AP Lang - Rhetorical Devices

Aesthetic

the reference to artistic elements or expressions within a textual work

Allegory

expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence

Alliteration

the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of successive words

Allusion

a reference, explicit or implicit, to something in previous literature or history

Ambiguity

a word, phrase, or sentence whose meaning can be interpreted in more than one way

Analogy

an extended comparison between two things/instances/people etc. that share some similarity to make a point

Anaphora

repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines

Anecdote

a usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident

Antithesis

the rhetorical contrast of ideas by means of parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or sentences

Assonance

the repetition of vowel sounds but not consonant sounds

Asyndeton

conjunctions are omitted, producing a fast-paced and rapid prose

Chiasmus

repetition of ideas in inverted order

Colloquial

characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech

Connotation

the set of associations implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning

Consonance

the repetition of consonant sounds (but not vowels)

Deductive reasoning

reasoning that works from the more general to the more specific — beginning with a theory that becomes a hypothesis, and using observations to confirm the original theory (top-down approach)

Denotation

the literal meaning of a word, the dictionary definition

Diction

a writer’s choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language, which combine to help create meaning

Didactic

tone; instructional, designed to teach an ethical, moral, or religious lesson

Elegiac

a tone involving mourning or expressing sorrow for that which is irrecoverably past

Epistrophe

ending a series of lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences with the same word or words

Ethos

appealing to credibility

Extended metaphor

differs from a regular metaphor in that several comparisons similar in theme are being made

Imagery

descriptive language that provides vivid images that evoke the senses

Inductive reasoning

reasoning that moves from specific observations to broader generalizations and theories; uses observations to detect patterns and regularities, and develops a hypothesis and later broader theories based on these observations (bottom-up approach)

Irony

stating the opposite of what is said or meant

Juxtaposition

placing two or more things side by side for comparison or contrast

Logos

appealing to logic

Metonymy

a figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated

Pacing

the speed at which a piece of writing flows — used when discussing organization; point out where action/syntax begins to speed up, slow down, is interrupted, etc

Paradox

apparently self-contradictory statement, the underlying meaning of which is revealed only by careful scrutiny; its purpose is to arrest attention and provoke fresh thought

Parallelism (parallel structure)

a repetition of sentences using the same grammatical structure emphasizing all aspects of the sentence equally

Pathos

appealing to emotion

Polysyndeton

the use of many conjunctions — has the effect of slowing the pace or emphasizing the numerous words or clauses

Rhetorical question

a question presented by the author that is not meant to be answered

Stream of consciousness

a technique that records the thoughts and feelings of a character without regard to logical argument or narrative sequence; reflects all the forces, internal and external, affecting the character’s psyche at the moment

Synecdoche

the rhetorical substitution of a part for the whole

Syntax

the structure of sentences and/or phrases

Thesis

a statement of purpose, intent, or main idea in a literary work

Tone

the use of stylistic devices that reveal an author’s attitude towards a subject