AP Lang terms to know

exigence

what causes rhetoric to exist; the inciting incident

purpose

what the writer wants to accomplish; sometimes the same as exigence

genre

type of text with specific rules to follow

text

anything with persuasive appeals

SOAPS

Speaker; Occasion; Audience; Purpose; Subject

ethos

appeal to credibility and ethics; trust that the speaker is ethical

logos

appeal to logic and the rational mind

pathos

appeal to emotion; often through word choice

phronesis

credibility and expertise (ethos)

arete

excellence; moral excellence and purity (ethos)

eunoia

good will toward the audience (ethos)

diction

word choice

denotation

literal dictionary meaning of a word

connotation

emotional association of a word

syntax

sentence structure

imagery

language that appeals to the senses; creates pathos

allusion

reference to something familiar or unfamiliar to the audience

enthymeme

belief so deeply felt it is unspoken; assumed and never questioned

unstated argument

an implicit argument

vague pronoun

pronoun whose antecedent is unclear

antecedent

the word a pronoun refers to

active voice

doer then action then receiver; stronger and less wordy

passive voice

receiver then action; can conceal the doer; emphasizes the subject

jargon

confused or unintelligible language of a specific group

slang

informal nonstandard vocabulary peculiar to a particular group

Latinate diction

multisyllabic words; linked to formal situations

Anglo-Saxon diction

monosyllabic words; linked to informal situations

ladder of abstraction

general or abstract terms at the top; concrete terms at the bottom

simple sentence

one independent clause

compound sentence

two independent clauses

complex sentence

one independent clause and at least one subordinate clause

compound-complex sentence

two or more independent clauses and at least one subordinate clause

loose sentence

detail comes at the end of the basic sentence elements; moves quickly

periodic sentence

details come before or in the middle; postpones the main point

scheme

any artful variation from the typical arrangement of words in a sentence

trope

any artful variation from the typical or expected way a word or idea is expressed

parallelism

two or more ideas with a similar function in the same grammatical form

zeugma

one word (usually a verb) governs more than one item in a sentence

antithesis

parallelism used to juxtapose contrasting ideas

antimetabole

words repeated in different grammatical forms

parenthesis

interrupts the flow of a sentence; set-off clause

appositive

two coordinating elements side by side; the second explains or modifies the first

ellipsis

omission of words whose meaning is supplied by context

asyndeton

omission of conjunctions between related clauses

alliteration

repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning or middle of adjacent words

assonance

repetition of vowel sounds in the stressed syllables of adjacent words

anaphora

repetition of the same words at the beginning of successive clauses

epistrophe

repetition of the same words at the end of successive clauses

anadiplosis

repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the next

climax

words or phrases or clauses arranged in order of increasing number or importance

metaphor

implied comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things

simile

explicit comparison using like or as

synecdoche

a part of something used to refer to the whole

metonymy

entity referred to by one of its attributes or associations

personification

inanimate objects given human characteristics

periphrasis

descriptive word or phrase used to refer to a proper name

pun

word that suggests two of its meanings or the meaning of a homonym

anthimeria

one part of speech substituted for another

onomatopoeia

words whose sounds relate to their meaning

hyperbole

overstatement

litotes

understatement

irony

words meant to convey the opposite of their literal meaning

sarcasm

irony with a bitter tone

oxymoron

words with contradictory meanings placed near each other

rhetorical question

question meant to advance an idea and suggest a point rather than get an answer

mnemonic devices

techniques used to memorize speeches without notes

explication

writer's rationale described; facts to opinion; most common form of support

example

real world demonstration of what is being argued

statistics

numbers and figures from research or analysis

definition/classification

gives a new perspective and offers new solutions

anecdote

brief story used to draw a conclusion

analogy

comparing something the audience knows to something unfamiliar

contrasting features

opposite of analogy; shows differences

expert testimony

opinions or theories of a recognized authority

cause and effect

establishes a causal relationship between two factors (if A then B)

hypothetical illustration

fictitious story that exemplifies a position or develops an issue

colon

flashing arrow; independent clause then colon then lowercase; shows the most important part

dash

break from the sentence; nonessential interrupter

semicolon

replaces a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) between two independent clauses