AP Language Rhetorical Terms

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering the AP Language rhetorical terms from the provided lecture sources.

Abstract Language

Language describing ideas and qualities

Ad Hominem

Attacking a person's motives or character instead of his argument or claims

Allegory

A narrative in which character, action, and setting represent abstract concepts apart from the literal meaning of a story. The underlying meaning usually has a moral, social, religious, or political significance.

Allusion

A brief reference to a person, event, or place--real or fictitious or to a work of art.

Analogy

A comparison to a directly parallel case; the process of drawing a comparison between two things based on a partial similarity of like features.

Anaphora

The same expression is repeated at the beginning of 2 or more consecutive lines.

Anecdote

A short account of an interesting or humorous incident, intended to illustrate or support a point.

Antecedent

The word to which a pronoun refers.

Antithesis

A contrast in language to bring out a contrast in ideas.

Aphorism

A concise or tersely phrased statement in principle, truth, or opinion. Often found in fields like law, politics, and art.

Bias

A predisposition or subjective opinion.

Call to Action

Writing that urges readers to action or promote a change.

Cliche

A timeworn expression that through overuse has lost its power to evoke concrete images.

Colloquialism

Words characteristic to familiar conversation.

Compare/Contrast

Writing that highlights the similarities and differences between 2 or more topics.

Complex Sentence

An independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses.

Compound Sentence

A sentence that contains 2 independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.

Concrete Language

Language describing observable, specific things.

Connotation

The emotional implications that a word may carry.

Declarative Sentence

Makes a statement (sentence type).

Deductive Reasoning

Method of reasoning that moves from a general premise to a specific conclusion.

Denotation

Specific, exact meaning of a word as defined.

Diction

Choice of words in a work and an important element of style.

Ethos

Appealing to the audience's shared values.

Euphemism

Substitutions of an inoffensive, indirect, or agreeable expression for a word or phrase perceived as socially unacceptable or harsh.

Exemplification

Writing that provides a series of facts, specific cases, or instances that relate to a general idea.

Exigence

The problem or the situation that evokes a response.

Generalization

When a writer bases a claim upon an isolated example or asserts that a claim is certain rather than probable.

Grounds

The evidence offered in support of a claim.

Idiom

An expression that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words.

Imperative Sentence

Gives a command (sentence type).

Inductive Reasoning

Method of reasoning that moves from specific evidence to a general conclusion based on this evidence.

Interrogative Sentence

Asks a question (sentence type).

Irony

The discrepancy between appearance and reality: verbal, situational, dramatic.

Juxtaposition

Placing two ideas side by side or close together.

Logos

Appealing to logical reasoning and sound evidence.

Mood

The overall atmosphere of a work and how that atmosphere makes a reader feel.

Oxymoron

A self-contradictory combination of words.

Paradox

A phrase or statement that while seeming contradictory or absurd may actually be well founded or true. Used to attract attention or to secure emphasis.

Parallelism

When the arrangement of parts of a sentence is similarly phrased or constructed.

Parody

Exaggerated imitation of a serious work or subject.

Pathos

Evoking and manipulating emotions.

Qualifier

A statement that indicates the force of the argument.

Refutation

When a writer delivers relevant opposing arguments.

Rhetorical Question

A question asked solely to produce an effect and not to elicit a reply.

Satire

Genre of writing used to critique or ridicule through humor or sarcasm.

Simple Sentence

A complete sentence that is neither compound, nor complex (1 subject, 1 predicate).

Syllogism

A formula for presenting an argument logically. In its simplest form, it consists of three divisions: a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.

Syntax

How a sentence is constructed.

Thesis

The central claim and overall purpose of a work.

Tone

The voice and attitude the writer has chosen to project.

Warrant

The assumption the speaker makes about the audience.