AP Language Rhetorical Devices & Sentence Structures: Definitions and Examples

editorial

magazine/newspaper piece, opinionated

homily

brief speech connecting sermon to daily life

travelogue

firsthand account of a journey

SOAPSTone

Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject, Tone

DIDLS

Diction, Imagery, Details, Language, Syntax

emotive language

Deliberate use of language by a writer to instill a feeling or visual.

euphemism

An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

slanted language

By choosing words that carry strong positive or negative connotations or feelings, a person can distract the audience, leading them away from the valid arguments being made. A philosopher once illustrated the bias involved in slanted language when he compared three synonyms for the word stubborn: "I am firm. You are obstinate. He is pigheaded

colloquial expression

words and phrases used in everyday speech but avoided in formal writing

cliche

a worn-out idea or overused expression

slogan

a short, catchy phrase that conveys an important idea

equivocation

the use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing oneself; prevarication

double entendre

a statement that has two meanings, one of which is dirty or vulgar

hasty generalization

A fallacy in which a faulty conclusion is reached because of inadequate evidence.

faulty use of authority

failing to acknowledge disagreement among experts or otherwise misrepresenting the trustworthiness of sources

post hoc ergo propter hoc

This fallacy is Latin for "after which therefore because of which," meaning that it is incorrect to always claim that something is a cause just because it happened earlier. One may loosely summarize this fallacy by saying that correlation does not imply causation.

ad hominem

a fallacy that attacks the person rather than dealing with the real issue in dispute

false dilemma

A fallacy of oversimplification that offers a limited number of options (usually two) when in fact more options are available.

slippery slope

A fallacy that assumes that taking a first step will lead to subsequent steps that cannot be prevented

begging the question

A fallacy in which a claim is based on evidence or support that is in doubt.

straw man

A fallacy that occurs when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an idea.

non sequitur

something that does not logically follow

ad populem/bandwagon

"To the people," something must be good because everyone is doing it

red herring

A fallacy that introduces an irrelevant issue to divert attention from the subject under discussion

appeal to tradition

a fallacy which assumes that something old is automatically better than something new

emotional appeal fallacy

Uses irrelevant emotion as reason

guilt by association

calls someone's character into question by examining the character of that person's associates

metaphysical conceit

A type of simile which establishes a striking parallel between startlingly dissimilar things.

periodic sentence

sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end

loose sentence

A complex sentence in which the main clause comes first and the subordinate clause follows

parallel sentence

a sentence that shows similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words

anaphora

the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

epistrophe

the repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences

chiasmus

A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed

simple sentence

A sentence consisting of one independent clause and no dependent clause

compound sentence

a sentence with two or more coordinate independent clauses, often joined by one or more conjunctions

complex sentence

A sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause

compound-complex sentence

at least one dependent clause and two or more independent clauses

declarative sentence

a sentence that makes a statement

imperative sentence

sentence used to command or enjoin

interrogative sentence

A sentence that asks a question

exclamatory sentence

a sentence expressing strong feeling, usually punctuated with an exclamation mark

climax (syntax)

a figure of speech in which a series of phrases or sentences is arranged in ascending order of rhetorical forcefulness

cadence (syntax)

rhythmic flow of a sentence

antecedent

The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.

epistemology

study of knowledge

empiricism

the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation

rationalism

A belief or theory that opinions and actions should be based on reason and knowledge rather than on religious belief or emotional response

skepticism

A philosophy which suggests that nothing can ever be known for certain.

metaphysics

the study of the nature of reality

aesthetics

the study of beauty

ethics

the principles of right and wrong that guide an individual in making decisions

a priori

relating to or derived by reasoning from self-evident propositions

a posteriori

relating to or derived by reasoning from known or observed facts

liberal

open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values.

conservative

holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in relation to politics or religion.

socratic irony

feigning ignorance to achieve some advantage over an opponent

direct satire

Stating an explicit criticism in a humorous way

indirect satire

communicated through characters in a situation

juvenalian satire

harsh, biting satire, full of moral indignation and bitter contempt

horatian satire

gentle, amused, witty satire; mildly corrective