AP Lang Rhetorical term list 2 (copy)

Anaphora

The repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences, commonly in conjuncction with climas and with parallelism

• To think on death it is a misery,/ To think on life it is a vanity;/ To think on the world verily it is,/ To think that here man hath no perfect bliss. -Peacham

Antithesis

A device that establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them together or juxaposing them, often in parallel structure.

• That short and easy trip made a lasting and profound change in Harold’s outlook.

• That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mandkind. -Neil Armstrong

Asyndeton

A stylistic device that consists of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses.

• “This is the villain among you who deceived you, who cheated you, who meant to betray you completely…” -Aristotle.

Chiasmus

A rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structure in order to produce an artistic effect.

• He labors without complaining and without bragging rests.

• “Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink so that they may live.” -Socrates

Diacope

The repetition of a word or phrase after an intervening word or phrase as a method of emphasis:

• We will do it, I tell you; we will do it.

Ellipsis

A stylistic element used to omit some parts of a text that allows the reader to fill in the gaps by the use of context clues.

• “To be or not…that is the question.”

Inverted syntac (Inversion)

Reversing the noraml order of a sentence (Think Yoda!)

• “What they talked of all evening long, no one remebered next day.” -Ray Bradbury

Litotes

In rhetoric, a figure in which the affirmative is expressed by the negation of the contrary; it employs an understatement by using double negatives

• It is no ordincary city. (The writer is negating the word “ordinary” which means “average, typical” to allow readers to comprehend the city’s grand distinction.”

Parable

A short story from which a moral or spiritual lesson may be drawn.

• “Parable of the Good Samaritan” -Luke 10:25-37

• “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”

Parallel Syntactic Structures

Using the same part of speech or syntactice structure in (1) each element of a series, (2) before and after coordinating ocnjunctions (and, but yet, or, for, nor), and (30 after each of a pair of correlative conjunctions (not only…but also, neither…nor, both…and,etc.)

• Example for #1 - Over the hill, through the woods, and to grandmother’s house we go.

• Example for #2 - It was the best of times and it was the worst of times.

• Example for #3 - That vegetale is both rich in vitamins and low in calries.

Parenthesis

A word, clause, or sentence inserted as an explanation or afterthought into a passage that is grammatically complete without it -usually marked off by parentheses, dashes, or commas.

• But the new calculations (and here we see the value of relying upon up-to-date information) showed that man-powered flight was possible with this design.

• Every time I try to think of a good rhetorical example, I rack my brain, but—you guessed—nothing happens.

• As the earthy portion has its origin from earth, the watery from a different element, my

  breath from one source and my hot and fiery parts from another of their own elsewhere

  (for nothing comes from nothing, or can return to nothing), so too there must be an

  origin for the mind. --Marcus Aurelius

Periodic Sentence Structure

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

• “to believe your own thought, to believe what is true for you in your private hear is true for all men, that is genius.” -ralph Waldo emerson, “Self-reliance”

Polysyndeton

A stylistic device in which several coordinating conjunctions (and, or etc.) are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect.

• “Let the whitefolks have their money and power and segregation and sarcasm and big houses and schools and lawns…let the have their whiteness.” -Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Syntax

The organization and patterns of formation of sentences and phrases from words.

• Parallelism falls under the category of syntax because it is a way the words are formed and oragnized witin a sentence.

• The author starts the essay with a series of rhetorical questions then leads the readers to a series of declarative sentences; he ends his essay with exclamatory phrases!

Zeugma

A figure of speech in which a word, usually a verb or an adjective, applies to more than one noun, blending together grammtically and logically differenc ideas.

• Pride opresseth humility; hatred love; cruelty compassion. —Peacham

• Fried excelled at sports; Harvey at eating; tom with girls.

• Alexander conquered the world; I, Minneapolis