English Vocabulary and Rhetorical Devices

Flashcards covering Latin roots, derived vocabulary words, pragmatic figures of speech, and AP English tone descriptors.

porta

door, gate, entry

sub

under, below, beneath

ago; actum

do, act, drive, perform

plus; pluris

more, many

grex; gregis

flock, herd, drove, group, troop, company

port

a harbor for boats at the shore of a city; a place to connect pieces of computer hardware so they can communicate with each other

porch

a covered area around the entrance of a house

airport

a place where airplanes land and take off

suburb

smaller district outside a larger city or town

subordinate

to place below in rank or order

subterranean

underground

agent

a person or thing that causes an action to take place

navigate

drive or steer a boat

ambiguous

lead in two directions; unclear

plural

more than one in number

E PLURIBUS UNUM

"out of many (states), one (nation)"

nonplussed

"not more" - perplexed, not knowing what more to say

egregious

(e, ex-out, away) - out of the herd; outstanding or bad

segregate

(se-apart) - to separate from the group

aggregate

(ad-to) - to gather in a lump or sum

fervent

having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling, or enthusiasm

analogy

comparison between two things; while a simile is for more stylistic flair, an analogy is more pragmatic

understatement

a rhetorical form in which the force of a descriptive statement is less than that one would normally expect

rhetorical question

a question where the answer is implied, giving the writer an opportunity to highlight something the readers do know

hypophora

the technique of asking a question, then proceeding to answer it; used to answer anticipated questions

procatalepsis

a technique that doesn't ask the question like hypophora, but anticipates the question and directly addresses the objections

acerbic (tone)

having a sour or bitter taste, or speaking or writing in a way that is sharp or critical

sardonic (tone)

tone or style that is characterized by a dry, understated, mocking, and often cynical or scornful humor

caustic

making harsh, corrosive comments

censorious

severely critical; faultfinding