AP Lang Rhetorical Vocabulary Terms 61-90 (Vocab Quiz 3)

This is the rhetorical vocabulary for the 10/10/25 vocab quiz in Mr. Sturm's AP Lang class. Exact definitions from the packet have been modified to address grammatical, punctuational, and spelling errors, to remove the term from the definition, and to overall make the definition easier to understand.

draft

An unfinished essay that has not been completely revised, edited, and proofread. When still in this stage, writers can rethink not only the structure of the essay but the ideas as well.

engage

To pique and maintain the interest of the reader throughout the reading of a text.

ethos

The author’s ability to reveal his or her credibility, expertise, or goodwill in the text.

euphemism

Coming from the Greek word for “good speech,” these are a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept. They may be used to adhere to standards of social or political correctness or to add humor or ironic understatement.

Example: using “earthly remains” instead of “corpse”

exposition

In essays, one of the four chief types of composition. The others being argumentation, description, and narration. The purpose of this term is to explain something.

In drama, the exposition is the introductory material, which creates the tone, gives the setting, and introduces the characters and conflict.

expository discourse

The elements of this term include audience, purpose, structure or form, and speaker or voice.

extended metaphor

A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.

evidence

The idea (facts, statistics) that supports an argument. It takes different forms depending on the kind of writing in which it appears, but it is generally concrete, agreed-upon information that can be pointed to as example or proof.\

When writer Vicki Hearn, in “What’s Wrong with Animal Rights?” argues against animal rights advocates by pointing to things she learned as an animal trainer, she is using her experience as this term.

figurative language

Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid.

figure of speech

A device used to produce figurative language. It often compares dissimilar things.

Examples:

• apostrophes

• hyperboles

• ironies

• metaphors

• metonymies

• oxymorons

• paradoxes

• personifications

• similies

• synecdoches

• understatements

flow

When ideas do this in an essay, speech, or narrative, it means that they are presented in a fluent, seamless, logical, and/or meaningful way without any distractions or interruptions that impede the reader.

focus

In writing or speaking, this means to sustain attention on the purpose and/or controlling idea of the piece by consistently connecting various parts of the piece to that purpose/ controlling idea.

generic conventions

This term describes traditions for each genre. They can help to define each genre.

Examples:

• They can differentiate an essay from journalistic writing

• They can differentiate an autobiography from political writing

They can and should be distinguished from a writer’s own unique features in their work.

genre

The major category into which a literary work fits, such as prose, poetry, or drama.

However, this is a flexible term since there are more subdivisions within these categories that could be called this term themselves.

Examples:

• A prose is an example of this term, but can be further divided into fiction and nonfiction, which are also examples of this term.

• Poetry can be divided into lyric, dramatic, narrative, epic, and more.

• Drama can be divided into tragedy, comedy, melodrama, farce, etc.

homily

This term literally means “sermon,” but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice.

hyperbole

A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement. They often have a comic effect; however, a serious effect is also possible. They also often produce irony.

imagery

The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions.

On a physical level, it uses terms related to the five senses (visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory). On a broader and deeper level, however, it can represent more than one thing.

Example: A rose may present a physical description while also representing the color in a woman’s cheeks and/or symbolizing some degree of perfection.

The author may use this term while simultaneously employing other figures of speech, especially metaphor and simile. In addition, this term can apply to the total of all the images in a work.

inductive reasoning

Reasoning that begins with citing a number of specific instances or examples and then shows how they collectively constitute a general principle.

Example:

• Harold is a grandfather

• Harold is bald

• All grandfathers are bald

*May lead to faulty conclusions

inference/ infer

To draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented. When someone asks for this to be drawn from a passage, the most direct, most reasonable option is the safest choice. If the conclusion is implausible, it's unlikely to be correct.

*If the answer was directly stated, it is not considered this term and would be incorrect.

You should note the positive or negative connotation of the words used.

integrate

In any researched and/ or documented essay, smoothly incorporating quoted, paraphrased, or summarized words of others, such as quotations or citations, by seamlessly blending or weaving their own words with them. If this is done, the words of others will not stand alone in a sentence.

Example: In The Greatest Glossaries Ever Known, John Smith asserts that “all good glossaries are written in alphabetical order" (72)

• The words of John Smith are introduced by the author’s own words and placed in quotation marks

• The citation is also incorporated into the text, with the specific page number cited in parentheses at the end of the sentences

introduction

The beginning of an essay that should generally state a writer’s main point. It may also include a thesis statement and can even begin to develop the thesis, but it can also simply pose a question which will be answered in the thesis.

It also may begin with a story/ anecdote, out of which the thesis will develop.

• William F. Buckley Jr.’s “Why Don’t We Complain?” is a good example of an anecdotal start of an essay

invective

An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language.

irony/ ironic

The contrast/ difference between what is stated explicitly or appears to be true and what is really meant or is really true. There are 3 types of it.

• Verbal- the words state the opposite of the writer’s or speaker’s true meaning

• Situational- events turn out the opposite of what was expected

• Dramatic- certain facts or events are unknown to a character but are known by the audience or other characters

This figure of speech is used for many reasons, but frequently, it’s used to create poignancy or humor.

jargon

The specialized vocabulary of a particular group of people.

Examples:

• RAM

• Processor

• Gigabit

• Q-bit

juxtaposition

The location of one thing adjacent to another to cause an effect, reveal an attitude, or make a point.

Examples:

• Beggars can’t be choosers

• You can’t teach an old dog new tricks

logical argument, classical

These arguments derive from Greek and Roman philosophers and include three types of appeals: emotional appeal (pathos), logical appeal (logos), or ethical appeal (ethos)

logical argument, contemporary

These arguments may employ strategies and appeals beyond the three that characterize classical argument.

Examples:

• definition

• induction

• inference

• analogy

logical fallacy

Refers to the flaw in the structure of an argument that renders the argument invalid. This term can also be used to describe any argument that is faulty or problematic.

logos

The author’s ability to reveal logic and reason in the text.

loose sentence

A sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses. If a period were placed at the end of the independent clause, it would be a complete sentence.

A work containing this type of sentence may often seem informal, relaxed, or conversational. Generally, they create a loose style.