AP English Language and Composition Rhetorical Terms

Flashcards of Rhetorical Terms

Ad Hominem

An argument based on the failings of an adversary rather than on the merits of the case; a logical fallacy that involves a personal attack

Allegory

Extending a metaphor so that objects, persons, and actions in a text are equated with meanings that lie outside the text.

Alliteration

The repetition of an initial consonant sound

Allusion

A brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, or event--real or fictional.

Ambiguity

The presence of two or more possible meanings in any passage

Anaphora

The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.

Antecedent

The noun or noun phrase referred to by a pronoun.

Antithesis

The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.

Aphorism

A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion A brief statement of a principle.

Apostrophe

A rhetorical term for breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing

Appeal to Authority

A fallacy in which a speaker or writer seeks to persuade not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for a famous person or institution.

Assonance

The identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.

Asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses (opposite of polysyndeton).

Claim

An arguable statement, which may be a claim of fact, value, or policy.

Climax

Mounting by degrees through words or sentences of increasing weight and in parallel construction with an emphasis on the high point or culmination of a series of events

Colloquial

Characteristic of writing that seeks the effect of informal spoken language as distinct from formal or literary English.

Comparison

A rhetorical strategy in which a writer examines similarities and/or differences between two people, places, ideas, or objects.

Concession

An argumentative strategy by which a speaker or writer acknowledges the validity of an opponent’s point.

Confirmation

The main part of a text in which logical arguments in support of a position are elaborated.

Conjunction

The part of speech (or word class) that serves to connect words, phrases, clauses, or sentences.

Diction

The choice and use of words in speech or writing A way of speaking, usually assessed in terms of prevailing standards of pronunciation and elocution.

Didactic

Intended or inclined to teach or instruct, often excessively

Euphemism

The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.

Exposition

A statement or type of composition intended to give information about (or an explanation of) an issue, subject, method, or idea

Extended Metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem.

Fallacy

An error in reasoning that renders an argument invalid

False Dilemma

A fallacy of oversimplification that offers a limited number of options(usually two) when in fact more options are available

Figurative Language

Language in which figures of speech (such as metaphors, similes, and hyperbole) freely occur.

Flashback

A shift in a narrative to an earlier event that interrupts the normal chronological development of a story.

Hasty Generalization

A fallacy in which a conclusion is not logically justified by sufficient or unbiased evidence.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect; an extravagant statement.

Imagery

Vivid descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the senses.

Invective

Denunciatory or abusive language; discourse that casts blame on somebody or something

Irony

The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement or situation where the meaning is directly contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.

Jargon

The specialized language of a professional, occupational, or other group, often meaningless to outsiders.

Juxtaposition

Placing dissimilar items, descriptions, or ideas close together or side-by-side, especially for comparison or contrast

Logos

Employs logical reasoning, combining a clear idea (or multiple ideas) with well-thought-out and appropriate examples and details. These supports are logically presented and rationally reach the writer’s conclusion

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something important in common

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated (such as “crown” for “royalty”)

Mood

The quality of a verb that conveys the writer’s attitude toward a subject. The emotion evoked by a text.

Narrative

A rhetorical strategy that recounts a sequence of events, usually in chronological order.

Onomatopoeia

The formation or use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to

Oxymoron

A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side-by-side.

Paradox

A statement that appears to contradict itself.

Parallelism

The similarity of structure in a pair or series of

Parody

A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule

Pathos

The means of persuasion that appeals to the audience’s emotions

Periodic Sentence

A long and frequently involved sentence, marked by suspended syntax, in which the sense is not completed until the final word--usually with an emphatic climax

Personification

A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.

Point of View

The perspective from which a speaker or writer tells a story or presents information.

Pun

A word employed in two senses, or a word used in a context that suggests a second term sounding like it. Puns are usually used for comic effect.

Refutation

The part of an argument wherein a speaker or writer anticipates and counters opposing points of view

Repetition

An instance of using a word, phrase, or clause more than once in a short passage--dwelling on a point.

Rhetorical Question

A question asked merely for effect with no answer expected.

Running Style

Sentence style that appears to follow the mind as it worries a problem through, mimicking the “rambling, associative syntax of conversation”--the opposite of periodic sentence style

Sarcasm

A mocking, often ironic or satirical remark.

Satire

A text or performance that uses irony, derision, or wit to expose or attack human vice, foolishness, or stupidity.

Simile

A figure of speech in which two fundamentally unlike things are explicitly compared, usually in a phrase introduced by “like” or “as.”

Style

Narrowly interpreted as those figures that ornament speech or writing; broadly, as representing a manifestation of the person speaking or writing.

Symbol

A person, place, action, or thing that (by association, resemblance, or convention) represents something other than itself.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole, the whole for a part, the specific for the general, the general for the specific, or the material for the thing made from it.

Syntax

The study of the rules that govern the way words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. The arrangement of words in a sentence.

Thesis

The main idea of an essay or report, often written as a single declarative sentence.

Tone

A writer’s attitude toward the subject and audience. Tone is primarily conveyed through diction, point of view, syntax, and level of formality

Understatement

A figure of speech in which a writer deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is

Voice

The quality of a verb that indicates whether its subject acts (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice). The distinctive style or manner of expression of an author or narrator.