83-121 AP Language and Composition Glossary of Literary and Rhetorical Devices

Periodic sentences

When the main idea is not completed until the end of the sentence. The writer begins with subordinate elements and postpones the main clause. “Suddenly, for no apparent reason, they started arguing.”

Simple sentence

Contains only one independent clause.

Declarative sentence

States an idea. It does not give a command or request, nor does it ask a question. “I like talking.”

Imperative sentence

Issues a command. “Give me the ball”

Interrogative sentence

Sentences incorporating interrogative pronouns (what, which, who, whom, and whose). “What did you do?”

Style

The choices in diction, tone, and syntax that a writer makes. Style may be conscious or unconscious.

Symbol

Anything that represents or stands for something else. Usually, a symbol is something concrete such as an object, action, or character...that represents something more abstract.

Syntax/sentence variety

Grammatical arrangement of words. This is perhaps one of the most difficult concepts to master. First, a reader should examine the length of sentences (short or long). How do sentence length and structure relate to tone and meaning? Are they simple, compound, compound

Theme

The central idea or message of a work. The theme may be directly stated in nonfiction works, although not necessarily. It is rarely stated directly in fiction. “Honesty is best policy”

Thesis

The sentence or group of sentences that directly expresses the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or proposition. It should be short and clear. (also see the argument) “My state should ban all cell phone use when they are driving.”

Tone

A writer's attitude toward his subject matter is revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization. To identify tone, consider how the piece would sound if read aloud (or how the author wanted it to sound aloud). Tone can be playful, serious, businesslike, sarcastic, humorous, formal, somber, etc.

Understatement

The ironic minimizing of fact, and understatement presents something as less significant than it is. The effect can frequently be humorous. “Severed arm- “I have had worse.”

Litotes

a particular form of understatement, generated by denying the opposite of the statement which otherwise would be used. “You are not as young as you used to be”

Argument

a piece of reasoning with one or more premises and a conclusion. Essentially, every essay is an argument that begins with the conclusion (the thesis) and then sets up the premises. An argument (or the thesis to an argument) is also sometimes called a claim, a position, or a stance.

Premises

Statements offered as reasons to support a conclusion are premises. “John does not like sour things.” results in “John does not like lemons because they are sour.”

Conclusion

This is the end result of the argument, the main point being made. In an argument, one expects that the conclusion will be supported with reasons or premises. Moreover, these premises will be true and will, in fact, lead to the conclusion.

Ethos

means being convinced by the credibility of the author.

Pathos

means persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions.

Logos

means persuading by the use of reasoning, using true premises, and valid arguments. This is generally considered the strongest form of persuasion.

Concession

Accepting at least part or all of an opposing viewpoint.

Conditional Statement

is an if-then statement and consists of two parts, an antecedent and a consequent. “If you drive while texting, then you will have an accident.” Often premises in an argument

Contradiction

occurs when one asserts two mutually exclusive propositions, such as, “Texting in class is wrong and texting in class is fine.” Since a claim and its oppositeness cannot both be true, one of them must be false.

Counterexample

is an example that runs counter to (opposes) a generalization, thus falsifying it. “if the food is a fruit, then it is an apple. Mango is a food. It is a fruit, but it is not an apple”

Deductive argument

An argument in which it is thought that the premises provide a guarantee of the truth of the conclusion. “All organisms are made of cells, and humans are organisms, so humans are made of cells.”

Fallacy

is an attractive but unreliable piece of reasoning.

Ad hominem

Latin for "against the man". Personally attacking your opponents instead of their arguments. It is an argument that appeals to emotion rather than reason, feeling rather than
intellect.

“You haven’t struggled so you don’t understand”

Appeal to authority

The claim is that because somebody famous supports an idea, the idea must be right. This fallacy is often used in advertising.

“Lustre Creme Shampoo is the best because Marilyn Monroe used it.”

Appeal to the bandwagon

The claim, as evidence for an idea, that many people believe it, or used to believe it, or do it.

“Everyone was speeding so I shouldn’t get a ticket.”

Appeal to emotion

An attempt to replace a logical argument with an appeal to the audience’s emotions. Common emotional appeals are an appeal to sympathy, an appeal to revenge, an appeal
to patriotism, basically, any emotion can be used as an appeal.

“You have to get me ice cream because I am sad since you said I wasn’t pretty earlier.”

Bad analogy

Claiming that two situations are highly similar when they aren't.

“Cars cause more deaths than guns. So if we ban guns we need to ban cars too.”

Cliche thinking

Using as evidence a well-known saying, as if it is proven, or as if it has no exceptions.

“I say ‘When the individual feels the community reels’ if people start not being happy it will drag the community down, so we must be happy all the time”

False cause

Assuming that because two things happened, the first one caused the second one. (Sequence is not causation.) “Before women got the vote, there were no nuclear weapons. Therefore women’s suffrage must have led to nuclear weapons.”

Hasty generalization

A generalization based on too little or unrepresentative data. “My friend from south carolina loves waffles, so all people from south carolina love waffles.”

Non Sequitur

A conclusion that does not follow from its premises; an invalid argument. “Your dog is cute. I have three brothers ”

Slippery slope

The assumption is that once started, a situation will continue to its most extreme possible outcome. “If you smoke once, you will start smoking every day, then you will get cancer which then kills you.”

Inductive argument

An argument in which it is thought that the premises provide reasons supporting the probable truth of the conclusion.

“The cats I have seen purr so all cats purr”

Sound argument

A deductive argument is said to be sound if it meets two conditions: First, the line of reasoning from the premises to the conclusion is valid. Second, that the premises are true

“All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal”

Unstated premises

Not every argument is fully expressed. Sometimes premises or even conclusions are left unexpressed.

“Kelly is a woman. So I will ask her for advice.”

Valid argument

An argument is valid if the conclusion logically follows from the premises. The following argument is valid because it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to nevertheless be false. We do not know if the argument is sound because we do not know if the premises are true or not.

“Sam is 5 feet so he doesn’t meet the height requirement for the roller coaster. So he cannot ride the roller coaster.”