slavery.
Body Paragraphs
1. Topic sentences begin every paragraph. They should introduce new
information that confirms or complicates your thesis statement.
2. Evidence and analysis. Within the paragraph, use specific evidence to
support the idea stated in your topic sentence. Use analysis sentences to
explain why this evidence supports your argument.
3. Transitions within paragraphs. The ideas in a body paragraph should
come in a logical sequence that explains, complicates, or develops the
idea put forth in the paragraphs topic sentence.
# Transitional words (furthermore, in contrast, for example,
as a result) help your reader understand the way that you are
developing your main idea.
4. Transitions between paragraphs. Each paragraph should explicitly
relate to the preceding and following paragraph.
# Phrases like also important, in addition, or we should also
note that are weak because they dont explain the relationship
between ideas in consecutive paragraphs.
Example of a body paragraph:
Disagreements between the North and South regarding cotton tariffs created a
divisive political atmosphere that was instrumental in states decisions to
secede from the Union. Vice President John Calhoun proposed that individual
states had the right to nullify specific acts of Congress in order to protect the
welfare of the states against the federal government. When Calhoun proposed
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this doctrine of nullification, it became clear that the South worried that the
North was wielding power in order to damage the Souths economy. This
worry influenced the Southern states to consider separation from the North. In
short, the economic issue of cotton export, separate from moral concerns over
slavery, marked the initial split between North and South.
This body paragraph is effective because it states an argument and then
uses evidence persuasively. A strong topic sentence is supported by a
specific incident, which is then explained. The paragraph does not simply
retell the events surrounding cotton exportation. Rather, it shows how
economic concern about cotton relates to the division between North and
South.
Concluding Paragraph
A conclusion should explain the significance of your thesis statement in a
larger context. Although a conclusion should provide a sense of closure, it
should not make broad, unwarranted generalizations or claims.
Techniques for concluding:
1. One of the most effective ways to provide a sense of closure is to cite a
relevant quotation from the text you are working with and explain how
to interpret that quotation using your argument.
2. Another technique is to explain a term that you bring up in your thesis
statement.
3. Ending your paper by showing that your argument can be applied to a
related topic reiterates the relevance of your ideas.
Example of a strong concluding paragraph:
In 1876, after the end of the Civil War, Confederate General Robert Hunter
asked, Had the South permitted her property, her constitutional rights and
her liberties to be surreptitiously taken from her without resistance and made
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no moan, would she not have lost her honor with them? Understanding that
the South feared not only a loss of slave labor, but also a loss of honor, can
make the root causes of the Civil War a bit clearer. In referring to her
constitutional rights and her liberties, Hunter does refer to the institution of
slavery. However, he also refers to the pride of economic productivity, which
the South feared would wither and die under the economic policies of the
North. Although an absolute understanding of the causes of the Civil War is
unattainable, identifying the interactions among various causes is an ongoing
project.
Style GuidelinesUnlike grammar rules, which you must follow, these style guidelines are suggestions
that help make your writing clear and e"ective.
Use the Active VoiceWhenever possible, use the active voice, which is clearer than and provides more
specific information than the passive voice. To use the active voice, make the subject
of the sentence perform the action on the predicate of the sentence.
Passive: My car was driven to Tulsa by Sarah.
Active: Sarah drove my car to Tulsa.
Passive: The hill was taken.
Active: The soldiers took the hill.
Use Parallel ConstructionsA parallel sentence construction repeats a grammatical pattern in order to express a
logical relationship between ideas in a sentence. Common parallel structures repeat
prepositional phrases, verb phrases, noun phrases, predicate nouns, or predicate
adjectives.
1. The words that introduce the separate parts of a parallel construction should
serve identical grammatical functions.
Incorrect: I told her to be brave, love her country, and that she should trust in
God.Correct: I told her to be brave, to love her country, and to trust in God.
2. Parallel construction always should be balanced in length. If one element of a
list of comparison is significantly longer than the others, readers will have
di$culty remembering the other elements in the list.
Incorrect: The movie bored the audience because it dragged on for hours, had
repetitive music, and was the first work of a director who liked to use jarring
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camera techniques and numerous characters.
Correct: The movie, which was its directors first e"ort, bored the audience
with its excessive length, repetitive music, rudimentary direction, and
numerous characters.
Avoid Wordy LanguageIf you can convey the same meaning with fewer words, do so. Padding paragraphs
with extra words is confusing and usually obvious to readers and teachers.
Specifically, the phrase there is almost always is unnecessary and may be
eliminated.
Incorrect: These instances of three-dimensional representation manifest the
preoccupation with concrete structure inherent in their societal formation.
Correct: These sculptures demonstrate their societys interest in structure.
Incorrect: There is a urn that sits next to the fireplace.
Correct: An urn sits next to the fireplace.
Avoid Gender BiasWhenever possible, avoid using gendered pronouns to refer to both men and
women.
1. Use humanity or humankind rather than man or mankind.
2. Fix gender bias by using he or she or his or her, or by pluralizing.
Incorrect: The average American washes his hands three times every day.
Correct: The average American washes his or her hands three times every day.
Correct: Average Americans wash their hands three times every day.
Use Euphemism Only When NecessaryEuphemism is the use of an indirect word or phrase to hint at real meaning.
1. Euphemism can be useful if you are discussing a delicate or sensitive topic or
if you want to avoid language that is too vulgar or harsh.
Incorrect: Im sorry that your mother was run over by a car.
Correct: Im sorry that your mother passed away.
2. Unnecessary euphemism, however, often just confuses writing.
Incorrect: Maggie didnt complete her work because she is motivationally
challenged.
Correct: Maggie didnt complete her work because she is lazy.
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Avoid Colloquial or Regional LanguageMany figures of speech and idioms used in conversation are inappropriate for
writing.
Incorrect: Ben hit the nail on the head when he suspected Isabel of boosting his
watch.
Correct: Bens suspicion that Isabel had stolen his watch was astute.
Dont Mix MetaphorsDo not compare a thing to more than one other thing in the same sentence.
Incorrect: The argument was veiled behind a sea of disagreement.
Correct: Disagreement veiled the argument.
Correct: A sea of disagreement surrounded the argument.
Avoid ClichsOverused words and idioms make sentences informal and di$cult to understand.
Incorrect: He stood by her side through thick and thin; even when their relationship
was on the rocks, he saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
Correct: He was loyal to her both in good and bad times; even when they had
disagreements, he was optimistic that their relationship would remain strong.
Commonly Confused Words and Phrasesa!ect/e!ect - A"ect is a verb meaning to cause something to change. E"ect is a
noun meaning a result brought about by a cause.
He tried to a"ect the outcome.
He had an e"ect on the outcome.
aggravate/irritate - Aggravate means worsen. Irritate means annoy or cause
minor pain.
The loud music aggravated her headache.
The cigarette smoke irritated her throat.
all ready/already - All ready means prepared. Already means previously.
The dancer was all ready to go on stage.The dancers performance is over already.
all right/alright - Alright is a common contraction of all right. Although alright
technically is not incorrect, all right is strongly preferred.
He said he felt all right.
Incorrect: He said he felt alright.
a lot/alot - Alot is a common contraction of a lot, but is incorrect.
She liked it a lot.
Incorrect: She liked it alot.
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allusion/illusion - An allusion is a reference to something else. An illusion is a false
vision or a fantasy.
The poem contains an allusion to Greek mythology.
The ghost was an illusion.
an with H-words - Use a instead of an in front of words that begin with H
unless the H is silent.
A hero played a harp for an hour.and also - And also is redundant. Use either and or also, not both.
aural/oral - Aural relates to the ears and hearing; oral relates to the mouth.
The loud drum music damaged her aural capabilities.
Regular brushing and flossing are important components of oral hygiene.
awhile/a while - Awhile is an adverb meaning for some time. A while is an article
and noun and should be used as an object. The phrase for awhile is incorrect.
Take o"your shoes and rest awhile.
Rest for a while.
backward/backwards - Backward is preferred in the U.S.; backwards is acceptable
as an adverb but never as an adjective.He glanced backward.
She caught his backward glance.
bad/badly - Bad is an adjective; badly, an adverb. Do not use bad as an adverb. The
phrase I feel badly is commonly used but incorrect.
The bad man hit his brother.
He plays tennis badly.
Incorrect: She hurt him bad.
Incorrect: I lied to her and now I feel badly about it.
bazaar/bizarre - Bazaar is a noun meaning market. Bizarre is an adjective
meaning strange or unusual.beside/besides - Beside means next to. Besides means also or in addition to.
I ran beside the river.
He is a liar, and besides that, a thief.
between/among - Between is used when something is shared by only two people or
things. Among is used when something is shared by more than two people or things.
This secret will remain between you and me.
Among the four brothers, Aaron was the tallest.
breath/breathe - Breath is a noun; breathe is a verb.
I took a deep breath.
I breathe heavily.
capitol/capital - A capitol is a building in which a legislative body meets, whereas
capital is used to refer to political centers and uppercase letters.
Senator Smith walked into the U.S. Capitol.
Salt Lake City is the capital of Utah.
Every sentence must begin with a capital letter.
council/counsel - A council is a group. Counsel is advice or guidance; to counsel is
to advise.
The city council met on Tuesday.
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I was confused, but my teacher gave me counsel.
compare to/compare with - Compare to connotes similarity between the things
compared. Compare with can connote similarity or di"erence.
He compared her apple pie to heaven.
He compared Lincoln with Hitler.
complement/compliment - Complement means to go well with. A compliment is
a flattering statement or the act of making one.My sense of humor complements her love of laughter.
I paid her a compliment.
continual/continuous - Something that is continuous never stops. Something that
is continual is recurring but can stop.
The Earth rotates continuously.
My girlfriend continually asks me to give her flowers.
criteria/criterion - Criteria is the plural of criterion.
di!erent than/di!erent from - Di"erent from is more correct than di"erent than.
discreet/discrete - Discreet means prudent or modest. Discrete means
separate.They left the party discreetly to avoid making a scene.
He had several discrete groups of friends.
etc./e.g./i.e. Etc. is short for et cetera and means and so forth. E.g. is short for
exempli gratia and means for example. I.e. is short for id est and means that is.
He was an expert in tropical dieases: malaria, typhoid fever, cholera, etc.
She loved Shakespeares more fanciful comedies, e.g., A Midsummer Nights Dream.
Asbestos is carcinogenic, i.e., cancer-causing.
forward/forwards - Forward is preferred in the U.S.
further/farther - Further refers to time or degree. Farther refers to physical
distance.After further thought, he chose to surrender.
He moved the desks farther apart to avoid crowding.
good/well - Good is an adjective. Well is an adverb. I feel good means I feel
moral, not I feel healthy or I feel happy.
The good man donated half of his estate to charity.
I dont feel well; my stomach hurts.
hanged/hung - Always use hung except in the case of execution with a rope.
We hung the stockings on the line.
The convicts were hanged.
its/its - Its is the possessive form of it. Its is a contraction meaning it is.
Its main use is as a spice grinder.
Its used mainly for grinding spices.
lay/lie - Lay is used when the subject of the sentence acts on a direct object. Lie is
used when there is no direct object.
Julie lays down the book.
Julie lies down for a nap.
less/fewer - Less is used for quantities that cannot be counted. Fewer is used for
quantities that can be counted.
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In winter, there is less daylight because the sun is in the sky for fewer hours.
lightening/lightning - Lightening means making light. Lightning flashes from the
clouds during storms.
Taking o"your backpack would help in lightening your load.
He was struck by lightning during the storm.
like/as - As is a conjunction; it comes before a complete clause. Like is a
preposition. If the phrase introduced by like or as includes a verb, use as; if not, uselike.
He ran quickly, as a runner should.
He ran like the wind.
little/few - Little refers to quantities that cannot be counted. Few refers to
quantities that can be counted.
He had little hope.
He had few prospects.
medium/media - Media is the plural of medium.
Oil paint is the favorite medium of many artists.
Art students learn techniques in a variety of media, including pencil, oil paint, andwatercolor.
much/many - Much generally refers to quantities that cannot be counted. Many
refers to quantities that can be counted.
There was much dirt in the old truck.
Dirt has many uses.
predominant/predominate - Predominant is an adjective. Predominate is a verb.
It is the predominant idea among scientists.
The idea predominates among scientists.
principle/principal - Principle refers to an idea, especially a moral precept. Principal
refers to high rank or importance.I agree with the principle of nonviolence.
Human error was the principal cause of the accident.
Principal Jones suspended the student.
prior/previous/before - Prior and previous are interchangeable adjectives. Before is
an adverb.
The previous arrangement existed prior to this arrangement.
This arrangement was made before the new information came to light.
prophesy/prophecy - Prophesy is a verb that means to make prophecies.
Prophecy is a noun that means a prediction of future events.
The seer prophesied that Oedipus would be ruined.
The prophecy came true when Oedipus killed his father and married his mother.
quote/quotation - Quote is a verb; quotation, a noun.
I want to quote Twain in my paper.
That quotation from Twains novel is really clever.
real/really - Real is an adjective. Really is an adverb. A common mistake is to use
real as an adverb.
The terror of the situation was real.
The situation was really terrifying.
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Incorrect: I did real well.
so - Avoid using so as an word of emphasis. It was very cold is preferable to It
was so cold.
stationary/stationery - Stationary is an adjective referring to a state of
motionlessness. Stationery is a noun referring to paper and envelopes.
than/then - Than is a comparative term. Then refers to chronological sequence.
Cornelius was smarter than Rocky.I slept, and then I woke up.
that/which - That is used to provide information that is necessary to identify a
specific item. Which is used to add extra information about an item already
identified.
The ticket that John bought was nonrefundable.
John paid for the ticket, which cost fifty dollars.
their/theyre - Their is the possessive form of they. Theyre is a contraction
meaning they are.
Their eyes were closed in sleep.
Theyre sleeping.toward/towards - Toward is preferred in the U.S.
try to/try and - Try to introduces an action to be tried. Try and is correct only if
followed by an unrelated action.
Try to stop me.
You will try and fail.
Incorrect: Try and stop me.
used to/use to - Used to refers to a past action. Use to is incorrect.
We used to play ball in this field.
Incorrect: We use to play ball in this field.
whether/if - If means on the condition that. Whether is used in situations ofspeculation or uncertainty.
I will go to the party if I get my work done first.
I wonder whether the plane will arrive on time.
Incorrect: I wonder if the plane will arrive on time.
If the plane is late, he will wonder what is wrong.
who/whom - Who is a subject; whom is an object.
Who is coming to the party?
Whom should I invite?
Tim saw Cheryl, who was wearing a red coat.
Tim saw Cheryl, whom he loves like a sister.
whos/whose - Whos is a contraction meaning who is. Whose is the possessive
form of who.
Whos there?
Whose car is that?
Table of Irregular Verbs
Base Form
Simple Past
Past Participle
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arise
arose
arisen
awake
awoke/awakened
awoken
be
was/were
been
bear
bore
born/borne
beat
beat
beaten/beat
become
became
become
befall
befell
befallen
begin
began
begun
behold
beheld
beheld
bend bent bent
bet
bet/betted
bet/betted
bid
bid
bid
bind
bound
bound
bite
bit
bitten
bleed
bled
bled
blow
blew
blown
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break
broke
broken
breed
bred
bred
bring
brought
brought
broadcast
broadcast
broadcast
browbeat
browbeat
browbeat
build
built
built
burn
burnt/burned
burnt/burned
burst
burst
burst
bust
busted/bust
busted/bust
buy bought bought
cast
cast
cast
catch
caught
caught
choose
chose
chosen
cling
clung
clung
come
came
come
cost
cost
cost
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creep
crept
crept
cut
cut
cut
deal
dealt
dealt
dig
dug
dug
dive
dove
dived
do
did
done
draw
drew
drawn
dream
dreamt/dreamed
dreamt/dreamed
drink
drank
drunk
drive drove driven
dwell
dwelt/dwelled
dwelt/dwelled
eat
ate
eaten
fall
fell
fallen
feed
fed
fed
feel
felt
felt
fight
fought
fought
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find
found
found
fit
fit
fit
flee
fled
fled
fling
flung
flung
fly
flew
flown
forbid
forbade
forbidden
forecast
forecast
forecast
forego
forewent
foregone
foresee
foresaw
foreseen
foretell foretold foretold
forget
forgot
forgotten
forgive
forgave
forgiven
forsake
forsook
forsaken
freeze
froze
frozen
get
got
gotten/got
give
gave
given
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go
went
gone
grind
ground
ground
grow
grew
grown
hang
hung
hung
have
had
had
hear
heard
heard
hide
hid
hidden
hit
hit
hit
hold
held
held
hurt hurt hurt
input
input
input
inset
inset
inset
interbreed
interbred
interbred
interweave
interwove
interwoven
keep
kept
kept
kneel
knelt/kneeled
knelt/kneeled
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knit
knit/knitted
knit/knitted
know
knew
known
lay
laid
laid
lead
led
led
lean
leaned/leant
leaned/leant
leap
leapt/leaped
leapt/leaped
learn
learned/learnt
learned/learnt
leave
left
left
lend
lent
lent
let let let
lie
lay
lain
light
lit/lighted
lit/lighted
lose
lost
lost
make
made
made
mean
meant
meant
meet
met
met
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mishear
misheard
misheard
mislay
mislaid
mislaid
mislead
misled
misled
misread
misread
misread
misspell
misspelled/misspelt
misspelled/misspelt
mistake
mistook
mistaken
mow
mowed
mowed/mown
outbid
outbid
outbid
outdo
outdid
outdone
outgrow outgrew outgrown
outrun
outran
outrun
outsell
outsold
outsold
overcast
overcast
overcast
overcome
overcame
overcome
overdo
overdid
overdone
overdraw
overdrew
overdrawn
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overeat
overate
overeaten
overhang
overhung
overhung
overhear
overheard
overheard
overlay
overlaid
overlaid
overlie
overlay
overlain
overpay
overpaid
overpaid
override
overrode
overridden
overrun
overran
overrun
oversee
oversaw
overseen
oversell oversold oversold
overshoot
overshot
overshot
oversleep
overslept
overslept
overtake
overtook
overtaken
overthrow
overthrew
overthrown
partake
partook
partaken
pay
paid
paid
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plead
pled/pleaded
pled/pleaded
pre-set
pre-set
pre-set
proofread
proofread
proofread
prove
proved
proven/proved
put
put
put
quit
quit/quitted
quit/quitted
read
read
read
rebind
rebound
rebound
rebuild
rebuilt
rebuilt
recast recast recast
redo
redid
redone
remake
remade
remade
repay
repaid
repaid
rerun
reran
rerun
resell
resold
resold
reset
reset
reset
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rethink
rethought
rethought
rewind
rewound
rewound
rewrite
rewrote
rewritten
rid
rid
rid
ride
rode
ridden
ring
rang
rung
rise
rose
risen
run
ran
run
say
said
said
see saw seen
seek
sought
sought
sell
sold
sold
send
sent
sent
set
set
set
sew
sewed
sewn/sewed
shake
shook
shaken
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shear
sheared
shorn/sheared
shed
shed
shed
shine
shined/shone
shined/shone
shoot
shot
shot
show
showed
shown/showed
shrink
shrank/shrunk
shrunk
shut
shut
shut
sing
sang
sung
sit
sat
sat
slay slew slain
sleep
slept
slept
slide
slid
slid
sling
slung
slung
slit
slit
slit
smell
smelled/smelt
smelled/smelt
speak
spoke
spoken
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speed
sped/speeded
sped/speeded
spell
spelled/spelt
spelled/spelt
spend
spent
spent
spin
spun
spun
spit
spit/spat
spit/spat
split
split
split
spoil
spoiled/spoilt
spoiled/spoilt
spread
spread
spread
spring
sprang/sprung
sprung
stand
stood stood
steal
stole
stolen
stick
stuck
stuck
sting
stung
stung
stink
stank/stunk
stunk
strew
strewed
strewn/strewed
stride
strode
stridden
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strive
strove
striven
strike
struck
struck/stricken
string
strung
strung
strive
strove/strived
striven/strived
swear
swore
sworn
sweep
swept
swept
swell
swelled
swollen/swelled
swim
swam
swum
swing
swung
swung
take took taken
teach
taught
taught
tear
tore
torn
tell
told
told
think
thought
thought
throw
threw
thrown
thrust
thrust
thrust
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tread
trod
trodden/trod
unbind
unbound
unbound
underlie
underlay
underlain
understand
understood
understood
undertake
undertook
undertaken
underwrite
underwrote
underwritten
undo
undid
undone
unwind
unwound
unwound
uphold
upheld
upheld
upset upset upset
wake
woke/waked
woken/waked
wear
wore
worn
weave
wove
woven
wed
wed/wedded
wed/wedded
weep
wept
wept
wet
wet/wetted
wet/wetted
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win
won
won
wind
wound
wound
withdraw
withdrew
withdrawn
wring
wrung
wrung
write
wrote
written
Commonly Misspelled Words
absence
accidentally
accommodate
accumulate
achieve
acquaintance
acquire
acquitted
advice
advise
amateur
among
analysis
analyze
annual
apartment
apparatus
apparent
appearance
appropriate
Arctic
arguing
argument
arithmetic
ascend
athletic
attendance
balance
battalion
beginning
belief
believe
beneficial
benefited
boundaries
Britain
business
calendar
candidate
category
cemetery
changeable
changing
choose
chose
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coming
commission
committee
comparative
compelled
conceivable
conferred
conscience
conscientious
conscious
control controversial
controversy criticize deferred
definitely
definition
describe
description
desperate
dictionary
dining
disappearance
disappoint
disastrous
discipline dissatisfied dormitory effect eighth
eligible
eliminate
embarrass
eminent
encouragement
encouraging
environment
equipped
especially
exaggerate
exceed
excellence
exercise
exhilarate
existence
existent
experience
explanation
familiar
fascinate
February
fiery
foreign
formerly
forty
fourth
frantically
gauge
generally
government
grammar grandeur grievous height heroes
hindrance
hoping
humorous
hypocrisy
hypocrite
immediately
incidentally
incredible
independence
inevitable
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intellectual
intelligence
interesting
irresistiblejewelry
judgment
kindergarten
knowledge
laboratory
laid
led
lightning
loneliness
lose
losing
maintenance
maneuver
manufacture
marriage
mathematics
maybe
mere
miniature
mischievous
mysterious
necessary
ninety
noticeable
occasionally
occurred
occurrence
omitted
opinion
optimistic
paid
parallel
paralysis
paralyze
particular
pastime
performance
permissible
perseverance
personal
personnel
perspiration
physical
picnicking
possession
possibility
possible
practically
precede
precedence
preference
preferred
prejudice
preparation
prevalent
principal
principle
privilege
probably
procedure
proceed
profession
professor
prominent
pronunciation
pursue
quantity
quizzes
recede
receive
receiving
recommend
reference
referring
repetition
restaurant
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rhyme
rhythm
ridiculous
sacrifice
sacrilegious
salary
schedule
seize
sense
separate
separation
sergeant
severely
shining
similar
sincerely
sophomore
specifically
specimen
statue
studying
succeed
succession
surprise
technique
temperamenta
l
tendency
tragedy
traveled
transferring
tries
truly
tyranny
unanimous
undoubtedly
unnecessary
until
usually
village
villain
weather
Wednesday
weird
whether
woman
women
writing
Rhetorical Terms - Argument
antagonist -The character who opposes the interests of theprotagonist.
Ex: In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien creates Lord Sauron as the
antagonist to Frodo.
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antanaclasis -Repetition of a word in two different senses.
Ex: If we do not hang together, we will hang separately.
anticipated objection -The technique a writer or speaker uses in an
argumentative text to address and answer objections, even though
the audience has not had the opportunity to voice these objections.
Ex: "You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea,
and airYou ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is
victory." (Winston Churchill)
antimetabole -The repetition of words in successive clauses inreverse grammatical order.
Ex: One should eat to live, not live to eat.
apologist -A person or character who makes a case for some
controversial, even contentious, position.
Ex: In Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, Romeo makes a
case for marrying Juliet, despite the controversy over the issue.
apology -An elaborate statement justifying some controversial, even
contentious, position.
Ex: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out
the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal.'" (Martin Luther King Jr.)
apostrophe -The direct address of an absent person or personified
object as if he/she/it is able to reply.
Ex: "O' Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?" (William
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Shakespeare)
appeal to authority -In a text, the reference to words, action, or
beliefs of a person in authority as a means of supporting a claim,
generalization, or conclusion.
Ex: Isaac Newton was a genius and he believed in God. Therefore,
God must exist.
appeal to emotion -The appeal of a text to the feelings or interests
of the audience.
Ex: If you don't graduate from high school, you will always be poor.
argument by analysis -An argument developed by breaking the
subject matter into its component parts.
Ex: The Virginians failed miserably at initial colonization and
suffered through disease, war, and famine because of their high
expectations and greed, which also molded their colony socially and
economically.
asyndeton -The omission of conjunctions between related clauses.
Ex: "This is the villain among you who deceived you, who cheated
you, who meant to betray you completely." (Aristotle)
basic topic -One of the four perspectives that Aristotle explained
could be used to generate material about any subject matter: greater
or less, possible and impossible, past fact, and future fact.
Ex: Topics include justice, peace, rights, and movie theaters.
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brain-storming -Within the planning act of the writing process, a
technique used by a writer or speaker to generate many ideas, some
of which he or she will later eliminate.
Ex: I brainstorm before history essays by writing down as many
specific Exs as I can think of for the prompt.
cloze test -A test of reading ability that requires a person to fill in
missing words in a text.
Ex: The SAT's language portion contains questions modeled in this
way.
common topic -One of the perspectives, derived from Aristotle's
topics, used to generate material. The six common topics are
definition, division, comparison, relation, circumstances, and
testimony.
Ex: Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson's political opinions
can be the subject of a common topic, such as division.
compound subject -A sentence in which two or more nouns, noun
phrases, or noun clauses constitute the grammatical subject of a
clause
Ex: The dog and the cat scurried away from the approaching car.
confirmation -In ancient Roman oratory, the part of a speech inwhich the speaker or writer could offer proof or demonstration of the
central idea.
Ex: In Julius Caesar's speech, the confirmation was scattered
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throughout.
conflict -The struggle of characters with themselves, with others, or
with the world around them.
Ex: In The Grapes of Wrath, migrants conflict with property owners.
connotation -The implied meaning of a word, in contrast to its
directly expressed "dictionary meaning."
Ex: Home literally means one's house, but implies feelings of family
and security.
consulting -Seeking help for one's writing from a reader.
Ex: I often consult my parents.
dramatistic pentad -The invention strategy, developed by Kenneth
Burke, that invites a speaker or writer to create identities for the act,
agent, agency, attitude, scene, and purpose in a situation.
effect -The emotional or psychological impact a text has on a reader
or listener.
Ex: The Grapes Of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, causes the reader to
have sympathy for migrant workers.
ellipsis -The omission of words, the meaning of which is provided
by the overall context of a passage.
Ex: "Medical thinking . . . stressed air as the communicator of
disease, ignoring sanitation or visible carriers" (Tuchman).
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epanalepsis -Repetition at the end of a clause of the word that
occurred at the beginning of the clause.
Ex: Blood hath brought blood.
epithet -A word of phrase adding a characteristic to a person's
name.
Ex: Alexander the Great.
figurative language -Language dominated by the use of schemes
and tropes.
Ex: "The ground is thirsty and hungry."
flashback -A part of the plot that moves back in time and then
returns to the present.
Ex: In Oedipus Rex, both Oedipus and Iocaste recall previous
events.
generalization -A point that a speaker or writer generations on the
basis of considering a number of particular examples.
Ex: "All French people are rude."
genre -A piece of writing classified by type.
Ex: Science Fiction.
investigating -Activities that writers use, during the writing process,
to locate ideas and information.
Ex: For my research paper, I have investigated many sources in the
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library and online.
irony -Writing or speaking that implies the contrary of what is
actually written or spoken.
Ex 1: "Of course I believe you," Joe said sarcastically.
Ex 2: "I can't describe to you how surprised I was to find out I loved
herI even hoped for a while that she'd throw me over" (Fitzgerald
157).
narration -In ancient Roman oratory, the part of a speech in which
the speaker provided background information on the topic.Ex: Julius Caesar used narration in many of his speeches.
pace -The speed with which a plot moves from one event to another.
Example: In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck paces the story
somewhat slowly, interspersing it with main-idea chapters.
parallelism -A set of similarly structured words, phrases, or clauses
that appears in a sentence or paragraph.
Ex 1: The dog ran, stumbled, and fell.
Ex 2: "After two years I remember the rest of that day, and that night
and the next day" (Fitzgerald 17).
parenthesis -An insertion of material that interrupts the typical flow
of a sentence.
Ex: The dog (which was black) ran, stumbled, and fell.
people's topics -The English translation of konnoi topoi, the four
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topics that Aristotle explained could be used to generate material
about any subject matter; also called basic topics.
Ex: Topics include justice, peace, rights, and movie theaters.
periodic sentence -A sentence with modifying elements included
before the verb and/or complement.
Ex: "John, the tough one, the sullen kid who scoffed at any show of
sentiment, gave his mother flowers."
scheme -An artful variation from typical formation and arrangement
of words or sentences.Ex: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Rhetorical Terms - Diction
act -In a dramatistic pentad created by a speaker or writer in order
to invent material, the words the speaker or writer uses to describe
what happened or happens in a particular situation.
Ex: "With the cunning typical of its breed, the automobile never
breaks down while entering a filling station with a large staff of idle
mechanics.It waits" (Russell Baker)
agency -In a dramatistic pentad created by a speaker or writer in
order to invent material, the words the speaker or writer uses to
describe the means by which something happened or happens in a
particular situation.
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Ex: "As a general rule, any object capable of breaking down at the
moment when it is most needed will do so.
The automobile is typical
of the category." (Russell Baker)
agent -In a dramatistic pentad created by a speaker or writer in
order to invent material, the words the speaker uses to describe the
person or persons involved in taking action in a particular situation.
Ex: "Thus [the automobile] creates maximum misery, inconvenience,
frustration, and irritability among its human cargo, thereby reducing
its owner's life span." (Russell Baker)
anecdote -A brief narrative offered in a text to capture the
audience's attention or to support a generalization of claim.
Ex: "A good man, gray on the edges, an assistant manager in a
brown starched and ironed uniform, is washing the glass windows of
the store...Good night, m'ijo! he tells a young boy coming out after
playing the video game..." (Dagoberto Gilb)
compound sentence -A sentence with two or more independent
clauses.
Ex: Canada is a rich country, but it still has many poor people.
conclusion (of syllogism) -The ultimate point or generalization that
a syllogism expresses.Ex: All mortals die.All men are mortals.All men die.
contraction -The combination of two words into one by eliminating
one or more sounds and indicating the omission with an apostrophe.
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Ex: "Do not" becomes "don't." "Should have" becomes "should've."
contraries -See contradiction.
Ex: The book is red. The book is not green. If the book is read, then
the book is not green. If the book is not red, then the book may be
green.
data (as evidence) -Facts, statistics, and examples that a speaker or
writer offers in support of a claim, generalization, or conclusion.
Ex: Conserve electricity.
42% of America's carbon dioxide
emissions come from electricity generation.
deductive reasoning -Reasoning that begins with a general
principle and concludes with a specific instance that demonstrates
the general principle.
Ex: "Gravity makes things fall. The apple that hit my head was due
to gravity."
delivery -The presentation and format of a composition.
Ex: The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, is formatted by
chapters, which either present general information about farmers or
the specific story of Joe and his family.
editing -The final observation, before delivery, by a writer or
speaker of a composition to evaluate appropriateness and to locate
missteps in the work.
Ex: For process papers, I edit my work many times before submitting
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a final draft.
efferent reading -Reading to garner information from a text.
Ex: For history, I perform efferent reading of the textbook.
enthymeme -Logical reasoning with one premise left unstated.
Ex: We cannot trust this man, for he has perjured himself in the past.
(Missing: Those who perjure themselves cannot be trusted.)
euphemism -An indirect expression of unpleasant information in
such way as to lesson its impact.
Ex 1: "Passed way" for "died."
Ex 2: "You see, I carry on a little business on the side, a sort of a
sideline, you understand"(Fitzgerald 87).
image -A passage of text that evokes sensation or emotional
intensity.Ex: "Waves crashing on the ocean look like knives."
inference -A conclusion that a reader or listener reaches by means
of his or her own thinking rather than by being told directly by a
text.
Ex: I infer that America became isolationist during the 1920s
because of the horrors of World War I.
memory -Access to information and collective information.
Ex: I will use my memory to remember these terms.
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narrative intrusion -A comment that is made directly to the reader
by breaking into the forward plot movement.
Ex: Narrator: The dog ran very fast across the street, dodging two
cars.
point of view -The perspective or source of a piece of writing. A
first-person point of view has a narrator or speaker who refers to
himself or herself as "I." A third-person point of view lacks "I" in
perspective.
Ex: The Great Gatsby is written in first-person point of view.
ratio -Combination of two or more elements in a dramatistic pentad
in order to invent material.
reading -The construction of meaning, purpose, and effect in a text.
Ex: I am reading The Great Gatsby.
reading journal -A log in which readers can trace developing
reactions to what they are reading.
Ex: I am maintaining a character log while reading The Great
Gatsby.
rhetorical choices -The particular choices a writer or speaker
makes to achieve meaning, purpose, or effect.
Ex: F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby chooses to use imagery,
similes, and metaphors often.
stock settings -Stereotypical time and place settings that let readers
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know a text's genre immediately.
Ex: For science fiction, if the text takes place in the future, on
another planet, or in another universe.
Rhetorical Terms - Scheme
alliteration -The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning or
in the middle of two or more adjacent words.Ex: "To make a man to meet the moral need/ A man to match the
mountains and the sea" (Edwin Markham)
anadiplosis -The repetition of the last word of one clause at the
beginning of the following clause.
Ex: "Men in great place are thrice servants: servants of the
sovereign or state; servants of fame; and servants of
business." (Francis Bacon)
anaphora -The repetition of a group of words at the beginning of
successive clauses.
Ex: "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall
fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fightwith growing confidence" (Winston Churchill)
antecedent-consequence relationship -The relationship expressed
by "ifthen" reasoning.
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Ex: If industries poison rivers with pollutants, then many fish will
die.
anthimeria -The substitution of one part of speech for another.
Ex: "The thunder would not peace at my bidding." (William
Shakespeare)
appeal -One of three strategies for persuading audiences--logos,
appeal to reason; pathos, appeal to emotion; and ethos, appeal to
ethics.
Ex: "I elicited the anger of some of the most aggressive teenagers inmy high school.
A couple of nights later, a car pulled up in front of
my house, and the angry teenagers in the car dumped garbage on
the lawn of my house as an act of revenge and intimidation." (James
Garbarino)
appositive -A noun or noun phrase that follows another nounimmediately or defines or amplifies its meaning.
Ex: Orion, my orange cat, is sitting on the couch.
argument -A carefully constructed, well-supported representation
of how a writer sees an issue, problem, or subject.
Ex: The Patriots prevailed over the Loyalists, who they violently
persecuted due to their conflicting position; both betrayed theAfrican slaves to temporarily bolster their military.
Aristotelian triangle -A diagram showing the relations of writer or
speaker, audience (reader or listener), and text in a rhetorical
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situation.
canon -One of the traditional elements of rhetorical composition --
invention, arrangement, style, memory, or delivery.
Ex: Frederick Douglass's style (one aspect of canon) is both
objective and subjective.
casuistry -A mental exercise to discover possibilities for analysis of
communication.
dramatic narration -A narrative in which the reader or viewer does
not have access to the unspoken thoughts of any character.
dynamic character -One who changes during the course of the
narrative.
Ex: Romeo is a dramatic character in Romeo and Juliet, by William
Shakespeare.
evidence -The facts, statistics, anecdotes, and examples that
a
speaker or writer offers in support of a claim, generalization, or
conclusion.
Ex: "Recent studies in the brain chemistry of rats show that when
they play, their brains release large amounts of
dopamine . . ." (Rifkin).
metonymy -An entity referred to by one of its attributes or
associations.
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Ex: "The press" for the news media.
symbol -In a text, an element that stands for more than itself and,
therefore, helps to convey a theme of the text.
Ex: Purple symbolizes royalty.
East Egg in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald symbolizes the
""old rich."""
tautology -A group of words that merely repeats the meaning
already conveyed.
Ex: "If you don't get any better, then you'll never improve."
thesis -The main idea in a text, often the main generalization,
conclusion, or claim.
Ex: The corruption of America's rich in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott
Fitzgerald.
thesis statement -A single sentence that states a text's thesis,
usually somewhere near the beginning.
Ex: "Sweatt v. Painter advanced equality by ultimately improving
African American educational rights, thus transforming American
democracy for a better today."
topic -A place where writers go to discover methods for proof and
strategies for presentation of ideas.
Ex: Gun control laws, the environment, or communism.
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trope -An artful variation from expected modes of expression of
thoughts and ideas.
Ex: Pun or metonymy.
voice -The textual features, such as diction and sentence structure,
that convey a writer's or speaker's persona.
Ex: F. Scott Fitzgerald's voice is made up of mystery.
writing process -The acts a writer goes through, often recursively,
to complete a piece of writing: inventing, investigating, planning,
drafting, consulting, revising, and editing.Ex: I used this to write my research paper.
Rhetorical Terms - Syntax
audience -The person or persons who listen to a spoken text or read
a written one and are capable of responding to it.
Ex: The audience of Michael Chabon's lecture at the Mondavi
Center was composed of many Oak Ridge students.
chiasmus -Inverted relationship between two elements in two
parallel phrases.
Ex: "To stop too fearful and too faint to go."
claim -The ultimate conclusion, generalization, or point that a
syllogism or enthymeme expresses. The point, backed up by
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support, of an argument.
Ex: In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck's claim was that the
poor are wrongly mistreated.
climax -The arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in order of
increasing number or importance.
Ex: "He risked truth, he risked honor, he risked fame, he risked all
that men hold dear,yea, he risked life itself..."
climbing the ladder -A term referring to the scheme of climax.
Ex: See climax.
isocolon -Parallel elements that are similar in structure and in
length.
Ex: " to impress the ignorant, to perplex the dubious, and to
confound the scrupulous "
mnemonic device -A systematic aid to memory.
Ex: "Roy G. Biv" for the most common colors.
onomatopoeia -A literary device in which the sound of a word is
related to its meaning.
Ex: Words like "bang," and "click".
revising -Returning to a draft to rethink, reread, and rework ideas
and sentences.
Ex: I am currently revising my research paper.
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scene -In a dramatistic pentad created by a speaker or writer in
order to invent material, the words the speaker or writer uses to
describe where and when something happened or happens in a
particular situation.
Ex: "My family have been prominent, well-to-do people in this
Middle Western city for three generations" (Fitzgerald 2).
simple sentence -A sentence with one independent clause and no
dependent clause.
Ex: The dog ran.
situation -The convergence in a situation of exigency (the need to
write), audience, and purpose.
Ex: Before drafting my research paper, I had to analyze my purpose
and how much background information to provide for my audience.
Rhetorical Terms - Trope
allegory -An extended metaphor.
Ex 1: "During the time I have voyaged on this ship, I have avoided
the cabin; rather, I have remained on deck, battered by wind andrain, but able to see moonlight"
Ex 2: "This is a valley of ashes--a fantastic farm where ashes grow
like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, where ashes
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take forms of houses and...of men..." (Fitzgerald 27).
allusion -A reference in a written or spoken text to another text or to
some particular body of knowledge.
Ex 1: "I doubt if Phaethon feared more -- that time/ he dropped the
sun-reins of his father's chariot/ and burned the streak of sky we see
today" (Dante's Inferno).
Ex 2: "Have you read 'The rise of the Coloured Empires' by this man
Goddard?" (Fitzgerald 17).
anastrophe -Inversion or reversal of the usual order of words.Ex: Echoed the hills.
anthimeria -The substitution of one part of speech for another.
Ex: The thunder would not peace at my bidding.
antithesis -The juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas, often inparallel structure.
Ex 1: "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in the
pursuit of justice is no virtue." (Barry Goldwater)
Ex 2: "found her lying on her bed as lovely as the June night in
her flowered dress--and as drunk as a monkey" (Fitzgerald 81).
flat character -A figure readily identifiable by memorable traits but
not fully developed.
Ex: Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen.
format -The structural elements that constitute the presentation of a
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written text.
Ex: The Modern Language Association (MLA) has created a format
for research papers.
freewriting -Intuitive writing strategy for generation of ideas by
writing without stopping.
Ex: In English 1, I performed freewriting for two short pieces.
functional part -A part of a text classified according to its function.
Ex: The introduction.
hyperbole -An exaggeration for effect.
Ex 1: "I told you a billion times not to exaggerate."
Ex 2: "we scattered light through half Astoria" (Fitzgerald 72).
invention -The art of generating material for a text; the first of the
five traditional canons of rhetoric.Ex: I use brainstorming before an essay as invention.
journal -A text in which writers produce informal compositions that
help them "think on paper" about topics and writing projects.
Ex: I had a journal last year for Honors English in which I recorded
my thoughts on various novels I read.
journaling -The process of writing in a journal.
Ex: I wrote a journal last year for Honors English on the books I
read.
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loose sentence -A sentence that adds modifying elements after the
subject, verb, and complement.
Ex: "Bells rang, filling the air with their clangor, startling pigeons
into flight from every belfry, bringing people into the streets to hear
the news."
meiosis -Representation of a thing as less than it really is to compel
greater esteem for it.
Ex: Calling an act of arson a prank.
metaphor -An implied comparison that does not use the word likeor as.
Ex: "No man is an island" (Donne).
oxymoron -Juxtaposed words with seemingly contradictory
meanings.
Ex: "O miserable abundance! O beggarly riches!" (Donne).
paralipsis -Irony in which one proposes to pass over a matter, but
subtly reveals it.
Ex: "She is talented, not to mention rich."
peroration -In ancient Roman oratory, the part of a speech in which
the speaker would draw together the entire argument and include
material designed to compel the audience to think or act in a way
consonant with the central argument.
Ex: In Julius Caesar's speech, the peroration came at the end.
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protagonist -The major character in a piece of literature; the figure
in the narrative whose interests the reader is most concerned about
and sympathetic toward.
Ex: Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath.
repretoire -A set of assumptions, skills, facts, and experience that a
reader brings to a text to make meaning.
setting -The context--including time and place--of a narrative.
Ex: The area surround New York City in the 1920s is the setting of
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
sharing -A system calling for writers to read or listen to one
another's work and suggest ways to improve it.
Ex: In AP US History, we peer reviewed each other's take-home
DBQs.
simile -A type of comparison that uses the word like or as.
Ex: "There was something gorgeous about him, some heightened
sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those
intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles
away" (Fitzgerald 2).
syllogism -Logical reasoning from inarguable premises.
Ex: All mortals die. All humans are mortal. All humans die.
synecdoche -A part of something used to refer to the whole.
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Ex: "The hired hands are not doing their jobs."
syntax -The order of words in a sentence.
Ex: "The dog ran" not "The ran dog."
theme -The message conveyed by a literary work.
Ex: The decline of the American dream in The Great Gatsby by F.
Scott Fitzgerald.
tone -The writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject matter.
Ex: Light-hearted in the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
by Michael Chabon.
understatement -Deliberate playing down of a situation in order to
make a point.
Ex: "I think there's a problem between Shias and Sunnis."
unity -The sense that a text is, appropriately, about only one subject
and achieves one major purpose or effect.
Ex: Pride by Dagoberto Gilb
unreliable narrator -An untrustworthy or nave commentator on
events and characters in a story.
Ex: The people at Gatsby's parties like Jordan who spread rumors
about Gatsby's past in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
verisimilitude -The quality of a text that reflects the truth of actual
experience.
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Ex: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael
Chabon has medium verisimilitude.
zeugma -A trope in which one word, usually a noun or the main
verb, governs two other words not related in meaning.
Ex: He governs his will and his kingdom.
Rhetorical Terms - Writing
Material
aesthetic reading -Reading to experience the world of the text.
Ex: One often reads John Steinbeck's novels, like The Grapes of
Wrath, to experience his detailed settings.
aim -The goal a writer or speaker hopes to achieve with the text --
for example, to clarify difficult material, to inform, to convince, to
persuade. Also called intention and purpose.
Ex: In Pride, Dagoberto Gilb's aim is to define pride and what it
means to him.
Anglo-Saxon diction -Word choice characterized by simple, often
one- or two- syllable nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.
Ex: Words include "thinking," "kingly," "bridge," "stone," and
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"early."
apposition -Two nouns that are adjacent to each other and reference
the same thing.
Ex: I know the dog Toto.
arrangement -In a spoken or written text, the placement of ideas
for effect.
Ex: In essays, writers often strategically arrange their essays into
paragraphs and order their points from most convincing to least.
assonance -The repetition of vowel sounds in the stressed syllables
of two or more adjacent words.
Ex: "Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies" (John Keats)
assumption -An opinion, a perspective, or a belief that a writer or
speaker thinks the audience holds.Ex: "We think a problem is weakness, mental laziness, intellectual
inflation, but an issue is deep-rooted, interior, and
personal." (Allison Amend)
attitude -In an adapted dramatistic pentad created by a speaker or
writer in order to invent materials, the manner in which an action is
carried out.
Ex: "Truth be told, we have replaced problem with issue in our
vocabulary.And issue is a euphemism." (Allison Amend)
auxesis -Magnifying the importance or gravity of something by
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referring it with a disproportionate name.
Ex: Calling a scratch on an arm a wound.
begging of the question -The situation that results when a writer or
speaker constructs an argument on an assumption that the audience
does not accept.
Ex: This painting is horrible because it is obviously worthless.
causal relationship -The relationship expressing, "If X is the cause,
then Y is the effect," or, "If Y is the effect, then X caused it."
Ex: If the dog runs away, then the boy will be sad.
character -A personage in a narrative.
Ex: Romeo was a character in Romeo and Juliet, by William
Shakespeare.
complex sentence -A sentence with one independent clause and oneor more dependent clauses.
Ex: As long as it isn't cold, it doesn't matter if it rains.
compound-complex sentence -A sentence with two or more
independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.
Ex: The package arrived in the morning, but the courier left before I
could check the contents.
context -The convergence of time, place, audience, and motivating
factors in which a piece of writing or a speech is situated.
Ex: Kate Chopin lived in the late 1800s in Southern America as a
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feminist. This background formed the foundation of The Awakening.
contradiction -One of the types of rhetorical invention included
under the common topic of relationships. Contradiction urges the
speaker or writer to invent an example or a proof that is counter to
the main idea or argument.
Ex: "If war is the cause of our misery, peace is the way to promote
our happiness."
denotation -The "dictionary definition" of a word, in contrast to its
connotation, or implied meaning.Ex: A house is literally a dwelling usually for a family.
descriptive writing -Writing that relies on sensory images to
characterize a person or place.
Ex: "so much depends/ upon/ the red wheel/ barrow/ glazed with
rain/ water/ beside the white/ chickens" (William Carlos Williams)
dialect -The describable patterns of language--grammar and
vocabulary--used by a particular cultural or ethnic population.
Ex: A Caribbean dialect is often "sing-songish" and leaves out
words from sentences.
dialogue -Conversation between and among characters.
Ex: "Jim, I don't get it," Blair said.
Jim raised an
eyebrow. "Don't get what?"
diction -Word choice, which is viewed on scales of formality/
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informality, concreteness/abstraction, Latinate derivation/Anglo-
Saxon derivation, and denotative value/connotative value.
Ex: Using "issue" instead of "problem."
double entendre -The double meanings of a group of words that the
speaker or writer has purposely left ambiguous.
Ex 1: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye
mighty, and despair!" (Shelley).
Ex 2: "West Egg especially still figures into my more fantastic
dreams" (Fitzgerald 185).
drafting -The process by which writers get something written on
paper or in a computer file so that they can develop their ideas and
begin moving toward an end, a start-to-finish product; the raw
material for what will become the final product.
Ex: For the research paper, we will have to revise and draft many
times to perfect our papers.
dramatic monologue -A type of poem, popular primarily in the
nineteenth century, in which the speaker is delivering a monologue
to an assumed group of listeners.
Ex: In "My Last Duchess," by Robert Browning, shows off a painting
of his late wife and reveals his cruelty to her.
epistrophe -The repetition of a group of words at the end of
successive clauses.
Ex: "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared
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to what lies within us" (Emerson).
erotema -Asking a question to assert or deny something obliquely
not for an answer.
Ex: "How much longer must our people endure this injustice?"
ethos -The appeal of a text to the credibility and character of the
speaker, writer, or narrator.
Ex: If you don't graduate from high school, you will always be poor.
exaggeration -An overstatement.
Ex: The Matrix is the best movie ever made.
example -An anecdote or a narrative offered in support of a
generalization, claim, or point.
Ex: Animals have more intelligence than imagined. "On human IQ
tests, she [a gorilla named Koko] scores between 70 and95" (Rifkin).
exordium -In ancient roman oratory, the introduction of a speech;
literally, the "web" meant to draw the audience in the speech.
Ex: Julius Caesar's speech begins with an exordium.
extended analogy -An extended passage arguing that if two things
are similar in one or two ways, they are probably similar in other
ways as well.
Ex: In "Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts," Catton argues some
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similarities between Grant and Lee.
extended example -An example that is carried through several
sentences or paragraphs.
Ex: In "Pride," Dagoberto Gilb extends an Ex of pride in the form of
an anecdote through two paragraphs.
fable -A narrative in which fictional characters, often animals, take
actions that have ethical or moral significance.
Ex: Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, is a fable.
figures of rhetoric -Schemes--that is, variations from typical word
or sentence formation--and tropes, which are variations from typical
patterns of thought.
Ex: "When I first saw her, my soul began to quiver."
flashforward -A part of the plot that jumps ahead in time andreturns to the present.
Ex: Oedipus is told he will sleep with his mother and kill his father
by a prophet.
heuristic -A systematic strategy or method for solving problems.
Ex: Lawrence Lessig has argued that patents in different industries
should be given different amounts of time, using this strategy.
house analogy -In ancient Roman oratory, the method that speakers
used to memorize their speeches, connecting the introduction to the
porch of a house, the narration and partition to the front foyer, the
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confirmation and refutation to rooms connected to the foyer, and the
conclusion to the back door.
Ex: Julius Caesar most likely used this method to memorize his
speeches.
hyperbaton -Unusual or inverted word order.
Ex: "Size matters not. Judge me by my size, do you?" (Yoda).
imagery -Language that evokes particular sensations or emotionally
rich experiences in a reader.
Ex 1: Edgar Allan Poe uses imagery in The Fall of the House of theUsher.
Ex 2: "ran for a huge black knotted trees whose massed leaves
made a fabric against the rain" (Fitzgerald 93).
implied metaphor -A metaphor embedded in a sentence rather than
expressed directly as a sentence.Ex 1: "John swelled and rustled his plumage." (John was a
peacock.)
Ex 2: "Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas
as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory
heart" (Fitzgerald 25).
inductive reasoning -Reasoning the begins by citing a number ofspecific instances or examples and then shows how collectively they
constitute a general principle.
Ex: This ice is cold. Thus, all ice is cold.
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intention -The goal a writer or speaker hopes to achieve with the
text.
Ex: One of John Steinbeck's intentions in The Grapes of Wrath was
to end humans' inhumanity to fellow humans.
jargon -The specialized vocabulary of a particular group.
Ex: Bilateral periorbital hematoma (a black eye).
konnoi topoi -People's topics; ordinary patterns of reasoning; also
called basic topics.
Ex: Topics include justice, peace, rights, and movie theaters.
Latinate diction -Vocabulary characterized by the choice of
elaborate, often complicated words from Latin roots.
Ex: Words like "deviate," "aqueduct," and "insulate".
limited narration -A narrative in which the reader or viewer hasaccess to the unspoken thoughts of one character or partial thinking
of more than one character.
Ex: "Murgatroyd met Madeline on New Year's Eve in 2002. He
attended a party and she opened the door. Her hair! Only a goddess
could have hair so fine."
litotes -Understatement.
Ex 1: "This is no ordinary city" rather than "this is an impressive
city".
Ex 2: "I lived at West Egg, the--well, the less fashionable of the two,
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though this is a most superficial tag" (Fitzgerald 9).
logic -The art of reasoning.
Ex: All humans are mortal. Socrates is human. Thus, Socrates is
mortal.
logos -The appeal of a text based on the logical structure of its
argument or central ideas.
Ex: "If there really were such strong evidence of racial bias in the
justice system it would be newsworthy. . ." (Taylor 6).
mood -The feeling that a text is intended to produce in the audience.
Ex: In John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, the mood is mostly
dark and gloomy.
narrative -An anecdote or a story offered in support of a
generalization, claim, or point. Also, a function in textsaccomplished when the speaker or writer tells a story.
Ex: "A good man, gray on the edges, an assistant manager in a
brown starched and ironed uniform, is washing the glass windows of
the store...Good night, m'ijo! he tells a young boy coming out after
playing the video game..." (Dagoberto Gilb)
omniscient narration -A narrative in which the reader or viewer
has access to the unspoken thoughts of all the characters.
Ex: Our Town by Thornton Wilder.
parable -A usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral
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attitude or a religious principle.
Ex: Ignacy Krasicki's "The Blind Man and the Lame."
paradox -A statement that seems untrue on the surface but is true
nevertheless.
Ex: "Not having a fashion is a fashion."
paronomasia -To call with a slight change of name; a play on
words.
Ex: "Independence is what a boy wants from his father when he
wants to be let a loan."
partition -In ancient Roman oratory, the part of a speech where the
speaker would divide the main topic into parts.
Ex: Julius Caesar used partitions to better communicate his
argument.
pathos -The appeal of a text to the emotions or interests of the
audience.
Ex: ". . . Helped feed a wave of national breast-beating over the
unfairness of the juvenile justice system" (Taylor 1).
peer review -A system calling for writers to read or listen to one
another's work and suggest ways to improve it.
Ex: In AP US History, we peer reviewed each other's take-home
DBQs.
pentad -Kenneth Burke's system for analyzing motives and actions
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in communication. The five points of the pentad are act, agent,
agency, scene, and purpose.
periphrasis -The substitution of an attributive word or phrase for a
proper name, or the use of a proper name to suggest a personality
characteristic.
Ex 1: "He was no Romeo; but then again, she was no Juliet."
Ex 2: "I stared at it, like Kant at