AP Language and Composition: Rhetorical Terms

rhetorical situation

The context, which includes setting and occasion, exigence, purpose, audience, writer, and message of a text

context

The historical, cultural, and social movements of a text’s time, including the specific time, place, and circumstances

exigence

The aspects of the rhetorical situation that prompted the writer or speaker to create the text, including its occasion

occasion

The time and place a speech is given or a text is written

purpose

The goal the writer or speaker of a text wants to achieve

rhetorical triangle / Aristotelian Triangle

A diagram that illustrates the interrelationship among the writer, audience, and subject of a text

message

The main idea or position the writer wants to convey to the audience about the subject of the text

subject

The topic of the text, like “fast fashion”

rhetorical appeals

Rhetorical techniques used to persuade an audience by emphasizing what they find most important or compelling. The three major appeals are to ethos, logos, and pathos

ethos

Greek for “character.” Writers and speakers appeal to it to demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy to speak on a given topic. It is established by both who the speaker is and what the speaker says

logos

Greek for “embodied thought.” Writers and speakers appeal to it, or reason, by offering clear, rational ideas and using specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to back them up

pathos

Greek for “suffering” or “experience.” Writers and speakers appeal to it to emotionally motivate their audience. More specific appeals to it might play on the audience’s values, desires, and hopes, on the one hand, or fears and prejudices, on the other

diction

A writer’s choice of words. In addition to choosing words with precise denotations and connotations, a writer must choose whether to use words that are abstract or concrete, formal or informal, literal or figurative. Analysis of diction looks at these choices and what they add to the speaker’s message

denotation

The literal definition of a word, often referred to as the “dictionary definition”

connotation

Meanings and associations that readers bring to words beyond their dictionary definitions, or denotations. Connotations can be positive or negative, and they often affect the author’s tone

metaphor

A figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as

simile

A figure of speech used to explain or clarify an idea by comparing it explicitly to something else, using the words like, as, or as though to do so

analogy

A comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things. Often, an analogy uses something simple or familiar to explain something complex or unfamiliar

personification

Attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or idea

allusion

Brief reference to a person, an event, a place (real or fictitious), or a work of art

syntax

The arrangement of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. This includes word order ; the length and structure of sentences ; and such schemes as parallelism, juxtaposition, antithesis, and antimetabole

independent clause

A group of words containing both a subject and a verb that can stand by itself and still make sense

subordinate or dependent clause

A clause that does not make sense when it stands alone. It often begins with a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun

compound sentence

A sentence containing two or more independent clauses

complex sentence

A sentence containing one independent clause and one or more subordinate or dependent clauses

compound-complex sentence

A combination of a compound sentence and a complex sentence, totaling 3 or more clauses

coordination

Joins two ideas with a coordinating conjunction, usually to show that both ideas are equally important

subordination

Joins two ideas with a subordinating conjunction, usually to show that one idea is less important than the other

periodic sentence

A sentence that begins with details, qualifications, or modifications, building toward the main clause near the period or end of the sentence

cumulative sentence

A sentence that starts with an independent clause that is then followed by details, qualifications, or modifications in subordinate clauses or phrases

parenthetical

A clause or phrase interrupting a sentence to provide information that is typically not essential to understanding the writer’s main point, but still helps the writers achieve their purpose or speak to the audience’s needs

parallel structure

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses

antithesis

Contradictory ideas that are juxtaposed, often using parallel grammatical construction.

tone

A writer or speaker’s attitude toward the subject conveyed by stylistic and rhetorical choices

tone shift

A point in a text that indicates a change

irony

An incongruity between expectation and reality

verbal irony

A figure of speech that occurs when a speaker or character says one thing but means something else, or when what is said is the opposite of what is expected, creating a noticeable incongruity. Sarcasm is it used derisively

situational irony

A pointed discrepancy between what seems fitting or expected and what actually happens

dramatic irony

Tension created by the contrast between what a character or writer says or thinks and what the audience knows to be true

hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic or ironic effect; an overstatement to make a point

understatement

The presentation or framing of something as less important, urgent, awful, good, powerful, &c., than it actually is, often for satiric or commercial effect; the opposite of hyperbole, it is often used along with this technique, and for similar effect

anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines

juxtaposition

Placing two things side by side for the sake of comparison or contrast. Writers sometimes use incongruous juxtapositions to produce verbal irony