AP Lang Rhetorical Strategies 2022

Visual Imagery

descriptive language that appeals to the sense of sight

-ex: The bright, yellow sun was shining over the vast, green countryside.

Olfactory Imagery

descriptive language that appeals to the sense of smell

-ex: the market reeked of raw of fish.

Auditory Imagery

use of language to represent an experience pertaining to sound

-ex: the loud sound of the bell resounded throughout the auditorium

Gustatory Imagery

descriptive language that appeals to the sense of taste

-ex: the sour lemon overpowered the sweet sugar in the lemonade.

Tactile Imagery

descriptive language that appeals to the sense of touch

-ex: The blanket was very soft and fuzzy.

Kinesthetic Imagery

use of language to represent an experience pertaining to the movement

-ex: While jogging, she ran past her old school.

Organic Imagery

internal or emotional sensation

-ex: There were butterflies in her stomach; she was getting more and more nervous for her upcoming presentation.

Synesthesia

replacing one sense with the description for another

-ex: The woman had a soft voice.

Oxymoron

Placing two ordinarily opposing terms adjacent to one another

-ex: jumbo shrimp

Juxtaposition

The placing of dissimilar concepts next to each other in order to compare the two.

-ex: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."(Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities).

Antithesis

The rhetorical strategy in which opposite words or ideas are placed next to each other; the contrasting words or ideas are often written in parallel structure

-ex: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." (Neil Armstrong)

Paradox

A statement that seems to be self-contradictory or lacking common sense, but when interpreted deeper seems to have some truth

-ex: "If I know one thing, it's that I know nothing"

Apposition

Placing another noun or phrase that explains the noun next to it.

-ex: Peter Griffin, the father in Family Guy, is an idiot.

Metonymy

Referring to something with something else that is closely associated with it

-ex: "the crown" to refer to "the king"

Synechdoche

-Greek word for "understanding one thing for another"
-Referring to something by one of its parts or vice versa

-ex: "Putting bread on the table," where bread refers to food in general

Anthimeria

The substitution of one part of speech for another, such as using a noun as a verb.

-ex: "You can't just corona all over me. Cover your mouth"

Euphemism

-A substitution of generally derogatory words for less harsh, less offensive, and more agreeable ones.
-tend to be used to either add humor or ironic understatement or to adhere to political or social correctness.

-ex: "we have to let you go, I'm sorry" instead of saying "you're fired"

Alliteration

Repetition of the same letter at the beginning of closely connected words

-ex: Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica

Anaphora

repetition of a word/phrase at the beginning of a sentence.

-ex: "We should go to the beach. We should then get ice-cream. We should finally get in the water."

Chiasmus

The reversing of the order of words in the second of two parallel phrases/sentences; can also be referred to as reverse parallelism or syntactical inversion.

-ex: "She has all my love; my heart belongs to her."

Climax

-Words/phrases/clauses are written in order from least to most important


-ex: "A doubtful good, a gloss, a glass, a flower/ Lost, faded, broken, dead within an hour"- The Passionate Pilgrim. William Shakespeare

Anticlimax

-Words/phrases/clauses are written in order from most to least important.
-Can have a comedic effect

-ex: "The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money." - Mark Twain

Zeugma

-A term describing when one part of speech governs two or more parts of speech
-The governing word can also be literal and figurative.

-ex: He bolted the door and his dinner.

Sarcasm

harsh, cutting language or tone intended to ridicule

verbal irony

A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant

wit

intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights

humor

Anything that causes laughter or amusement

Simile

comparing two things using like, as, seems, resembles, than

Conceit

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

extended metaphor

A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.