VOCABULARY FOR OCTOBER 7

EPISTROPHE (also called EPIPHORA and sometimes ANTISTROPHE)
A rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses. Contrast with anaphora.
Examples:
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us." —Emerson

Hourly joys be still upon you!
Juno sings her blessings on you. [. . .]
Scarcity and want shall shun you,
Ceres' blessing so is on you.
— Shakespeare, The Tempest (4.1.108-109; 116-17)

“We are born to sorrow, pass our time in sorrow, end our days in sorrow.”

EXPLETIVE: (Means "Filler")
In English syntax, expletive is the term used to describe syllables, words, or phrases that "fill a vacancy" without adding meaning to a text.

While expletives have a place in acceptable syntax, overuse of expletives damages texts by weakening and de-emphasizing the points being made. In technical writing, the most overused expletives are "there" and "it", as shown in the examples that follow. The recast version of each sentence immediately follows the weaker attempt.

Weak: There are significant trade-offs to be made between runtime performance and data security.

Recast: The contention between runtime performance and data security requires significant trade-offs.

Weak: It is my experience that Product X outperforms Product Y in a "live" environment.

Recast: In my experience, Product X outperforms Product Y in a "live" environment.


PEDANTIC:
Pedantic is an adjective that describes words, phrases, or a general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish (language that might be described as bombastic – using big words for the sake of using big words). Such language can be a put-off for readers.
EXAMPLE OF PEDANTIC LANGUAGE:
In Walden, Thoreau states that “The student who secures his coveted leisure and retirement by systematically shirking any labor necessary to man obtains but an ignoble and unprofitable leisure, defrauding himself of the experience which alone can
make leisure fruitful.”
Which is to say . . . If you coast through life avoiding work, you cannot appreciate the value of leisure. Thoreau goes on to say that work isn’t just physical labor; it’s intellectual labor. What good
does it do to study economics while you continue to spend your parents’ money, perhaps beyond what they can afford? Make your own money to know its value and to apply your intellectual work from the study of economics.

PREDICATE ADJECTIVE:
One type of subject complement-an adjective, group of adjectives, or adjective clause that follows a linking verb. It is in the predicate of the sentence, and modifies or describes the subject. For example, in the sentence "My boyfriend is tall, dark, and handsome," the group of predicate adjectives ("tall, dark, and handsome") describes "boyfriend."

PREDICATE NOMINATIVE:
A second type of subject complement-a noun, group of nouns, or noun clause that renames the subject. It, like the predicate adjective, follows a linking verb and is located in the predicate of the sentence. For example, in the sentence "Abe Lincoln was a man of integrity," the predicate nominative is "man of integrity," as it renames Abe Lincoln. Occasionally, this term or the term "predicate adjective" appears in a multiple-choice question.

RHETORICAL MODES:
This flexible term describes the variety, the conventions, and the purposes of the major kinds of writing. Sometimes referred to as modes of discourse. The rhetorical modes are what we are studying with each chapter: Narration, Description, Division and Classification, Comparison and Contrast, Process, Cause and Effect, Definition, and Argument and Persuasion

EPIZEUXIS (also called DIACOPE)-- Uninterrupted repetition, or repetition with
only one or two words between each repeated phrase. Poe might cry out, “Oh,
horror, horror, horror!”