chapter 4

• language is a shared symbol system 
• epistemic function is the language we learn and employ shapes and constrains our understanding of what constitutes reality 
• demotative meaning is the content level of the word 
• conotative meaning- how an individual feels about the word 
• abstraction - the more abstract the term the more meanings it conveys
• characters create images and act in accordance with the impressions they wish to sustain 
• a role is a set of assumptions about how an individual should act based on his or her position, occupation, behavior and status 
• character types: In his analysis of American literature, Orrin Kxlapp concluded there are three major american social types: heroes, villians and fools. Klapp argued Americans are guided by the desire to emulate positive social types, although there will almost certainly be culture-specific expectations for particular roles 
• metaphor - special forms of argument that can enhance the appeal of a claim 
• an ornamental metaphor asks audiences to see that phenomenon A has some characteristic that resembles phenomenon B, If we say, "Peter is as strong as an ox," we are only comparing one aspect of peter-his strength-with one one aspect of the ox-its strength 
• an argumentative metaphor contend that contends that phenomenon A should be seen as phenomenon B
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