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Sound Writing

Appendix A Glossary of Academic Terms

(Some words you need to know but might have been afraid to ask.)
List A.0.1. Words You May See in Writing Assignments
Analyze
to break a text into its constituent parts with the intent of interpreting or explaining that text.
Interpret
to elaborate the meaning or significance of a text, data, or other object of analysis.
Paraphrase
to rephrase some text with the goal of making it clearer and more concise.
Prove
to demonstrate the truth of a claim through argument.
Synthesize
to combine or integrate several things into one coherent whole.
Thesis
an argument, or the statement of an argument to be followed by substantiation.
List A.0.2. Research Terms and Kinds of Sources
Annotated bibliography
a bibliography whose entries are accompanied by a paragraph (or two) summarizing that entry and explaining its relevance to a scholarly project.
Novel
a book-length work of fiction (not to be confused with a book-length work of nonfiction, which is simply called a book or sometimes a monograph or an edited volume).
Poem
(in general) a piece of writing formally distinguished by its employment of line breaks and, in some cases, rhythm, rhyme, meter, and stanzas.
Prose
(in general) a piece of writing formally distinguished by continuous, unbroken lines organized into larger units of text called paragraphs.
Short story
a work of fiction shorter than a novel.
Subject encyclopedia
an encyclopedia whose entries cohere, often only topically, around a common subject (e.g., Encyclopedia of Puget Sound, an encyclopedia on the remediation of the Salish Sea ecosystem).
Volume
the term given to one book in a work or series composed of multiple books (e.g., Volume 1 of the Encyclopedia Britannica).
List A.0.3. Rhetorical Terms
Ethos/Pathos/Logos
terms created by Aristotle to describe different modes of persuasion. These approaches are sometimes combined within a particular piece of rhetoric. Ethos is a rhetorical appeal to the authority of the person or source invoked. It also can mean the dominant spirit of a group or time (kind of like zeitgeist). Pathos is a rhetorical appeal to the audience’s emotions. Logos is a rhetorical appeal to logic, reason, and rigorous argumentation.
Diction
a writer’s particular choice of words.
Hyperbole
an exaggeration.
Irony
the effect produced by the use of any given word, phrase, image, or other medium of communication to signify the opposite of that word, phrase, etc.
Metaphor
a figure of speech in which one thing is equated with another thing, which it is not (for example, “love is a rose”). “Metaphoric” is often used loosely to describe any kind of figurative language.
Rhetoric
the style or presentation of writing; how a text says what it says.
Subjunctive
a grammatical mood indicating a hypothetical situation (what is desired or possible).
Syntax
the organization and sequencing of words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence.
List A.0.4. Generally Good Words to Know
-centrism
a stance that views a certain (centric) position as standard and that views nonconforming positions as unfamiliar and inferior. Eurocentrism, for instance, views the non-European as alien and subordinate to the European and holds the non-European to the standards of the European. The same definition applies to other “-centrisms,” with the appropriate substitutions made. Anthropocentrism replaces European with human; androcentrism replaces European with male; egocentrism replaces European with the self.
Anachronistic
(of a thing) temporally or historically inconsistent with the period in which it is depicted.
Analogy
a comparison or similarity between two things.
Anthropomorphize
to imbue a nonhuman entity with human characteristics.
Avant-garde
the quality of being experimental.
Colloquial
(of language) informal, casual, or quotidian.
Deduction
the act of predicting a particular event based on a pre-established rule about that event.
Dialectic
a model of development, or a discursive method, predicated on the tension between a first event (thesis) and a second, opposed event (antithesis) and that, sometimes, resolves into a third event (synthesis).
Induction
the extrapolation of a general rule from repeated particular instances suggesting that rule.
Empiricism
an epistemological position that states that knowledge derives from sense-experience and that physical experiences actually exist.
Epistemology
generally, the theory of knowledge; also, the term given to any particular theory of knowledge, such as empiricism.
Feminism
(broadly defined) the set of all political, social, and ideological movements oriented toward the advancement of women’s rights, especially as they pertain to political, social, cultural, and economic engagement and enfranchisement.
Heuristic
relating to the process by which a person learns something on their own.
Motif
a recurring (visual, musical, rhetorical) idea in a work.
Nomenclature
a set of names in a discipline (or the method used to generate these names).
Ontology
a subset of philosophical inquiry that investigates the nature of being.
Paradox
a seeming contradiction between two propositions that may nonetheless be true.
Premise
a statement that precedes or forms the basis of a consequent statement.
Stereotype
a reductive concept or idea of a person, group, or thing.
Tautology
a statement or system that affirms itself, or presupposes the validity of its argument.
Theme
a subject or topic of central importance to a text.
Trope
a recurrent theme or image.
Zeitgeist
the spirit of a given historical period, defined by that period’s prominent ideas and ideologies.
List A.0.5. Grammar Terms
proper noun
a specific noun, like a name, though not limited to human names. Proper nouns name things ranging from schools (university) to cities (the city)
subject
the person or entity that does an action or is the main focus of the sentence. The subject may be a noun, proper noun, personal pronoun, noun phrase, or different nouns linked by a conjunction.
predicate
the action or description of the subject. Predicates may be verbs, verbs accompanied by helping verbs, or an entire verb phrase.
direct object
the noun on which the action occurs.
indirect object
the secondary object, or the object secondarily affected by the action, which is to say that a sentence can only have an indirect object if it also has a direct object.
clause
composed of a subject and a predicate, which also means that every clause has a noun and a verb.
independent/main clause
a subject and a verb and conveys a complete thought.
dependent/subordinate clause
a sentence element that adds information but that does not form a complete thought. Subordinate/dependent clauses are dependent on an independent/main clause to make sense.
adjective/relative clause
a dependent/subordinate clause that acts as an adjective to modify a noun.
adverb clause
a dependent/subordinate clause that acts as an adverb to modify the verb in a sentence.
noun clause
a dependent/subordinate clause that acts as a noun
modifier
a word, phrase, or clause that characterizes a noun and is typically used to add description or specificity to a sentence.
present participle
a verb ending in “-ing” that acts as an adjective
past participle
a verb ending in “-ed” (or an irregular form) that acts as an adjective
gerund
a verb ending in “-ing” that acts as a noun
infinitive
a verb form composed of two words: “to” + [verb]
fractional expression
an expression that begins with a word like “half,” “part,” “some,” “a majority,” “all,” “any,” “more,” or “most,” followed by “of” and then a noun.
collective noun
a noun that refers to a group, like “family.”
FANBOYS
an acronym that helps you remember the seven coordinating conjunction, For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, and So
List A.0.6. Unsorted Glossary Terms
Toulmin model
model of argumentation that prioritizes evidence, claim, and warrants as the most critical parts of an argument.
classical approach
model of argumentation that requires you to propose a certain stance, refute the opposing view, and offer proof to substantiate your claims.
Rogerian model
model of argumentation that promotes more neutral and compromising view of both sides of an argument.
quote sandwich
a three-part organizational template for incorporating evidence into a paper that consists of introducing context of evidence in argument (upper bun), quoting and citing evidence (filling), and analyzing evidence (lower bun).
classic outline
an outline technique that is very linear, organized, and clear because it organizes your paper.
bubble map
an outline technique that is less-structured than the classic outline and allow you to nonlinearly connect your claims.
flowchart
an outline technique that can show both linear and nonlinear connections between your points.
working thesis
a Thesis that guides your argument but that is still evolving as you write your paper.
transitive verb
a verb that accepts a direct object and possibly also an indirect object.
pragmatics
the study of cultural and contextual language rules