English 351: EOC Terms, Part 3
1. False Premise - A false premise is an incorrect proposition that forms the basis
of an argument. Since the premise (proposition, or assumption) is not correct, the
conclusion drawn may be in error.
Examples: Hillary Clinton must be a communist spy. She supports socialized
health care, and everyone who supports socialized health care is a communist spy.
It has rained more than 15 inches per year in Amherst every year for the past 30
years. So you can safely bet it will rain more than 15 inches in Amherst this year.
Professor Chappell said that the ratio of female to male students in the class was
exactly 3:1. This means that there are 112 female students in the class, because
there are 148 students in the class total.
While these examples could be true, they are not necessarily true each time.
2. Contrasting Argument/Rebuttal/Refute/Contradict - an argument or set of
reasons put forward to oppose an idea or theory developed in another argument.
During the EOC, a question may ask you, “Which sentence makes a contrasting
argument (or rebuttal) to the author’s main idea?” You’d choose the one that
opposes or acts against the argument.
3. Vivid Verb/Adjective – More interesting than common verbs or adjectives,
these words POP! to the reader’s senses. On the EOC, pick the ‘coolest’ sounding
word that makes you picture what is going on.
VERBS
touch = graze, caress, stroke. (the latter list (after the “=” sign) POP!)
cry = whimper, blubber, bawl.
see = glare, gaze, glimpse.
like = adore, admire, cherish.
dislike = loathe, despise, scorn.
eat = gorge, nibble, gobble.
ADJECTIVES
funny → amusing → hilarious
heavy → weighty → ponderous
well → adequately → expertly
4. Irrelevant Detail – On the EOC, this will involve a sentence that adds nothing
useful (adds nothing relevant) to the argument or passage as a whole. SO, you’d
pick the one that is not needed, or that you could edit out without the argument
losing meaning.
5. Rhetorical Device/Literary Element – Figurative devices such as irony,
metaphor, etc. This is a general term referring to literary/figurative devices.
6. Critique – The difference of a “critique” from a “paraphrase” or “summary.”
The EOC will ask you the difference between this term and the others: A
“critique” adds the writer’s opinions on the topic or passage, whereas a summary
or paraphrase leaves it out.
7. When you see the words infer or imply on an EOC question, if the question
asks what you can “infer,” it means what can you guess that happened but the
passage doesn’t directly state. When a question mentions that a passage “implies”
something, it is stating that the passage doesn’t ‘directly state,’ but you can ‘infer’
the details ‘implied.’
Examples: We can “infer” that Kodi was in a bad mood today. He didn’t tell us
that he was, but he acted grumpy towards all his classmates.
Though Kodi didn’t directly tell us how he felt today, his grumpy behavior
“implied” that he was in a bad mood.
8. Writing Modes:
Informative – This mode of writing provides information in a clear, concise
manner.
Persuasive – This mode of writing is meant to convince the reader of the writer’s
opinion.
Expository – This mode of writing gives information, but specifically an
explanation of directions (this makes it different from “informative”) –may be
called “descriptive”
Narrative – This mode of writing tells a story.
9. Classical Allusion – An allusion to classical literature such as Greek or Roman
culture, but not limited to these – allusion to ‘the classics’
10. Theater terms:
Aside – A remark or passage by a character in a play that is intended to be heard
by the audience but unheard by the other characters in the play. Often looks
directly at audience.
Dialogue – A conversation between two or more people in a play.
Soliloquy - An act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless
of any hearers, especially by a character in a play. This is not to the audience
(which is how it differs from aside), and other characters are on stage at this time
(which is how it differs from monologue)
Monologue - A long speech by one actor in a play without other characters on
stage.
10. What to cite – Passages must cite statements that are directly quoted or
paraphrased from other sources. Anything that was not in the author’s own words
must be cited.
11. When an author makes an assumption, the author “assumes” something rather
than stating or citing facts to back up his or her claim. An “assumption” is a guess
or unfounded judgment. An EOC question might ask which statement is an
“assumption,” and you will pick out the option that is not factually based and
strictly sounds like ‘opinion.’
12. Advantages of Points of View:
1st person: Allows you to exist inside the character’s mind. You know their
thoughts, you feel what they feel, and this character is able to lie to you or distort
the truth because there is no objective narrator to tell the truth.
3rd person limited: Just like first person, you follow just one character and see their
experiences firsthand. However, a separate narrator follows this character around
the whole time.
3rd person objective: Still only follows one character, but you don’t know this
character’s thoughts first hand. This narrator does not get to go inside the
character’s mind. This narrator only reports what happens, but is 100% truthful.
3rd person omniscient: This narrator follows around many (maybe all) main
characters. This narrator is free in being able to show many sides of the story.
13. Ambiguous Pronouns – AVOID. These occur when a sentence confuses the
reader due to misuse of pronouns.
Example: Sarah and Sarah started fighting because she was being a jerk (which
she?).
14. Tone – Synonymous with mood or attitude. AKA: What were the writer’s
feelings as they wrote their article/story? Or, what feelings were expressed in
particular lines of the story? When a question asks for tone, consider these
questions to make your answer.
15. A highly focused research topic is one that is the most specific.
BAD example: A research paper about bees
GOOD example: A research paper discussing the rise and fall of cross-pollination
in the Brazilian Samara Civilization between 1600-1620.
16. Commonly confused words (ATTACHED)
17. “Which sentence demonstrates the most clarity and coherence?” For this
question you will choose the sentence that “sounds” good (not choppy or weirdly
organizes), the sentence that makes sense logically (A BAD logic example would
be: “Let me tell you the reason I hate Pepsi; it is too sweet, and it decays teeth 
This examples told you it’d give you one reason, but it gave you two…no logical
coherence).
18. Analogy word problems: EXAMPLE: Picture is to blurred as knife is to…
A) keen
B) painful
C) wealthy
D) blunt
You have to judge from the first pair how to answer the second pair. If the first
pair contains two ‘synonyms,’ then your second pair will follow suit. If your first
pair contains two antonyms, then–once again–your second pair must follow suit.
A blurred picture is distorted to the point of not being useful. The knife, therefore,
must show a word that has the same meaning: Which would show that a knife is
no longer useful? “Blunt” fits best.
19. Which option BEST combines the sentences? A question like this is asking
you which option contains the best way to revise the sample sentences in a way
that sounds best and feels logical without adding or subtracting meaning (meaning
the sample and your answer must give all the details, but you’re just looking for
the best version of those details). What to think about: punctuation, organization,
sequencing that makes sense