Patrick Wolfe

English 2 Pre-AP
February 3, 2016
Period 2
Language Terms

Argument: speech or writing that presents a claim about an issue or problem and supports
it with reasons and evidence. Arguments usually take into account other points of view,
and respond to objections opponents might raise.

Example: Martin Luther Kings Letter to the clergymen.

Appeal to fear: a fallacy in which an individual tries to get support for an idea through
fear (including deception and propaganda).

Example: Big Brothers propaganda in 1984

Appeal to pity: a fallacy in which an individual tries to get support for an idea through the
use of pity.

Example: A girl crying saying her dog died to get a lollipop

Appeal to vanity: a fallacy in which an individual tried to get support for an idea through
using flattery on the people who you want to accept your argument.

Example: Clarisse eventually appealed to Montag in F451

Bias: this is any inclination toward a particular issue. Words with positive/negative
connotations signal a writers bias.

Example: A supporter of a topic writing about why the topic is great

Claim: this is the writer's position on an issue. The argument is used to support the
writers claim.

Example: Juvenile detention centers do not help teens.

Cause and effect: a cause is any event or action that directly results in another event or
action. The effect is the direct or logical outcome of an event or action. Basic cause and
effect relationships include a single cause with a single effect, one cause with multiple
effects, multiple causes with a single effect, and a chain of causes and effects. The
concept of cause and effect also provides a way of organizing a piece of writing. This
helps the reader show relationships between events or ideas.

Example: The plane crashed, so the kids ended up of the island.

Cite: to quote another text as supporting evidence for your argument

Example: Bibliography

Context: the parts of something written or spoken that immediately precede and follow a
word or passage and clarify its meaning.

Example: While we read Macbeth in the side of the book there was translations

Counter argument/counterclaim: this is an argument made in a response to an opposing

argument, or counterclaim.

Example: Juvenile detention centers are great for teens.

Clich: a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.

Example: Big Brother is watching.

Credibility: the believability or trustworthiness of a source and information it contains.

Example: Clarisse is more creditable than the corrupted government

Deductive reasoning: a logical process in which a conclusion is based on the concordance

of multiple premises that are generally assumed to be true. In other words, deductive
reasoning is called top-down logic.

Example: Montag is going to die because he read books.

Emotional appeal: these are messages that evoke strong feelings (fear, pity, or vanity) in
order to persuade instead of using facts and evidence to make a point.

Example: Clarisse asking Montag what he does with his life.

Ethical appeal: method of persuasion that looks to the authors credibility and the
persons sense of ethics.

Example: Martin Luther King Jrs idea of no more discrimination

Evidence: these are specific pieces of information that support a claim. Evidence can take
the form of facts, quotations, examples, statistics, or personal examples.

Example: Less than 20% of Juvenile centers have the rehabilitation programs that teens need.

Evaluate: to examine something carefully, and judge its worth. A reader can evaluate the
actions of a particular character, for example, or can form an opinion about the value of
an entire work.

Example: MLK evaluated society.

Expository essay: an essay is a short work of nonfiction that deals with a single subject.
Specifically, an expository essay presents or explains information and ideas.

Example: The essay of 8th grade.

Fallacy: an error in reasoning. A fallacy is usually based on an incorrect inference or a

misuse of evidence. Some common logical fallacies are circular reasoning, either/or
fallacy, oversimplification, overgeneralization, and stereotyping.

Example: Mildred had fallacies of reasoning.

Inductive conclusion: this is a type of reasoning that uses logical observations, examples,
and facts to reach a conclusion.

Example: Montag will be liberated, due to the fact he has escaped his society.

Inference: a logical assumption that is based on observed facts and ones own knowledge
and experience

Example: Montag will not die.

Loaded language: is a language that tries to influence the audience by appealing to

emotion or stereotypes. In fact, this type of language consists of words with a strong
positive or negative connotation. The intention of these words is to influence an audience.

Example: We deserve to be equal.

Logical appeal: an argument in which the logical relationship between the support and
claim is sound.

Example: We deserve to be equal because we were all created by God.

Main idea: the most controlling idea or impression about a topic that a writer or speaker
conveys. It can be the central idea of an entire work or just a paragraph. A main idea and
supporting details can serve as a basic pattern of organization in a piece of writing, with
the central idea about a topic being supported by details.

Example: MLK Speech: We are all equal.

MLA citation: is a style of citing words most commonly used to write papers and cite
sources within the liberal arts and humanities.

Example: Clinton, Bill. Interview by Andrew C. Revkin. Clinton on Climate Change. New
York Times. New York Times, May 2007. Web. 25 May 2009.

Narrative nonfiction: this is a type of writing that resembles fiction except the characters,
the setting, and the plot are all real. It is written to entertain audiences or to express
opinions and feelings. Pieces of Narrative nonfiction include: autobiographies,
biographies, memoirs, diaries, letters, and journal.

Example: The biography of MLK.

Nonfiction: a writing that tells about real people, places, and events. Unlike fiction,
nonfiction is mainly written to convey factual information, although writers of nonfiction
shape the information according to their own purposes and attitudes. Nonfiction works
include newspaper articles, letters, essays, biographies, movie reviews, speeches, true life
adventure stories, advertising, and more.

Example: A letter from Birmingham Jail

Pacing: this is the speed at which a story and its plot move along

Example: Fahrenheit 451s pacing was rather slow in the beginning.

Parallelism: the use of similar grammatical constructions to express ideas that are related
or equal in importance

Example: I walked up the tall hill, long road, and curvy street.

Paraphrase: restating of information in ones own words

Example: Rewriting anothers work in your own words

Pattern of organization: this is a particular arrangement of ideas and information. Patterns

like this are used to organize paragraphs, or entire compositions.

Example: The MLK speech presented a problem and a solution.

Primary sources: materials written by people who were present at events either as
participants or observers.

Example: Letters, speeches, diaries, autobiographies, and photographs

Propaganda: form of communication that uses distorted, false, or misleading information.

Example: The continuing wars in 1984

Objective summary: this is a bias free retelling of a story

Example: A summary from a person on neither side of the argument.

Over generalization: generalization that is too broad. Over generalizations usually have
the words all, everyone, every time, any, anything, no one, and none.

Example: All of Big Brothers followers are loyal.

Quote: quotation from a text or speech.

Example: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere MLK

Rhetorical devices: techniques writers use to enhance arguments and communicate more
effectively.

Example: Rhetorical devices include analogy, parallelism, rhetorical questions, and repetition.

Secondary source: records of events that were created sometime after the events
occurred; the writers were not directly involved or were not present when the events took
place.

Example: A news article about the MLK speech

Subjective summary: Subjective information is one person's opinion. In a newspaper, the

editorial section is the place for subjectivity. It can be based on fact, but it is one person's
interpretation of that fact. In this way, subjective information is also analytical

Example: An opinionated summary.

Stereotyping: this is a type of overgeneralization. Stereotypes are broad statements made

about people on the basis of their gender, ethnicity, race, or political, social, professional,
or religious group.

Example: All Mexicans are drug dealers.

Synthesize: this is to take individual pieces of information and combine them with other
pieces of information and prior knowledge or experience to gain a better understanding of
a subject or to create a new product or idea.

Example: Knowing about the Columbian exchange, I can garner that without it globalization
would not have been possible.

Writers purpose, issue, perspective: the writers purpose dictates why the author is
writing that particular piece of literature (inform, explain, entertain, or persuade) The
issue is what the author is writing about, and the perspective is the authors point of view.

Example: MLKs purpose was to discuss the issue of unrightful segregation.

Understatement: this is a technique of creating emphasize by saying less than is actually

or literally true. This is the opposite of a hyperbole or exaggeration. This is one of the
primary devices of irony, understatement can be used to develop a humorous effect, to
create satire, or to achieve a restrained tone

Example: MLKs speech was not very effective.

Writers attitude: the authors perception or belief toward a particular issue.

Example: The author is hopeful his speech impacted the world.

Works cited: a list of works cited lists names of all the works a writer has referred to in
his or her text. The list often includes not only books and articles but also non-print
sources.

Example: The New York Times