AP Language: Rhetorical Terms Flashcards

5444962738	ad hominem	an attack on the person rather than his ideas; Ex. Sarah is an awful baker, so why is she running the carnival?	0
5444962741	allegory	work that functions on a symbolic level; Ex. the book 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe' (Aslan = Christ, Edmund = Judas, etc.)	1
5444964769	alliteration	repetition of initial consonant sounds; Ex. Six shiny silver snakes slithered silently.	2
5444964770	allusion	a reference to a historical, literary, Biblical, or mythical event with which a reader should be familiar; Ex. Pontius Pilate in The Crucible	3
5444976152	analogy	comparison based on the like features of two unlike things; one familiar, the other unfamiliar; Ex. warrior is to spear as writer is to pen	4
5444981377	anaphora	repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses; Ex. O Lord (in the Bible)	5
5444984866	anecdote	a brief, often entertaining, story written or told in order to illustrate a point; Ex. telling a story about National FFA Convention to prove that the FFA offers a lot of opportunities	6
5444989414	antecedent	the noun/pronoun to which a pronoun refers; Ex. Greg likes ice cream; he eats it all the time. =Greg	7
5444991425	archaic language	words/phrases that were once used regularly in a language but are now less common; old-fashioned, outdated language; Ex. anon	8
5444995391	argument from doubtful/unidentified authority	when someone tries to make an argument based on a person that has no authority; Ex. Elias says we shouldn't have AP tests anymore.	9
5445002977	assonance	repetition of vowel sounds; Ex. Try to relight the fire if it dies.	10
5445002978	asyndeton	omission of conjunctions that join coordinate words/phrases; Ex. "I came. I saw. I conquered." (Caesar)	11
5445007593	atmosphere/mood	the feeling created in a piece of writing; Ex. melancholy	12
5445010379	attitude	the relationship the author has toward his/her subject and/or audience; Ex. scornful	13
5445012970	begging the question	taking for granted from the start what you set out to demonstrate (repeating what is true is true); Ex. Ghosts are real.	14
5445017490	circular reasoning	restates the premise rather than giving a reason for holding that premise; Ex. Anselm's Ontological Argument	15
5445026152	colloquial language	words/phrases occurring primarily in speech and informal language; Ex. slang words/curse words - ain't	16
5445032184	comic relief	the inclusion of a humorous character or scene to contrast with the tragic elements of a work; Ex. Porter in Macbeth	17
5445035196	connotation	the implied meaning of a word; Ex. gaunt	18
5445038686	denotation	the literal meaning or dictionary definition of a word; Ex. skinny	19
5476032249	dialect	way of speaking characteristic of a certain social group or people in a certain geographical area; the recreation of regional spoken language; Ex. "Reckon I have. Almost died first year I come to school and et them pecans — folks say he pizened 'em and put 'em over on the school side of the fence." -Walter in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (Harper Lee)	20
5476062183	diction	author's choice of words that creates tone, attitude, and style; Ex. using the words dreary, bleak, depressing when describing something to create a melancholy attitude towards it	21
5476066243	didactic	style of writing (usually formal and moral) that's purpose is to instruct or to teach; Ex. Aesop's fables	22
5476070996	either/or generalization	assuming that a reality may be divided into only two parts or extremes; assuming that a given problem has only one or two possible solutions; Ex. Either you get yourself together or you get out.	23
5476075246	false analogy	the claim of persuasive likeness when no significant likeness exists; Ex. Texting people frequently makes you no different than an alcoholic.	24
5476077847	figurative language (figures of speech)	word/phrase that describes one thing in terms of another and is not meant to be taken literally; Ex. similes, metaphors, personification, hyperboles, idioms	25
5476080710	flashback	device that enables a writer to refer to past thoughts, events, episodes; technique in narration in which the sequence of events is interrupted to recall an earlier period; Ex. the movie 'Titanic'	26
5476087529	hasty generalization	leaping to a generalization from inadequate or faulty evidence (stereotype); Ex. All grandmothers are amazing cooks!	27
5476089400	hyperbole	extreme exaggeration (often humorous); Ex. I have told you a million times to make up your bed. (*definitely did not reach a million times)	28
5476092766	imagery	total effect of related sensory images; collection of mental pictures in a literacy work; Ex. The delicate limbs of the maple tree shivered and released their hold on autumn-colored leaves; each leaf slowly danced through the air before landing gently on the grassy earth.	29
5476094457	in medias res	Latin for "in the middle of things"; Ex. "The Odyssey" by Homer (it starts when Odysseus is already in the middle of his journey home)	30
5476095849	inference	conclusion one can draw from presented details; Ex. Elizabeth is a child who loves everything blue, so she will likely pick a blue popsicle over a purple popsicle regardless of flavor.	31
5476099027	invective	verbally abusive attack; Ex. telling someone that they are too stupid to understand what being stupid means	32
5476100374	irony	in general, a discrepancy between appearances and reality; Ex. dramatic, situational, verbal irony	33
5476101514	dramatic irony	occurs when a character in play/story thinks one thing is true but the audience/reader knows better; Ex. in "The Crucible" when the Proctors hope for a 'fair summer' - they believe it will be a fair summer but the audience knows the summer will be rough with the witch trials	34
5476103799	situational irony	a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really happens; Ex. when Elizabeth lies about John ("The Crucible") - since we were told she never lied, we expected her to tell the truth, but then she lied	35
5476107116	verbal irony	occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else (often in the form of sarcasm); Ex. when John refers to Abigail's saintliness ("The Crucible") - John is being sarcastic and doesn't actually mean she is saintly, since he knows she is a sinner too	36
5476110259	litotes	understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of the contrary; Ex. School food is not bad.	37
5476112080	loose sentence	sentence in which the main point precedes less important details; Ex. I went shopping at the mall in Parkersburg and picked up jeans, necklaces, and perfume.	38
5521175748	metaphor	direct comparison between two unlike things where one thing is said to be another (without using the words 'like' or 'as'); Ex. John is the fastest cross country runner I know; he is a bullet.	39
5521176918	metonymy	figure of speech that consists of using the name of one part of something to represent the whole thing; Ex. All eyes on me - paying attention to something involves looking and listening, but just 'eyes' represents paying attention	40
5767265699	narrative writing	mode of writing that tells a story; Ex. novels	41
5767265700	scene narration	events are related as vividly and precisely as though it were a scene in a film; Ex. describing a graduation with details such as number of people graduating, gown colors, speakers, etc.	42
5767268424	summary narration	events are related concisely with only the essentials of what has happened; Ex. simply stating that there was a graduation	43
5767273875	non sequitur	(Latin - it does not follow); stating a conclusion that doesn't follow from the first premise(s); Ex. C'ierra is allergic to cinnamon, so she must be unable to eat sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving.	44
5767277400	narrator	the speaker of a literary work; Ex. Katniss in The Hunger Games	45
5767278651	objective narrator	one who focuses on the topic without including personal feelings or bias; Ex. author of an encyclopedia	46
5767280245	subjective narrator	one who focuses on personal view of topic and may include feelings, emotions, and biases; Ex. various authors of novels	47
5767282461	onomatopoeia	use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning; Ex. buzz	48
5767285374	oversimplification	supplying neat and easy explanations for large and complicated phenomena; Ex. A road is used to go places.	49
5767287330	oxymoron	an image of contradictory terms; Ex. deafening silence	50
5767287331	pacing	the movement of a literary piece from one point/section to another; speed of a story's action; Ex. spending a longer time on something that needs emphasis, moving quicker over something trivial/boring	51
5767299666	parable	story that teaches a moral or lesson; Ex. "The Emperor's New Clothes" (Hans Christian Anderson)	52
5767301483	paradox	a seemingly self-contradictory statement that, on reflection, makes sense; Ex. Nobody goes to that restaurant because it is too crowded.	53
5767314880	parallelism	use of repeated grammatical structures in nearby phrases, clauses, sentences, or lines of poetry; Ex. "Whenever you need me, wherever you need me, I will be there for you."	54
5767318527	parody	work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer's style; comic imitation of a work that ridicules the original; Ex. Don Quixote (by Miguel de Cervantes)	55
5767326121	periodic sentence	sentence in which less important details precede the main point; Ex. With a GPA of 4.5 and an ACT score of 35, Alicia was accepted to Harvard.	56
5767328438	personification	figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human traits; Ex. The leaves danced in the wind.	57
5767329534	point of view	vantage point from which the writer tells the story; Ex. first person, third-person limited, omniscient, objective	58
5767331879	first person POV	one of the characters in the story tells the story using first person pronouns (I, we); Ex. The Hunger Games	59
5767335497	third-person limited POV	an unknown narrator tells the story but zooms in to focus on thoughts and feelings of only one character; Ex. Nancy Drew series (focus is on Nancy)	60
5767339558	omniscient POV	an "all knowing" narrator tells the story (uses third-person pronouns); Ex. Little Women (by Louisa May Alcott)	61
5767342859	objective POV	a totally impersonal and objective narrator with no comment on any characters or events; Ex. encyclopedia	62
6193127240	post hoc, ergo propter hoc	(Latin - after this, therefore because of this); assuming because B follows A, B was caused by A; Ex. Our school assuming that literacy week resulted in the increase of our test scores (even though other factors could have contributed to it)	63
6193158434	pun	a "play on words" based on the multiple meanings of a single word; Ex. I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. It's impossible to put down.	64
6193190455	rhetoric	entire process of written communication; art and logic of argument; Ex. "The purchase of Alaska was referred to as "Seward's Folly" by those in opposition to the purchase. The use of the word "Folly" was intended to be negative and degrading in order to persuade the public that the purchase was an ill-informed decision." [definitely didn't come up with that myself]	65
6193193218	rhetorical question	one that does not expect/require an answer; Ex. Can't you do anything right?	66
6193195832	rhetorical devices	use of language that is intended to have an effect on the audience; Ex. diction, imagery, figurative language, syntax	67
6193199898	sarcasm	comic technique that ridicules through caustic language; Ex. Person A: wow, did you see it is raining outside? Person B(clearly knows it is raining): No, really? I thought it was sunny outside, I'm so glad you figured it out for me that it was raining. -.-	68
6193204938	satire	writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change; Ex. Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain) "What's the use you learning to do right, when it's troublesome to do right and isn't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?"	69
6193207126	simile	a direct comparison using like or as; Ex. Her smile was like a beam of sunshine.	70
6193207127	straw-man argument	a speaker/writer attributes false or exaggerated characteristics/behaviors to the opponent and attacks those falsehoods; Ex. Trump vs "Crooked Hillary"	71
6193212997	stream of consciousness	a style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character's mind; Ex. William Faulkner, "As I Lay Dying"	72
6193216485	structure	the form and organization of a work; Ex. chronological	73
6193216486	style	a writer's characteristic way of writing; the distinctive way a writer presents ideas; Ex. concise	74
6193220763	symbol	something in a literary work that stands for itself and something else; Ex. the rose bush in The Scarlet Letter	75
6193222495	syntax	the structure of a sentence; the arrangement of words in a sentence; Ex. Yoda - Much to learn, you still have. (vs You still have much to learn)	76
6193222496	theme	the insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work; Ex. Love mankind	77
6193225689	thesis	the main idea of a piece of writing, presents the author's assertion or claim; Ex. Macbeth is a tragic hero in the play "The Tragedy of Macbeth" because he exhibits several traits that are characteristic of a tragic hero.	78
6193227862	tone	the attitude a writer takes toward the subject, characters, or audience; Ex. sarcastic, surprised, depressed, humorous	79
6193229935	transition	a word or phrase that links one idea to the next; Ex. finally	80
6193229936	understatement	the opposite of exaggeration; one writes or says less than what is meant; Ex. Braham's tests are hard.	81
6193234419	voice	the sense of the author's character, personality, or attitude that comes through the words; the total "sound of a writer's style"; Ex. humorous	82
6193237234	zeugma	use of a word to modify two or more words usually in different ways; Ex. "The farmers in the valley grew potatoes, peanuts, and bored."	83
6193239448	rhetorical methods	a way or method of presenting a subject through writing or speech; Ex. narration, description, compare/contrast, argument/persuasion	84