AP Lang. Rhetorical Devices

Diction

an author’s word choice and its effect on tone or meaning.

Syntax

sentence structure and arrangement of words.

Tone

the author’s attitude toward the subject or audience.

Mood

the feeling created for the reader

Anaphora

repetition at the beginning of clauses or sentences.

Juxtaposition

placing two contrasting ideas side by side for effect.

Antithesis

 directly contrasting ideas in parallel structure.

Rhetorical question

a question asked for effect, not an actual answer.

Repetition

repeating words or phrases for emphasis.

Anecdote

 a short personal story used to illustrate a point.

Analogy

comparing two things to explain an idea.

Contrast

emphasizing differences between ideas.

Satire

using humor, irony, or exaggeration to criticize.

Understatement

 deliberately making something seem less important.

Oxymoron

two contradictory words together

Polysyndeton

using many conjunctions close together

Asyndeton

 leaving out conjunctions for faster pacing.

Chiasmus

reversing grammatical structure.

Didacticism

writing intended to teach a lesson

Colloquialism

informal or conversational language

Qualification

when an author limits or softens a claim to appear reasonable.

Shift/Turn

 a noticeable change in tone, attitude, or argument.

Selection of detail

choosing specific details to influence the reader.

Appeal to authority

using experts or respected sources to support a claim.

Metaphor

 a comparison between two unlike things without using “like” or “as.”

Allusion

 a brief reference to a famous person, place, event, book, or myth.

Symbolism

when an object, person, or event represents a deeper meaning.

Metonymy

replacing the name of something with something closely related to it.

Synecdoche

using a part to represent the whole, or the whole to represent a part.

Imagery

descriptive language that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch).

Parallelism

using similar grammatical structures for balance and emphasis.

Personification

giving human qualities to nonhuman thing

Irony

a contrast between expectation and reality.

Allegory

a story with characters and events that symbolize a deeper moral or political meaning.

Hyperbole

extreme exaggeration for emphasis.

Alliteration

repetition of beginning consonant sounds.

Paradox

a statement that seems contradictory but reveals a truth.

Diction

an author’s word choice and its effect on tone or meaning

Syntax

sentence structure and arrangement of words.