AP Lang Reading Devices & Appeals

Ethos

An appeal based on reputation or the character and credibility of the persuader.

Logos

An appeal based on logic and persuading an audience through reason.

Pathos

An appeal based on feeling and emotion to create an emotional response.

Anaphora

Repetition of the same phrase at the beginning of successive sentences.

Alliteration

Repeated sounds at the beginning of successive words.

Allusion

A reference in one text to another more famous text, such as a Biblical, historical, or mythological reference.

Epistrophe

Repetition of the same phrase at the end of successive sentences.

Climax

Repetition of the same idea using different words that become stronger as the idea repeats.

Schematic Antithesis

Juxtaposition within a sentence where two opposite ideas are placed next to each other.

Synecdoche

Substituting a part for the whole.

Anadiplosis

Ending the first phrase with one word and starting the next phrase with that same word.

Metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as'.

Simile

A comparison between two unlike things using 'like' or 'as'.

Parallel Structure (Parallelism)

Using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance.

Personification

Giving human attributes to a non-human thing.

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds within successive words.

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds within successive words.

Onomatopoeia

Words that sound like what they mean (e.g., boom, thud, squelch).

Hyperbole

Exaggeration used for emphasis or effect.

Euphemism

A nicer or less offensive way of referencing something that no one wants to talk about directly.

Understatement / Litotes

A figure of speech used to make a situation seem less important or, by contrast, to draw attention to it.

Passive Voice

Used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action.