Rhetorical Terms

AP Lang

Allusion

A brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, or event--real or fictional.

Analogy

A comparison between two things for the purpose of explanation or clarification or similarities between features of two things that make them comparable to each other.

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive sentences, verses, or clauses.

Antithesis

A figure of speech in which sharply contrasting ideas are juxtaposed in a balanced or parallel phrase or grammatical structure.

Apophasis (paralepsis)

A rhetorical device wherein the speaker or writer brings up a subject by either denying it, or denying that it should be brought up.

Aphorism

A concise statement made in a matter of fact tone to state a principle or an opinion that is generally understood to be a universal truth.

Apostrophe

A type of personification in which the dead, absent or inanimate are addressed as if present.

Apposition

Grammatical construction in which two elements, normally noun phrases, are placed side by side, with one element serving to define or modify the other.

Asyndeton

An omission of conjunctions that join coordinate words or junctions.

Chiasmus

A figure of speech when two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures to make a larger point.

Cumulative language

An independent clause followed by a series of subordinate constructions that gather details about a person, place, event, or idea.

Colloquialism

An expression used in informal speech.

Coordination

Grammatical connection of two or more words/clauses/phrases to give them equal emphasis.

Enumeration

To count or name one by one; list.

Epiphora (epistrophe)

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

Euphemism

A mild or indirect word/expression substituted for one too harsh when referring to something unpleasant or vulgar.

Fallacy

An improper argumentation in reasoning resulting in misconception or presumption.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech with much exaggeration; it is usually not taken seriously.

Litotes

A figure of speech that employs understatement by expressing an affirmative by using a double negative.

Loose sentence

A sentence structure in which a main clause is followed by one or more subordinate phrases and clauses.

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually do have something in common.

Metonymy

A figure of speech that consists of the use of the name of an object or concept for that of another to which it is related.

Paradox

A figure of speech in which a statement appears to contradict itself.

Parallelism

An arrangement of parts of a piece of literature so that elements of equal importance are balanced in similar constructions.

Periodic Sentence

A sentence in which the main clause is withheld until the end of the sentence.

Personification

A figure of language in which human characteristics are attributed to animals, non-living things, and abstract concepts.

Polysyndeton

A sentence with many coordinating conjunctions.

Sarcasm

Sneering, cutting, ironic remark said to cut or give pain.

Simile

A figure of speech comparing two things often introduced by 'like' or 'as'.

Syllogism

Deductive reasoning; logic. A form of reasoning that leads to a conclusion from two given or assumed arguments.

Synecdoche

A part is used for the whole or the whole for a part.

Syntax

The rules for the arrangement of words into clauses, phrases and sentences.

Zeugma

A rhetorical term for the use of a word to modify or govern two or more words.

Ethos

An 'appeal to authority' or 'appeal to credibility.'

Logos

An appeal to logical thinking and reason.

Pathos

An appeal