AP Lang Rhetorical Devices

Active Voice

Active Voice

The subject of the sentence performs the action

Passive Voice

The subject of the sentence receives the action

Allusion

An indirect reference to literary text

Alter-ego

A character used by the author to express hhis own thoughts

Anecdote

A brief recounting of a relevant episode

Antecedent

A word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun

Classicism

Art or literature characterized by a realistic view of people and the world

Diction

Word choice as an element of style

Colloquial

Ordinary or familiar type of conversation.

Colloquialism

Slang

Connotation

Associations suggested by a word

Denotation

Literal, explicit meaning of a word

Jargon

Diction used by a specific group of people

Vernacular

Specific dialect

Didactic

Literary text that expresses a moral

Adage

A folk saying with a lesson

Allegory

Story where characters represent concepts

Aphorism

Summary of author’s main point

Ellipsis

The deliberate omission of a word or phrase done for effect by the author

Euphemism

Less offensive substitute for a word

Analogy

Comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set of variables

Metonymy

Replacing an actual word or idea, with a related word or concept

Synecdoche

Part representing a whole

Synesthesia

Description involving senses

Invective

A long, emotionally violent attack

Juxtaposition

Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison

Motif

A recurring idea in a piece of literature

Oxymoron

Contradictory terms placed together, creating a paradox

Paradox

Contradictory situation that is actually true

Parallelism

Sentence structure with repeated identical pattern

Anaphora

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences

Chiasmus

When the same words are used twice in succession, but the second time, the order of the words is reversed

Antithesis

Two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, or even ideas, with parallel structure

Zuegma (Syllepsis)

When a single word governs or modifies two or more other words, and the meaning of the first word must change for each of the other words it governs or modifies

Polysyndeton

list of items which are all separated by conjunctions

Appositive

A word or group of words placed beside a noun or noun substitute to supplement its meaning

Balanced sentence

A sentence in which two parallel elements are equally set off against each other

Cumulative sentence (Loose Sentence)

When the writer begins with an independent clause, then adds subordinate elements

Periodic sentence

List of subordinate elements followed by main idea

Syntax/sentence variety

Grammatical arrangement/grouping of words

Ethos

Credibility

Pathos

Emotion

Logos

Logic

Concession

Acceptance of some of other side’s argument

Conditional Statement

If-then statement

Ad Hominem

Personally attacking your opponents instead of their arguments

Appeal to authority

The claim that because somebody famous supports an idea, the idea must be right

Non Sequitur

A conclusion that does not follow from its premises