Ap English rhetoric terms

Antithesis

A rhetorical opposition or contrast of ideas by mean of grammatical arrangement of words, clauses, or sentences

( They promised freedom but provided slavery)

Allegory

A story in which people, places or things represent general concepts or moral qualities.

Allusion

A brief reference to a person, place, event or passage in a work of literature or the bible assumed to be sufficiently well-known by the reader

Analogy

A comparison between two things in which the more complete is explained in terms of the more simple

(Comparing a year-long profile of stock index to a roller coaster ride)

Anecdote

A short entertaining account of some happening, frequently personal or biographic.

Anticlimax

A sudden drop from the dignified or important in thought or expression to the commonplace or trivial. Often for humorous effect

Aphorism

A short pithy statement of a general accepted truth or sentiment.

Argumentation

Exploring of a problem by investigating all sides of it; persuasion through reason

Apostrophe

A locution that addresses a personified thing not present.

Bombast

Inflated, pretentions language

Cause and effect

Examination of the cause and or effect of a situation or phenomenon

Chronological ordering

Arrangement in the order in which things occur may move from past to present or in reverse chronological order, from present to past.

Archetype

A perfectly typical example; an original form or motle.

Cacophony

Grating, inharmonious sound

Colloquial expression

(Colloquialism)

Words and phrases used in everyday speech but avoided in formal writing

(Ex.,Lol)

Caricature

A grotesque or exaggerated likeness of striking qualities in persons things

Deduction

( deductive reasoning)

A form of reasoning, that begins with a generalization , then applies the generalization to a specific cause or cause or cases; opposite indication

Digression

A temporary departure from the main subject in speaking or writing

Ellipsis

1. In grammar, the omission of a work on words necessary for complete construction but understood in context

2. The sign (…) that something that has been kept out of a quotation

Euphemism

The use of a word or phrase that is less direct, but that is also less distasteful or less offensive than another.

Conceit

A witty or ingenious thought in a diverting or highly fanciful idea, often stated in figurative language; an extended metaphor.

Connotation

The suggested or implied meaning of a word or phrase

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word

Diction

The choice of words in oral or written discourse

Dramatic irony

A circumstance in which the audience or reader knows more about a situation than a character.

Euphony

Pleasing or harmonious sound.

Hyperbole

An extravagant exaggeration of fact use either serious or comical effect.

Imagery

Lively description which impress the images of things upon the mind.

Induction

(Inductive reasoning)

A form of reasoning which words from body of fast to the formulation of generalization; opposite to deduction; frequently used as the principle form of reasoning in science and history.

Invented syntax

Reversing the normal word order in a sentence

Irony

A method of humorous or sarcastic expression in which the intended meaning of the words is opposite of their usual meaning

Litotes

In rhetoric, a figure in which an affirmation is expressed by negotiation of the contrary

(“The weather isn’t very nice“ said in a tornado)

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which one thing is compared to another by being spoke of as thought it were that thing.

Non-sequitur

A statement that does not follow logically from what preceded it

Order of importance

A method of organizing a paper according to the relative significance of the subtopics

Oxymoron

A figure of speech in which contradictory terms or ideas are combined

( Thunderous silence)

Parable

A short story from which a lesson may be drawn

Parallel syntactic structures

(parallelism)

Using the same part of speech or syntactic structure in 1. each element of a series; 2. before and after coordinating conjunctions(And, but, or, for, nor); and 3. after each of a pair of correlative conjunction (Not only.. but also, neither… nor, both … and)

Paradox

A statement which seams self- contradictory, but which may ne true in fact

Parody

A literary composition which imitates the characteristic style of a serious work or writer and uses its a features to treat trivial, nonsensical material in an attempt and longer or satire.

Pedantry

A display of narrow- mindset and trivial scholarship or arbitrary adherence to rules and forms

Personification

A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstract concept is endowed with human attributes.

Periodic sentence structure

A sentence written so that the full meaning cannot be understood until the end

( across the stream, beyond the clearing, from behind a fallen tree, the lion emerged")

Persuasion

Taking a single position from the purpose of getting others to accept that position, may appeal to emotion or reason.

Point of view

The way in which something is viewed considered by a writer or speaker ;in fiction it is the relationship assumed between the authors use of either first or third person

Fallacy

an incorrect belief or suspicion based on faulty data, detective evidence, false information or flawed magic

Genre

A term used to describe literary forms, such as novel play and essay

Hubris

Excessive pride that often affects tone

Inference

a conclusion or proposition arrived at by considering facts, observations, or some other specific data

Rhetoric

The art of using words to effectively in writing or speaking so as to influence or persuade

Rhetoric question

A question asked for rhetorical effect to emphasize a point, no answer being expected.

Satire

A literary work in which vices, abuses l, absurdities, etc. are held up to ridicule and contempt; use of ridicule, sarcasm, irony, etc. to expose vices, etc.

Simile

A figure of speech involving a compassion using like or as.

Spatial ordering

Organization of information using spatial cues such as top to bottom, left to right, etc.

Syllogism

A form of reasoning in which two statements or premises are made and a logical conclusion is drawn from them; a form of deductive reasoning

Symbol

Something that stands for another thing; frequently an object used to represent an abstraction

Syntax

In grammar, the arrangement of words as elements in a sentence to show their relationship

Tone

A way of wording or expressing things that express an attitude; author’s attitude towards a subject.

Understatement

Deliberately representing something as much than it really is

Loose sentence

A sentence that follows the customary word order of English sentences, ie., subject-verb-object. The main idea of the sentence is presented first and is then followed by one or more subordinate clauses

Metonymy

A figure of speech that uses the name of one thing to represent something else with which is associated (“The White House says”- The White House represents the president).

Mood

The emotional tone or prevailing atmosphere in a world of literature

Motif

A phrase, idea, or event that through repetition serves to unify or convey a theme in an essay or other discourse

Verisimilitude

Similar to the truth; the quality of realism in a work that persuades readers that they are getting a vision of life as it is or could have been

Asyndeton

Leaving out the conjunction in a list or between words, phrases, or clauses.

Polysyndeton

The deliberate use of a series or conjunctions

Anaphora

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

Juxtaposition

When two contrasting things- - ideas, words, or sentence elements - - are placed next to each other for comparison