Unit 1: Part 4 Literary Terms

The medieval romances in this grouping are based on legends, anonymous traditional stories about the past that may have been inspired by real events and people.

Write an interior monologue in which Gawain reacts to another event in the story.

One of the ways in which they transmitted information was in story poems set to music, called ballads.

They often use four-line stanzas, in which only the second and fourth lines rhyme, and contain dialogue and repeated lines or phrases called refrains.

From memories of childhood to funny anecdotes to dramatic encounters, true stories touch and inspire us. Such stories are called autobiographical narratives.

Persuasive speech includes four types of propositions.
Fact—asserts that something is

Value—claims that something is good or bad or is better or worse than something else

Problem—demonstrates that a problem exists

Policy—argues that something should be done

• Ethos, an ethical appeal, cites the speaker's authority, as in a famous surgeon endorsing a heart medicine.

• Pathos, an emotional appeal, tugs at the audience's emotions, as in an ad that uses a smiling infant to sell baby food.

• Logos, a logical appeal, applies reasoning and facts to build convincing arguments.

Syllogisms are arguments made up of two premises and a conclusion. Example: "All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Socrates is mortal."

Inductive reasoning draws a conclusion from examples. Example: "I touched three icicles and they were cold. I think all icicles are cold."

Deductive reasoning applies a general principle to specific cases. Example: "I know ice is frozen, so I know this icicle will be cold."

Analogies are comparisons. A letter of recommendation comparing your writing to a professional's will probably create a good impression.

• rhetorical questions: questions not meant to be answered but used to establish solidarity with an audience

• parallelism: repetition of similar ideas in similar grammatical forms

• figurative language: nonliteral language, such as similes and metaphors, that add interest and encourage active listening

Many logical fallacies, such as those listed below, may seem plausible at first: ad hominem, false causality, red herring, overgeneralization, and bandwagon effect.

Many logical fallacies, such as those listed below, may seem plausible at first: ad hominem, false causality, red herring, overgeneralization, and bandwagon effect.

• ad hominem attack: an attack on a person's character

• false causality: the idea that A happened before B, so A caused B

• red herring: an irrelevant distraction from more important points

• overgeneralization: a conclusion based on too little evidence

• bandwagon effect: the idea that you should do something because everyone does it

A thesaurus is a reference tool providing, for each entry, lists of synonyms and some antonyms.

Context clues are words or phrases that help readers clarify the meanings of unfamiliar words in a text.