Rhetorical Terms - 2025-26

AP Language & Composition

Alliteration

Repetition of the same sound beginning several words or syllables in sequence.

Allusion

Brief reference to a person, event, or place (real or fictitious) or to a work of art.

Ambiguity (Ambiguous)

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

Analogy

A comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things. Often, an analogy uses something simple or familiar to explain something unfamiliar or complex.

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines.

Anecdote

A brief story used to illustrate a point or claim.

Annotation

The taking of notes directly on a text.

Antimetabole

Repetition of words in reverse order.

Antithesis

Opposition, or contrast, of ideas or words in a parallel construction.

Aphorism

A terse statement of known authorship that expresses a general truth and moral principle.

Archaic Diction

Old-fashioned or outdated choice of words.

Argument

A process of reasoned inquiry. A persuasive discourse resulting in a coherent and consideration movement from a claim to a conclusion.

Assertion

A statement that presents a claim or thesis.

Asyndeton

Omission of conjunction between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

Audience

The listener, viewer, or reader of a text. Most texts are likely to have multiple audiences.

Claim

Also called an assertion or proposition, a claim states the argument’s main idea or position. A claim differs from a topic or subject in that a claim has to be arguable.

Closed Thesis

A statement of the main idea of the argument that also previews the major points the writer intends to make.

Colloquialism (Colloquial Speech)

Words or phrases that have a conversational feel and are not generally used in formal written English.

Complex Sentence

A sentence that includes one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

Connotation

Meanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition, or denotation.

Context

The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text.

Cumulative Sentence

Sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on.

Denotation

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

Diction

A speaker’s choice of words. Analysis of diction looks at these choices and what they add to the speaker’s message.

Emphasis

Allows the writer to place importance on a particular idea by positioning, proportioning, isolating, or repeating wording. (Position, Proportion, Isolation, Repetition)

Ethos

Greek for “character.” Speakers appeal to ethos to demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy to speak on a given topic.

Euphemism

Greek for “good speech,” a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts.

Figurative Language (Figure of Speech)

Nonliteral language, sometimes referred to as tropes or metaphorical language, often evoking strong imagery and comparing things explicitly or implicitly.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic or ironic effect; an overstatement to make a point.

Imagery

A description of how something looks, feels, tastes, smells, or sounds; may use literal or figurative language to appeal to the senses.

Imperative sentence

Sentence used to command or enjoin.

Inversion

Inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the Subject-Verb-Object order).

Irony

A figure of speech occurring when a speaker or character says one thing but means something else, or when what is said is the opposite of what is expected.

Jargon

Specialized terminology used by a particular group of people; obscure and often pretentious language.

Juxtaposition

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences.

Logos

Greek for “embodied thought.” Speakers appeal to logos, or reason, by offering clear, rational ideas and using specific details, examples, facts, or statistics.

Metaphor

Figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as.

Metonymy

Figure of speech in which something is represented by another thing that is related to it or emblematic of it.

Modifier

An adjective, adverb, phrase, or clause that modifies a noun, pronoun, or verb to describe, focus, or qualify.

Mood

The feeling or atmosphere created by a text.

Narration

In classical oration, the factual and background information, establishing why a subject or problem needs addressing.

Nominalization

The process of changing a verb into a noun.

Occasion

The time and place a speech is given or a piece is written.

Open thesis

A thesis that does not list all of the points the writer intends to cover in an essay.

Oxymoron

A paradox made up of two seemingly contradictory words.

Paradox

A statement or situation that is seemingly contradictory on the surface, but delivers an ironic truth.

Parallelism

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

Pathos

Greek for “suffering” or “experience.” Speakers appeal to pathos to emotionally motivate their audience through values, desires, fears, or prejudices.

Periodic sentence

Sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end.

Persona

Greek for “mask.” The face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience.

Personification

Attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea.

Polysyndeton

The deliberate use of multiple conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

Propaganda

The spread of ideas and information to further a cause; in its negative sense, the use of rumors and disinformation to damage or promote a cause.

Purpose

The goal the speaker wants to achieve.

Rhetoric

Aristotle defined it as “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.”

Rhetorical Appeals

Techniques used to persuade an audience by emphasizing ethos (character), logos (reason), and pathos (emotion).

Rhetorical Question

Figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer.

Satire

The use of irony or sarcasm to critique society or an individual.

Scheme

Artful syntax; a deviation from the normal order of words, such as parallelism or juxtaposition.

Simile

A figure of speech used to explain or clarify an idea by comparing it explicitly to something else, using the words like, as, or as though.

Speaker

The person or group who creates a text.

Stance

A speaker’s attitude toward the audience (distinct from tone, which is attitude toward the subject).

Style

A writer’s specific way of saying things, including arrangement of ideas, word choice, syntax, and figurative language.

Subject

The topic of a text; what the text is about.

Symbol

Generally, something that represents or stands for something else; categories include natural, conventional, and literary symbols. (Archetypal Symbols: Natural Symbols, Conventional Symbols, Literary Symbols)

Synecdoche

Figure of speech that uses a part to represent the whole.

Syntax

The arrangement of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences, including word order and sentence structure.

Synthesize

Combining two or more ideas in order to create something more complex in support of a new idea.

Text

Any cultural product that can be “read”/investigated, including fiction, fine art, photography, fashion, and cultural trends.

Theme

A writer’s thoughts on a topic; what the author develops in terms of beliefs about the topic.

Tone

A speaker’s attitude toward the subject conveyed by stylistic and rhetorical choices.

Trope

Artful diction; from the Greek word for “turning,” a figure of speech such as metaphor, simile, or hyperbole.

Understatement

A figure of speech in which something is presented as less important, dire, or urgent than it actually is; also called litotes.

Vernacular

The speech patterns of a particular group of people or region.

Voice

The unique flavor of a piece based upon the author’s tone, diction, syntax, and imagery.

Wit

In rhetoric, the use of laughter, humor, irony, and satire in the confirmation or refutation of an argument.

Zeugma

Use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings.