Vocabulary Terms for Academic Reading and Writing
| Terms | Definition | Example/Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Alliteration | The repetition of the same sound in successive words, usually, but not necessarily, at the beginning of words | Blown buds of barren flowers |
| 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." |
| Argument | The combination of reasons, evidence, etc that an author uses to convince an audience of their position. | Too comprehensive a concept for a single example! In effective rhetoric, every phrase serves to further build the argument. |
| Aristotelian appeals | Three different methods of appealing to an audience to convince them—ethos, logos, and pathos. | See ethos, logos and pathos. |
| 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. |
| Audience | Who the author is directing his or her message towards | When you create a resume, your audience is potential employers. |
| Balance | The arranging of words or phrases so that two ideas are given equal emphasis in a sentence or paragraph; a pleasing rhythm created when a pattern is repeated in a sentence | |
| Body | The paragraphs between the introduction and conclusion that develop the main idea(s) of the writing | |
| Brainstorming | Collecting ideas by thinking freely and openly about all the possibilities | |
| Coherence | The arrangement of ideas in such a way that the reader can easily follow from one point to the next | |
| Compare and contrast | Discussing the similarities and differences between two things to some persuasive or illustrative purpose. | "Hybrid cars have a much smaller carbon footprint than traditional midsize vehicles." |
| Connotation | The implied meaning of a word; words can broadly have positive, negative, or neutral connotations. | conscientious = positive connotation fussy = negative connotation |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Denotation | The literal, dictionary-definition meaning of a word. | The denotation of "chair" is "a place to sit." |
| Description | Writing that paints a colorful picture of a person, place, thing, or idea using vivid sensory details. | "The water was a pearl-studded sea of azure tipped with turquoise." |
| Details | The words used to describe a person, support an argument, persuade an audience, explain a process, or in some way support the central idea | |
| 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. |
| Ethos | Setting up a source as credible and trustworthy. | "Given my PhD in the subject and years of experience in the field" is an appeal to ethos. |
| Evidence | The information presented meant to persuade the audience of the author's position. | If I were arguing that Anne is a good student, I might reference her straight-A report card and her 1500 SAT score as pieces of evidence. |
| Figurative language | The use of language in a non-literal way; i.e. metaphor, simile, etc. | "The sky's like a jewel box tonight!" |
| Free writing | Writing openly and freely on any topic; focused free writing is writing openly on a specific topic. | |
| Generalization | An idea or statement which emphasizes general characteristics rather than specific manifestations | |
| Genre | The specific type of work being presented. | Broader categories include "novel" and "play," while more specific genres would be things like "personal essay" or "haiku." |
| Implication | When something is suggested without being concretely stated. | "Watch your wallet around Paul," implies that Paul is a thief without coming out and saying "Paul is a thief." |
| 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. |
| Irony | At the most basic sense, 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. |
| Logos | Appealing to someone's sense of concrete facts and logic. | Citing peer-reviewed scientific studies is an appeal to logos. |
| Metaphor: | A figure of speech that makes an implied comparison of two unlike things by declaring them to be identical | The ship plowed the seas. |
| Objective | Relating information in an impersonal manner; without interjecting feelings or opinions | |
| Occasion | The reason or moment for writing or speaking. | When giving a graduation speech, the occasion is graduation. |
| Observation | Paying close attention to people, places, things, and events to collect details for later use. | |
| 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. |
| Pathos | An Aristotelian appeal. Involves appealing to someone's emotions. | Animal shelters ads with pictures of cute sad animals and dramatic music are using pathos. |
| Personal narrative | Personal writing that covers an event in the writer's life; it often contains personal comments and ideas as well as a description of the event. | |
| Point of view | The position or angle from which a story is told or an essay is written | First-person ("I or we"), second person ("you"), and third-person ("he, she, they, it"). |
| Persuasion | Writing that is meant to change the way the reader thinks or acts. | |
| Process | A method of doing something that involves several steps or stages; for example, the writing process involves prewriting, planning, writing, and revising | |
| Purpose | The author's persuasive intention. | If you are trying to convince your mother you should get a dog, your purpose in addressing an essay on the subject to her would be to convince her that you should get a dog. |
| Repetition | Re-using a word or phrase repeatedly for effect or emphasis. | "We run, and we run, and we run, like rats on a wheel." |
| Revision | Changing a piece of writing to improve it in style or content | |
| Rhetoric | The use of spoken or written word (or a visual medium) to convey your ideas and convince an audience. | Almost everything is an example of rhetoric! |
| Rhetorical triangle | The relationship between the author, the audience, the text/message, and the context. | The author communicates to the reader via the text; and the reader and text are surrounded by context. |
| Simile | A figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things, using words such as like, as, or than: | The fallen leaves wandered like lost children through the empty streets. |
| Style | The author's own personal approach to rhetoric in the piece; similar to voice. | We might say the Taylor Swift's songwriting style is straightforward and emotive. |
| Subjective | Thinking and writing that includes personal feelings, attitudes, and opinions | |
| Symbolism | Using a symbol to refer to an idea or concept. | "Fire" is commonly used a symbol for passion and/or anger. |
| Syntax | The way sentences are grammatically constructed. | "She likes pie," is syntactically simple. However, "As it so happened, when Barbara got out of class early she liked to have a piece of pie, especially key lime at her favorite cafe; while there, she watched the people passing by the window and imagined herself inside each of their lives," is syntactically complicated. |
| Synthesis | Combining sources or ideas in a coherent way in the purpose of a larger point. | A typical research paper involves synthesizing sources to make a broader point about the topic. |
| Themes | 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. |
| Thesis statement | A statement of the purpose, intent, or main idea (claim) of an essay | |
| 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 Links to an external site.. |
| Topic sentence | The sentence that contains the main idea of a paragraph | |
| Transitions | Words or phrases that help clarify the relationships between ideas and tie them together | nevertheless, moreover, most important, as a result. |
| Unity | A sense of oneness; writing in which each sentence helps to develop the main idea | |
| Usage | The way in which people use language; usage may be standard (formal and informal) or nonstandard. | |
| 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. |
Works Cited
"Definitions of Writing Terms." Center for Academic Success, Butte College, www.butte.edu/
departments/cas/tipsheets/style_purpose_strategy/definitions.html. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.
McCammon, Ellen. Weblog post. PrepScholar, 21 Mar. 2020, blog.prepscholar.com/
ap-language-and-composition-terms. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023