“Isn’t she great?” Rhetorical question

“Isn’t she great?” Rhetorical question
A question that is asked not to elicit a response but to call attention to or assert something

William G. Sumner A Social Darwinist and Conservative in thought, Sumner worked continuously in charting the evolution of human customs, folkways and mores. He believed that these forces, developed naturally through the course of evolution, made any attempts for social reform useless. Sumner advocated that humanity could only survive in an environment untouched by attempts to change the “natural laws of social development”.

John Burgoyne John Burgoyne, (1722–1792), British army officer and playwright, whose bold plan of invading the American colonies from Canada ended in his surrender at Saratoga, N. Y.

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was a British naturalist who achieved lasting fame by convincing the scientific community of the occurrence of evolution and proposing the theory that this could be explained through natural and sexual selection. This theory is now considered the central explanatory paradigm in biology.

“Not that I loved Caesar Less, but that I loved Rome more. ”
“Not that I loved Caesar Less, but that I loved Rome more.” (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, ) Antithesis The contrasting of ideas by the use of parallel structure in phrases or clauses

Henry Barnard Henry Barnard ( ), American educationalist, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on the 24th of January He graduated from Yale University in 1830, and in 1835 was admitted to the Connecticut bar. In 1837—1839 he was a member of the Connecticut legislature, effecting in 1838 the passage of a bill, framed and introduced by himself, which provided for “the better supervision of the common schools“ and established a board of “commissioners of common schools” in the state.

She glanced at the ball gown, then exclaimed, “I’m supposed to wear old rag?”
Meiosis A form of understatement in which something is referred to by a name that is disproportionate to its true nature.

James Weaver James Baird Weaver (June 12, 1833 – February 6, 1912) was a United States politician and member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Iowa as a member of the Greenback Party. He ran for President two times on third party tickets in the late 19th century. An opponent of the gold standard and national banks, he is most famous as the presidential nominee of the Populist Party in the 1892 election.

Plessy v. Ferguson On June 7, 1892, a 30-year-old colored shoemaker named Homer Plessy was jailed for sitting in the "White" car of the East Louisiana Railroad. Plessy was only one-eighths black and seven-eighths white, but under Louisiana law, he was considered black and therefore required to sit in the "Colored" car

“All the other lads there were/ Were itching to have a bash
“All the other lads there were/ Were itching to have a bash.” (Philip Larkin, “Send No Money”) Colloquialism An informal or slang expression, especially in the context of formal writing.

Pontiac Pontiac or Obwandiyag (between 1712 and 1725 – April 20, 1769), was a Native American Ottawa war leader, remembered for his participation in Pontiac's Rebellion, a struggle against the British military occupation of the Great Lakes region that for many years he was credited with having led.

Well, where have you been, Mr. “I’ll-be-over-in-twenty-minutes”?
Periphrasis The substitution of an illustrative or descriptive word or phrase in place of a proper noun. (Periphrasis can also apply to the reverse—the use of a proper noun as a description.)

Tecumseh Spent much of his life attempting to rally disperate Native American tribes in a mutual defense of their lands, which eventually culminated in his death in the War of 1812.

Aaron Burr A major formative member of the Democratic-Republican Party in New York and a strong supporter of Governor George Clinton. Known for hi s intense duel with Alexander Hamilton and his trial and acquittal on charges of treason

Zebulon Pike His expedition in Pikes Peak is often compared to the Lewis and Clark expedition. Mapped much of the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase.

Sacajawea Native American woman who accompanied the Corps of Discovery with Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

Served as Secretary for Indian Affairs from 1695 until his death.
Robert Livingston Served as Secretary for Indian Affairs from 1695 until his death.

Eli Whitney Credited with creating the first cotton gin in Contributed to the economic development of the Southern states of the U.S.

Henry Knox Became chief Artillery officer of the Continental Army and later the nation’s first United States Secretary of War.

African-American astronomer, clockmaker, and publisher.
Benjamin Banneker African-American astronomer, clockmaker, and publisher.

Alexander Hamilton An influential delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention and the principal author of the Federalist Papers. First and most influential Secretary of the Treasury.

Horatio Gates An American general during the Revolutionary War. He is usually credited with the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga and blamed for disastrous defeat at the Battle of Camden.

John Locke British philosopher. He argued a government could only be legitimate if it received the consent of the governed and protected the natural rights of life, liberty, and estate.

Ethan Allen Spent a considerable portion of his life in the effort to achieve independence for what is now Vermont, commanding an irregular force called the Green Mountain Boys

Hamartia (also called tragic flaw)
Othello’s jealousy, fueled by the false Iago, ultimately causes him to kill Desdemona, his wife. Hamartia (also called tragic flaw) In the context of tragedy, a fatal flaw or error that brings about the downfall of someone of high status.

Dwight Moody D. L. Moody ( ) was an American evangelist who founded the Northfield Schools in Massachusetts, Moody Church and Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and the Colportage Association.

Simile A comparison of two unlike things through the use of like or as
As hot as the sun Simile A comparison of two unlike things through the use of like or as

“The love of wicked men converts to fear, That fear to hate, and hate turns one or both To worthy danger and deserved death.” (Shakespeare, Richard II, ) Anadiplosis Repetition of an important word from one phrase or clause (usually the last word) at the start of the next phrase or clause.

Ida Tarbell Ida Minerva Tarbell (November 5, 1857–January 6, 1944) was an author and journalist, known as one of the leading "muckrakers", whose famous exposé of the nefarious business practices of the Standard Oil Company established her as a pioneer of investigative journalism.

former newspaper reporter, known for "How the Other Half Lives".
Jacob Riis former newspaper reporter, known for "How the Other Half Lives".

Thorstein Veblen Thorstein Bunde Veblen (born Tosten Bunde Veblen July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was a Norwegian-American economist and sociologist and a leader of the Efficiency Movement.

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish scientist and inventor. Today, Bell is still widely considered to be the inventor of the telephone, although this matter has become controversial, with a number of people claiming that Antonio Meucci was the 'real' inventor

Saying “nice going” when someone makes a mistake
Sarcasm A simple form of verba irony, in which it is obvious from context and tone that the speaker means the opposite of what he or she says.

Tom Watson WATSON, THOMAS JOHN, JR. [Watson, Thomas John, Jr.] , American industrialist, b. Dayton, Ohio. The son of Thomas John Watson , Sr., the founder of the International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), he joined the family business following his graduation from Brown Univ. in He spent his career at IBM, becoming company president ( ), chairman ( ), and chairman of the executive board ( ). Watson early recognized the importance of computers and maintained IBM's dominance in that and other advanced technologies, while his management and marketing prowess turned IBM into a symbol of corporate excellence.

“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life
“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” (Oscar Wilde, “The Decay of Lying”) Chiasmus Two Phrases in which the syntax is the same but the placement of words is reversed. (This quotation is also an example of aphorism.)

Alice Paul Alice Paul (January 11, 1885 – July 9, 1977) was an American suffragist leader. Along with Lucy Burns (a close friend) and others, she led a successful campaign for women's suffrage that resulted in granting the right to vote to women in the U.S. federal election in 1920.

Oliver Kelley Oliver Hudson Kelley (1826 – 1913) is considered the "Father" of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry (or 'Grangers').

Alfred Mahan Alfred Thayer Mahan (27 September December 1914 ) was a United States Navy officer, naval strategist, and educator, widely considered the world's foremost theorist of military sea power. The USS Mahan and the Mahan class destroyer were named after him.

George Dewey George Dewey (December 26, 1837–January 16, 1917) was an admiral of the United States Navy, best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry (Henri) Sullivan (September 3, April_14, 1924) was an American architect, called the "father of modernism", considered by many as the creator of the Prairie School of architecture, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, and a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright.

John Dewey John Dewey (October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer, whose thought has been greatly influential in the United States and around the world. He is recognized as one of the founders of the philosophical school of Pragmatism (along with Charles Sanders Peirce and William James), a pioneer in functional psychology, and a leading representative of the progressive movement in U.S. education during the first half of the 20th century.

William R. Hearst William Randolph Hearst (April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper magnate, born in San Francisco, California.

Frank Boas Franz Boas was born in Minden, Germany, on 9th July, His Jewish parents had been supporters of the 1848 German Revolution and he was brought up with progressive political views. Boas studied physics at the universities of Heidelberg and Bonn before completing his doctorate at Kiel in 1881.

Lincoln Steffens Joseph Lincoln Steffens (April 6, 1866–August 9, 1936), American journalist, was one of the most famous and influential practitioners of the journalistic style called muckraking. He is best known for his 1921 quote, upon his return from the Soviet Union: "I have seen the future, and it works." He was born in San Francisco, California, the son of a wealthy businessman, and he studied in France and Germany before graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was first exposed to radical political views.

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) wrote in many genres, often advocating Socialist views, and achieved considerable popularity in the early twentieth century. He gained particular fame for his novel, The Jungle (1906), which dealt with conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry and caused a public uproar that ultimately led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act in 1906.

Herbert Croly Herbert David Croly (January 23, May 17, 1930) was a Progressive political author. He was born in New York City to Jane Cunningham Croly and David Goodman Croly. His mother wrote for the New York World and edited Demorest’s Monthly. His father was a reporter for the Herald and the New York World.

Frederic Remington Frederic Sackrider Remington (October_4, December_26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, and sculptor who specialized in depictions of the American West. He was born in Canton, New York. He spent a childhood hunting and riding, but began to make drawings and sketches of imaginative figures.

Richard Ballinger Richard Achilles Ballinger, mayor of Seattle, Washington, from 1904–1906 and U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1909–1911, was born on July 9, 1858 in Boonesboro, Iowa. He graduated from Williams College in 1884 and passed the bar exam in 1886.

William Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857–March 8, 1930) was an American politician, jurist, and the 27th President of the United States, serving a single term from 1909 to A Republican, Taft served as Secretary of War, federal judge for the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Governor-General of the Philippines before being nominated for president in the 1908 Republican National Convention with the backing of his predecessor and close friend Theodore Roosevelt.

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was the 45th state Governor of New Jersey ( ) and later the 28th President of the United States ( ). He was the second Democrat to serve two consecutive terms in the White House (Andrew Jackson was the first).

Victoriana Huerta This counter-revolutionist succeeded in overthrowing President Francisco Madero and having him assassinated. It was this reckless action that caused President Woodrow Wilson to order the invasion of Vera Cruz, Mexico to prevent Huerta from getting any more supplies.

John Pershing John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948) was a soldier in the United States Army. Pershing eventually rose to the highest rank ever held in the United States military, equivalent only to the posthumous rank of George Washington: General of the Armies. He was born near Laclede, Missouri and graduated from United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1886.

Bret Harte Francis Bret Harte (August 25, 1836–May 6, 1902) was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California. Born in Albany, New York, he moved to California in 1854, later working there in a number of capacities, including miner, teacher, messenger, and journalist.

12th President of the United States (1849-50)
Zachary Taylor 12th President of the United States ( ) He became a colonel (1832) and served in the Black Hawk War and in the campaigns against the Seminole in Florida . In the Mexican War he defeated the Mexicans at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma , drove them across the Rio Grande, and took Matamoros. His free-soil views put him in opposition to the measures that were to become the Compromise of 1850

William Gregg American industrialist, known as the "father of Southern cotton manufacture." Devoted his life to building up Southern industry. He introduced an advanced factory-welfare program. His interest in economic issues was aimed at strengthening local industrial enterprises.

William Lloyd Garrison
American abolitionist On Jan. 1, 1831, he published the first number of the Liberator, a paper that he continued for 35 years (to Dec. 29, 1865), until after the Thirteenth Amendment had been adopted. Garrison relied wholly upon moral persuasion, believing in the use of neither force nor the ballot to gain his end. He burned the Constitution publicly at an abolitionist meeting in Framingham, Mass., on July 4, 1854, and opposed the Civil War

George Caleb Bingham Bingham entered Missouri politics with his election to the legislature in 1848 (he had been defeated in 1846); he served as state treasurer ( ), after a year in the Union army, and became state adjutant general in 1875.

Emma Willard American educator, pioneer in woman's education, b. Emma Hart in Berlin, Conn. She attended and later taught in the local academy and in 1807 took charge of the Female Academy at Middlebury, Vt. She devoted the remainder of her life to the improvement of common schools and to the cause of woman's education.

Robert Owen Owen later became active in Indiana and U.S. politics. As a member of Congress ( ) he was instrumental in the founding of the Smithsonian Institution. When the Indiana constitution was revised in 1850, Owen secured an extension of property rights for married women and state provision for public schools. He served ( ) as U.S. minister to Naples, where he became a spiritualist. After his return to the United States he strongly advocated the emancipation of slaves and helped investigate the condition of the freedmen.

Martin Van Buren Thoroughly in accord with Jackson's policies, Van Buren was nominated for Vice President by the Democratic party in 1832 and was elected to office along with President Jackson. It was largely through Jackson's influence that Van Buren was chosen as Democratic candidate for President in The Whig party was still in the formative stage, and there was no well-organized opposition; Van Buren, therefore, was easily swept into office.

Elected as senator for California.
John Fremont Led an expedition to locate passes for a proposed railway line from the upper Rio Grande to California. Elected as senator for California. On the outbreak of the American Civil War, Fremont was appointed as a Major General in the Union Army.

American abolitionist
Frederick Douglass In the Civil War he helped organize two regiments of Massachusetts African Americans and urged other blacks to join the Union ranks During Reconstruction he continued to urge civil rights for African Americans. American abolitionist

Thomas Hart Benton The best-known American muralist of the 1930s and early 40s, he executed murals for the New School of Social Research (later sold) and the Whitney Museum, both in New York City; the Missouri statehouse, Jefferson City, Mo.; and the Postal Service and Dept. of Justice buildings, Washington, D.C.

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American industrialist who played a prominent role in the early oil industry with the founding of Standard Oil (ExxonMobil is the largest of its descendants). Over a forty-year period, Rockefeller built Standard Oil into the largest company in the world, and was for a time the richest man in the world.

Referring to businesspeople as “suits”
Metonymy A figure of speech in which something is referred to by one of its attributes

Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926) was an American painter. Salon critics claimed that her colors were too bright and that her portraits too accurate to be flattering to the subject.

Paralipsis (also called praeteritio)
“We will not speak of all Queequeg’s peculiarities here; how he eschewed coffee and hot rolls, and applied his undivided attention to beef steaks, done rare.” (Herman Melville, Moby Dick) Paralipsis (also called praeteritio) The technique of drawing attention to something by claiming not to mention it.

Jacob Coxey Jacob Sechler Coxey Sr. (born April 16, 1854 in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania; died May 18, 1951) of Massillon, Ohio, was a socialist American politician, who ran for elective office several times in Ohio. He twice led Coxey's Army (in 1894 and 1914), bands of unemployed men, on marches from Massillon to Washington, D.C. to demand that Congress appropriate money to create jobs for the unemployed. Coxey believed that the government should print paper money, i.e. greenbacks, in order to finance public works projects.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson) Epistrophe The repetition of a word or group of words at the end of successive phrases, clauses, verses, or sentences

Geronimo Geronimo (Chiricahua Goyaałé 'One Who Yawns'; often spelled Goyathlay in English), (June 16, 1829–February 17, 1909) was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who long warred against the encroachment of the white man on tribal lands.

“No man is an island.” (John Donne, “Meditation17”)
Metaphor The comparison of unlike things without the use of like or as.

Oliver Perry Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was an officer in the United States Navy. He served in the War of 1812 against Britain and earned the nickname "Hero of Lake Erie" for leading American forces in the decisive naval victory at the Battle of Lake Erie.

Dorothea Dix Dorothea Lynde Dix (April 4, 1802 – July 17, 1887) was a social activist who, from the early 1840s to well after the American Civil War lobbied almost every State's legislature to create asylums for the insane.

“Words, words, words…” (Shakespeare, Hamlet, 2.2.192)
Epizeusix Repetition of the same word with no other words in between for emphasis

“And all men kill the thing they love
“And all men kill the thing they love.” (Oscar Wilde, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”) Paradox A statement that seems absurd or even contradictory but that often expresses a deeper truth

Joseph Hooker Joseph Hooker (November 13, 1814 – October 31, 1879), known as "Fighting Joe", was a career U.S. Army officer and a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Although he served throughout the war, usually with distinction, he is best remembered for his stunning defeat by Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863.

“My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air…” (Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”) Juxtaposition The technique of placing unexpected combinations of words or ideas side by side

Richard Arkwright An Englishman ( ) credited with the spinning frame — later renamed the water frame following the transition to water power. The spinning frame – loosely based on the spinning jenny of James Hargreaves – was developed in 1769, and the world's first water-powered cotton mill was built in 1771 at Cromford, Derbyshire, (now one of the Derwent Valley Mills) creating one of the catalysts for the Industrial Revolution.

J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan ( ) began his career in 1857 as an accountant, and worked for several New York banking firms until he became a partner in Drexel, Morgan and Company in 1871, which was reorganized as J.P. Morgan and Company in 1895.

Bernard Baruch (August 19, 1870–June 20, 1965) was an American financier, stock market and commodities speculator, statesman, and presidential adviser. After his success in business, he devoted his time toward advising a range of American presidents including Woodrow Wilson and John F. Kennedy on economic matters for over forty years; this is why Baruch was highly regarded as an elder stateman. Described as a man of immense charm who enjoyed a larger-than-life reputation that matched his considerable fortune, he is remembered as one of the most powerful men of the early 20th century

Hyperbaton A scheme of unusual or inverted word order
“Why should their liberty than ours be more?” (Shakespeare, Comedy of Errors, ) Hyperbaton A scheme of unusual or inverted word order

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877) was a U.S. entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads and was the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family.

Pun (also called paronomasia)
Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest exploits the similarity in sound between the word earnest, which means “serious,” and the name Earnest, which figures into a scheme that some of the play’s main characters perpetrate Pun (also called paronomasia) A play on words that exploits the similarity in sound between two words with distinctly different meanings.

Huey Long (August 30, 1893 – September 10, 1935) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Louisiana. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. He served as governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to Though a backer of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election, Long split with Roosevelt in June 1933 and planned to mount his own presidential bid. Long created the Share Our Wealth program in 1934, with the motto "Every Man a King."

“I think my wife be honest, and think she is not
“I think my wife be honest, and think she is not./I think that thou are just, and think thou art not.” (Shakespeare, Othello, ) Isocolon A device in which corresponding clauses are of exactly equal length. (This quotation also provides examples of parison, epistrophe, and anaphora.

Betty Freidan Betty Friedan (February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist, social activist and writer. Author of The Feminine Mystique.

Shirley Chisholm (November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician, educator and author. She was a Congresswoman, representing New York's 12th District for seven terms from In 1968, she became the first African American woman elected to Congress.

“Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” (The Wizard of Oz)
Polysyndeton The device of repeating conjunctions in close succession

“Heard melodies are sweet.” (John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”)
Synaesthesia The use of one kind of sensory experience to describe another

Frances Perkins In 1933, Roosevelt appointed Perkins as Secretary of the Department of Labor, a position she held for twelve years, longer than any other Secretary of Labor and making her the first woman to hold a cabinet position in the United States (thus becoming the first woman to enter the presidential line of succession).

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847–October 18, 1931) was an inventor and businessman who developed many devices which greatly influenced life in the 20th century. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production to the process of invention, and can therefore be credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory. Some of the inventions credited to him were not completely original, but alterations of earlier patents (most famously the light bulb), or were actually the work of his numerous employees.

Polyptoton The repetition of words that come from the same root word
“With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder.” (Shakespeare, Richard II, ) Polyptoton The repetition of words that come from the same root word

Salmon P. Chase He was an American public official and jurist, and 6th Chief Justice of the United States ( ) He defended runaway blacks so often that he became known as "attorney general for fugitive slaves."Chase became prominent in the Liberty party and later in the Free-Soil party and was elected by a coalition of Free-Soilers and antislavery Democrats to the U.S. Senate, where ( ) he eloquently opposed such proslavery measures as the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Alexander Stephens Stephens, together with Howell Cobb and Robert Toombs, was influential in Georgia's acceptance of the Compromise of 1850, and with them he organized in the state the short-lived Constitutional Union party . As vice president, Stephens consistently opposed the policies of Jefferson Davis , objecting notably to conscription and to suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.

Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States ( ). The restoration and preservation of the Union were the main tenets of Lincoln's war aims.

John Bell A leading member of the Nashville bar, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives ( ), was speaker in 1834, and for a few weeks in 1841 was Secretary of War under President William Henry Harrison. As U.S. Senator ( ), he was the leader of the conservative Southern element that, though supporting slavery, placed the Union first.

Stephen Douglass He became attorney-general of Illinois in 1834, member of the legislature in 1835, secretary of state in 1840, and judge of the supreme court in 1841 and member of the House of Representatives in In 1854 Douglas introduced his Kansas-Nebraska bill to the Senate.

Wounded Knee The Wounded Knee Massacre was the last major armed conflict between the Lakota Sioux and the United States, and was later described as a "massacre" by General Nelson A. Miles in a letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. [1

Knights of Labor American labor organization, started by Philadelphia tailors in 1869, led by Uriah S. Stephens. It became a body of national scope and importance in 1878 and grew more rapidly after 1881, when its earlier secrecy was abandoned. Organized on an industrial basis, with women, black workers (after 1883), and employers welcomed, excluding only bankers, lawyers, gamblers, and stockholders, the Knights of Labor aided various groups in strikes and boycotts, winning important strikes on the Union Pacific in 1884 and on the Wabash RR in 1885.

Murchison Letter A California Republican named George Osgoodby wrote a letter to Sir Lionel Sackville-West, the British ambassador to the United States, under the assumed named of "Charles F. Murchison". "Murchison" described himself as a former Englishman who was now a California citizen and asked how he should vote in the upcoming presidential election. Sir Lionel wrote back and indiscreetly suggested that Cleveland was probably the best man from the British point of view. The Republicans published this letter just two weeks before the election, where it had an effect on Irish-American voters exactly comparable to the "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion" blunder of the previous election: Cleveland lost New York state and the presidency. And Sackville-West was sacked as British ambassador.[1]

Farmer’s Alliance Farmer's Alliance established organizations of farmers to confront economic problems. Cooperatives established banks and constructed elevators to allow farmers more power over the economy. They viewed this move as a counter-force to the control of their financial lives by those who exploited them.

Chautauqua Movement The Chautauqua Movement sought to bring learning, culture and, later, entertainment to the small towns and villages of America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Crime of ‘73 the "The Crime of '73!" was a much debated shift from a bi-metallic standard to a gold coin.

Promontory Point Promontory Point is an historic landscape and the focal point of Chicago's Burnham Park at the Eastern boundary of Hyde Park.

“Bloody Shirt” In U.S history, the post- Civil War political strategy of appealing to voters by recalling the passions and hardships of the recent year. This technique of “waving the bloody shirt” was most often employed by Radical Republicans in their in their efforts to focus public attention of Reconstruction issues still facing the country.

Congressional Reconstruction
In early 1866, Congressional Republicans, appalled by mass killing of ex- slaves and adoption of restrictive black codes, seized control of Reconstruction from President Johnson.

15th President of the United States (1857-61)
James Buchanan 15th President of the United States ( ) Although he attempted to keep the "sacred balance" between proslavery and antislavery factions, in his administration the United States plunged toward the armed strife of the Civil War. Felt that under the Constitution slavery had to be protected where it was established and that the inhabitants of a new territory should decide whether that territory should be free or slave.

Harriet Beecher Stowe American novelist and humanitarian
With her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, she stirred the conscience of Americans concerning slavery and thereby influenced the course of American history. Combined literary realism with evangelical fervor

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877). He achieved national fame as a hero of the American Civil War, in which he commanded Union forces as a general, and as general-in-chief (1864–1869).

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, novelist, writer, and lecturer. Although Twain was confounded by financial and business affairs, his humor and wit were keen, and he enjoyed immense public popularity. At his peak, he was probably the most popular American celebrity of his time.

Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to April 1956 and November 1956 to 1964 as a Democrat and from 1964 to 2003 as a Republican. He served as Senator through his 90s, and left office at age 100, as the longest-serving senator ever.

Charles Peirce Charles Sanders Peirce (pronounced purse), (September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American polymath, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Although educated as a chemist and employed as a scientist for 30 years, he is now mostly seen as a philosopher. He is the greatest American builder of architectonic systems, and his admirers deem him the most important systematizer since Kant and Hegel, who were major influences.

“Rose is a rose is a rose.” (Gertrude Stein, “Sacred Emily”)
Parison The correspondence of words within successive sentences or clauses, either by direct repetition of a specific word or by matching up nouns or verb forms

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American jurist and the first African American to serve on the United States Supreme Court.

Philip Sheridan Philip Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career U.S. Army officer and one of the great generals in the American Civil War. His actions proved decisive for the Union. He also prosecuted the latter years of the Indian Wars of the Great Plains. Both as a soldier and private citizen he was instrumental in the development and protection of Yellowstone National Park.

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956) was an influential American artist and a major force in the Abstract Expressionism movement.

“Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.” (Shakespeare, Sonnet 129)
Parallelism The use of similar grammatical structures or word order in two or more sentences, clauses, or phrases to suggest a comparison or contrast between them. (Parallelism can also refer to similarities between larger elements in a narrative.)

“He that is to be saved will be saved, and he that is predestined to be damned will be damned.” (James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans) Parison The correspondence of words within successive sentences or clauses, either by direct repetition of a specific word or by matching up nouns or verb forms

Edward Bellamy Edward Bellamy (March 26, 1850–May 22, 1898) was an American author, most famous for his utopian novel set in the year 2000, Looking Backward, published in 1888.

“The handsome houses on the street to the college were not fully awake, but they looked very friendly.” (Lionel Trilling, “Of This Time, of That Place”) Personification The use of human characteristics to describe animals, objects, or ideas

Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was a social activist, and a leading figure of the early women's rights movement in the United States. With her husband, Henry Stanton and cousin, Gerrit Smith, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was also active in the anti-slavery Abolitionist movement. Stanton had a strong friendship with abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass.

Samuel Gompers Samuel Gompers (January 27, 1850–December 13, 1924) was the long-time leader of the American Federation of Labor who helped define the structure and the economic and political goals of the American labor movement.

“The wine-dark sea” (Homer, The Iliad)
Epithet An adjective or phrase that describes a prominent or distinguishing feature of a person or thing.

Charles and Mary Beard Charles Beard was an early Twentieth Century historian who wrote The Rise of American Civilization (1927) and its two sequels, America in Midpassage (1939), and The American Spirit (1943), all written in collaboration with his wife, Mary Ritter Beard whose own interests lay in feminism and the labor union movement (Woman as a Force in History, 1946). Together they wrote a popular survey, The Beards: Basic History of the United States.

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808 – July 31, 1875) was the sixteenth Vice President (1865) and the seventeenth President of the United States (1865–1869), succeeding to the presidency upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

I’ve told you this a million times already
Hyperbole Excessive overstatement or conscious exaggeration of fact

Margaret Sanger Margaret Higgins Sanger (September 14, 1879 – September 6, 1966) was an American birth control activist, an advocate of certain aspects of eugenics, and the founder of the American Birth Control League (which eventually became Planned Parenthood). Initially meeting with fierce opposition to her ideas, Sanger gradually won the support of the public and the courts for a woman's right to decide how and when she will bear children.

Mary E. Lease Mary Elizabeth Lease ( ) was an American lecturer, writer, and political activist. Most of her political work was done toward the cause of temperance. She was born to Irish immigrants Joseph P. and Mary Elizabeth (Murray) Clyens, in Ridgway, Pennsylvania. In 1895, she wrote The Problem of Civilization Solved, and in 1896, she moved to New York City where she edited the democratic newspaper, World.

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was a Governor of New York, a United States Secretary of State and Chief Justice of the United States.

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) is best known as being the 31st ( ) President of the United States. However, prior to that, he was a successful mining engineer, humanitarian, and administrator. He had the longest retirement of any U.S. President and died 31 years after leaving office, during the administration of Lyndon Johnson — his fifth successor.

A. Mitchell Palmer Alexander Mitchell Palmer (May 4, May 11, 1936) was an American lawyer and politician. He directed the infamous Palmer Raids.

Andrew Mellon Andrew William Mellon (March 24, 1855–August 27, 1937) was an American banker, industrialist, philanthropist, and Secretary of the Treasury from March 4, 1921 until February 12, 1932.

He is not unfriendly. Litote
Deliberate understatement, in which an idea or opinion is often affirmed by negating its opposite

Same difference. Jumbo shrimp. Soft rock
Oxymoron The association of two contradictory terms

Mary Lyon Established Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in Massachusetts, in She was concerned with the education of young women

Bow-wow. Crackle. Buzz. Zoom
Onomatopoeia The use of words that sound like the thing or action they refer to

Thomas Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 20 or 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was an American teacher and soldier. He became a famous Confederate lieutenant-general during the American Civil War as a corps commander in the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee. He was shot accidentally by his own troops at Chancellorsville and died of complications a few days later.

Sons of Liberty In Boston in early summer of 1765 a group of shopkeepers and artisans who called themselves The Loyal Nine, began preparing for agitation against the Stamp Act. As that group grew, it came to be known as the Sons of Liberty They were workers and tradesmen, not Boston’s “leading men.” By the end of that year the Sons of Liberty existed in every colony. Their most popular objective was to force Stamp Distributors throughout the colonies to resign.

Want to take a ride in my new wheels?
Synechdoche A figure of speech in which a part of an entity is used to refer to the whole or when a genus is referred to by a species

It says a great deal about the state of religion in the colonies.
Great Awakening It says a great deal about the state of religion in the colonies.

“As Caesar loved me, I weep for him
“As Caesar loved me, I weep for him. As he was fortunate, I rejoice at it. As he was valiant, I honor him. But as he was ambitious, I slew him.” (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, ) Anaphora Repeated use of a word or phrase at the start of successive phrases or sentences for effect; also the use of a pronoun to refer to an antecedent (noun).

Stamp Act Congress The Congress agreed upon the Declaration of Rights reproduced here and, further, petitioned the king and Parliament. Because the credentials of certain delegates authorized them merely to consult and not to take action, the petition was signed by the members of only six colonies

“I came, I saw, I conquered.” (attributed to Julius Caesar)
Asyndeton The omission of coordinating conjunctions, such as in a series

Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was the second meeting of the colonies' delegates in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775. The delegates, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams.

Frederick Jackson Turner
Frederick Jackson Turner (November 14, 1861–1932) was the most influential American historian of the early 20th century.

“Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness…” (John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”)
Apostrophe A direct address to an absent or dead person, or to an object, quality, or idea

William Dean Howells William Dean Howells (March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist author and literary critic. Born in Martins Ferry, Ohio, originally Martinsville, to William Cooper and Mary Dean Howells, Howells was the second of eight children. His father was a newspaper editor and printer, and the father moved frequently around Ohio. Howells began to help his father with typesetting and printing work at an early age. In 1852, his father arranged to have one of Howells' poems published in the Ohio State Journal without telling him.

Essex Junto Group of New England merchants and lawyers.
Were called this because most of them came from Essex co., Mass. They opposed the radicals in Massachusetts in the American Revolution

“I came to bury Caesar, not to praise him
“I came to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, ) Antithesis The contrasting of ideas by the use of parallel structure in phrases or clauses

Shakers The Shakers, a member of the United Society of Believers in Christ's second appearing, was one of the utopian farming communities of the early 1800's. They were dedicated to a life of perfection, invented many time-saving tools and machines, and created distinctive styles of architecture, furniture, and handicrafts.

“The thunder would not peace at my bidding
“The thunder would not peace at my bidding.” (Shakespeare, King Lear, ) Anthimeria A type of pun in which one part of speech is substituted for another (in this case, a noun for a verb).

Seneca Falls Meeting Stanton argued, for women's wrongs to be laid before the public, and women themselves must shoulder the responsibility. The convention, to take place in five days' time, on July 19 and 20 at the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Seneca Falls.

The repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sequence of nearby words
“All day the wind breathes low with mellower tone.” (Alfred Lord Tennyson, “The Lotos-Eaters”) Assonance The repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sequence of nearby words

Lyceum Movement A movement started in the 19th century in the United States to foster adult education. It took its name from the Lyceum, a school near Athens where the Greek philosopher Aristotle lectured to students. The movement promoted adult education through lectures and debates in which several transcendentalists participated. The movement also promoted activities to encourage the building of libraries and general participation in other reform movements.

Saying “ethnic cleansing” instead of “genocide”
Euphemism The use of decorous language to express unpleasant or vulgar ideas, events, or actions

Erie Canal In order to open the country west of the Appalachian Mountains to settlers and to offer a cheap and safe way to carry produce to a market, the construction of a canal was proposed as early as 1768 It was not until 1808 that the state legislature funded a survey for a canal that would connect to Lake Erie. On July 4, 1817, Governor Dewitt Clinton broke ground for the construction of the canal.

Napoleon decided to abolish the Holy Roman Empire in view of the fact that it was neither
Ellipsis A figure of speech in which a word or short phrase is omitted but easily understood from the context. (In the example, the implied end of the sentence is neither “Holy nor Roman.”)

Hartford Convention A gathering of New England Federalists met at Hartford, Conn., to call for states' rights. The Constitutional amendments proposed there reflected the delegates' hostility toward the South and West.

I’ve been folding these little things until I’m practically origamied to death
Anthimeria A type of pun in which one part of speech is substituted for another (in this case, a noun for a verb). This sentence also demonstrates hyperbole.

McNary-Haugen Bill The bill was a proposed law to limit agricultural sales within the United States, and either store them or export them. Despite attempts in 1924, 1926, and 1928 to pass the bill — it was never approved. It was supported by Henry C. Wallace.

Hawley-Smoot Tariff In 1930, passed by the U.S. Congress; it brought the U.S. tariff to the highest protective level yet in the history of the United States. President Hoover desired a limited upward revision of tariff rates with general increases on farm products and adjustment of a few industrial rates. A congressional joint committee, however, in compromising the differences between a high Senate tariff bill and a higher House tariff bill, arrived at new high rates by generally adopting the increased rates of the Senate on farm products and those of the House on manufactures. Despite wide protest, the tariff act, called the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act because of its joint sponsorship by Representative Willis C. Hawley and Senator Reed Smoot, both Republicans, was signed (June, 1930) by President Hoover. The act brought retaliatory tariff acts from foreign countries, U.S. foreign trade suffered a sharp decline, and the depression intensified.

The Federal Securities Act
Congress passed the Federal Securities Act in Before securities could be offered for sale they had to be accompanied by full and true information. Misleading information or the absence of pertinent information could result in prosecution. A Federal Trade Commission was set up to supervise the stock market but this was replaced by the Securities and Exchange Commission in The commission had five members and enforced the publication of stock prospectuses and the regulation of exchange practices.

1st Agricultural Adjustment Act
When Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected as president, he appointed Henry Wallace as his Secretary of Agriculture. In 1933 Wallace drafted the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). The AAA paid farmers not to grow crops and not to produce dairy produce such as milk and butter. It also paid them not to raise pigs and lambs. The money to pay the farmers for cutting back production of about 30% was raised by a tax on companies that bought the farm products and processed them into food and clothing. The AAA also became involved in trying to help farmers destroyed by the creation of the dustbowl in In 1936 the Supreme Court declared the AAA unconstitutional. The majority of judges (6-3) ruled that it was illegal to levy a tax on one group (the processors) in order to pay it to another (the farmers). In 1938, another AAA was passed without the processing tax. It was financed out of general taxation and was therefore acceptable to the Supreme Court.

Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (later Works Projects Administration, abbreviated WPA), was created in May 1935 by Presidential order (Congress funded it annually but did not set it up). It was the largest and most comprehensive New Deal agency. It continued and expanded the FERArelief programs begun under Herbert Hoover and continued under Franklin D. Roosevelt. Headed by Harry L. Hopkins, it was a "make work" program that provided jobs and income to the unemployed during the Great Depression. WPA projects primarily (90%) employed unskilled blue-collar workers in construction projects across the nation, but also employed some white-collar artists, musicians, and writers on smaller-scale projects, and even ran a circus.

Wagner Act The National Labor Relations Act (or Wagner Act) is a 1935 United States federal law that protects the rights of most workers in the private sector to organize labor unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in support of their demands. The Act does not, on the other hand, cover those workers who are covered by the Railway Labor Act, agricultural employees, domestic employees, supervisors, independent contractors and some close relatives of individual employers.

2nd Agricultural Adjustment Act
The AAA was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the case United States v, Butler et al. (297 U.S, 1, January 6, 1936) because it taxed one group to pay another, Congress then achieved part of the original Act's goals with the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936 until the enactment of a second AAA (P.L, ) on February 16, 1938, This second AAA was funded from general taxation, and therefore acceptable to the Supreme Court.

Taft-Hartley Act The Taft-Hartley Act (also known as the Labor-Management Relations Act) was passed over the veto of Harry S. Truman on 23rd June, When it was passed by Congress Truman denounced it as a "slave-labor bill". The act declared the closed shop illegal and permitted the union shop only after a vote of a majority of the employees. It also forbade jurisdictional strikes and secondary boycotts. Other aspects of the legislation included the right of employers to be exempted from bargaining with unions unless they wished to. The act forbade unions from contributing to political campaigns and required union leaders to affirm they were not supporters of the Communist Party. This aspect of the act was upheld by the Supreme Court on 8th May, The Taft-Hartley Act also gave the United States Attorney General the power to obtain an 80 day injunction when a threatened or actual strike that he/she believed "imperiled the national health or safety".

National Defense Education Act
(NDEA), federal legislation passed in 1958 providing aid to education in the United States at all levels, public and private. NDEA was instituted primarily to stimulate the advancement of education in science, mathematics, and modern foreign languages; but it has also provided aid in other areas, including technical education, area studies, geography, English as a second language, counseling and guidance, school libraries and librarianship, and educational media centers. The act provides institutions of higher education with 90% of capital funds for low-interest loans to students. NDEA also gives federal support for improvement and change in elementary and secondary education. The act contains statutory prohibitions of federal direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution.

Voting Rights Act In July 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. The legislation attempted to deal with the problem of African Americans being denied the vote in the Deep South. The legislation stated that uniform standards must prevail for establishing the right to vote. Schooling to sixth grade constituted legal proof of literacy and the attorney general was given power to initiate legal action in any area where he found a pattern of resistance to the law. The following year, President Lyndon Baines Johnson attempted to persuade Congress to pass his Voting Rights Act. This proposed legislation removed the right of states to impose restrictions on who could vote in elections. Johnson explained how: "Every American citizen must have an equal right to vote. Yet the harsh fact is that in many places in this country men and women are kept from voting simply because they are Negroes." Although opposed by politicians from the Deep South, the Voting Rights Act was passed by large majorities in the House of Representatives (333 to 48) and the Senate (77 to 19). The legislation empowered the national government to register those whom the states refused to put on the voting list.

In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, characters refer to clocks, which did not exist in ancient Rome.
Anachronism An error in chronology; a reference that is inconsistent or inaccurate in view of the time in which the story was set

McKinley Tariff The McKinley Tariff of 1890 was what set the average ad valorem tariff rate for imports to the United States at 48.4%, and protected agriculture. Its chief proponent was Congressman and future President William McKinley. In return for its passage, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was given Republican support. It raised the prices in the United States under Benjamin Harrison and hurt the common folk, which may have cost him his presidency in the next elections.

Dingley Tariff The Dingley Act of 1897, introduced by U.S. Representative Nelson Dingley, Jr. of Maine, raised tariffs in United States to counteract the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act of 1894, which had lowered rates. Under the tariff, rates reached a new high, averaging 46.5%, and in some cases up to 57%. The Republican President William McKinley fully supported the bill.

Hepburn Act The Hepburn Act of 1906 gave the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) the power to set maximum railroad rates and led to the discontinuation of free passes to loyal shippers. In addition, the ICC could view the railroads' financial records, a task simplified by standardized booking systems. For any railroad that resisted, the ICC's conditions would be in effect until the outcome of litigation said otherwise. By the Hepburn Act, the ICC's authority was extended to cover bridges, terminals, ferries, sleeping cars, express companies and oil pipelines.

Pure Food and Drug Act The muckrakers had successfully heightened public awareness of safety issues stemming from careless food preparation procedures and the increasing incidence of drug addiction from patent medicines, both accidental and conscious. Scientific support came from Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, the Department of Agriculture's chief chemist, who published his findings on the widespread use of harmful preservatives in the meat-packing industry. The experience of American soldiers with so-called “embalmed beef” during the Spanish-American War added impetus to the movement.

Payne-Aldrich Tariff In 1909, passed by the U.S. Congress. It was the first change in tariff laws since the Dingley Act of 1897; the issue had been ignored by President Theodore Roosevelt. The Republican platform of 1908 pledged revision of the tariff downward, and to this end President Taft called (1909) Congress into special session. The House promptly passed a tariff bill, sponsored by Sereno E. Payne, which called for some reduced rates. The Senate substituted a bill, fathered by Nelson W. Aldrich, which made fewer downward revisions and increased numerous rates. After a sustained attack on the Aldrich Bill by a group of insurgent Republicans in the Senate, a compromise bill was adopted, which somewhat moderated the high rates of the Aldrich bill; the measure was immediately signed by Taft. It lowered 650 tariff schedules, raised 220, and left 1,150 unchanged. Although the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act was less aggressively protectionist than the McKinley Tariff Act (1890) and the later Dingley Act, it was, nevertheless, protectionist.

Federal Reserve Act An Act To provide for the establishment of Federal reserve banks, to furnish an elastic currency, to afford means of rediscounting commercial paper, to establish a more effective supervision of banking in the United States, and for other purposes.

Keating-Owen Act In 1916 Congress made its first effort to control child labor by passing the Keating-Owen Act. The legislation forbade the transportation among states of products of factories, shops or canneries employing children under 14 years of age, of mines employing children under 16 years of age, and the products of any of these employing children under 16 who worked at night or more than eight hours a day. In 1918 the Supreme Court ruled that the Keating-Owen Act was unconstitutional.

Smith-Hughes Act An act to provide for the promotion of vocational education; to provide for cooperation with the States in the promotion of such education in agriculture and the trades and industries; to provide for cooperation with the States in the preparation of teachers of vocational subjects; and to appropriate money and regulate its expenditure.

Espionage Act The Espionage Act was passed by Congress in 1917 after the United States entered the First World War. It prescribed a $10,000 fine and 20 years' imprisonment for interfering with the recruiting of troops or the disclosure of information dealing with national defence. Additional penalties were included for the refusal to perform military duty. Over the next few months around 900 went to prison under the Espionage Act.

Fordney-McCumber Tariff
One of the first legislative trends of the Sixty-Seventh Congress ( ) was the Republican leadership's marshaling of their overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate to return the nation’s tariff policy to protectionism. The Emergency Tariff Act of 1921 was designed to be only a temporary measure until a more comprehensive measure could be drafted.

Hamartia (also called tragic flaw)
In Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, the rashness of the two young lovers--especially Romeo—leads to their own deaths Hamartia (also called tragic flaw) In the context of tragedy, a fatal flaw or error that brings about the downfall of someone of high status

Trenton-Princeton Washington struck hardest when he reenergized his troops with the Treton-Princeton campaign.

Yorktown The British surrendered at yorktown when the Americans surrounded them. To surrender, they sent out a drummer with a British officer following him with a white flag requesting cease fire.

Detroit Detroit has a rich history with many things that have changed America. From escaping British rule to making automobiles to even Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech.

New Orleans New Orleans had one of the first Indian tribes. They didn’t adapt to the rigors of frontier life, but were taken over and forced to change their ways to meet the demands of first the French then the Spanish.

Mexico City The beginning of Mexico was about 20,000 years ago with the first inhabitants. It then dealt with changed rule.

Peninsula Campaign George B. Mclellan lead troops through the battles they faced. While controlling the battles he also led the Peninsula Campaign.

Antietam Antietam was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Killing thousands of people a day on both sides it was also one of the most violent.

Gettysburg More Americans fought and died in this battle than in any other battle fought in the history of America before its time.

ManillaBay Manila Bay was one of the first battles fought once the war between America and Spain had started.

Verdun Verdun was the longest battle of the first World War.

“To be or not to be…” When Hamlet is talking to himself.
Soliloquy A monologue in a drama used to give the audience information and to develop the speaker's character. It is typically a projection of the speaker's innermost thoughts. Usually delivered while the speaker is alone on stage, a soliloquy is intended to present an illusion of unspoken reflection.

“Green grow the rashes, O.” from Robert Burns "Green Grow the Rashes"
Spondee In poetry meter, a foot consisting of two long or stressed syllables occurring together.

Emily Dickinson, in "I Heard a Fly Buzz-When I Died,“ “with blue, uncertain stumbling buzz”
Synesthesia One sensory experience described in terms of another sensory experience.

Mercutio has just been stabbed, knows he is dying and says: “Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.” Pun A play on words wherein a word is used to convey two meanings at the same time.

Dactyl A poetic foot or unit consisting of one stressed (or long) syllable followed by two unstressed (or short) syllables.

A lyric poem lamenting death.
These lines from Joachim Du Bellay's "Elegy on His Cat" are an example: I have not lost my rings, my purse, My gold, my gems-my loss is worse, One that the stoutest heart must move. My pet, my joy, my little love, My tiny kitten, my Belaud, I lost, alas, three days ago. Elegy A lyric poem lamenting death.

“O star (the fairest one in sight).”
Euphony Soothing pleasant sounds; Harmony or beauty of sound which provides a pleasing effect to the ear, usually sought-for in poetry for effect. It is achieved not only by the selection of individual word

finger of birth-strangled babe.
CACOPHONY Harsh, discordant sounds

"the snow, the silence, the quick love, the astral call oh fly the friendly skies,..."
Polysyndeton The repetition of connectives or conjunctions in close succession for rhetorical effect, as in the phrase here and there and everywhere.

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "And Brutus is an honorable man."
Anaphora The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs. One of the devices of repetition, in which the same phrase is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines.

1. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is wearing a watch.
Anachronism: An event, object, custom, person, or thing that is out of order in time; some anachronisms are unintentional.

2. Geoffrey Chaucer’s, The Miller’s Prologue and Tale .
Exemplum: A brief tale used in medieval time to illustrate a sermon or teach a lesson.

3. Oscar Wilde’s, “The Importance of Being Ernest.
Farce: A light, dramatic composition characterized by broad satirical comedy and a highly improbable plot.

4. Greek poets Theocritus writing about the rustic life of Sicily for the sophisticated Citizens of the City of Alexandria Idyll: A short descriptive narrative, usually a poem, about an idealized country life: also called pastoral.

5. A French Farem Villanelle: A lyric poem consisting of five tersest and a final quatrain.

6. “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
Asyndeton: The omission of conjunctions between related clauses.

7. “Richard the Lion-Head”
Epithet: A word or phrase adding a characteristic to a person’s name.

8.Combines of both reificative and participative aspects; or symbols
Repertoire: A set of assumptions, skills, facts, and experienced that a reader brings to a text to make meaning.

9. “He maintained a business and his innocence.”
Zeugma: A trope in which one word, usually a noun or the main verb, governs two other words not related in meaning.

10. “50 head of cattle” Synecdoche: A part of something used to refer to the whole.

Assonance- The repetition of a vowel sound within words
“Deep Caves and dreary main- Wail, for the world’s wrong!” -Percy Bysshe Shelley Assonance- The repetition of a vowel sound within words 212

“ Well I Remember how you smiled To see me write your name upon The soft sea sand…” -Walter Savage Landor Enjambment- The continuation of the sense and grammatical construction of a line of poetry onto the next line or of a couplet or stanza onto the succeeding couplet or stanza. 213

“ R.I.P Henry was a loving husband and father, may his soul rest.”
Epigram- Originally was a memorial inscription for a tombstone, but can be used for many purposes, including the expression of friendship, grief, criticism, praise, and philosophy. 214

“ You show us, Rome was glorious, not profuse, and pompous buildings once were things of use.” - Epistle to Burlington Epistle- A formal literary letter addressed to a specific person but intended for a wide audience. 215

The Tortoise and the Hare - Aesop
Fable- A brief tale told to illustrate a moral or principle behavior. 216

The Rape of the Lock - Alexander Pope
Mock Epic- A form of satire the treats a trivial matter on a heroic plane, generally with a humorous effect. 217

When my love swears that she is made of truth, I do believe her, though I know she lies.
Paradox- A statement that seems to be contradictory or ridiculous but is actually quite true. 218

Angry clouds, A cruel Wind
Pathetic Fallacy- The attribution of human traits and emotions to nature. 219

Free Gift or Aromatic Aroma
Tautology- A group of words that merely repeat the meaning already conveyed. 220

“She conquered shame with passion, fear with audacity, reason with madness.”
Zeugma- A trope in which one word, usually a noun or the main verb, governs two other words not related in meaning. 221

Let fortune lay on me her worst disgrace; Let folk o’ercharged with brain against me cry; Let clouds be dim in my face, break in mine eye; Let me no steps but of lost labor trace; Let all the earth with scorn recount my case; But do not will me from my Love to flie. - Sir Phillip Sidney, A Strophel & Stella Anaphora – Repetition of a word or word group often at the beginnings of successive sentences, clauses, paragraphs or poetic lines. 222

O thou. In Hellas deemed of heavenly birth. Muse
O thou! In Hellas deemed of heavenly birth. Muse! Formed or fabled at the minstrels will! -George Fordon, Lord Byron- Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage Apostrophe – Figure of speech in which a thing, an abstract quality, or an absent or imaginary person is addressed as if present and able to understand. 223

To die, || to sleep, To sleep – perchance to dream
To die, || to sleep, To sleep – perchance to dream. || Aye there’s the rub. For in that sleep of death || what dreams may come. When we have shuffled off this mortal coil. Must give us pause. || There’s the respect. That makes calamity of so long life. - William Shakespeare - Hamlet Caesura – A pause in the meter of a line of poetry. Position is usually determined by natural flow and marked by punctuation. 224

The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise Man knows himself to be a fool. As You Like It – William Shakespeare Echoing – The repetition of certain words or phrases, sometimes with slightly different meanings. 225

The is introductory material usually presents the stetting, introduces the characters, establishes the tone and otherwise reveals facts necessary for understanding the narrative. As in the first two acts of Macbeth where the witches describe the characters. Exposition - Detailed explanationg often at the beginning of a literary work that provides pertinent background information. 226

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye might and despair! - Shelly, Ozymandias
Double Entendre: The double ( or multiple) meanings of a group of words that speak or writer has purposely left ambiguous. 227

“No ordinary citizen.” -Acts of the Apostles 21:39 NIV
Litote – Understatment 228

“To be, or not to be – that is the question” William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Soliloquy - Dialogue in which a character speaks aloud to himself or herself. 229

In Hamlet, this takes place after the catastrophe, with the littered corpses. During this Fortinbras makes an entrances and a speech, Horatio speaks his sweet lines in praise. Denouement - Part of a drama which follows the climax and lead to the resolution 230

Didactic Literature - Designed explicitly to instruct.
Paint first a cange with an open door paint then something pretty something simple something handsome something useful for the bird Jacque Prevert's "To Paint the Portrait of a Bird." Didactic Literature - Designed explicitly to instruct. 231

Juxtaposed words with seemingly contradictory meanings.
Jumbo Shrimp Oxymoron Juxtaposed words with seemingly contradictory meanings.

Your position was eliminated. (opposed to you’re fired)
Euphemism An indirect expression of unpleasant information in such a way as to lessen the impact.

They saw no evil, they spoke no evil, and they heard no evil.
Epistrophe The repetition of a group of words at the end of a successive clause.

A word or phrase adding a characteristic to a person’s name.
Tiffany “ The Crazed” Epithet A word or phrase adding a characteristic to a person’s name.

I came, I fought, I triumphed
Asyndeton The omission of conjunctions between related clauses.

“ You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy.”
Antimetabole A repetition of words, Antimetabole in successive clauses, in a reverse grammatical order.

(give me your attention)
lend me your ears (give me your attention) Synecdoche A part of something used to refer to the whole.

Tiffany Hutton- better known as ‘Triple Threat’
Periphrasis The use of an attributive word or phrase in reference to a proper name to suggest a personality characteristic.

smog is the combination of smoke and fog
Portmanteau The combination of two or more words to create a new word.

Harsh, discordant sounds.
“We want no parlay with you and your grisly gang who work your wicked will” Cacophony Harsh, discordant sounds.

Hendiadys Definition: Use of two words connected by a conjunction, instead of subordinating one to the other, to express a single complex idea. Example: It sure is nice and cool today! (for "pleasantly cool")

Apostrophe Definition: A figure of speech in which a thing, an abstract quality, or an absent or imaginary person is addressed as if present and able to understand. Example: O, thou! In Hellas deemed of heavenly birth, Muse! Formed or fabled at the minstrel’s will! -George Gordon, Lord Byron

Assonance Definition: The repetition of a vowel sound within words.
Example: Deep caves and dreary main- Wail, for the world’s wrong! -Percy Bysshe Shelley

Zeugma Definition: Two different words linked to a verb or an adjective which is strictly appropriate to only one of them. Example: Nor Mars his sword, nor war's quick fire shall burn The living record of your memory.

Kenning Definition: A compressed metaphor often substituted for a noun in Anglo-Saxon poetry. Example: “wave-way”, “swan’s road”, “word hoard”

Pleonasm Definition: Use of superfluous or redundant words, often enriching the thought. Example: No one, rich or poor, will be excepted.

Litotes Definition: Understatement, for intensification, by denying the contrary of the thing being affirmed. (Sometimes used synonymously with meiosis.) Example: A few unannounced quizzes are not inconceivable.

Aporia Definition: Expression of doubt (often feigned) by which a speaker appears uncertain as to what he should think, say, or do. Example: Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do?’

Anacoluthon Definition: Lack of grammatical sequence; a change in the grammatical construction within the same sentence. Example:Agreements entered into when one state of facts exists -- are they to be maintained regardless of changing conditions? J. Diefenbaker

Syllepsis Definition: Use of a word with two others, with each of which it is understood differently. Example: We must all hang together or assuredly we will all hang separately. -Benjamin Franklin

In Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, Dante, symbolizing humankind, is taken by Virgil the poet on a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise in order to teach him the nature of sin and its punishments, and the way to salvation. Allegory An extended narrative in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities.

Fair Quiet, have I found thee here
And Innocence, thy sister?( Andrew Marvell “ The Garden” ) Apostrophe A figure of speech in which a thing, an abstract quality, or an absent or imaginary person is addressed as if present and able to understand

At this point they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that are on that plain. "Look there, friend Sancho Panza, where thirty or more monstrous giants rise up, all of whom I mean to engage in battle and slay, and with whose spoils we shall begin to make our fortunes." Miguel de Cervantes: Don Quixote) Burlesque A broad parody: which takes an entire style or form and exaggerate it into ridiculousness.

In Homer, it is usually directed against the gods, for example the belief the one accomplished some act without their help or the belief that humans do not need the gods in their everyday lives. Hubris The excessive pride or ambition that leads a tragic hero to disregard warnings of impending doom, eventually causing their downfall.

It little profits that an idle king, By this still hearth, among these barren crags, Match'd with an agèd wife, I mete and dole Unequal laws unto a savage race, That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me ( Alfred, Lord Tennyson- Ulysses) Idyll A short descriptive narrative about an ideal country life

Using “crown” to refer to a monarch
Metonymy A figure of speech that uses the name of an object, person or idea to represent something with which it is associated

The man fatally bewitched by a fairy lady in Keat's "La Belle Dame sans Merci."
Motif A conspicuous recurring element, such as a type of incident, a device, a reference, or verbal formula, which appears frequently in works of literature.

Using “wheels” to mean a car
Synecdoche A figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent a whole

"The Nun's Priest's Tale," in which Chanticleer proves that dreams have significance by asserting a long list of cases in which oneiromantic visions predicted the future. Exemplum A brief tale used in medieval times to illustrate a sermon or to teach a lesson

Thy knitted frame, thy springs and valves, the tremulous twinkle of thy wheels, Thy train of cars behind, obedient, merrily following, Through gale or calm, now swift, now slack, yet steadily careering ;( To a Locomotive in Winter- Walt Whitman) Dissonance Harsh or grating sounds that don’t go together

“The poet says we ‘milestone our lives’”
Antihimeria The substitution of one part of speech for another.

“I came, I saw, I conquered.”
Asyndeton The omission of conjunctions between related clauses.

If I complete my homework, then I will have an “A”.
Antecedent- consequence relationship The relationship expressed by “if…then”.

She cleaned to cupboards, she cleaned the counters, and she cleaned the floors.
Anaphora The repetition of a group of words at the beginning of successive clauses.

“They had the passion of Romeo and Juliet.”
Allusion A reference in a written or spoken text to another text or to some particular body of knowledge.

“They saw no evil, they spoke no evil, and they heard no evil.”
Epistrophe The repetition of a group of words at the end of successive clauses.

“Richard the Lion-Hearted”
Epithet A word or phrase adding a characteristic to a person’s name.

Her foot seemed wider than the Pacific Ocean.
Hyperbole An exaggeration for effect.

The forest revealed smells unique of anything he had ever experienced.
Imagery Language that evokes particular sensations or emotionally rich experiences in a reader.

“Jumbo shrimp” Oxymoron
Juxtaposed words with seemingly contradictory meanings.

Stream of Consciousness
The tree outside the window taps very gently on the pane… I want to think quietly, sleeping. Stream of Consciousness Presenting thoughts, responses, and sensations of one or more characters.

Johnathan Smith wrote The Modest Proposal emphasizing this…
Satire Literary technique that combines wit and humor to make a point.

Soliloquy Speech given by a character alone.
To be or not to be? Soliloquy Speech given by a character alone.

I’m taking my arm off with a hacksaw…
Hyperbole An exaggeration

Rhetorical question A question that need not be answered.
Is the sky blue? Rhetorical question A question that need not be answered.

You can’t, can’t,can’t leave..
Repetition Repeating a sound, word, or phrase

She walked in an arrogant way.
Personification Figure of speech in which human qualities are in animals.

You will not be sorry if you buy this car.
Persuasion Used to convince an audience.

I kick a field goal around the world.
Paradox Something so outrageous but true.

The bang of the lightening scared people.
The bang of the lightnening scared people. The bang of the lightnening scared people. Onomatopoeia Echo of words..

In The Pilgrims Progress by John Bungan, the character named Christian struggles to escape from a swamp. The story of his difficulty is a symbol of the difficulty of leading a good life in the “bog” of this world. Allegory: An extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities and in which the writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface story.

“ Always brining junk… home as if he were burlesquing his role as a provider” (John Opdike)
Burlesque: Broad parody; whereas a parody will initiate and exaggerate a specific work such as Romeo and Juliet a burlesque will take an entire style or forth such as pastoral poetry, and exaggerate it into ridiculousness.

I loath your foul manner – This cacophony uses harsh words such as loath and foul, getting across an idea of unpleasantness. Cacophony: Harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry: opposite of euphony.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Great Gatsby by F
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell. Subjectivity- A personal presentation of events and characters, influenced by the authors feelings and opinions.

The poet says we “milestone our lives.”
Antihimeria: The substitution of one part of speech for another.

Saying a person’s position was eliminated rather than saying the person was fired.
Euphemism- An indirect expression of unpleasant info in such a way as to lesson its impact.

Peter Rose a.k.a.: Charlie Hustie- admitted to having a gambling problem.
Periphrasis: the substitution of an attribute word or phrase for a proper name or the use of a proper name to suggest a personality.

“ 50 head of Cattle” Referring to 50 complete animals
Synecdoche: A part of something used to refer to the whole.

“Window Woman” or “Adequate enough”
Tautology: A group of words that merely repeats the meaning already conveyed.

“Isn’t she great?” Rhetorical question

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“Isn’t she great?” Rhetorical question

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