AP Language: Rhetorical Devices & Vocabulary
Rhetoric is the art of discourse or communication—both speaking and writing.
The methods a writer or speaker uses to persuade a reader/audience.
Rhetoric consists of a speaker, subject, and audience.
To be effective, a writer must know their audience, craft, and appeal.
Logos (logical appeal) is a writer’s appeal to reason/logic by offering clear, rational ideas supported by facts, figures, and statistics.
Pathos (emotional appeal) appeals to emotions, values, desires, hopes, fears, or prejudices.
Used in conjunction with other appeals, or else the argument will be considered weak.
Propaganda: the use of rumors, lies, scare tactics, etc.
Polemic: aggressive argumentation that tries to establish superiority without concession.
Ethos (ethical appeal) gives the audience a reason to trust and believe in the speaker through the emphasis on shared values between the speaker and the audience.
A speaker’s reputation plays a role in giving the audience a reason to listen.
Metaphor: comparing two things without the words “like” or “as.”
Time is money
Simile: comparing two things with the words “like” or “as.”
I am hungry like a horse
Symbolism: a figure/object that represents a message or theme in a text; stands as something greater.
A dog represents loyalty; red represents love
Personification: giving human-like qualities to a non-human thing.
The wind was singing, the trees dancing.
Allusion: reference to another person, piece of literature, or historical event.
Pandora’s box
Diction: an author’s word choice that serves to convey their tone.
Tone: an author’s attitude and opinions of their text.
Humorous; optimistic
Situational Irony: When something happens that is contrary to what is expected.
Romeo and Juliet
Verbal Irony: When a character says something contrary to what they feel.
Says they are happy with something, but they are truly upset and discontent with it.
Syntax: the order of words in a sentence.
“We will go to the store tomorrow to get food” vs. “Tomorrow, we will go to the store to get food.”
Imagery: writing that vividly appeals to the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell).
Visual: The old book had water spots across its decaying spine, with some of the pages starting to yellow.
Auditory: The warden’s keys clanked as he walked passed the cells.
Repetition: an author’s use of repeating the same word(s) to convey a point.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Alliteration: the same phonetic sound at the beginning of words in a sentence.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Juxtaposition: contrasting two different ideas with different emotions to highlight their similarities and/or differences.
The sweet and sour sauce.
Satire: A ridicule of a person or thing, sometimes humorously.
Animal Farm, 1984
Analogy: Comparing two things to highlight a deeper, more philosophical meaning.
Finding that lost dog will be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Parallel Structure: a repeated phrase or sentence choice throughout a text.
I forgave you when you lost my cat, I forgave you when you left me at the airport, I forgave you when you threw out my favorite stuffed animal.