AP Language Rhetorical Devices & Analysis Techniques

Rhetoric

The art of effective persuasive communication

Diction

The author's word choice. Look for formal/informal, abstract/concrete, or emotional/neutral diction. Reveals tone, audience awareness, and deeper meaning. The author uses 'gaunt' instead of 'thin' to suggest suffering. Replacing 'home' with 'house' changes the emotional tone.

Syntax

The arrangement of words and sentence structure. Can emphasize ideas, build rhythm, or create a specific tone or pace. A short sentence for emphasis: 'He knew.' A long, winding sentence to build suspense.

Connotation / Denotation

The implied or suggested meaning of a word. The actual or dictionary meaning of a word. Influences tone and emotional impact. Example, Heart: Connotation: Love, romance. Denotation: a major organ. Or: 'Childish' vs. 'youthful' (both imply youth, but varied tones).

Exigence

The specific need, want, problem, or situation that prompts a speaker or writer to create a text. Shapes direction & focus (i.e. purpose, urgency, and relevance in an argument). After a school shooting, a senator gives a speech advocating for stricter gun control laws. A student writes a letter to the principal requesting healthier lunch options.

Author's Purpose

Why an author writes a specific piece: To inform, To Entertain, To Express, To Argue. It is how the text influences the audience — what it makes the reader think, feel, believe, or do.

Kairos

The timing and situational context of a message. It is about choosing the most opportune moment to deliver an argument or idea so that it has maximum impact on the audience. AKA, The 'when' and 'why now' of communication. Makes the reader feel that the message is urgent, relevant, and timely for right now. It creates a sense of immediacy or importance, motivating the reader to care, act, or agree. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' (1963). King seizes the moment—he writes from jail during the height of the civil rights movement, addressing criticism of his timing. This use of kairos strengthens his moral argument and makes readers feel the weight and timeliness of his message.

Moves

(Author's Moves or Shifts) The deliberate choices & strategies authors use to achieve a specific purpose, influence the audience, and develop meaning. Noticing these moves helps readers understand a text and better engage critically with it, asking not just what the author is saying, but how and why they are saying it that way. Look to how the author: organizes ideas, selects evidence, appeals to emotion or logic, uses tone or diction, asks rhetorical questions, shifts point of view. Or.... *Notice how they change or shift throughout a text!

Juxtaposition

Placing contrasting ideas close together, often side by side. Highlights differences and creates emphasis. 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.' A peaceful village beside a violent battlefield.

Tone

The author's attitude toward the subject or audience.

Sarcastic tone

"Oh, great. Another Monday."

Reverent tone

"She spoke of the leader as if he were a saint."

Voice

The distinctive style, tone, and personality expressed by the writer toward the subject and audience.

Stance

A writer's attitude, position, or perspective on the subject they are writing about.

Point of View

The perspective from which a text is told.

First person

A narrative perspective where the narrator is a character in the story.

Second person

Addresses the reader to create a sense of immediacy or involvement.

Third person limited

Narration that focuses on the thoughts and feelings of a single character.

Third person omniscient

Narration that provides a view of all characters' thoughts and feelings.

Appeals: Ethos

Appeal to credibility or character.

Appeals: Pathos

Appeal to emotion.

Appeals: Logos

Appeal to logic and reason.

Imagery

Descriptive (and often sensory) language that evokes emotion.

Metaphor

A comparison of unlike things without using 'like' or 'as'.

Simile

A comparison of unlike things using 'like' or 'as'.

Rhetorical Question

A question posed for effect, not answer.

Anecdote

A short personal story.

Allusion

A reference to a well-known person, event, or work.

Irony

When the intended meaning is opposite of the literal meaning.

Creates complexity

Highlights contradictions.

Understatement

Minimizing or downplaying the significance of something.

Hyperbole

Exaggeration for emphasis or effect.

Asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions between parts of a sentence.

Polysyndeton

The deliberate use of many conjunctions.

Paradox

A seemingly contradictory statement that reveals truth.

Colloquialism

Informal or regional expressions.

Antithesis

Contrasting ideas presented in a balanced sentence.

Anaphora

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

Parallelism

Repetition of grammatical structures.

Repetition

Repeating words or phrases.

Phrase / Clause

A group of words / A group of words with at least one subject + verb.

Dependent clause / Independent Clause

Has a subject and verb, but is not a complete sentence / Has a subject and verb, and can stand alone as a complete sentence.

Simple Sentence

Composed of one independent clause.

Compound Sentence

Composed of at least 2 independent clauses.

Complex Sentence

Composed of a dependent + independent clause.

Compound Complex Sentence

Composed of at least one dependent + two independent clauses.

Altruistic

Showing a disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others; unselfish.

Derelict

Left or deserted, as by the owner or guardian; abandoned.

Unsullied

Spotlessly clean and fresh.

Anomaly

A deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form.

Environs

Surroundings; environment.

Enigmatic

Resembling an enigma; perplexing; mysterious.

Estranged

Displaying or evincing a feeling of alienation; alienated.

Unencumbered

Not burdened, impeded, or hampered.

Emancipated

Not constrained or restricted by custom, tradition, superstition.

Ascertain

To discover or become aware of with certainty through careful observation of

Caveat

A warning, caution, or a limiting condition attached to a statement, agreement, or action

Cognizant

Being aware, knowledgeable, or conscious of something

Copious

Great amounts of; abundant in supply

Debacle

A sudden failure or fiasco; a calamity

Deference

A willingness to yield to the wishes of others; humble submission

Emanate

To come out from a source, to emit, or to express a quality or feeling

Eschew

To deliberately avoid or abstain from; to weasel or shirk out

Fulminate

To protest loudly and wildly; vehemently protest

Harbinger

To impart or suggest in an artful or indirect way

Insinuate

To imply or suggest in an artful or indirect way

Languid

Drooping or sluggish from or as if from exhaustion

Myriad

A great number of

Quintessential

Representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class.

Venerate

Regard with great respect; revere.

Assimilate

to absorb into the cultural tradition of a population or group; or, to take into the mind and thoroughly understand

Astute

having or showing shrewdness and an ability to notice and understand things clearly : mentally sharp or clever

Burgeon

to grow and expand rapidly, flourish

Corollary

a proposition inferred immediately from a proved proposition with little or no additional proof; result or product occurring from an idea

Cumbersome

difficult to use or operate especially because of size, weight, or design

Deplore

to express one's unfavorable opinion of the worth or quality of

Ethereal

not composed of matter, intangible or metaphysical

Exacerbate

To make worse or more severe; deepen in intensity

Imminent

giving signs of immediate occurrence, looming or unavoidable

Impetuous

acting or done quickly and without thought; controlled by emotion rather than thought; impulsive

Meticulous

taking, showing, or involving great care and effort; painstaking attention to detail

Nuance

a subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound

Pensive

given to or marked by long, quiet thinking; contemplative or reflective

Stringent

not allowing for any exceptions or loosening of standards; strict and rigorous

Tenuous

lacking strength, permanence, or resilience; delicate or weak