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RA Terms (1-15), RA Terms (31-47), RA Terms (16-30) - Coggle Diagram
RA Terms (1-15)
analogy: Explaining something complex by comparing it to something more simple
- "An amateur playing in a professional game is like an ibex stepping into a lion's den."
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allusion: When we hint at something and expect the other person to understand what we are referencing.
- Chocolate is his Kryptonite.
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appeals: Three different methods of appealing to an audience to convince them—ethos, logos, and pathos.
- See ethos, logos and pathos.
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attitude: The writer's personal views or feelings about the subject at hand.
- Difficult to convey in a short example, but something like "the deplorable state of this school" would convey that the author has a negative attitude towards the school.
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audience: Who the author is directing his or her message towards.
- When you create a resume, your audience is potential employers.
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choices: what the author chooses to include in their work
- word choice, appeals, syntax
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colloquialism: words or phrases that people use when talking to each other aren't used in formal language
- "You're nuts!" "Don't chicken out!" "Go bananas!"
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compare: Identifying similarities and/or differences
- apples and oranges are both fruit
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contrast: Involves comparing two or more objects or events in order to show their differences.
- an apple has a thin skin that we can eat; an orange has a thick skin that we cannot eat
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connotation: The implied meaning of a word; words can broadly have positive, negative, or neutral connotations.
- conscientious = positive connotation fussy = negative connotation
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context: The extra-textual environment in which the text is being delivered.
- If I am delivering a congratulatory speech to awards recipients, the immediate context might be the awards presentation ceremony; the broader context might be the purpose or significance of the awards themselves.
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counterargument: The argument(s) against the author's position.
- If I want to eliminate the dress code, a counterargument might be that this will place a burden on students of a lower socioeconomic status, who must now afford an entire school wardrobe or risk unwanted attention.
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deductive reasoning: A form of logical reasoning wherein a general principle is applied to a specific case.
- If all planets orbit a star, and Theta II is a planet, then it must orbit a star.
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denotation: The literal, dictionary-definition meaning of a word.
- The denotation of "chair" is "a place to sit."
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diction: The style of language used; generally tailored to be appropriate to the audience and situation.
- You might say "What's up, loser?" to your little brother, but you would probably say "How are you doing today?" to your principal.
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RA Terms (31-47)
speaker: The persona adopted by the author to deliver his or her message; may or may not actually be the same person as the author.
- Similar to the difference between author and narrator in a work of fiction.
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subject: Referred to as the plot, what the book is about in a factual way, responds to the what question: what happened first, second, third, and so on.
- The subject of the Jurassic Park movies is dinosaurs. The subject is dinosaurs. The theme is, “Don't mess with Mother Nature.”
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symbolism: The use of one object or action (a symbol) to represent or suggest something else.
- The black car that the main character drives is a foreshadowing of his death; and so on.
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syntax: The way sentences are grammatically constructed.
- "The boy ran hurriedly," reads differently than, "Hurriedly, the boy ran."
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theme: Overarching ideas or driving premises of a work.
- Some themes you will probably hear in your high school graduation speech include leaving behind a legacy, moving into the great unknown, becoming an adult, and changing the world.
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tone: The use of stylistic devices to reveal an author's attitude toward a subject.
- Only a narrow distinction from attitude. The phrase "the deplorable state of this school" reveals a negative attitude, but the word choice of "deplorable" is part of the author's tone.
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understatement: The description of something as having much less of a particular quality than it does.
- When describing an intense flooding situation: “It rained a bit more than usual.”
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voice: An author's unique sound. Similar to style.
- Think of the way that you can recognize a pop singer on the radio without hearing who it is first.
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ambiguity: When the structure and/or content of a statement makes its meaning unclear, leaving it open to multiple possible interpretations.
- The chicken is ready to eat. There are two meanings, the first one is that the chicken is already cooked and people are going to eat that chicken, the other meaning is a chicken is going to eat.
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epistrophe: Repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect .
- Lincoln's "of the people, by the people, for the people"
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extended metaphor: A version of metaphor that extends over the course of multiple lines, paragraphs, or stanzas of prose or poetry.
- “You're a snake! Everything you hiss out of your mouth is a lie.
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metonymy: A figure of speech in which an object or idea is referred to by the name of something closely associated with it, as opposed to by its own name.
- “the pen is mightier than the sword,” which contains two examples of metonymy. “Pen” and “sword” are everyday words, but when substituted for “written words” and “military force,” their meaning become much more symbolic.
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parallelism: Compounds words or phrases that have equivalent meanings so as to create a definite pattern.
- Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
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rhetorical question: one for which the questioner does not expect a direct answer: in many cases it may be intended to start a discourse, or as a means of displaying or emphasize the speaker's or author's opinion on a topic.
- "Can't you do anything right?"
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concession: A point yielded to an opposing perspective during an argument.
- "You already know how responsible I have been all my life; I don't think there will be any problem.”
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persona: The person who is understood to be speaking (or thinking or writing) a particular work. The persona is almost invariably distinct from the author; it is the voice chosen by the author for a particular artistic purpose.
- A child going to a new school for the first time wants others to think that he is popular, cool, and unafraid. He dresses in fashionable clothing, and he walks in with confidence and says hello to everyone. He is presenting a brave persona of a likable and popular kid.
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euphemism: The substitution of a less offensive or agreeable expression for an expression that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.
- “Kick the bucket” is a euphemism for “die.”
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RA Terms (16-30)
exigence: The event or occurrence that prompts rhetorical discourse.
- A congressman delivers a speech arguing that we need stricter gun control. The exigence is that the congressman believes stricter gun control will lead to less gun violence.
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figurative language: The use of language in a non-literal way; i.e. metaphor, simile, etc.
- "The sky's like a jewel box tonight!"
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hyperbole: Statements that use exaggerated language to emphasize a point.
- "I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse"
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idiom: A phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase.
- "It's raining cats and dogs"
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imagery: Any descriptive language used to evoke a vivid sense or image of something; includes figurative language.
- "The water was a pearl-studded sea of azure tipped with turquoise."
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inductive reasoning: Making a generalization based on specific evidence at hand.
- All of the planets in this solar system orbit a star, so all planets probably orbit stars.
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inference: Using clues provided by the author to figure things out
- If you notice someone making a disgusted face after they've taken a bite of their lunch, you can infer that they do not like it.
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irony: Saying the opposite of what you mean; also used to describe situations in which the results of an action are dramatically different than intended.
- "I do so hope there are more papers to sign," is something that might be said ironically.
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juxtaposition: Placing two very different things together for effect.
- "There they stood together, the beggars and the lords, the princesses and the washerwoman, all crowding into the square."
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occasion: The reason or moment for writing or speaking.
- When giving a graduation speech, the occasion is graduation.
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onomatopoeia: The naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it.
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organization: How the different parts of an argument are arranged in a piece of writing or speech.
- Think about the outlines you write in preparation for drafting an argumentative essay and you'll have an idea of what organization is.
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parallelism: Compounds words or phrases that have equivalent meanings so as to create a definite pattern.
- Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
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sarcasm: A form of verbal irony that mocks, ridicules, or expresses contempt.
- saying "they're really on top of things" to describe a group of people who are very disorganized
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satire: Is used in literature, art, media, speech, and music to ridicule various aspects of popular culture, most commonly a political topic, in order to draw attention to social or cultural criticism and bring about change, and/or improvement.
- Family Guy–animated series that satirizes American middle-class society and conventions.
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