AP Rhetorical Vocabulary Set 1

Allegory

The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning.

Alliteration

The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonants in two or more neighboring words (as in “she sells sea shells”).

Allusion

A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art.

Ambiguity

The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.

Analogy

A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them.

Anaphora

One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression (word or words) is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences.

Anecdote

A short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event. The term most frequently refers to an incident in the life of a person.

Antecedent

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

Antithesis

Figure of balance in which two contrasting ideas are intentionally juxtaposed, usually through parallel structure; a contrasting of opposing ideas in adjacent phrases, clauses, or sentences.

Aphorism

A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. It is an address to someone or something that cannot answer.

Asyndeton

Consists of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses.

Atmosphere

The emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author’s choice of objects that are described.

Chiasmus

A figure of speech in which two successive phrases or clauses are parallel in syntax, but reverse the order of the analogous words.

Clause

A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb.

Colloquial / Colloquialism

The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing.

Coherence

A principle demanding that the parts of any composition be arranged so that the meaning of the whole may be immediately clear and intelligible.

Conceit

A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects.

Connotation

The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning.

Denotation

The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color.

Diacope

Repetition of a word or phrase after an intervening word or phrase: word/phrase X … word/phrase X.

Diction

Related to style, _ refers to the writer’s word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness.

Didactic

_ works have the primary aim of teaching or instructing, especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles.

Enumeration

Figure of amplification in which a subject is divided into constituent parts or details, and may indicate a listing of causes, effects, problems, solutions, conditions, and consequences; the listing of or detailing of the parts of something.

Explicative

Figure of emphasis in which a single word or short phrase, usually interrupting normal speech, is used to lend emphasis to the words on either side of the _.