AP Language Rhetorical Devices

Abstract

Refers to language that describes concepts rather than concrete images.

Allegory

An extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities.

Anecdote

A short, simple narrative of an incident; often used for humorous effect or to make a point.

Annotation

Explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources, or give bibliographical data.

Antithesis

The presentation of two contrasting images, balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraphs.

Aphorism

A short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life.

Apostrophe

The device of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person or to a place, thing, or personified abstraction.

Argumentation

Writing that attempts to prove the validity of a point of view or an idea by presenting reasoned arguments.

Cacophony; Dissonance

Harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose.

Caricature

Descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a person's appearance or a facet of personality.

Colloquialism

A word or phrase used in everyday conversation and informal writing.

Coherence; Unity

Quality of a piece of writing in which all the parts contribute to the development of the central idea.

Concrete Language

Language that describes specific, observable things, people, or places.

Connotation

Implied or suggested meaning of a word because of its association in the reader's mind.

Consonance

Repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximity.

Conundrum

A riddle whose answer is or involves a pun; it may also be a paradox or difficult problem.

Deduction

The process of moving from a general rule to a specific example.

Denotation

Literal meaning of a word as defined.

Description

The picturing in words of something or someone through detailed observation.

Diction

Word choice, an element of style that creates tone, attitude, and meaning.

Didactic

Writing whose purpose is to instruct or to teach.

Discourse

Spoken or written language, including literary works.

Emotional Appeal; Pathos

When a writer appeals to readers' emotions to excite and involve them in the argument.

Epigraph

The use of a quotation at the beginning of a work that hints at its theme.

Ethical Appeal; Ethos

When a writer tries to persuade the audience to respect and believe him or her based on a presentation of image of self.

Euphemism

A more acceptable and usually more pleasant way of saying something that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable.

Euphony

A succession of harmonious sounds used in poetry or prose.

Example

An individual instance taken to be representative of a general pattern.

Explication

The art of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text.

Exposition

The immediate revelation to the audience of the setting and other background information necessary for understanding the plot.

Generalization

When a writer bases a claim upon an isolated example or asserts that a claim is certain rather than probable.

Genre

A type of literary work, such as a novel or poem.

Humor

Anything that causes laughter or amusement.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration in order to create humor or emphasis.

Image

A word or words, either figurative or literal, used to describe a sensory experience.

Imagery

Words or phrases that use a collection of images to appeal to one or more of the five senses.

Induction

The process that moves from a given series of specifics to a generalization.

Inference

A conclusion one can draw from the presented details.

Invective

A verbally abusive attack.

Inversion

Reversing the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase.

Jargon

Special words or expressions used by a profession or group.

Logical Appeal; Logos

When a writer tries to persuade the audience based on statistics, facts, and reasons.

Lyrical

Songlike; characterized by emotions, subjectivity, and imagination.

Mode

The method or form of a literary work; the manner in which a work of literature is written

Mood

The primary emotional attitude of a work; the atmosphere.

Narration

The telling of a story in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama.

Objectivity

An impersonal presentation of events and characters.

Oversimplification

When a writer obscures or denies the complexity of the issues in an argument.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech composed of contradictory words or phrases.

Pacing

The movement of a literary piece from one point or one section to another.

Parable

A short tale that teaches a moral; similar to but shorter than an allegory.

Paradox

A statement that seems to contradict itself but that turns out to have a rational meaning.

Parallelism

The technique of arranging words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures by placing them side by side.

Parody

A work that ridicules the style of another work by imitating and exaggerating its elements.

Pathetic Appeal; Pathos

When a writer tries to persuade the audience by appealing to their emotions.

Pedantic

A term used to describe writing that borders on lecturing.

Persuasion

A form of argumentation; language intended to convince through appeals to reason or emotion.

Regionalism

An element in literature that conveys a realistic portrayal of a specific geographical locale.

Repetition

Word or phrase used two or more times in close proximity.

Rhetorical modes

Exposition, description, narration, argumentation.

Rhetorical Question

One that does not expect an explicit answer.

Sarcasm

Harsh, caustic personal remarks to or about someone.

Satire

A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior.

Speaker

The voice of a work; an author may speak as himself or herself or as a fictitious persona.

Stereotype

A character who represents a trait usually attributed to a particular social or racial group.

Style

An author's characteristic manner of expression.

Subjectivity

A personal presentation of events and characters, influenced by the author's feelings and opinions.

Syllogism

A form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent a whole.

Syntactic Fluency

Ability to create a variety of sentence structures.

Syntactic Permutation

Sentence structures that are extraordinarily complex and involved.

Syntax

The grammatical structure of a sentence; the arrangement of words in a sentence.

Theme

The central idea or 'message' of a literary work.

Thesis

The main idea of a piece of writing; presents the author's assertion or claim.

Tone

The characteristic emotion or attitude of an author toward the characters, subject, and audience.

Transition

A word or phrase that links one idea to the next.

Understatement

A technique for developing irony and/or humor where one writes or says less than intended.

Voice

Refers to the relationship between a sentence's subject and verb, and the total sound of a writer's style.