AP Language and Composition Rhetorical Terms Flashcards

5505945728	Allegory	the device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning	0
5505947526	Alliteration	the repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words (as in "she sells sea shells"	1
5505947527	Allusion	a direct or indirect reference to something which is presumable commonly known, such as an even, book, myth, place or work of art	2
5505948042	Ambiguity	the multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word or phrase, sentence or passage	3
5505948043	Analogy	a similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them	4
5505949173	Antecedent	the word, phrase or clause referred to by a pronoun	5
5505949174	Aphorism	a terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or moral principle	6
5505949988	Apostrophe	a figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or personified abstraction, such as liberty or love	7
5505986191	Clause	a grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb	8
5505986192	Colloquial	the use or slang or informalities in speech or writing	9
5505986193	Conciet	a fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between two seemingly dissimilar objects	10
5505986872	Connotation	the non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning	11
5506002392	Denotation	the strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude or color	12
5506003399	Diction	related to style, it refers to the writer's word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness or effectiveness	13
5506003400	Didactic	from the Greek, didatic literally means "teaching" they have the primary aim of teaching or instruction, especially the teaching or moral or ethical principles	14
5506016058	Euphemism	from the Greek for "good speech", it is more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept	15
5506017853	Extended metaphor	a metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work	16
5506017854	Figurative language	writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid	17
5506021400	Figure of speech	a device used to produce figurative language	18
5506031289	Generic conventions	describes tradition for each genre	19
5506031290	Genre	the major category into which a literary work fits	20
5506032118	Homily	literally means "sermon", but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice	21
5506032119	Hyperbole	a figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement	22
5506054908	Imagery	the sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion or represent abstractions	23
5506055659	Inference	to draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented	24
5506055660	Invective	an emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language	25
5506055661	Irony	the contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant, or the difference between what appears to be and what is actually true	26
5506070522	Loose sentence	a type of sentence in which the main idea comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses	27
5506071077	Metaphor	a figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity	28
5506071078	Metonymy	a term from the Greek meaning "changed label" or "substitute name", it is a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it	29
5506071614	Mood	the prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work	30
5506082467	Narrative	the telling of a story or an account of an event of series of events	31
5506086270	Onomatopoeia	a figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words	32
5506086271	Oxymoron	from the Greek for "pointedly foolish", it is a figure of speech where in the author apparently uses contradictory terms to suggest a paradox	33
5506101018	Paradox	a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity	34
5506101019	Parallelism	comes from Greek roots meaning "beside one another"; it refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing or words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs to give structural similarity	35
5506101518	Parody	a work the closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comedic effect and/ or ridicule	36
5506101519	Pedantic	an adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic or bookish	37
5506101520	Periodic sentence	the opposite of a loose sentence, a sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end	38
5506102322	Personification	a figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions	39
5506102323	Point of view	in literature, the perspective from which a story is told	40
5506102324	Prose	one of the major divisions of genre, it refers to fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms	41
5506126114	Repetition	the duplication, either exact or approximate, of any language such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence or grammatical pattern	42
5506126812	Rhetoric	from Greek for "orator", this term describes the principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently and persuasively	43
5506126813	Rhetorical modes	describes the variety, the conventions and the purposes of the major kinds of writing; exposition, argumentation, description, narration	44
5506137615	Sarcasm	from Greek meaning "to tear flesh"; it involves bitter caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something	45
5506137616	Satire	a work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule	46
5506137617	Semantic	the branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of works, their historical and psychological development, their connotations and their relation to one another	47
5506137618	Style	- an evaluation of the sum of the choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language and other literary devices - classification of authors to a group and comparison of an other to a similar author	48
5506138623	Syllogism	Greek for "reckoning together" and is a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises (major and minor) that lead to sound conclusion	49
5506138624	Symbol	anything that represents itself and stands for something else	50
5506141793	Syntax	the way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses and sentences	51
5506163156	Theme	the central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers into life	52
5506163157	Thesis	the sentence or group of sentences that directly express the author's opinion, purpose meaning or position	53
5506163898	Tone	similar to mood, it describes the author's attitude towards his material, the audience or both	54
5506166121	Transition	a word or phrase that links different ideas	55
5506173640	Understatement	the ironic minimalizing fact, understatement presents something as less significant as it is	56
5506173641	Wit	intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights	57