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This glossary contains definitions for words used throughout the website.  If you have a suggestion of a word that should be included here, please e-mail me at tim@mr-anderson.com.



Browse the glossary using this index

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R

reliability

:
Suitable or fit to be relied on; trustworthy.

resolution

:
The point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is resolved.

retronym

:
An adjective-noun pairing generated by a change in the meaning of the base noun, usually as a result of technological advance

Examples:
  • watch became pocket watch due to introduction of wrist watch
  • pen became fountain pen due to introduction of ball-point pen
From Greek retro (=backward); coined by Frank Mankiewicz.

reversal

:
Array

revision

:
The stage of the writing process in which one considers and improves the meaning and underlying structure of a written draft.

rhetorical

:
A method used in writing or speaking in which language is used to device influence or persuade an audience.

rhyme

:
Array

rhyme scheme

:
using letters to show the arrangement of rhyme, such as ababcdcdefefgg for a sonnet

rime

:

A vowel and any following consonants of a syllable, as /ook/ in book.

Rime Royal

:
seven lines of iambic pentameter, rhyme scheme ababbcc.

root word

:
In a complex word, the meaningful base form after all affixes are removed. Note: A root may be independent or free, as read in unreadable, or may be dependent or bound, as -liter- (from the Greek for letter) in illiterate.

round character

:
A character who is complex and multi-dimensional.

rubric

:
An authoritative set of rules which can be used as a means of evaluation.