AP Language Rhetorical Devices Flashcards

2198115719	anecdote	a brief recounting of a relevant episode to develop a point or inject humor	0
2198116874	antecedent	the word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun	1
2198121295	diction	word choice, particularly as an element of style	2
2198124046	connotation	the associations suggested by a word; implied meaning rather than literal meaning	3
2198126170	denotation	the literal, explicit meaning of a word	4
2198127072	adage	a folk saying with a lesson	5
2198128556	aphorism	a terse statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle	6
2198130740	figurative language	writing that is not meant to be taken literally	7
2198132059	analogy	a comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set of variables for the purpose of teaching	8
2198135112	juxtaposition	placing things side by side for the purpose of comparison in order to make a point	9
2198157732	paradox	a seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true	10
2198159679	parallelism	sentence construction which places equal grammatical constructions near each other or repeats identical grammatical patterns	11
2198171325	parody	an exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes (similar to allusion and satire)	12
2198180127	persona	the fictional mask or narrator that tells a story	13
2198183636	rhetoric	the art of effective communication	14
2198188791	Aristotle's rhetorical triangle	the relationships, in any piece of writing, between the writer, the audience, and the subject; all analysis of writing is essentially an analysis of the relationships between the points on the triangle	15
2198208009	rhetorical question	question not asked for information but for effect	16
2198209704	satire	a work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of life to a humorous effect; targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions; has three layers: serious, humorous, serious	17
2198219907	syntax/sentence variety	grammatical arrangement of words (syntax=grouping of words; diction=selection of individual words)	18
2198223148	thesis	the sentence or groups of sentences that directly expresses the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or proposition	19
2198234344	tone	a writer's attitude toward his subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization	20
2198237363	understatement	the ironic minimizing of fact; presents something as less significant than it is	21
2198244363	argument	a piece of reasoning with one or more premises and a conclusion	22
2198245681	premise	statements offered as reasons to support a conclusion	23
2198246547	conclusion	the end result of the argument	24
2198248751	Aristotle's appeals	all means of persuasion (appeals): ethos, pathos, and logos	25
2198256048	ethos (credibility)	being convinced by the credibility of the author	26
2198257313	pathos (emotional)	persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions	27
2198257991	logos (logical)	persuading by the use of reasoning	28
2198258694	concession	accepting at least part or all of an opposing viewpoint; used to make one's own argument stronger by demonstrating that one is willing to accept what is obviously true and reasonable, even if it is presented by the opposition	29
2198276536	fallacy	an attractive but unreliable piece of reasoning	30
2198277665	ad hominem	personally attacking your opponents instead of their arguments	31
2198279553	appeal to authority	the claim that because somebody famous supports an idea, the idea must be right	32
2198283024	appeal to the bandwagon	the claim, as evidence for an idea, that many people believe it, or used to believe it, or do it	33
2198285191	appeal to emotion	an attempt to REPLACE a logical argument with an appeal to the audience's emotions	34
2198289099	bad analogy	claiming that two situations are highly similar, when they aren't	35
2198292260	cliché thinking	using as evidence a well-known saying as if it is proven or as if it has no exceptions	36
2198294423	false cause	assuming that because two things happened, the first one caused the second one	37
2198297963	hasty generalization	a generalization based on too little or unrepresentative data	38
2198300047	non sequitur	a conclusion that does not follow from its premises; an invalid argument	39
2198300942	slippery slope	the assumption that once started, a situation will continue to its most extreme possible outcome	40
2198306316	apathetic	indifferent due to lack of energy or concern	41
2198306954	cynical	questioning the basic sincerity and goodness op people	42
2198393588	condescending	a feeling of superiority	43
2198393589	callous	unfeeling, insensitive to feelings of others	44
2198394632	contemplative	studying, thinking, reflecting on an issue	45
2198395451	contemptuous	showing or feeling that something is worthless or lacks respect	46
2198398641	earnest	intense, a sincere state of mind	47
2198399633	fanciful	using the imagination	48
2198399634	forthright	directly frank without hesitation	49
2198400835	intimate	very familiar	50
2198407338	malicious	purposely hurtful	51
2198408519	patronizing	air of condescension	52
2198409197	pessimistic	seeing the worst side of things; no hope	53
2198409199	reflective	illustrating innermost thoughts and emotions	54
2198410367	sarcastic	sneering, caustic	55
2198410368	sardonic	scornfully and bitterly sarcastic	56
2198413239	satiric	ridiculing to show weakness in order to make a point, teach	57
2198415812	sincere	without deceit or pretense; genuine	58
2198416860	solemn	deeply earnest, tending toward sad reflection	59