AP Lang Toolkit ALL RHETORICAL CHOICES

Word-for-word with the AP Lang Toolkit

Abstract Language

Diction expressing ideas, conditions, and qualities apart from a specific object or event; human senses cannot identify the object

Alliteration

Repetition of initial identical consonant sounds or vowel sounds

Allusion

An indirect or implied reference to literature, culture, religion, or history that connects a writer's subject to a larger idea or meaning.

Ambiguity

Language or writing that is imprecise or vague, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Analogy

The presentation of two things as similar based on common attributes, often used to explain an unfamiliar subject using objects and concepts that are more familiar to an audience.

Anecdote

A brief account of a particular incident.

Anticlimax

Arrangement of descriptive or narrative details so that the lesser, the trivial, or the ludicrous appears where the audience expects something greater or more serious

Antithesis

A contrast of ideas presented in parallel grammatical structure.

Antonomasia

the use of an epithet to acknowledge a quality in one person or place by using the name of another person or place already known for that quality

Approving vs Pejorative terms

Portraying favorable opinions vs negative connotations, especially belittling or disparaging

Authoritative Warrant

a warrant based on the credibility or trustworthiness of the source

Claim

A writer's defensible position that includes a unifying idea and perspective about the subject.

Claim of fact

a claim that asserts something exists, has existed, or will exist, based on data that the audience will accept as objectively verifiable

Claim of policy

a claim asserting that specific courses of action should be instituted as solutions to problems

Claim of value

a claim that asserts some things are more or less desirable than others

Cliche

a worn-out idea or overused expression

Climax

an ascending series of words, ideas, or events, in which intensity and significance increase step-by-step

Colloquial Expressions

words and phrases used in everyday speech but avoided in formal writing; vary from region to region and are often metaphoric or idiomatic

Concrete language

diction that describes specific, generally observable persons, places, or things

Connotation

The sensory, emotional, or cultural associations of a word.

Deductive reasoning

An organizational strategy that begins with a broad generalization and moves to specific observations.

Definition by negation

Defining a thing or idea by saying what it is not.

Denotation

The relatively neutral dictionary definition of a word.

Diction

The specific word choices writers make to convey their ideas.

Ellipsis

the omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context

Emphasis

the stress or importance given to a certain point to make it stand out

Empirical evidence

support verifiable by experience or experiment

Epithet

An expression added to a name as a characterizing description; a word that substitutes for another; a word or phrase used to abuse and dismiss when used directly or as a description

Euphemism

a pleasant or flattering expression used in place of one that is less agreeable or hurtful
EX: passed on instead of died

Euphony

pleasant, harmonious sound in speech

Exigence

The part of a rhetorical situation that inspires, stimulates, or provokes a writer to create a text.

Extended definiton

a definition that uses several different methods of development

Figurative language

rhetoric that achieves a special effect by using words in distinct ways

Fragment

A broken thought or idea, or an incomplete part of a sentence used intentionally for emphasis.

Humor

writing whose purpose it is to evoke some kind of laughter

Hyperbole

An exaggeration that is not meant to be taken literally, but instead used for comparison, emphasis, or humor.

Imagery

The written expression of a sensory experience, such as sound, sight, smell, touch, or taste.

Inductive reasoning

An organizational strategy that moves from specific observations to broad generalizations.

Inversion

the placing of sentence elements out of normal position either to gain emphasis or poetic effect

Irony

An effect that results from the difference between an argument's claim or conclusion and the readers' expectations or values.

Jargon

special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group; associated with sciences, medicine, and law

Juxtaposition

The presentation of evidence or examples side by side to emphasize similarities or differences, often in the context of ideas or values.

Loose sentence

A sentence in which the main point precedes less important details

Metaphor

A comparison of two unrelated objects that assigns ideas to the points of comparison.

Motivational appeal

an attempt to reach an audience by recognizing their needs and values and how these contribute to their decision making

Oxymoron

a combination of two words that appear to contradict each other
EX: Be cruel to be kind

Paradox

a seemingly contradictory statement that makes sense; a situation that is inexplicable or contradictory
EX: The child is the father of the man.
Restricted rights to bring certain things on planes = safe, plenty of things make it through TSA = unsafe

Parallel structure

The repetition of words or phrases in similar syntax (or word order) to emphasize the equality between words, subjects, and ideas.

Periodic sentence

a sentence in which the less important details precede the main point

Personification

a type of metaphor giving animals or objects human characteristics

Pleonasm

the use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning

Prolepsis

treating a future event as if it has already happened; one raises an objection to one's own case before an opposition can do so
EX: That guy's a dead man walking.
I'm aware people love ice cream, but consider other dessert options.

Pun/Clinch

using homonyms to produce a humorous effect; a comparable play on words or phrases with similar sounds
EX: Is life worth living? It depends on the liver.
My wife left to the islands. Jamaica? (Did you make her?) No.

Qualifier

a restriction placed on the claim to state that it may not always be true as stated

Questioning: Asked and answered

a writer first asks a question then answers it immediately, throughout the text, or in the conclusion

Questioning: Unanswerable

a writer poses a question that currently has no answer because science or technology can't resolve it yet or because it refers to an event that hasn't happened yet

Questioning: Unanswered

a question that has multiple answers but that the writer wants the reader to reflect upon, so the author provides no answer in the text

Refutation

A demonstration (with evidence) that all or a portion of a competing claim is invalid.

Repetition

A rhetorical strategy in which a writer uses a word, phrase, sentence, or other element two or more times for effect or emphasis.

Reservation

a restriction placed on the warrant to indicate that unless certain conditions are met, the warrant may not establish a connection between the support and the claim

Rhetoric

A message created to appeal to a specific audience.

Rhetorical question

A syntactical device that a writer uses to compel the audience to pause and reflect rather than respond with a literal answer.

Sarcasm

a bitter, sneering expression of strong, personal disapproval which first seems like praise

Satire

an attempt to prompt social change, improve humanity, or examine human institutions through ridiculing human weakness; blend of humor and criticism

Simile

A comparison of two unrelated objects using like or as that assigns ideas to the point of comparison.

Standard english

the common, most widely accepted usage of written and spoken English by educated people; school and business

Substantive warrant

a warrant based on beliefs about the reliability of factual evidence

Syllogism

a deductive argument formula consisting of three proposition: major premise, minor premise, and conclusion

Symbol

a concrete or real object used to represent a real idea

Tautology

unnecessary and ineffective repetition, usually with words that add nothing new; a compound proposition that's always true
EX: She was all alone by herself. Cool, calm, and collected.
Either it's raining or it is not raining today.

Tone

A writer's attitude toward the subject expressed through diction, syntax, and other elements of style.

Understatement

The presentation of claims or ideas as having less importance than they actually have for effect (the opposite of hyperbole).

Values

conceptions or ideas that act as standards for judging what is right or wrong

Warrant

a general principle or assumption that establishes a connection between the support and the claim

Wit

intellectual humor, finding similarities in dissimilar things
EX: We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough religion to make us love one another.

Word play

Verbal wit, manipulating words to create a humorous, ironic, dramatic, critical or other effect.