Abstract diction: (compare to concrete diction)Abstract diction referstowordsthat describe concepts ratherthan concrete images(ideas and qualitiesrather than

observable orspecific things, people, or places.) These words do not appeal imaginatively to the reader'ssenses. Abstract words create no "mental picture" or any other imagined sensationsforreaders. Abstract wordsinclude: Love, Hate, Feelings, Emotions, Temptation, Peace, Seclusion, Alienation, Politics, Rights, Freedom,Intelligence, Attitudes, Progress, Guilt, etc. Try to create a mental picture of "love." Do you picture a couple holding hands, a child hugging a mother,roses and valentines? These are not "love." Instead, they are concrete objects you associate with love. Because it is an abstraction, theword "love" itself does not imaginatively appeal to the reader'ssenses. "Ralph and Jane have experienced dif iculties in their lives, and both have developed bad attitudes because ofthese dif iculties. They have now set goals to surmount these problems, although the unfortunate consequences oftheir experiences are still apparent in many everyday situations." 2. Absolutes: an adverbial clause that has a nonfinite verb or no verb at all (the clause is missing was or were or it isreplaced by a verbal, making it dependent). The prisoners marched past, their hands above their heads. (The prisoners marched past. Their hands were above their heads.) The work having been finished, the gardener came to ask for payment. (The work was finished. The gardener came to ask for payment.)

ButI knew her sick from the disease that would not go, her legs bunched under theyellow sheets, the bones gone limp as worms.Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street We pretended with our headsthrown back, our arms limp and useless, dangling like the dead.Sandra Cisneros, The Houseon Mango Street 3. Academic diction: use ofscholarly words orterms, e.g. Kennedy employs many rhetorical strategies in his speech, namely chiasmus, parallelism, allusion, and pathos. 4. Active voice: (compare to passive voice)In sentences written in active voice, the subject performsthe action expressed in the verb; the subject acts. Active: The dog bit the boy. Passive: The boy was bitten by the dog. 5. Ad hominem fallacy: a fallacy of logic in which a persons character or motive (Latin, literally argument to the man) is attacked instead ofthat persons argument. In the political arena, thisis called mudslinging. Jack is wrong when he saysthere is no God because he is a convicted felon." I disliked going to see Dr. Hopper. In fact,I probably dislike Dr. Hopper. He has a sharp nose that points downward, seeming alwaysto be calling attention to hisshoes. He is a hard-faced man who makes much ofsmall things. Anne F. Rosner Let me say, incidentally, my opponent, my opposite number for the vice-presidency on the democratic ticket, does have his wife on the payroll, and has had her on the payroll for the last ten years. Richard Nixon

6. Ad populum fallacy: popular appeal, or appeal to the majority. The fallacy of attempting to win popular assent to a conclusion by arousing the feeling and enthusiasms ofthe multitude. The two main forms of this appeal are snob appeal and bandwagon. 7. Adjective: a part of speech that can modify a