Glossary
( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)
Analysis | the breaking apart of anything into its composite parts for close examination
Anecdote | a short, personal narrative about something specific
Annotating | actively engaging with a text by taking notes as you read, usually by marking the text in some way (underlining, highlighting, using symbols such as asterisks) as well as by writing down brief summaries, thoughts, or questions in the margins of the page
Argument | a claim supported with reasons
Audience | An individual or a group to whom you are writing
Brainstorming | generating ideas for a writing assignment by making a list of items that relate to the general paper topic
Chronological | when referring to essay organization, details are placed in the order in which events unfold over time, from first to last
Claim | a debatable statement that not everyone will accept
Classification | division of a broad subject into smaller components
Cliché | a descriptive expression that has lost its effectiveness and originality from being overused
Clustering | generating and organizing ideas for a writing assignment by grouping and making connections between different topics and subtopics; also called idea mapping and webbing, it allows you to visualize your ideas on paper using circles, lines, and arrows
Conclusion | the main claim, assertion, or point made in an essay, not to be confused with a conclusion paragraph at the end of an essay
Contraction | a word formed by combining two words with an apostrophe to show where one or more letters have been left out
Counterargument | other sides of an issue that the writer disagrees with and attempts to refute; also called an antithesis
Direct Quotation | using the exact wording from an original source and enclosing the quoted material in quotation marks
Drafting | writing the rough draft of an essay
Editing | correcting grammar, punctuation, spelling, and mechanics
Ethos | the character of the writer or speaker, or more specifically, credibility;ethos is the ethical appeal evaluated in a rhetorical analysis
Facts | statements that can be definitely proven using objective data
Fallacies | errors or tricks of reasoning (see section 5.5 for a list of specific fallacies and their definitions)
Freewriting | an exercise for generating ideas in which you write freely about any topic for a set amount of time
Judgments | conclusions drawn from the given facts
Kairos | appropriate timing for an effective argument, including both when the writer presents certain parts of her argument as well as the overall timing of the subject matter itself
Logos | information, or more specifically, the writer’s logic and reason demonstrated through organization and supporting evidence; logos is the logical appeal evaluated in a rhetorical analysis
Metaphor | a comparison stating that one thing is something else
Narration | the art of storytelling
Paraphrase | restating a fact or idea from a source using your own words and sentence structure
Pathos | emotion, or more specifically, the writer’s appeal to the audience’s emotions to make the audience care about the message; pathos is the pathetic appeal evaluated in a rhetorical analysis
Plagiarism | the act of misrepresenting someone else’s work as your own
Premise | a reason supporting a conclusion
Prewriting | deciding a topic to write about, gathering information to support or explain what you want to say about your subject, and planning how to organize your ideas in a way that effectively develops the topic
Primary sources | sources that provide firsthand information or raw data, such as surveys, in-person interviews, historical documents, works of art, and works of literature
Purpose | the reasons why you are doing something a particular way
Revising | reconsidering the ideas and content of an essay as well as refining the style and structure
Rhetoric | the art or method of communicating effectively to an audience, usually with the intention to persuade
Rhetorical Modes | the ways we can effectively communicate through language using different styles and techniques
Secondary Sources | sources such as biographies, literary reviews, or news articles that include some analysis or interpretation of the information presented in primary sources
Simile | a comparison using the words like or as
Slang | informal words that are considered nonstandard English; slang often changes with passing fads and may be used by or familiar to only a specific group of people
Spatial | when referring to essay organization, details are presented based on their physical location
Summary | explaining only the main ideas from a source in a few sentences or a short paragraph
Testimony | direct quotations from either an eyewitness or an expert witness
Theme | the message a narrative is trying to express
Thesis | the main idea or hypothesis the writer is trying to prove in an essay; it communicates the essay’s purpose with clear and concise wording and indicates the direction and scope of the essay
Tone | the overall attitude of a piece of writing
Topic Sentence | a sentence at the beginning of a body paragraph that states the main idea of the paragraph and implies how that main idea connects to the thesis statement
