DEDUCTIVE – Deductive reasoning works from the more general to the more specific. Sometimes this is informally called a "top-down" approach. We might begin with thinking up a theory about our topic of interest. We then narrow that down into more specific hypotheses that we can test. We narrow down even further when we collect observations to address the hypotheses. This ultimately leads us to be able to test the hypotheses with specific data -- a confirmation (or not) of our original theories.
INDUCTIVE - Inductive reasoning works the other way, moving from specific observations to broader generalizations and theories. Informally, we sometimes call this a "bottom up" approach (please note that it's "bottom up" and not "bottoms up" which is the kind of thing the bartender says to customers when he's trying to close for the night!). In inductive reasoning, we begin with specific observations and measures, begin to detect patterns and regularities, formulate some tentative hypotheses that we can explore, and finally end up developing some general conclusions or theories.
SYLLOGISM - In a syllogism the primary premise is a general statement. The primary premise is always universal, and may be positive or negative. The secondary premise may also be universal or particular so that from these premises it is possible to deduce a valid conclusion.
Everything that lives, moves (primary premise)
No mountain moves (secondary premise)
No mountain lives (conclusion)
ENTHYMEME - An enthymeme is a partial syllogism. It is based on the probable rather than positive premises and is based on implicit conjectures that are shared by the speaker and the audience. The speaker gives the primary premise and assumes that the audience will supply the missing knowledge in order to reach the conclusion.
Everything that lives, moves (primary premise)
No mountain lives (conclusion)
CHIASMUS - Repetition of ideas in inverted order. Example: "I had a teacher I liked who used to say good fiction's job was to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable." (David Foster Wallace)
PARALLELISM- Also referred to as parallel construction or parallel structure, this term comes from Greek roots meaning “beside one another.” It refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity. This can involve, but is not limited to, repetition of a grammatical element such as a preposition or verbal phrase. (Again, the opening of Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities is an example: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of believe, it was the epoch of incredulity....”) The effects of parallelism are numerous, but frequently they act as an organizing force to attract the reader’s attention, add emphasis and organization, or simply provide a musical rhythm.
LITOTE- (pronounced almost like “little tee”) – a form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite. Litote is the opposite of hyperbole. Examples: “Not a bad idea,” “Not many,” “It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain” (Salinger, Catcher in the Rye).
PEDANTIC- An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish (language that might be described as “show-offy”; using big words for the sake of using big words).
invective – an emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language. (For example, in Henry IV, Part I, Prince Hal calls the large character of Falstaff “this sanguine coward, this bedpresser, this horseback breaker, this huge hill of flesh.”)
PERIODIC SENTENCE- Presents the main clause at the end of the sentence, for emphasis. Example: "And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."
(The King James Bible, I Corinthians 13)
ZEUGMA- When a word is used with two adjacent words in the same construction, but only makes literal sense with one of them. Example: "He carried a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men."
(Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried)
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
VOCABULARY FOR WEEK August 16-20
ALLEGORY – The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. In some allegories, for example, an author may intend the characters to personify an abstraction like hope or
freedom. The allegorical meaning usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence.
ANTECEDENT – The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. The AP language exam occasionally asks for the antecedent of a given pronoun in a long, complex sentence or in a group of sentences. A question from the 2001 AP test as an example follows:
“But it is the grandeur of all truth which can occupy a very high place in human interests that it is never absolutely novel to the meanest of minds; it exists eternally, by way of germ of latent principle, in the lowest as in the highest, needing to be developed but never to be planted.” The antecedent of “it” (bolded) is...? [answer: “all truth”]
DIDACTIC – From the Greek, didactic literally means “teaching.” Didactic words have the primary aim of teaching or instructing, especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles.
METONYMY – (mĕtŏn′ ĭmē) A term from the Greek meaning “changed label” or “substitute name,” metonymy is a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it. For example, a news release
that claims “the White House declared” rather than “the President declared” is using metonymy; Shakespeare uses it to signify the male and female sexes in As You Like It: “doublet and hose ought to show itself courageous to petticoat.” The substituted term generally carries a more potent emotional impact.
SYNECDOCHE – a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole or, occasionally, the whole is used to represent a part. Examples: To refer to a boat as a “sail”; to refer to a car as “wheels”; to refer to the violins, violas, etc.
in an orchestra as “the strings.” **Different than metonymy, in which one thing is represented by another thing that is commonly physically associated with it (but is not necessarily a part of it), i.e., referring to a monarch as “the crown” or the President as “The White House.”
SYNESTHESIA – when one kind of sensory stimulus evokes the subjective experience of another. Ex: The sight of red ants makes you itchy. In literature, synesthesia refers to the practice of associating two or more different senses in the same image. Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song title,“Taste the Pain,” is an example.
SEMANTICS – The study of meanings: The historical and psychological study and the classification of changes in the signification of words or forms viewed as factors in linguistic development.
HOMILY – This term literally means “sermon,” but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice.
CARICATURE – a verbal description, the purpose of which is to exaggerate or distort, for comic effect, a person’s distinctive physical
features or other characteristics.
Vocabulary Word:
ASSUAGE: (v.) to make less severe; to appease or satisfy
freedom. The allegorical meaning usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence.
ANTECEDENT – The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. The AP language exam occasionally asks for the antecedent of a given pronoun in a long, complex sentence or in a group of sentences. A question from the 2001 AP test as an example follows:
“But it is the grandeur of all truth which can occupy a very high place in human interests that it is never absolutely novel to the meanest of minds; it exists eternally, by way of germ of latent principle, in the lowest as in the highest, needing to be developed but never to be planted.” The antecedent of “it” (bolded) is...? [answer: “all truth”]
DIDACTIC – From the Greek, didactic literally means “teaching.” Didactic words have the primary aim of teaching or instructing, especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles.
METONYMY – (mĕtŏn′ ĭmē) A term from the Greek meaning “changed label” or “substitute name,” metonymy is a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it. For example, a news release
that claims “the White House declared” rather than “the President declared” is using metonymy; Shakespeare uses it to signify the male and female sexes in As You Like It: “doublet and hose ought to show itself courageous to petticoat.” The substituted term generally carries a more potent emotional impact.
SYNECDOCHE – a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole or, occasionally, the whole is used to represent a part. Examples: To refer to a boat as a “sail”; to refer to a car as “wheels”; to refer to the violins, violas, etc.
in an orchestra as “the strings.” **Different than metonymy, in which one thing is represented by another thing that is commonly physically associated with it (but is not necessarily a part of it), i.e., referring to a monarch as “the crown” or the President as “The White House.”
SYNESTHESIA – when one kind of sensory stimulus evokes the subjective experience of another. Ex: The sight of red ants makes you itchy. In literature, synesthesia refers to the practice of associating two or more different senses in the same image. Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song title,“Taste the Pain,” is an example.
SEMANTICS – The study of meanings: The historical and psychological study and the classification of changes in the signification of words or forms viewed as factors in linguistic development.
HOMILY – This term literally means “sermon,” but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice.
CARICATURE – a verbal description, the purpose of which is to exaggerate or distort, for comic effect, a person’s distinctive physical
features or other characteristics.
Vocabulary Word:
ASSUAGE: (v.) to make less severe; to appease or satisfy
Vocab List 1
Irony: expression of something which is contrary to the intended meaning; the words say one thing but mean another.
*Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
Paradox: an assertion seemingly opposed to common sense, but that may yet have some truth in it.
*What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young. George Bernard Shaw
cliche
A trite expression--often a figure of speech whose effectiveness has been worn out through overuse and excessive familiarity.
[Fr. "a stereotype plate"]
-"That's the way with these directors, they're always biting the hand that lays the golden egg."
(Samuel Goldwyn)
-"Live and learn."
-"What goes around comes around."
ellipsis
Omission of one or more words, which must be supplied by the listener or reader.
[Gk. "a falling short"]
-"If youth knew, if age could." (Henri Estienne)
-"True stories deal with hunger, imaginary ones with love." (Raymond Queneau)
-"Twenty-two years old, weak, hot, frightened, not daring to acknowledge the fact that he didn't know who or what he was . . . with no past, no language, no tribe, no source, no address book, no comb, no pencil, no clock, no pocket handkerchief, no rug, no bed, no can opener, no faded postcard, no soap, no key, no tobacco pouch, no soiled underwear and nothing nothing nothing to do . . . he was sure of one thing only: the unchecked monstrosity
of his hands."
(Toni Morrison, Sula)
euphemism
Substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.
[Gk. "use of good words"]
-"Fertilizer" for "manure"
-"Ground beef" for "ground flesh of a dead cow"; "veal" for "tender dead flesh of a baby cow."
-"Wardrobe malfunction" (Justin Timberlake's characterization of his tearing of Janet Jackson's costume during a half-time performance at Super Bowl XXXVIII)
Diction
etymology: speaking; style (from dicere, to say)
definition: "The use of words in oral or written discourse" (Holman and Harmon); choice of words.
Syntax
etymology: to arrange together (syn + tassein --which is also the root of "tactics
definition: the order or arrangement of words in a sentence.
Ad Hominem
An argument based on the failings of an adversary rather than on the merits of the case; a logical fallacy that involves a personal attack.
ambiguity - A statement with two or more meanings that may seem to exclude one another in the context. Ex: “Last night I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas, I’ll never know!”
There are two types of ambiguity, lexical and structural.
Lexical ambiguity is by far the more common. Everyday examples include nouns like 'chip', 'pen' and 'suit', verbs like 'call', 'draw,' ‘shot’ and 'run', and adjectives like 'deep', 'dry' and 'hard'. There are various tests for ambiguity. One test is having two unrelated antonyms, as with 'hard', which has both 'soft' and 'easy' as opposites.
Structural ambiguity occurs when a phrase or sentence has more than one underlying structure, such as the phrases 'Tibetan history teacher' and 'short men and women', and the sentences 'The girl hit the boy with a book' and 'Visiting relatives can be boring'. These ambiguities are said to be structural because each such phrase can be represented in two structurally different ways, e.g., '[Tibetan history] teacher' and 'Tibetan [history teacher].'
*Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
Paradox: an assertion seemingly opposed to common sense, but that may yet have some truth in it.
*What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young. George Bernard Shaw
cliche
A trite expression--often a figure of speech whose effectiveness has been worn out through overuse and excessive familiarity.
[Fr. "a stereotype plate"]
-"That's the way with these directors, they're always biting the hand that lays the golden egg."
(Samuel Goldwyn)
-"Live and learn."
-"What goes around comes around."
ellipsis
Omission of one or more words, which must be supplied by the listener or reader.
[Gk. "a falling short"]
-"If youth knew, if age could." (Henri Estienne)
-"True stories deal with hunger, imaginary ones with love." (Raymond Queneau)
-"Twenty-two years old, weak, hot, frightened, not daring to acknowledge the fact that he didn't know who or what he was . . . with no past, no language, no tribe, no source, no address book, no comb, no pencil, no clock, no pocket handkerchief, no rug, no bed, no can opener, no faded postcard, no soap, no key, no tobacco pouch, no soiled underwear and nothing nothing nothing to do . . . he was sure of one thing only: the unchecked monstrosity
of his hands."
(Toni Morrison, Sula)
euphemism
Substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.
[Gk. "use of good words"]
-"Fertilizer" for "manure"
-"Ground beef" for "ground flesh of a dead cow"; "veal" for "tender dead flesh of a baby cow."
-"Wardrobe malfunction" (Justin Timberlake's characterization of his tearing of Janet Jackson's costume during a half-time performance at Super Bowl XXXVIII)
Diction
etymology: speaking; style (from dicere, to say)
definition: "The use of words in oral or written discourse" (Holman and Harmon); choice of words.
Syntax
etymology: to arrange together (syn + tassein --which is also the root of "tactics
definition: the order or arrangement of words in a sentence.
Ad Hominem
An argument based on the failings of an adversary rather than on the merits of the case; a logical fallacy that involves a personal attack.
ambiguity - A statement with two or more meanings that may seem to exclude one another in the context. Ex: “Last night I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas, I’ll never know!”
There are two types of ambiguity, lexical and structural.
Lexical ambiguity is by far the more common. Everyday examples include nouns like 'chip', 'pen' and 'suit', verbs like 'call', 'draw,' ‘shot’ and 'run', and adjectives like 'deep', 'dry' and 'hard'. There are various tests for ambiguity. One test is having two unrelated antonyms, as with 'hard', which has both 'soft' and 'easy' as opposites.
Structural ambiguity occurs when a phrase or sentence has more than one underlying structure, such as the phrases 'Tibetan history teacher' and 'short men and women', and the sentences 'The girl hit the boy with a book' and 'Visiting relatives can be boring'. These ambiguities are said to be structural because each such phrase can be represented in two structurally different ways, e.g., '[Tibetan history] teacher' and 'Tibetan [history teacher].'
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