most important and easy rhetorical terms for AP lang

Alliteration

The repetition of the same sound or letter at the beginning of consecutive words or syllables.

Allusion

An indirect reference, often to another text or an historic event. 

Analogy

An extended comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things.

Anaphora

The repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses.

Anecdote

A short account of an interesting event. 

Ethos

A Greek term referring to the character of a person or their credibility

Hyperbole

Exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis.

Juxtaposition

Placement of two things side by side for emphasis.

Logos

A Greek term that means “word”; an appeal to logic

Metaphor

A figure of speech or trope through which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else, thus making an implicit comparison.

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory but is actually true.

Parallelism

The repetition of similar grammatical or syntactical patterns.

Pathos

A Greek term that refers to suffering but has come to be associated with broader appeals to emotion.

Personification

Assigning lifelike characteristics to inanimate objects.

Simile

A figure of speech that uses “like” or “as” to compare two things 

Syntax

Sentence structure.

Tone

The speaker’s attitude toward the subject or audience

Understatement

Lack of emphasis in a statement or point; restraint in language often used for ironic effect.

SEW

identify the rhetorical Strategy

cite an Example

how does the strategy Work

TEA

Topic Sentence

Evidence

Analysis