AP Lang - Rhetorical Analysis and Literary Devices - Flashcards

Allusion

A reference within a work to another work, the Bible, mythology, history, or a real event. Example: King opens "Five score years ago" in "I Have a Dream," alluding to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

Alliteration

Repeated consonant sound at the beginning of words or within words, used to establish mood. Example: Kennedy, "to friend and foe alike." King: "sweltering summer."

Diction

The author's stylistic choice of words, used to express meaning or create an effect. Always name it with an adjective and prove it with specific words, because diction applies to the whole text. Example: Churchill's defiant, plain diction - "we shall fight," "we shall never surrender."

Diction - name 3 kinds from famous speeches

1) Biblical/patriotic diction - King: "sacred obligation," "inalienable rights." 2) Scathing diction - Douglass: "gross injustice and cruelty." 3) Plainspoken diction - Sojourner Truth: "Ain't I a woman?"

Euphemism

A mild or less direct word used instead of a harsher one. Example: "under the weather" for sick; "creative with the truth" for liar. Speech example: Lincoln calls dying in battle giving "the last full measure of devotion."

Foreshadowing

Clues that alert the reader to events that will occur later; builds suspense. In speeches this works as a warning. Example: King - "The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges."

Hyperbole

Obvious exaggeration not meant to be taken literally. Example: Patrick Henry - "Give me liberty or give me death." Handout: "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

Imagery

Vivid or figurative language representing objects, actions, or ideas through the five senses. Name it with an adjective, then quote the sensory words. Example: King - "from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice."

Imagery - name 3 speech examples

1) King: a "lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity." 2) King: "sweltering summer" of discontent vs "invigorating autumn" of freedom. 3) Kennedy: "the torch has been passed to a new generation."

Metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things saying one thing IS another, with no like or as. Example: King - America gave "a bad check" and "the bank of justice is bankrupt."

Personification

Giving human characteristics to animals, objects, natural forces, or ideas. Example: Roosevelt - fear is "terror which paralyzes needed efforts." Handout: "The sky is crying."

Repetition

Intentional reuse of words, phrases, or sounds for emphasis or effect. In speeches, anaphora is repetition at the start of successive lines. Example: Churchill - "we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds…"

Simile

A comparison between two things using like or as. Example: King - "until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Handout: "mad as a hornet."

Symbol

A person, object, or action with meaning beyond itself, standing for an abstract idea. Examples: Kennedy's torch symbolizes duty handed to a new generation; King's dream symbolizes a future America of equality.

Tone

The attitude the writer takes toward the subject. Prove tone with diction, imagery, and syntax together. Examples: King - hopeful and urgent; Churchill - defiant and resolute; Douglass - indignant and shaming; Gehrig - grateful and humble.

Syntax

How words are arranged into sentences - length, structure, punctuation, parallelism, anaphora. Diction is which words; syntax is how they are built. Example: Kennedy's chiasmus - "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

Figurative Language

The umbrella term for metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, imagery, symbol, and allusion. In an essay, never stop at "figurative language" - name the specific device, add an adjective, quote it, explain the effect.

Exigence

The issue, problem, or situation that prompts an author to create a text. Almost always found in the little box of context given with the passage. Knowing the history and movements of the era helps.

Audience (rhetorical analysis)

Never everybody. Only the people capable of being influenced by discourse and of being mediators of change. Tone and diction help pinpoint the audience.

Purpose

The reason for writing - to entertain, persuade, inform, shock, or call to action. Purpose differs by audience, and audience can determine purpose: what do you want them to think, feel, or do?

Ethos

Appeal to credibility and character. One of the three rhetorical appeals. Must align with exigence, audience, and purpose - find audience and purpose before naming appeals.

Pathos

Appeal to emotion. Emotions are subjective, so pair pathos with ethos or logos - show the credibility of the feeling. Must align with exigence, audience, and purpose.

Logos

Appeal to logic, evidence, and reasoning. One of the three rhetorical appeals. Must align with exigence, audience, and purpose.

The Rhetorical Situation

Any circumstance where a person uses communication in some means or mode to impact an audience. Framework order: exigence, audience, purpose, then ethos/pathos/logos, then organization.

The Cookie Analogy (rhetorical analysis)

Dough = summary and comprehension, the bare minimum, not analysis. Chocolate chips = the author's CHOICES - only analyze the chips. Do not talk about the information; talk about HOW it is conveyed.

Label and Name rule

Not labeling a device does not give credit for the analysis. Name the device, add an adjective ("encouraging diction," "spooky imagery"), quote specifics, and explain the effect on the audience and purpose.

Identify the device: "Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation." - King

Allusion - historical allusion to Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address ("Four score and seven"). Builds ethos by placing King in Lincoln's line.

Identify the device: "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets." - Churchill

Repetition / anaphora - defiant repetition; each line adds a place and raises resolve.

Identify the device: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts." - Roosevelt

Personification - fear acts like an enemy that paralyzes; reframes panic as the real threat.

Identify the device: "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." - Kennedy

Syntax - chiasmus; the reversed structure turns listeners from receivers into actors.

Identify the device: "From the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice." - King

Imagery - contrasting visual imagery, dark vs sunlit; the audience sees the change being demanded.

Identify the device: "Give me liberty or give me death." - Patrick Henry

Hyperbole - absolute exaggeration; measures the value of liberty against life itself.

Identify the device: "We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt." - King

Metaphor - justice IS a bank; the promise is owed and collectable, not charity.

Identify the device: "Ain't I a woman?" - repeated throughout Sojourner Truth's speech

Repetition plus plainspoken diction - the refrain stacks evidence line by line; plain words build her ethos.

Identify the device: "We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." - King

Simile - "like waters," "like a mighty stream." Also an allusion to Amos 5:24 - label both.

Identify the device: "We can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow - this ground." - Lincoln

Repetition - triple parallel negation that humbles the speakers before the soldiers' sacrifice.