AP LANGUAGEFINAL PREP

RHETORICAL TERMINOLOGY

I told you a million times to clean your

room!

Hyperbole/Overstatement: A

figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or

effect; an extravagant statement.

My love is a red rose.

Metaphor: A figure of speech in which an

implied comparison is made between two

unlike things that actually have

something important in common.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within

us.

Epistrophe: The repetition of a word or phrase at the end of several clauses.

Romeo tells Mercutio he can’t dance because

he has a “soul of lead”.

Pun: A humorous play on words, using

similar-sounding or identical words to suggest different

meanings.

The wind stood up and gave a shout.

Anthropomorphism/Personification: The attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object.

Francine’s love of sweets was her Achilles heel.

Allusion: A brief, usually indirect

reference to a person, place, or event that

can be real or fictional.

Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

Simile: A figure of speech in which two fundamentally unlike things are explicitly compared, usually in a phrase introduced by

"like" or "as."

Chicken for dinner? Dinner will be ruined!

Anadiplosis: the repetition of the final words of a

sentence or line at the beginning of the

next.

Instead of saying that you feel sad, you say

“I feel blue”.

Idiom: An expression that, while an odd or incorrect use of the

language, has a meaning that is

understood even though it is not clearly

derived from the words that form it.

Appointing a Wall Street insider to

direct the Securities and Exchange

commission is like telling Rush Limbaugh to make sure no one

eats all the Halloween candy.

Analogy: A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship

between them.

Hello darkness, my old friend.

I've come to talk with you again.

Apostrophe: The direct address of an absent

or imaginary person or of a personified

abstraction, especially as a

digression in the course of a speech or

composition.

The doctor turned to the nurse and said “Get me his vitals,

STAT!”

Jargon: The specialized language of a professional,

occupational, or other group, often

meaningless to outsiders.

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune--without the words,

And never stops at all

Extended Metaphor: A comparison between two

unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines

in a poem.

The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock in

The Great Gatsby.

Symbol: A person, place, action, or thing that (by association,

resemblance, or convention) represents something other than

itself.

She was upstairs, and her children downstairs.

Zeugma (zoog-mah): The use of a word to

modify or govern two or more words although

its use may be grammatically or

logically correct with only one.

If he cuts off your leg, it might hurt a

little.

Understatement: A figure of speech in

which a writer deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious

than it is.

In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar,

characters refer to clocks, which did not exist in ancient Rome.

Anachronism: A person, scene, event, or other element in a work of literature that fails to correspond with the time or era in which

the work is set.

Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered

the hallowed heights of Troy. Many cities of

men he saw and learned their minds, many pains he suffered, heartsick

on the open sea, fighting to save his life and bring his

comrades home.

Invocation: A prayer or statement that

calls for help from a god or goddess.

One thousand sails pursued Paris as he fled Troy with Helen

by his side.

Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a

part is used to represent the whole or the whole for a part.

He’s not unfriendly.

Litotes (lie-toe-tez): A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in

which an affirmative is expressed by

negating its opposite.

A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats;

a base, proud, shallow, beggarly,

three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy worsted-

stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-

taking, whoreson, glass-gazing, super-serviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave!

Invective: Denunciatory or

abusive language; discourse that casts blame on somebody or

something.

The only thing I know is that I know

nothing.

Paradox: A statement that appears to

contradict itself.

We saw her duck.

Ambiguity: Multiple meanings, intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence

or passage.

If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against

me?

Double Entendre: A corruption of a French phrase meaning "double meaning,” the term is used to indicate a

word or phrase that is deliberately

ambiguous, especially when one of the

meanings is risqué or improper.

Oh, you are a real genius, that’s what

you are!

Melodramatic Redundancy: An

unnecessary repetition that is exaggerated,

sensational and overly dramatic.

I am not young enough to know everything.

Epigram: A concise, witty, and thoughtful statement meant to

both amuse and provoke further thought.

The good guys wear white hats, the bad

guys wear black hats.

Archetype: A theme, motif, symbol, or

stock character that holds a familiar place

in a culture’s consciousness.

The critics had a tremendous thirst to

view his latest paintings.

Synesthesia: A psychological process whereby one kind of sensory stimulus

evokes the subjective experience of another.

Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes sin's a

pleasure.

Chiasmus: A figure of speech in which the

order of the terms in the first of two

parallel clauses is reversed in the second

I knew enough to realize that the

alligators were in the swamp and that it was time to circle the

wagons.

Mixed Metaphor: A figure of speech

combining inconsistent or incongruous metaphors.

We shall fight on the beaches, we shall

fight on the landing grounds, we shall

fight in the fields and in the streets, we

shall fight in the hills.

Anaphora: The repetition of the same word or phrase at the

beginning of successive clauses or

verses.

Saying “big boned” instead of “fat”

Euphemism: The substitution of an

inoffensive term for one considered

offensively explicit.

Save me a sniff of that sweet scented

stuff.

Alliteration: The repetition of an initial consonant

sound.

The crown carries many responsibilities.

Metonymy: A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for

another with which it is closely associated.

Jumbo shrimp

Oxymoron: A figure of speech in which incongruous or

contradictory terms appear side by side.

Next time, there won’t be a next time.

Epanalepsis: The repetition at the end of a clause of the

word that occurred at the beginning of the clause; it tends to make the sentence or clause in which it occurs stand apart

from its surroundings.

In The Scarlet Letter, characters, objects

and events often serve as references to the conflict between the world of man and the

world of God.

Allegory: Extending a metaphor so that

objects, persons, and actions in a text are equated with meanings that lie outside the

text.

A cruel wind blew through the town.

Pathetic Fallacy: Ascribes human

feelings to nature or nonhuman objects.

Live and learn.

Cliché: A phrase, idea, or image that

has been used so much that it has lost much

of its original meaning, impact, and

freshness.

Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man

healthy, wealthy and wise.

Aphorism: A terse statement which

expresses a general truth or moral principle.

TYPES OF SENTENCES/WRITING

STYLES

Come up to my desk, please.

Imperative Sentence: A sentence that gives a command or makes a

request. Usually ends with a period.

He pulled the plastic tarp off the chairs and folded it and

carried it out to the garage and put it in

his car.

Polysyndeton: The repetition of

conjunctions in close succession for

rhetorical effect.

It is not that today’s artists cannot paint, it is that today’s

critics cannot see..

Balanced Sentence: Characterized by

parallel structure, two or more parts of the sentence have the same form, emphasizing

similarities or differences.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Antithesis: The juxtaposition of

contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.

It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a

look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the

foothills. I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark blue shirt,

tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, black wool socks with dark blue clocks on them. I was

neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care

who knew it.

Running Style: A type of sentence that

appears to follow the inner working of the mind by mimicking the rambling, associative syntax of thought.

I came, I saw, I conquered.

Asyndeton: The omission of

conjunctions between words, phrases, or

clauses.

Romeo loves Juliet and Juliet, Romeo.

Elliptical Construction: A

sentence containing a deliberate omission of

words.

At the risk of being redundant and repetitive and

redundant, let me say that hearing the same thing over and over

and over again is the last thing children

need from their parents.

Tautology: The repetition, within the immediate context, of

the same word or phrase or the same

meaning in different words; usually as a

fault of style.

Another possible adjustment relates to the

age at which Social Security and Medicare

benefits will be provided. Under current law, and even with the so-called

normal retirement age for Social Security slated to move up to 67 over the next two decades, the ratio of the number of years that the typical worker will spend in

retirement to the number of years he or she works will rise in the long

term.

Circumlocution: To write evasively; to

discuss a topic without saying

anything concrete about it.

Do you want me to hit you?

Rhetorical Question: A question asked merely for effect with no answer expected.

I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women,

French to men, and German to my horse.

Isocolon/Parallel Structure: A

succession of phrases of approximately equal

length and corresponding structure.

Ready are you? What know you of ready? For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi.

Anastrophe: Inversion of the normal

syntactical structure of a sentence.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true

place for a just man is also a prison.

Periodic Sentence: A type of sentence in

which the main idea is expressed at the end.

The cat sat on the mat, purring softly

and licking his paws.

Loose Sentence: The most common sentence

in modern usage, begins with the main point (an independent clause), followed by

one or more subordinate clauses.

SOUNDS

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though.

End Rhyme: Rhyme of the terminal syllables of lines of poetry.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Euphony: A pleasing arrangement of sounds.

Bam! Boom! Crash!

Onomatopoeia: The formation or use of

words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions to which they refer.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I

pondered weak and weary.

Internal Rhyme: Rhyme that occurs within a

line of verse

I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and

restless.

Assonance: Repetition of vowels without

repetition of consonants used as an alternative to rhyme

in verse.

First and last, odds and ends, short and

sweet

Consonance: Recurrence or repetition of

consonants especially at the end of stressed syllables without the similar correspondence

of vowels

The claws that catch and kick and crash against the crammed

cabin.

Cacophony: Harsh or discordant sounds within a literary

work.

TYPES OF LOGIC/ARGUMENT

You're a priest, so you have to say that abortion is wrong.

ad hominem: Latin for "against the man.”

Attacking the person instead of the

argument proposed by that individual. An argument directed to

the personality, prejudices, previous words and actions of an opponent rather

than an appeal to pure reason.

We have to stop the tuition increase! The next thing you know, they'll be charging $40,000 a semester!

Slippery Slope: A claim that a small concession is total

surrender.

There has to be life on other planets

because as of today no one has been able to conclusively prove

that there is no life.

Appeal to Ignorance: When one is persuaded to agree to another’s opinion because he/she

can't prove the contrary.

God exists because I know he exists.

Begging the Question/Circular

Reasoning: A logical fallacy that assumes

as true the very thing that one is trying to

prove

A historian, wishing to understand the

origins and development of

California’s Latino community, bases his research largely on interviews conducted with local Latino

residents.

Anecdotal Evidence: Based on casual observations or

indications rather than rigorous or

scientific analysis

All citizens must obey the law. Mike is a

citizen. Mike must obey the

law.

Syllogism/Deductive Reasoning: A form of

argument or reasoning, consisting of two premises and a conclusion.

Joan is scratched by a cat while visiting her friend. Two days later she comes down with a fever. Joan concludes that the cat's scratch must be the cause of

her illness.

post hoc, ergo propter hoc: Latin for "after

this, therefore because of this.” When a writer implies that

because one thing follows another, the

first caused the second.

Jim: “I see that John’s cancer is in

remission.”Bill: “Yes, our

prayers have been answered!”

Jim: “But didn’t you pray for Susan, too,

and look what happened to her.”

Bill: “I’m sure God had a special reason for taking her.”

ad hoc argument: An argument where after-the-fact explanations

are given for conclusions, rather

than presenting premises and

inferences that lead to those conclusions.

Many extremists follow Islam. Therefore,

Islam is a religion that propagates

extremism.

False Analogy: The two objects or events being compared are

relevantly dissimilar.

You must believe that God exists. After all, if you do not accept the existence of God, then you will face the

horrors of hell.

Appeal to Fear: A logical fallacy in

which a person attempts to create

support for his or her idea by using deception and

propaganda in attempts to increase fear and prejudice toward a

competitor.

The question of funding Medicare comes down to this: do we

want our grandparents to die?

Oversimplification: When a writer obscures

or denies the complexity of issues

in an argument.

Either we eat the food in this house or we starve to death.

either-or reasoning /also referred to as Reductio ad Absurdum (Latin for “to reduce

to the absurd”): Reducing an argument or issue to two polar opposites and ignoring

any alternatives.

I took a course with this professor last

year and it was good. You should take his course this year

because it will be good again.

Inductive Reasoning: A conclusion reached by

deriving general principles from

particular facts or instances.

We should continue observing Columbus Day

because there are plenty of people in

this country who have ancestors that did not

torture Native Americans.

Straw Man: Argues against a claim that nobody actually holds

or is universally considered weak.

Diverts attention away from the real issues.

While censorship is dangerous to a free society, some of the

concerned citizens who are in favor of

censorship may have valid points when they object that children should not be exposed

to television violence.

Concession: An argumentative strategy by which a speaker or writer acknowledges the validity of an opponent's point.