Comprehensive Rhetoric and Analysis Terms for AP English

Rhetoric

The organized, intentional, and effective use of language.

Rhetorical analysis

Finding and analyzing the choices a writer/orator makes to determine what drives a text's effectiveness and how method contributes to meaning.

Rhetorical Triangle

The relationship between speaker/writer, audience, and subject.

Writer

The author of a text.

Exigence

The author's internal motivation for writing a piece.

Purpose

The author's reason for writing a text at this time, in this way; what it's meant to make the audience feel or do.

Audience

The person or people to whom a writer directs their writing.

Context

The circumstances/setting (events, conditions) that influenced the text.

Message

The main idea, central claim, or major assertion of a text.

Subject

The general topic of a text.

Occasion

What influences a writer to write; the larger occasion is a broad swirl of ideas/attitudes, the immediate occasion is the specific triggering event.

Persona/speaker

The voice telling the story/essay/poem (not necessarily the same as the author).

Tone

The expression of the author's attitude, conveyed through diction, syntax, and point of view; watch for tone shifts.

Exposition

A detailed description of a theory, problem, or proposal that examines issues, implications, or commentary.

Claim

An assertion, proven by evidence, that controls the focus of a work (fact, value, or policy).

Evidence

The facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true.

Warrant

The universal truth or commonly held belief connecting a claim to its evidence.

Qualifier

A word/phrase stating the degree of force or probability attached to a claim.

Reservation

A limit on how universally true a claim is; shows the strength of the data-warrant connection.

Line of reasoning

The process by which a writer guides understanding through organization and integration of evidence.

Commentary

Explanation of how evidence supports a claim (the second "E" in PEEL).

Concede (concession)

To agree an opposing argument is valid while not agreeing to its importance.

Rebut

To argue that evidence or an accusation is false.

Refute

To prove a claim, theory, or statement wrong; to disprove.

Assumption

Something accepted as true or certain without proof.

Implication

A conclusion that can be drawn from something, though not explicitly stated.

Appeal to logos

A logical appeal relying on facts and reason.

Appeal to ethos

An ethical appeal relying on the author's character, credibility, and experience.

Appeal to pathos

An emotional appeal, from and to the heart.

Deductive reasoning

Logic moving from a general premise to a specific conclusion.

Inductive reasoning

Logic moving from specific facts to a general conclusion.

Genre

A category of artistic composition defined by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.

Diction

Word choice.

Voice

A writer's distinct personality coming through their language and word choice.

First person point of view

Narrator is a character in the story, using "I," "me," "my," "we," "us."

Second person point of view

Narrator speaks directly to the reader as "you."

Third person omniscient POV

Narrator outside the story, relates thoughts/feelings of many or all characters.

Third person limited POV

Narrator outside the story, relates thoughts/feelings of only one character.

Third person objective POV

Narrator outside the story, presents only words/actions/description, no character thoughts (like a movie camera).

Connotation

The feelings, ideas, and associations suggested by a word (subjective, implicit).

Denotation

The literal, dictionary definition of a word (objective, explicit).

Sensory language (imagery)

Language that appeals to the five senses.

Concrete diction

Language describing exact, particular conditions or qualities (e.g., cold, salty).

Abstract diction

Language describing theoretical or subjective qualities (e.g., good, beautiful).

Allusion

A brief reference within a text to a well-known person, place, thing, or event.

Rhetorical question

A question posed for effect (emphasis, provocation) rather than to get an answer.

Satire

Use of humor and wit to expose weaknesses or follies of people/humankind; indirect, often uses irony and ridicule.

Parody

A work that deliberately, comically imitates another work.

Irony

A technique involving surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions.

Verbal irony

Words suggest the opposite of their usual meaning (sarcasm, understatement, hyperbole).

Dramatic irony

A contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader/viewer knows to be true.

Irony of situation

An event that directly contradicts the expectations of characters or the reader.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech combining opposing/contradictory words (a compressed paradox), e.g., "cheerful pessimist."

Paradox

A contradiction that oddly makes sense and reveals a truth.

Syntax

The ordering of and relationship between words and structural elements in phrases/sentences.

Parallelism

Repetition of a grammatical structure to create emphasis and link related ideas.

Repetition

Deliberate reuse of a word, phrase, or clause for emphasis or rhythmic effect.

Anaphora

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

Juxtaposition

Placing two words, phrases, or ideas close together to emphasize comparison or contrast.

Antithesis

Expression of contrary ideas in a balanced sentence (opposites or contrast of degree).

Chiasmus

A syntactical structure reversing the order of terms in the second half of a parallel clause.

Personification

Giving human characteristics to a nonhuman subject.

Simile

A figure of speech using "like" or "as" to compare two different things.

Metaphor

A figure of speech describing something as though it were something else, without "like" or "as."

Extended metaphor

A metaphor developed at length across a passage.

Analogy

Explaining one idea/process/thing by comparing it to something else with point-to-point correspondence.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration or overstatement, often for humor or emphasis.

Understatement

Deliberately making an idea or situation seem less important/serious than it is.

Litotes

A type of understatement that expresses an idea by negating its opposite (e.g., "not unsympathetic").

Metonymy

A figure of speech where an attribute or closely associated feature stands for the thing itself (e.g., "the crown" for king).

Synecdoche

A form of metonymy where a part stands for the whole, or vice versa (e.g., "wheels" for car).