AP Language and Composition Glossary of Rhetoric

Flashcards from AP Language and Composition notes

Active Voice

The subject of the sentence performs the action.

Allusion

An indirect reference to something commonly known (usually a literary text, plays, songs, historical events) with which the reader is supposed to be familiar.

Alter-ego

A character that is used by the author to speak the author's own thoughts; when an author speaks directly to the audience through a character.

Anecdote

A brief story recounting of a relevant episode; often inserted into fictional or nonfictional texts to develop a point or inject humor.

Antecedent

The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.

Comic Relief

Humorous scene inserted into a serious story to lighten the mood.

Diction

Word choice, particularly as an element of style. Types of words have significant effects on meaning; can be formal/informal or ornate/plain.

Colloquial

Ordinary or familiar type of conversation. A colloquialism is a common or familiar type of saying, similar to an adage or an aphorism.

Connotation

The associations suggested by a word; implied meaning rather than literal meaning.

Denotation

The literal, explicit meaning of a word, without its connotations.

Jargon

The diction used by a group which practices a similar profession or activity.

Vernacular

1. Language or dialect of a particular country. 2. Language or dialect of a regional clan or group. 3. Plain everyday speech.

Didactic

Fiction, nonfiction, or poetry that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.

Adage

A folk saying with a lesson.

Allegory

A story, fictional or non fictional, in which characters, things, and events represent qualities or concepts. The interaction of these characters, things, and events is meant to reveal an abstraction or a truth.

Aphorism

A terse statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle. Can be a memorable summation of the author's point.

Ellipsis

The deliberate omission of a word or phrase from prose done for effect by the author.

Euphemism

A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts.

Figurative Language

Writing that is not meant to be taken literally.

Analogy

A comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set of variables; argues that the relationship between the first pair is the same as the second pair.

Hyperbole

Exaggeration.

Idiom

A common, often used expression that doesn't make sense if you take it literally.

Metaphor

Making an implied comparison, not using 'like,' 'as,' or other such words.

Simile

Using words such as 'like' or 'as' to make a direct comparison between two very different things.

Synesthesia

A blend of senses

Personification

Giving human-like qualities to something that is not human.

Foreshadowing

hints about what will occur later in a story.

Genre

The major category into which a literary work fits; basic divisions are prose, poetry, and drama.(autobiography, biography, diaries, criticism, essays, and journalistic, political, scientific, and nature writing.).

Gothic

Writing characterized by gloom, mystery, fear and/or death; refers to an architectural style of the middle ages.

Imagery

Word or words that create a picture in the reader's mind; usually involves the five senses.

Invective

A long, emotionally violent attack using strong, abusive language.

Irony

Occurs when the opposite of what you expect to happen does.

Verbal Irony

When you say something and mean the opposite/something different; if voice tone is bitter, it's called sarcasm.

Dramatic Irony

When the audience knows something that the character doesn't and would be surprised to find out.

Situational Irony

Found in the plot of a book, story, or movie; sometimes it makes you laugh because it's funny how things turn out.

Juxtaposition

Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison.

Mood

The atmosphere created by the literature and accomplished through word choice (diction). Syntax is often a creator of mood

Motif

A recurring idea in a piece of literature.

Oxymoron

When apparently contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox.

Pacing

The speed or tempo of an author's writing; can be fast, sluggish, stabbing, vibrato, staccato, measured, etc.

Paradox

A seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true.

Parallelism

Sentence construction which places equal grammatical constructions near each other, or repeats identical grammatical patterns; adds emphasis, organization, or sometimes pacing.

Anaphora

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences or clauses in a row; helps make the writer's point more coherent.

Chiasmus

When the same words are used twice in succession, but the second time, the order of the words is reversed; also called antimetabole.

Antithesis

Two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, or even ideas, with parallel structure.

Zuegma (Syllepsis)

When a single word governs or modifies two or more other words, and the meaning of the first word must change for each of the other words it governs or modifies.

Parody

An exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes; borrows words or phrases from an original and pokes fun at it.

Persona

The fictional mask or narrator that tells a story.

Pun

When a word that has two or more meanings is used in a humorous way.

Rhetoric

The art of effective communication.

Sarcasm

A generally bitter comment that is ironically or satirically worded; the bitter, mocking tone separates it from mere verbal irony or satire.

Satire

A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of life to a humorous effect; targets human vices and follies, or social institutions.

Cumulative sentence

When the writer begins with an independent clause, then adds subordinate elements; also called a loose sentence.

Periodic sentence

When the main idea is not completed until the end of the sentence; the writer begins with subordinate elements and postpones the main clause.

Declarative sentence

States an idea; does not give a command or request, nor does it ask a question.

Imperative sentence

Issues a command.

Interrogative sentence

Sentences incorporating interrogative pronouns (what, which, who, whom, and whose).

Symbol

Anything that represents or stands for something else; usually something concrete that represents something more abstract.

Theme

The central idea or message of a work; may be directly stated in nonfiction.

Thesis

The sentence or groups of sentences that directly expresses the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or proposition; should be short and clear.

Tone

A writer's attitude toward his subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language and organization; can be playful, serious, businesslike, sarcastic, humorous, formal, somber, etc.

Polysyndeton

When a writer creates a list of items which are all separated by conjunctions. Normally, a conjunction is used only before the last item in a list.