Ap Lang Rhetorical Choices Vocab

alliteration

The repetition of the same letter of sound in a clause

allusion

An indirect reference to a person, event, or piece of literature.

anadiplosis

The repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the next clause.

anaphora

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

antimetabole

The repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order.

antithesis

The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.

apostrophe

A figure of speech in which the speaker addresses an absent person or a personified object.

asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions between parts of a sentence.

assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words.

connotation

The implied or associative meaning of a word, beyond its literal definition.

consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds within or at the end of words in a phrase.

denotation

The literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.

epigraph

A quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme.

epistrophe

The repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses.

epanalepsis

The repetition of words or phrases at the beginning and end of a sentence or clause

ethos

An appeal to the audience's sense of ethics or credibility.

euphemism

A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt.

hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

litotes

A form of understatement that uses negation to express a positive trait.

logos

An appeal to logic and reason.

loose sentence

A sentence structure that is complete before its end.

lyrical

Expressing the writer's emotions in an imaginative and beautiful way.

metaphor

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as.'

onomatopoeia

The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named.

oxymoron

A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction.

paradox

A statement that contradicts itself but may nonetheless be true.

parallelism

The use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same or similar in construction.

pathos

An appeal to the audience's emotions.

periodic sentence

A sentence that is not grammatically complete until it has reached its final phrase.

personification

Attribution of human characteristics to non-human entities.

polysyndeton

The use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where they are not strictly necessary.

simile

A figure of speech comparing two unlike things using 'like' or 'as.'

synecdoche/ metonymy

A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.

synesthesia

A condition where one sense is simultaneously perceived as if by one or more additional senses.