AP Language & Composition Rhetorical Terms - 2025-26

A comprehensive list of rhetorical terms and definitions for AP Language & Composition based on the 2025-26 curriculum. Starred = Tested on in class.

Alliteration

Repetition of the same sound beginning several words or syllables in sequence.

Allusion

Brief reference to a person, event, or place (real or fictitious) or to a work of art.

Ambiguity

The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence or passage.

Analogy

A comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things, often using something simple or familiar to explain something unfamiliar or complex.

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines.

Anecdote

A brief story used to illustrate a point or claim.

Annotation

The taking of notes directly on a text.

Antimetabole

Repetition of words in reverse order.

Antithesis

Opposition, or contrast, of ideas or words in a parallel construction.

Aphorism

A terse statement of known authorship that expresses a general truth and moral principle.

Archaic Diction

Old-fashioned or outdated choice of words.

Argument

A process of reasoned inquiry; a persuasive discourse resulting in a coherent and consideration movement from a claim to a conclusion.

Assertion

A statement that presents a claim or thesis.

Asyndeton

Omission of conjunction between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

Audience

The listener, viewer, or reader of a text; most texts are likely to have multiple audiences.

Claim

Also called an assertion or proposition, it states the argument’s main idea or position and must be arguable.

Closed Thesis

A statement of the main idea of the argument that also previews the major points the writer intends to make.

Colloquialism

Words or phrases that have a conversational feel and are not generally used in formal written English.

Complex Sentence

A sentence that includes one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

Connotation

Meanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition (denotation); often positive or negative.

Context

The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text.

Cumulative Sentence

Sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on.

Denotation

The strict, literal dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude or color.

Diction

A speaker’s choice of words.

Emphasis

The technique of placing importance on a particular idea through positioning (Position), proportion (Proportion), isolation (Isolation), or repetition (Repetition).

Ethos

Greek for “character.” A rhetorical appeal used to demonstrate that the speaker is credible and trustworthy.

Euphemism

Greek for “good speech,” a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts.

Figurative Language

Nonliteral language (tropes or metaphorical language) often evoking strong imagery through explicit (simile) or implicit (metaphor) comparisons.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic or ironic effect; an overstatement to make a point.

Imagery

A description of how something looks, feels, tastes, smells, or sounds using literal or figurative language.

Imperative sentence

Sentence used to command or enjoin.

Inversion

Inverted order of words in a sentence, varying from the standard Subject-Verb-Object order.

Irony

A figure of speech occurring when a speaker says one thing but means another, or when what happens is the opposite of what is expected.

Jargon

Specialized terminology used by a particular group of people; often obscure and pretentious.

Juxtaposition

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences.

Logos

Greek for “embodied thought.” A rhetorical appeal to reason through clear, rational ideas, facts, statistics, or expert testimony.

Metaphor

Figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as.

Metonymy

Figure of speech in which something is represented by another thing that is related to it or emblematic of it.

Modifier

An adjective, adverb, phrase, or clause that describes, focuses, or qualifies a noun, pronoun, or verb.

Mood

The feeling or atmosphere created by a text.

Narration

In classical oration, the factual and background information that establishes why a subject or problem needs addressing.

Nominalization

The process of changing a verb into a noun.

Occasion

The time and place a speech is given or a piece is written.

Open thesis

A thesis statement that does not list all of the points the writer intends to cover in an essay.

Oxymoron

A paradox made up of two seemingly contradictory words.

Paradox

A statement or situation that is seemingly contradictory on the surface, but delivers an ironic truth.

Parallelism

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.

Pathos

Greek for “suffering” or “experience.” A rhetorical appeal to emotionally motivate an audience via their values, desires, hopes, fears, or prejudices.

Periodic sentence

Sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end.

Persona

Greek for “mask.” The face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience.

Personification

Attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea.

Polysyndeton

The deliberate use of multiple conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

Propaganda

The spread of ideas and information to further a cause; in a negative sense, the use of rumors, lies, and disinformation to damage or promote a cause.

Purpose

The goal the speaker wants to achieve.

Rhetoric

Defined by Aristotle as “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion”; the art of finding ways of persuading an audience.

Rhetorical Appeals

Techniques used to persuade an audience by emphasizing ethos (character), logos (reason), or pathos (emotion).

Rhetorical Question

A figure of speech in the form of a question posed for effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer.

Satire

The use of irony or sarcasm to critique society or an individual.

Scheme

Artful syntax; a deviation from the normal order of words, such as parallelism or juxtaposition.

Simile

A figure of speech used to explain or clarify an idea by comparing it explicitly using the words like, as, or as though.

Speaker

The person or group who creates a text.

Stance

A speaker’s attitude toward the audience (distinct from tone).

Style

A writer’s specific way of saying things, including arrangement of ideas, word choice, syntax, and figurative language.

Subject

The topic of a text; what the text is about.

Symbol

Something that represents or stands for something else; categories include natural, conventional, and literary symbols.

Synecdoche

Figure of speech that uses a part to represent the whole.

Syntax

The arrangement of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences, including word order, length, and structure.

Synthesize

Combining two or more ideas in order to create something more complex in support of a new idea.

Text

Any cultural product that can be “read” and investigated, including fiction, nonfiction, art, performances, and fashion.

Theme

The beliefs an author develops about a topic throughout a text.

Tone

A speaker’s attitude toward the subject conveyed by stylistic and rhetorical choices.

Trope

Artful diction; from the Greek word for “turning,” it is a figure of speech such as metaphor or hyperbole.

Understatement

A figure of speech in which something is presented as less important, dire, or urgent than it actually is; also called litotes.

Vernacular

The speech patterns of a particular group of people or region.

Voice

The unique flavor of a piece based on the author's use of tone, diction, syntax, and imagery.

Wit

The rhetorical use of laughter, humor, irony, and satire in the confirmation or refutation of an argument.

Zeugma

Use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings.