AP English Language and Composition Unit 1: Rhetorical Terms & Fallacies

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the elements of rhetoric, sentence structures, figures of speech, types of claims and theses, and logical fallacies from the AP English Language study guide.

Rhetoric

The art of finding ways to persuade an audience; defined by Aristotle as "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion."

The rhetorical situation

The convergence of speaker, purpose, audience, context, and exigence in an act of communication.

Concession

An acknowledgement that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable, usually accompanied by a refutation.

Refutation

Denial of the validity of an opposing argument in part or in whole, usually accompanied by a concession in order to sound more reasonable.

Qualify (a claim)

To make a claim about qualities, what something is, what it is caused by, what it affects, or the nature or properties of a thing to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations, providing insights or helping develop ideas or hypotheses.

Quantify (a claim)

To generate claims and information about quantities, numerical data, or statistics to quantify attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and variables, typically limited to questions of "how much," "how many," "how often," or "how famous or popular."

Aristotelian Triangle

A diagram that illustrates the relationships between speaker, subject, and audience in a rhetorical situation.

Ethos

Greek for "character"; established by speakers in what they say and who they are to appeal to the audience's trust in their character, authority, or expertise.

Logos

Greek for "embodied thought"; appeals to reason and logic by offering clear, rational ideas supported by specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony; usually the primary mode to elicit audience agreement.

Pathos

Greek for "suffering" or "experience"; appeals to specific emotions such as fear, patriotism, prejudices, anger, or hope; usually the primary mode to elicit audience action.

Archaic language

The use of language that is antiquated or old-fashioned (e.g., "Beliefs for which our forebears fought").

Alliteration

The use of words with the same consonant sound close together, or the repetition of the same sound beginning several words or syllables in sequence.

Colloquialism

The use of informal language reflecting the way people actually speak (slang).

Connotation

The implied or contextualized meaning that underlies the main meaning of a word.

Denotation

The literal, dictionary definition of a word.

Ellipsis

Omitting some parts of a sentence to give the reader an opportunity to fill the gaps.

Jargon

Language that is specific to a particular place, period, position, or occupation.

Repetition

Repeating words, phrases, or ideas in order to emphasize or reiterate a point.

Cumulative sentence

A sentence where the main clause is positioned at the beginning and additional subordinate details or clauses are added on afterward.

Hortative sentence

A sentence that exhorts, urges, entreats, implores, or calls someone to action (e.g., "Let both sides explore what problems unite us…").

Imperative sentence

A sentence that commands or demands an action (e.g., "ask not what America will do for you…").

Periodic sentence

A sentence where the main clause is withheld until the very end.

Anaphora

The repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines.

Antimetabole / chiasmus

The repetition of words in reverse grammatical order (e.g., "Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country").

Antithesis

The opposition or contrast of ideas or words presented in a parallel construction (e.g., "support any friend, oppose any foe").

Asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words, which functions to speed up the pace (e.g., "He eats, drinks, sleeps").

Juxtaposition

The placement of two things closely together to emphasize their differences.

Parallelism

Similarity of grammatical structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.

Syndeton

The addition of multiple conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words, which functions to slow down the pace (e.g., "He eats and drinks and sleeps").

Allusion

A reference to another source, such as the Bible, mythology, literature, poetry, or a work of art.

Anecdote

A usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident used to explain, illustrate, or persuade.

Euphemism

Saying an agreeable or inoffensive expression instead of one that may offend.

Extended metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences.

Hyperbole

Deliberate and intentional exaggeration for rhetorical effect.

Imagery

Descriptive language that appeals to the five senses to paint a picture in the mind of the reader.

Maxim

A short, pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct (e.g., "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all").

Metaphor

A direct comparison that replaces one object with another without using "like" or "as" (stronger than a simile).

Metonymy

The substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for the thing meant (e.g., "suit" for "business executive" or "the track" for "horse racing").

Motif

A recurring element or repeating symbol found throughout a text.

Oxymoron

The combination of two contradictory words placed side by side (e.g., "peaceful revolution").

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true.

Personification

Describing an inanimate object or abstraction as if it were a person with human qualities (e.g., "With history the final judge of our deeds").

Rhetorical question

Posing a question for rhetorical effect rather than to elicit an actual answer.

Simile

A comparison between two distinct things using the words "like" or "as."

Symbol

An object that is used to represent a larger idea or theme.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole (e.g., "Nice wheels!" where wheels represent a car).

Tone

An author's attitude toward a subject and/or a character.

Zeugma

The use of two different meanings of the same word within a single sentence or line (e.g., "When we bear arms, we bear a burden of responsibility").

Claims of fact

Assertions that something is true or not true; arguable on the basis of verifiable facts.

Claims of value

Assertions that something is good or bad, right or wrong, or a cause or effect, drawing conclusions from claims of fact.

Claims of policy

Assertions that suggest a specific course of action as a result of established claims of fact and value.

First-hand evidence

Evidence based on information the writer knows from personal experience, personal observations, or general knowledge of events.

Second-hand evidence

Evidence accessed through research, reading, investigation, interviews, or polls, including factual and historical data, expert opinions, and quantitative statistics.

Open thesis

A thesis that does not list all the specific points the writer intends to include, is usually inductive in its claim, and suggests a more abstract or universal claim of value.

Closed thesis

A thesis that makes a specific, limited claim of value and includes a explicit list of the main points to follow.

Counter-argument thesis

A thesis that usually starts with a summary of the primary counterargument, preceded by "but" or "although," followed by the writer's primary claim.

Fallacies of Relevance

A category of logical fallacies that rely on evidence that is actually irrelevant to the claim being made.

Ad hominem

Latin for "against the man"; the fallacy of attacking the character of the speaker instead of addressing the topic or argument at hand.

Appeal to false authority

A fallacy that occurs when someone who lacks actual expertise is cited or used as an authority on a subject.

Faulty analogy

A fallacy that occurs when a comparison is drawn between two things that are logically irrelevant to each other.

Red herring

A fallacy that introduces a new, unrelated topic to divert attention before addressing the original topic of argument.

Fallacies of Accuracy

A category of logical fallacies that use evidence that is intentionally or unintentionally inaccurate.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc (faulty causality)

Latin for "after this, therefore because of this"; the fallacy of assuming that because one event follows another, the first event caused the second.

Slippery slope

A scare tactic fallacy that claims a single initial action will inevitably lead to a chain of catastrophic or more extreme events.

Either/or (false dilemma)

A fallacy that presents two extreme options as the only possible outcomes or alternatives.

Straw man

A fallacy that involves oversimplifying or misrepresenting an opponent's argument to make it easier to ridicule or refute.

Fallacies of Insufficiency

A category of logical fallacies that rely on evidence that is insufficient in amount or quality to prove the claim.

Bandwagon appeal

An argument whose evidence boils down to "everybody's doing it, so it must be good or right."

Circular reasoning

A logical fallacy that presents the claim itself as the evidence for that claim.

Hasty generalization

A fallacy in which a single anecdote, unrepresentative example, or insufficient evidence is used to make a broad, major point.

Stack the deck

An argument that shows only one side of an issue and completely refuses to acknowledge or admit the existence of counterarguments.