AP Language and Composition More Rhetorical Terms 25-56

Annotation

The taking of notes directly on a text.

Antimetabole

Repetition of words in reverse order.

Antithesis

Opposition, or contrast, of ideas or words in a parallel construction.

Archaic Diction

Old-fashioned or outdated choice of words.

Assertion

A statement that presents a claim or thesis.

Asyndeton

Omission of conjunction between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

Imperative sentence

Sentence used to command or enjoin.

Inversion

Inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the Subject-Verb-Object order).

Metonymy

Figure of speech in which something is represented by another thing that is related to it or emblematic of it.

Nominalization

The process of changing a verb into a noun.

Occasion

The time and place a speech is given or a piece is written.

Open thesis

An open thesis is one that does not list all of the points the writer intends to cover in an essay.

Periodic sentence

Sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end.

Polysyndeton

The deliberate use of multiple conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

Propaganda

The spread of ideas and information to further a cause. In its negative sense, propaganda is the use of rumors, lies, disinformation, and scare tactics in order to damage or promote a cause.

Scheme

Artful syntax; a deviation from the normal order of words. Common schemes include parallelism, juxtaposition, antithesis, and antimetabole.

Stance

A speaker's attitude toward the audience (differing from tone, the speaker's attitude toward the subject).

Text

While this term generally means the written word, in the humanities it has come to mean any cultural product that can be "read"— meaning not just consumed and comprehended, but investigated. This includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, political cartoons, fine art, photography, performances, fashion, cultural trends, and much more.

Trope

Artful diction; from the Greek word for "turning," a figure of speech such as metaphor, simile, hyperbole, metonymy, or synecdoche.

Zeugma

Use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings.