AP Language Terms

Rhetorical Device- ABSOLUTE

• A word free from limitations or qualifications (“best,” “all,” “unique,” “perfect”)

Syntax- Absolute Phrases

When a participle and the noun that comes before it together forms an independent phrase, the structure is often called an absolute phrase.

Example

Weather permitting we shall meet in the evening.

Writing- ACTIVE versus PASSIVE VOICE

• Active Voice– Subject of the sentence is

performing or causing the action

– Ex: Tom mailed the letter.

• Passive Voice– Subject is the object of the

action or the effect of the verb

– Ex: The letter was mailed by Tom.

Reading- ADAGE

• A familiar proverb or wise saying

Example

One man's trash is another's treasure.

Argument- AD HOMINUM

• Definition: an attack on another person instead of their point of view

• Example: Your points are invalid because you are stupid and lazy.

Reading- Allegory• A form of extended metaphor in

which objects and persons in a narrative, either in prose or verse, are equated with meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. Many works contain allegories or are allegorical in part, but not many are entirely

allegorical.

•ExampleFaith is like a stony uphill climb: a single stumble might send you sprawling but belief and steadfastness will see you to the very top.

Rhetorical Device- ALLITERATION

• The repetition of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words.

• Consonance- the recurrence of similar sounds, especially consonants, in close proximity (chiefly as used in prosody).

• Assonance- Assonance takes place when two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel sound but start with different consonant sounds.

Rhetorical Device- ALLUSION

• A reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize.

Reading- AMBIGUITY

• Definition:

Something that has a confusing or uncertain meaning, the meaning can not be determined

• Example:

The passerby helps dog bite victim.

Reading- ANACHRONISM

• Definition:

The representation of someone as existing or something as happening in other than chronological, proper, or historical order

• Example:

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, he uses a dollar, however, the dollar was not the monetary unit of the time that the play was set.

Syntax- Anadiplosis

•Definition: A rhetorical trope formed by repeating the last word of one phrase, clause or sentence near the beginning of the next.

•Example:

“The mountains look on Marathon – And Marathon looks on the sea…” From The Isles of Greece by Lord.

Rhetorical Device- ANALOGY

Dictionary Definition: (n) a similarity between like features of two things, on which comparison may be used.

Class Definition: Comparison of two like things.

Origin: Latin Example: I see no analogy between your problem and mine.

Syntax- Anaphora

•Definition: Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences.

•Example: “Every day, every night, in every way, I am getting better and better”

Syntax- AnastropheDeparture from normal word order for the sake of emphasis. (Also called “inversion”

Example

Glistens the dew upon the morning grass. (Normally: The dew glistens upon the morning grass)

“Reckless he is.” Yoda

Rhetorical Device- Anecdote

Dictionary Definition: (n) a short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an interesting or amusing nature.

Class definition: Short and entertaining story

Origin: Latin, French and Late Greek

Example: The book had many anecdotes of the interesting people who have sailed the Pacific.

Syntax- ANTECEDENT

• The word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers

Example: When Chief Seattle spoke in the town square, he expected Governor Stevens to consider the message of the speech.

Seattle = he

Rhetorical Device- ANTITHESIS

• A statement in which two opposing words are balanced

• “Setting foot on the moon may be a small step for a man but a giant step for mankind.”

• (Small step, giant step)

Syntax- Antimetabole

Repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order.

(This figure is sometimes known as chiasmus).

Examples

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. —John F. Kennedy

Reading- APHORISM

• Definition:

A brief statement on some observation on life, usually a wise observation

• Example:

“The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones” –William Faulkner

Syntax- Apposition

Apposition: placing side by side two co-ordinate elements, the second of which serves as an explanation or modification of the first.

Example

Men of this kind--soldiers of fortune, pool hall habitues, gigolos, beachcombers--waste their time on trivialities.

• To talk with an imaginary object or person usually used to display intense emotion.

Reading-APOSTROPHE

Reading- ARCHETYPE

• A detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and evoke a response.

Examples: Brave soldier, tree of Life, nurturing new mom, trickster fox, flood story, temptress

Argument- ARGUMENT

• A statement of the meaning, the claim, or main point of a literary work or essay

Syntax- Asyndeton

•Definition: The omission of a conjunction from a list and still maintaining grammatical accuracy.

•Example: “This is the villain among you who deceived you, who cheated you, who meant to betray you completely…….”

(Rhetoric by Aristotle)

Reading-Autobiography/Biography

• Autobiography

The biography of a person written by that person

• Biography

An account of a person’s life as written or told by another.

Syntax- BALANCED SENTENCE

• A sentence in which words, phrases, or clauses are set off against each other to emphasize a contrast

• Unbalanced: She doesn’t like washing clothes or housework.

• Balanced: She doesn’t like washing clothes or doing housework.

Syntax- BASIC ORDER

• Subject + verb + object

• Ex: I like pie.

Argument-BEGGING THE QUESTION

• Definition: the situation that results when a writer or speaker constructs an argument on an assumption that the audience does not accept

• Example: I found it on the internet and it was true and so everything on the internet is true.

Syntax- CHIASMUS

• A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed

• Example- Susan walked in, and out rushed Mary.

Reading- CHRONICLE

• Definition:

A history or record of events without interruptions

• Example:

Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain)

Argument- CIRCULAR ARGUMENT

• Definition: continuously restates argument instead of proving it

• Example: Bolt is a good runner because he is very fast.

Diction- CLICHÉ

• An expression that has been overused to the extent that its freshness has worn off.

Diction- COLLOQUIAL VERSUS FORMAL

• Colloquial, colloquialism

– Conversational/ informal

– Ex: Math sucks.

• Formal, academic

– Proper language

– Ex: Math displeases me greatly.

Syntax- Climax Sentence

Generally, the arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of increasing importance, often in parallel structure. More specifically, climax is the repetition of the last word of one clause or sentence at the beginning of the next, through several clauses or sentences (= anadiplosis)

ExamplesMiss America was not so much interested in serving herself as she was eager to serve her family, her community, and her nation.

Syntax- Colon

• The punctuation mark (:) used to divide distinct but related sentence components such as clauses in which the second elaborates on the first, or to introduce a list, quotation, or speech.

•Examples1. As Julius Caesar once said: “We came, we saw, we conquered.”2. The dance played many different types of music: rock, hip-hop, electronica, indie and even soul.

Syntax- Complex

•Definition: Contains an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses

•Example: While the afternoon was hot, the pool water kept us cool.

+ +

Syntax- Compound-Complex

• Definition: Contains one or more independent clauses and one dependent clause.

• Example: We decided that the movie was too violent, but our children, who like to watch scary movies, thought we were wrong.

+ +

• A complex metaphor which seeks to compare a person or object to something outside the norm

Rhetorical Terms- CONCEIT

Diction- CONNOTATION VERSUS DENOTATION

• Connotation– An idea or meaning conveyed

indirectly through a different word or thing

– Ex: The baby is dove soft.

• Denotation– Direct use of words

– Ex: The dove ate a worm.

Syntax- CUMULATIVE/LOOSE ORDER

• Sentence begins with subject and verb then adds modifying elements at the end

• Ex: He dipped his hands in the bichloride solution and shook them--a quick shake, fingers down, like the fingers of a pianist above the keys.

Syntax- Dashes

• A punctuation mark (—) used to indicate a sudden break in thought, to set off parenthetical material

Examples

1. The Ames Sentinel—dated May 1, 2013—arrived in June.

2. Joe — and his trusty mutt — was always welcome.

3. You are the friend—the only friend—who offered to help me.

Syntax- DECLARATIVE vs. IMPERITIVE SENTENCES

• Declarative sentences

– state or “declare” something

– Ex: I am cool.

• Imperative sentences

– demand or instruct

– Ex: Be cool like me.

Argument- DEDUCTIVE REASONING (syllogism)

Definition: Reasoning that utilizes elements of persuasion by asserting a claim; consists of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.

Example: All dolphins mammals, all mammals have kidneys; therefore all dolphins have kidneys.

Diction- DIALECT

• A variety of speech characterized by its own particular grammar or pronunciation, often associated with a particular geographical region

Diction- DICTION

• The word choices used by a writer.

• Remember- Writers don’t USE diction.

• Mark Twain’s regional diction evoked the dialect of Missouri and Mississippi River folk.

Diction- Didactic Writing

• Definition: purpose is to instruct or teach; typically formal and focuses on moral or ethical concerns

• Example: Aesop’s fables: Tortoise and the Hare

Argument- Doubtful Authority

• Definition: Using an authority as evidence in your argument when the authority is not really an authority on the facts relevant to the argument.

• Example: My 5th grade teacher once told me that girls will go crazy for boys if they learn how to dance. Therefore, if you want to make the ladies go crazy for you, learn to dance.

Diction- Dissonance

• Harsh, inharmonious, or discordant sounds

• When readers or audience know something the actors or characters involved don’t.

Reading- Dramatic Irony

Argument- Either/or Reasoning:

• Definition: An argument that something complex can be looked at in only two different ways

• Example: Either we establish a 24-hour patrol on our border with Mexico, or Texas will be overrun with undocumented workers.

Syntax- Ellipsis

• Definition: Three dots (…) used when an author is intentionally omitting a word, phrase, or extended piece of text (in a quote) without changing the meaning. Placed at the end of a sentence it can create a feeling of longing

• Examples: “Bohr used the analogy of parallel stairways …” (Smith 55).

Syntax-Epistrophe

•Definition: The repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. Counterpart to anaphora.

•Example: “Where now? Who now? When now?”

(The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett)

Reading- EPIPHANY

• A moment of sudden revelation or insight

• Adjective or phrase which describes a subject by giving it a name or title

• Example:

Ronan the Accuser

Reading- Epithet

Argument- Ethos Taylor Keller & Lexi Thompson

The moral element in dramatic literature that determines a character’s actions rather than their thought or emotion.

Works with persuasion by using the credibility or appealing to your ethics

The term ethos comes from Aristotle’s work meaning “ingredients of persuasion” or “appeals” for the correct way to persuade.

When reading a medical article, people tend to believe it more if written by a well experienced doctor.

Modes- Expository: Analysis

• Definition: discussion of a subject based on content and style

• Example: A movie review

Diction- EUPHEMISM

• An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

• Janitor= sanitation engineer

• Toilet= bathroom, restroom, powder room

• To die= to pass, to sleep

Modes- Expository: Definition

• Definition: places a subject in a group and differentiates that subject from other subjects in the group.

• Example: Explaining the similarities and differences of a species inside of a genus.

Diction- Euphonious vs. Cacophonic

• Euphonious– Pleasant sounding diction

– Ex: daffodils

• Cacophonic– Unpleasant sounding diction

– Ex: moist

Argument-False Analogy

• Definition: Comparing two things that are irrelevant and do not pose a valid comparison

• Examples: Employees are like nails. Just as nails must be hit in the head in order to make them work, so must employees.

Diction- EXPLETIVE

• An interjection to lend emphasis; sometimes, profanity

Rhetorical Device- Figurative Language

• Language employing one or more figures of speech (simile, metaphor, imagery, etc.)

Argument- Hasty Generalization

• Definition: Drawing a conclusion based on a small sample size, rather than looking at statistics that are much more in line with the typical or average situation

• Examples: My father smoked four packs of cigarettes a day since age fourteen and lived until age sixty-nine. Therefore, smoking really can’t be that bad for you.

Syntax- Inverted Order

• Placing an adjective after the noun it qualifies, a verb before its subject, or a noun before its preposition

• Ex: What a beautiful picture it is!

Reading- Hubris

• Excessive pride

• Often, a character’s undoing or downfall is due to hubris.

Diction- INVECTIVE

• Definition:Abuse (tongue-lashing, diatribe, condemnation)

• Example:“A knave, a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave…” (from The Tragedy of King Lear)

Rhetorical Device- Hyperbole

• Intentional exaggeration to create an effect

Syntax- Interrupted Order

• A sentence that is interrupted by a parenthetical aside

• Ex: Dogs--particularly pure breeds--are prone to hip problems.

Rhetorical Device- Hypothetical or Rhetorical Question

• A question not meant for immediate answer but to frame an argument, hypothesis, conjecture or supposition

Argument- Inductive Reasoning

Definition: Reasoning that begins by citing a number of specific instances or examples and then shows how collectively they constitute a general principle

Example: All cats that you have observed purr. Therefore, every cat must purr.

Rhetorical Device- Imagery

• The use of figures of speech to create vivid images that appeal to one of the senses

Argument- Implication

• A suggestion an author or speaker makes (implies) without stating it directly.

• Note: the author/sender implies; the reader/audience infers.

Diction- INVECTIVE

• An intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attack

Syntax- JUXTAPOSITION

• Definition:

Placing two things side by side, usually to show contrast

• Example:

Paradise Lost by John Milton displays juxtaposition by comparing God and Satan

Rhetorical Device- Litotes

• A type of understatement in which an ideas is expressed by negating its opposite

• Example: Describing a horrific scene by saying, “It was not a pretty picture.”

Argument- Logos Taylor Keller & Lexi Thompson

An appeal to logic and is a way of persuading an audience by reason.

Type of persuasion by using facts to convince someone it’s logical.

Greek word for reason A doctor tells his patient that his source of treatment will produce the best results.

Diction- MALAPROPISM

• Definition:

An incorrect usage of words, usually with a comic effect

• Example:

Having one wife is called monotony. (monogamy)

Rhetorical Device- Metaphor

• A direct comparison of two different things

• Subset of metaphor that uses objects that are associated with the subject but not part of the subject.

• Check out my new wheels.

Wheels is a metonymy for car.

Rhetorical Terms- Metonymy

Diction- Monosyllabic vs. Polysyllabic

• Monosyllabic– One syllable

– Ex: yo

• Polysyllabic– More than one syllable

– Ex: fosho

1

>1

Reading- MOOD

• The atmosphere of a written piece. Mood drives the overall tone and shifts in tone.

Reading- MOTIF

• A standard theme, element, dramatic situation that recurs in various works

Argument- Non-sequitur• Definition: closing

statement has no connection to the support of the topic at hand.

• Example: “Are you going to the football game tonight?” “BMW’s are made in Germany.” “But what about the fries?” “I have diabetes.”

Diction- Non-Standard-Slang/Jargon

• Language that does not follow the basic rules of English but is understood

• Ex: I totes LOLed.

Argument- Oversimplification

• Definition: simplifying an idea so much to the point that the argument doesn’t make sense anymore

• Example: Everybody from the South is racist.

• Statement that seems untrue but is true

• “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

Reading- Paradox

Argument- Pathos Taylor Keller & Lexi Thompson

The quality of power in an actual life experience or in liter, or nature, music, speech of other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of pity or compassion.

A way of persuasion that appeals to the reader’s emotions.

1570-80; < Greek pathos suffering, sensation, akin to paschein to suffer

In the animal shelter commercial, showing depressed or starving animals to make you feel sympathetic to make you donate.

Syntax- Parallelism-Balanced vs. Parallelism-Antithesis vs. Parallelism-

Chiasmus• Balanced– Similar ideas listed in a

sentence with repetitive beginnings

– Ex: I came, I saw, I conquered

• Antithesis– Contrasting two similar ideas

used to emphasize one part– Ex: Grendel kills people;

Beowulf saves them.

• Chiasmus– Where the second part is a

mirror of the first part– Ex: Ask not what your country

can do for you – ask what you can do for your country

Reading- Parenthetical Aside

• Consists of a word, phrase, or whole sentence inserted as an aside in the middle of another sentence. Often punctuated with dashes on each side

• ExampleThe mythographer Joseph Campbell--who visited this campus in the 1980s, by the way--is perhaps best known for his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

Argument- Pathos

• An appeal to emotion- nostalgia, sympathy, pity, etc.

• When the author makes a personal connection to the reader

Diction- Pedantic vs. Simple

• Pedantic– Narrow focus on wordiness

and formal rules

– Ex: My dearest Elizabeth, how art thou my lady

• Simple

– Cut, dry and direct writing

– Ex: Sup babe

Syntax- Periodic Order

• Providing examples and description at the beginning of a sentence while withholding the subject and verb till the end

• Ex: In spite of heavy snow and cold temperatures, the game continued.

Reading- Plot

• Introduction

• Rising Action

• Climax

• Falling Action

• Resolution

Syntax- Polysyndeton

•Definition: The use of a conjunction between each word, phrase, or clause.

•Example: “Let the whitefolks have their money and power and segregation and sarcasm and big houses and schools and lawns like carpets, and books, and mostly–mostly–let them have their whiteness.” (Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings)

Syntax-Polyptoton-

Repeating a word, but in a different form. Using a cognate (root) of a given word in close proximity.

Example

With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder.

—John of Gaunt in Shakespeare's Richard II 2.1.37

Genre- PROSE

• Definition:

Ordinary language used in writing, uses the patterns of everyday speech

• Example:

Wuthering Heights

(anything fiction or non-fiction)

• A Humorous play on words

• Example:

If Shaquille O’Neal was a shade of blue green he would be Shaquille O’ Teal.

Rhetorical Devices- Pun

Argument- Red Herring

• Definition: raising an irrelevant issue to draw away from the issue at hand

• Example: Accused by his wife of cheating at cards, Ned replies "Nothing I do ever pleases you. I spent all last week repainting the bathroom, and then you said you didn't like the color."

Rhetorical Device- Rhetoric

• The art of presenting ideas in a clear, effective, and persuasive manner

• Rhetorical devices are literary techniques used to heighten the effectiveness of expression or purpose.

Reading- Romantic/romantic

• Romantic- a genre of American or British literature that stressed emotion, imagination, and individualism. Common subjects were nature and spirituality.

• romantic- expressing caring feelings toward someone.

Rhetorical Device- Sarcasm

• Harsh, cutting language or tone intended to ridicule

Genre- SATIRE

• Definition:

Literature that exposes, ridicules, or mocks human actions or beliefs, intended as a moral criticism

• Example:

In Huckleberry Finn, Twain uses satire to share his opinion of slavery.

Syntax- Semi-Colon

• a punctuation mark (;) which connects two independent parts of a sentence.

•Examples1. Bring any two items; however,

sleeping bags and tents are in short supply.

2. The conference has people who have come from Moscow, Idaho; Springfield, California; Alamo, Tennessee; and other places as well.

Syntax- Sentence Structure

• Simple– Definition: An independent clause withone subject and one predicate (consists of a verb)– Example: The boy walked down the dreary lane.

• Compound– Definition: Two or more independent clauses that are connected by a conjunction.– Example: The boy walked down the dreary lane and clutched a picture of his mom closeto his heart.

Reading- SHIFT IN TONE

• Definition:Any slight alteration in a word’s meaning, or the creation of an entirely new words by changing the use of an expression

• Example: I caught a flurry of movement out of the corner of my eye. The a blur of something zipping across the room, and the next thing I saw was Karim slammed against the wall, his sandaled feet dangling two feet above the floor. Wrapped around his neck were Baba's hands (The Kite Runner).

• The result of an action is the opposite of what is expected.

• Example:

Guy tries to rob bank and ends up being held hostage by the banker.

Reading- Situational Irony

Argument- Slippery Slope

• Definition: if something happens, a series of events will follow. In order to prevent the outcome, avoid the first step.

• Example: If the government bans assault rifles, then they will want to ban all guns. In order to prevent the banning of all guns, we must prevent the banning of assault rifles.

Argument- Straw Man

• Definition: misrepresenting someone’s argument to make it easier to attack

• Example: The government wants to ban assault rifles. If they want to ban assault rifles, they must want to ban all guns, therefore banning hunting.

Genre- STREAM-OF-CONSCIOUSNESS

• Definition:

A style where the character’s thoughts and feelings in a continuous, uninterrupted flow

• Example:

from Virginia Woolf’s novel To The Lighthouse(1927):

“Raising her eyebrows at the discrepancy —that was what she was thinking, this was what she was doing — ladling out soup — she felt, more and more strongly, outside that eddy; or as if a shade had fallen, and, robbed of colour, she saw things truly.”

Rhetorical Device- Synecdoche

Definition: A figure of speech in which part of something stands for the whole or the whole for a part.

Example: The word “suits” refers to businessmen.

My brother got new wheels yesterday. Wheels represents the whole car.

Syntax- SYLLEPSIS

• A construction in which one word is used in two different senses

• Example: After he threw the ball, he threw a fit.

Rhetorical Device- Synesthesia

Definition: A sensation felt in one part of the body due to stimulus applied to another.

Example: When you listen to music you think of something you’ve seen.

Syntax- Tri-colon

•Definition: Sentence consisting of three parts of equal importance and length, usually three independent clauses.

•Example: "You are talking to a man who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe.“ (The Wizard in The Wizard of Oz, 1939)

Rhetorical Device- Triad

The expression of related thoughts in a group of three almost always using the same grammatical form. Examples Declaration of Independence: “We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” Franklin Roosevelt: “I see one-third of our nation ill-housed, ill-clad, and ill-nourished.” Abraham Lincoln: “The government of the people, by the people, for the people….

SYNTAX- Syntax

• The manner in which words are arranged in sentences.

• Includes grammar, punctuation, capitalization, sentence variety and sentence type.

Diction- Tautology

• Needless repetition which adds no meaning or understanding

• Examples: widow woman, free gift

Reading- THEME

• Central idea of a work

Reading- TONE

• The attitude of a writer, usually implied, towards the subject or the audience

Diction- trite

• Overused and hackneyed

• Clichéd

(Note the “d” at the end of clichéd. Something is clichéd, not cliché.)

Rhetorical Device- UNDERSTATEMENT

• The deliberate representation of something as lesser in magnitude than it actually is; a deliberate under-emphasis.

• Contrast between the literal meaning and what is meant

Reading- Verbal Irony

Diction- VERNACULAR

• The everyday speech of a particular country or region, often involving nonstandard usage

Argument- Warrant

Definition: An assumption that there is a connection between evidence and claim

Example: Having good grades will get you into college.

By Mr. Woodall and Ms. Wolfes’ AP Language students

Kennesaw Mountain High School 2014

Some definitions are from Applied Practice 2008