AP Lang Rhetorical Terms

Allusion

A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, literary, or political significance.

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences to build emphasis or rhythm.

Anecdote

A short, interesting, or amusing story about a real incident or person used to illustrate a point or engage the audience.

Antithesis

The placement of two opposing or contrasting ideas side-by-side in a grammatically balanced structure.

Diction

An author's specific choice of words, phrasing, and vocabulary style to convey tone, mood, or meaning.

Epideictic Rhetoric

Discourse designed to praise or blame someone or something, often delivered at ceremonial occasions such as eulogies or celebrations.

Epistrophe

The repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses or sentences.

Ethos

A rhetorical appeal that establishes the credibility, authority, or moral character of the speaker or writer.

Extended Metaphor or Conceit

A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences, a paragraph, or an entire work.

Imagery

Descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the five physical senses to create vivid mental pictures.

Irony

A literary technique involving a contradiction between appearance and reality, expectation and outcome, or explicit meaning and intent.

Juxtaposition or Contrast

The placement of two or more ideas, characters, places, or actions side-by-side to highlight their differences.

Kairos

The opportune, critical, or advantageous moment and context for presenting a specific argument or speech.

Logos

A rhetorical appeal to reason, logic, statistics, evidence, and structured reasoning.

Loose Sentence

A sentence structure in which the main independent clause comes first, followed by dependent phrases or clauses that add detail.

Metaphor

A direct comparison between two unlike things without using explicit comparative words such as 'like' or 'as'.

Parallelism

The repetition of similar grammatical structures, patterns, or word orders within a sentence or passage.

Pathos

A rhetorical appeal designed to evoke emotion, empathy, sympathy, or passion in an audience.

Periodic Sentence

A sentence structure that places the main independent clause at the very end, building tension or emphasis until the period.

Personification

A figure of speech in which non-human objects, abstract ideas, or animals are given human qualities or abilities.

Polysyndeton

The deliberate and repeated use of multiple conjunctions in close succession, often without commas, to alter pace or create emphasis.

Rhetorical Appeals

The foundational strategies used to persuade an audience, traditionally comprising Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.

Rhetorical Question

A question asked to make a point, provoke thought, or create dramatic effect rather than to elicit a literal answer.

Simile

An explicit comparison between two distinct things using connecting words such as 'like' or 'as'.

Symbolism

The use of a concrete object, person, situation, or action to represent an abstract idea or deeper meaning beyond its literal sense.

Tone Shift

A noticeable change in the author's attitude, voice, or mood within a text, often marked by transitional words or structural shifts.

Understatement

A figure of speech in which a situation or fact is intentionally presented as far less important, severe, or dramatic than it actually is.