TERMS TO KNOW How style Affects an Argument

Asyndeton  Asyndeton- omission of conjunction between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.  Example: I Came, I Saw, I Conquered.  What other literary device do you see in the example?

Antithesis  Antithesis- opposition or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction  Example:  Everyone doesn't like something, but nobody doesn't like Sara Lee  What other literary device do you see in the example?

Allusion  Allusion--Brief reference to a person, place, or event, real or fictitious, or to a work of art.  Example 1: Barack Obama's Humorous Allusions "I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save the Planet Earth."  Example 2: An Allusion to John Kennedy's Inaugural Address "Senator Obama: “ask not just what our government can do for us, but what we can do for ourselves.”Inaugural Address  What other literary devices do you see in these example?

Inversion  Inversion- a change in normal word order; especially the placement of a verb before its subject  Ex: "United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do.“ This is an example of inversion, specifically the part where he says "United there is little we cannot do," and "Divided there is little we can do."  What other literary device(s) can you see in this example?

Juxtaposition  Juxtaposition- an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.act  Ex: "And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.“  What other literary device do you see in this example?

Metonymy  Metonymy Definition: using a single feature to represent the whole  example 1:  The suits on Wall Street walked off with most of our savings.  example 2:  "The B.L.T. left without paying." (waitress referring to a customer)  What other literary devices(s) do you see in these example(s)?

Oxymoron  Oxymoron- paradoxical juxtaposition of words that seem to contradict one another.  Examples: jumbo shrimp, a just war, a fine mess, alone in a crowd, a little pregnant, a new classic, bittersweet, big baby, dim light, dull knife, fast walk, fiery ice.

Parallelism  Parallelism—similarity or repetition of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses. Parallelism also adds balance, rhythm, and clarity to the sentence.  Example  “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.” -TS Eliot  “Today students can dope in their veins and hope in brains. If they can conceive it and believe it, they can achieve it. They must know it is not their aptitude but their attitude that will determine their altitude.”  What other literary devices do you see in the examples?  Example of faulty parallelism  My sister's promotion means that she will be moving to another state and take the children.  What would make this parallel in structure?

Simple Sentence  A simple sentence is an independent clause that contains a subject, a verb, and expresses a complete thought.  Example: Keenen likes ice cream.

Compound Sentence  A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator.  Coordinating conjunctions: and, for, but, nor, or, etc.  Example: He turned in the homework, but he forgot to staple it.

Complex sentence  A complex sentence is an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses.  Example: I was busy, so I didn’t go to the movies.

Periodic Sentence  A complex sentence in which the main clause comes last and is proceeded by the subordinate clause. In other words, the sentence is not completed until the last clause is read.  Example Sentence:  Unprovided with original learning, uninformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book.

Cumulative Sentence  Cumulative sentences begin with an independent clause, then add details:  This construction puts the main idea first and supports it with phrases containing details. Cumulative sentences are useful when you want to get your main point out on paper, and then offer your support.  Rather than attempting to create suspense or extra emphasis, your goal is clarity.  Example 1: He decided to destroy the world and gathered all the materials he would need: a plastic cup, a garden hose, a jelly bean, and a large quantity of fertilizer. The main idea is that he is going to destroy the world, and that idea is the first thing in the sentence; the sentence also offers detail on what he will use to accomplish his task.   Ex: A single knoll rises out of the plain in Oklahoma, north and west of the Wichita range.