A.P. Language and Composition Rhetorical Terms

Abstract

refers to language that describes concepts rather than concrete images.

Ad Hominem

In an argument, this is an attack on the person rathe rthan on the opponent's ideas. It comes from the Latin meaning "against the man."

Allegory

an extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and settings represent qualities and in which the writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface of the story.

Alliteration

repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close to one another.

Allusion

a reference to a well-known person, place or thing from literature, history etc.

Analogy

comparision of two but similar but different things, usually to clarify an action or relationship.

Anaphora

repetition of a word, phrase or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row.

Anecdote

a short, simple narrative of an incident; often used for humorous effect or to make a point.

Annotation

explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources or give bibliographical data.

Antithesis

the presentation of 2 contrasting images. The ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause or paragraphs.

Aphorism

a short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life.

Apostrophe

usually in poetry but sometimes in prose; the device of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person or to a place, thing or personified abstraction

Argumentation

writing that attempts to prove the validity of a point of view or an idea by presenting reasoned arguments.

Assonance

repetition of vowel sounds between different consonants, such as in neigh/fade.

Asyndeton

comas used (with no conjunction) to seperate a series of words. The parts are emphasized equally when the conjunction is omitted; in addition, the use of commas with no intervening conjunction speeds up the flow of the sentence.

Cacophony

harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose.

Caricature

descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a person's appearance or a face of a personality.

Colloquialiam

a word or phrase (including slang) used in everyday conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropiate in formal writing, such as y'all or ain't.

Coherence

quality of a piece of writing in which all the parts contribute to the development of the central idea, theme or organizing principle.

Concrete Language

language that describes specific, observable things, people or places, rathe rthan ideas or qualities.

Connotation

the emotional implications and associations that a word may carry.

Consonance

repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximity, as in boost/best; it can also be seen within several compound words, such as fulfill and ping- pong.

Conundrum

a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun; it may also be a paradox or difficult problem.

Deduction

the process of moving from a general rule to a specific example.

Denotation

literal meaning of a word as defined.

Description

the picturing in words of something or someone through detailed observation of color, motion, sound, taste, smell, and touch; one of the four modes of discourse.

Diction

word choice, an element of style; Diction creates tone, attitude, and style, as well as meaning. Different types and arrangements of words have significant effects on meaning.

Didactic

writing whose purpose is to instruct or to teach. A didactic work is usually formal and focuses on moral or ethical concerns. Didactic writing may be fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.

Discourse

spoken or written language, including literary works; the four traditionally classified modes of discourse are description, exposition, narration, and persuasion.

Dissonance

harsh or grating sounds that do not go together.

Dramatic Irony

when the reader is aware of an inconsistency between a fictional or nonfictional chracter's perception of a situation and the truth of that situation.

Emotional Appeal

When a writer appeals to readers' emotions (often through pathos) to excite and involve them in the argument..

Epigraph

the use of a quotation at the beginning of a work that hints at its theme.

Ethical Appeal

When a writer tries to persuade the audience to respect and believe him or her based on a presentation of image of self through the text. Reputation is sometimes a factor in ethical appeal, but in all cases the aim is to gain the audience's confidence.

Euphemism

a more acceptable and usually more pleasant way of saying something that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable.

Euphony

a succession of harmonious sounds used in poetry or prose; the opposite of cacophony.

Example

An individual instance taken to be representative of a general pattern.

Explication

The art of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text.

Expostion

the immediate revelation to the audience of the setting and other background information

necessary for understanding the plot; also, explanation; one of the four modes of discourse.

Extended Metaphor

a sustained comparision, often referred to as conceit.

False Analogy

when 2 cases are not sufficiently paraell to lead readers to accept a claim of a connection between them.

Figurative Language

langauge that contains figures of speech, such as similes and metaphors, in order to create associations that are imaginative rather than literal.

Figures of Speech

expressions, such as similes, metaphors or personifications, that make imaginative, rather than lieral comparisions or associations.

Foreshadowing

the use of a hint or clue to suggect a larger event that occurs later in the work.

Freight-Train

sentence consisting of 3 or more very short independent clauses joined by conjunctions.

Generalization

When a writer bases a claim upon an isolated example or asserts that a claim is certain

rather than probable.

Genre

a type of literary work, such as a novel or poem.

Hubris

the excessive pride of ambtion that leads a tragic hero to disregard warnings of impending doom, eventually causing his/her downfall.

Humor

anything that causes laughter or amusement.

Hyperbole

deliberate exaggeration in order to create humor or emphasis.

Image

A word or words, either figurative or literal, used to describe a sensory experience or an object perceived by the sense.

Imagery

words or phrases that use a collection of images to appeal to one or more of the five senses in order to create a mental picture.

Induction

the process that moves from a given series of specifics to a generalization.

Inference

a conclusion one can draw from the presented details.

Interior Monologue

writing that records the conversation that occurs inside a character's head.

Invective

a verbally abusive attack.

Irony

a situation or statement in which the actual outcome or meaning is opposite to what was expected.

Jargon

The special language of a profession or group.

Logic

the process of reasoning.

Logical Fallacy

a mistake in reasoning.

Lyrical

Songlike; characterized by emotions, subjectivity, and imagination.

Inversion

reversing the customary (subject first, then verb, then complement) order of elements in a sentence or phrase.

Metaphor

a figure of speech in which one thing is referred to another.

Metonymy

a figure of speech that uses the name of an object, person or idea to represent comething with which it is associated.

Mode

the method or form of a literary work; the manner in which a work of literature is written.

Mood

similar to tone, ____is the primary emotional attitude of a work (the feeling of the work; the atmosphere).

Moral

the lesson drawn from a ficitonal or nonficitonal story.

Motif

main theme or subject of a work that is elaborated on in the development of the peieve; a repeated pattern or idea.

Narration

the telling of a story in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama; one of the four modes of discourse.

Negative-Positive

sentence that beings by stating what is not true, then by ending by stating what is true.

Non-sequitur

latin for "it does not follow." when one statement isn't logically connected to another.

Objectivity

an impersonal presentation of events and characters. It is a writer's attempt to remove himself or herself from any subjective, personal involvement in a story.

Onomatopoeia

the use of words that sound like what they mean.

Oversimplification

When a writer obscures or denies the complexity of the issues in an argument.

Oxymoron

a figure of speech composed of contradictory words or phrases.

Pacing

the movement of a literary piece from one point or one section to another.

Parable

a short tale that teaches a moral; similar to but shorter than an allegory.

Paradox

a statement that seems to contradict itself but that turns out to have a rational meaning.

Paraellism

the technique of arranging words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures by placing them side by side and making them similar in form.

Parody

a work that ridicules the style of another work by imitating and exaggerating its elements. It can be utterly mocking or gently humorous. It depends on allusion and exaggerates and distorts the original style and content.

Pathos

The aspects of a literary work that elicit sorrow or pity from the audience.

Pedantic

a term used to describe writing that borders on lecturing. It is scholarly and academic and often overly difficult and distant.

Personification

the attribution of human qualities to a non human or an inanimate object.

Persuasion

form of argumentation, one of the four modes of discourse; language intended to convince through appeals to reason or emotion.

Point of View

the perspective from whcih a story is presented.

1st person narrator

a narrator, referred to as "I," who is a character in the story and relates the actions through his or her own perspective, also revealing his or her own thoughts.

Stream of Consciousness

making the reader privy to the continuous, chaotic flow of disconnected, half-formed thoughts and impressions in the character's mind.

Omniscient

third person narrator, referred to as "he," "she," or "they," who is able to see into each character's mind and understands all action.

Limited Omniscient

a third person narrator who reports the thoughts of only one character and generally only what that one character sees.

Objective

a third person narrator who only reports what would be visible to a camera; thoughts and feelings are only revealed if a character speaks of them.

Polysyndeton

sentence which uses and or another conjunction (with no commas) to seperate the items in a series.

Protagonist

the main character of a literary work.

Red Herring (Reductio ad Absurdum)

when a writer raises an irrelevant issue to draw attention away from the real issue; the latin for "to redue to the absurd." This technique is useful in creating a comic effect and is also an argumentative technique. It is considered a rhetorical fallacy because it reduces an argument to an either/or choice.

Regionalism

an element in literature that conveys a realistic portrayal of a specific geographical locale, using the locale and its influences as a major part of the plot.

Repetition

Word or phrase used two or more times in close proximity.

Rhetorical Modes

exposition, description, narration, argumentation.

Rhetorical Question

one that does not expect an explicit answer. It is used to pose an idea to be considered by the speaker or audience.

Sarcasm

harsh, caustic personal remarks to or about someone; less subtle than irony.

Satire

A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way.

Setting

time and place of a literary work.