AP Lang Flashcards
rhetorical appeals
Rhetorical techniques used to persuade an audience by emphasizing what they find most important or compelling.
ethos
Greek for “character.” Speakers appeal to ethos to demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy to speak on a given topic
pathos
Greek for “suffering” or “experience.” Speakers appeal to pathos to emotionally motivate their audience. More specific appeals to pathos might play on the audience’s values, desires, and hopes, on the one hand, or fears and prejudices, on the other
logos
Greek for “embodied thought.” Speakers appeal to logos, or reason, by offering clear, rational ideas and using specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to back them up
diction
A speaker’s choice of words. Analysis of diction looks at these choices and what they add to the speaker’s message.
periodic sentence
Sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end.
cumulative sentence
Sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on.
denotation
the literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.
connotation
Meanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition, or denotation. Connotations are often positive or negative, and they often greatly affect the author’s tone.
metaphor
Figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as.
simile
A figure of speech used to explain or clarify an idea by comparing it explicitly to something else, using the words like, as, or as though
personification
Attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea.
analogy
A comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things. Often, an analogy uses something simple or familiar to explain something unfamiliar or complex.
allusion
Brief reference to a person, event, or place (real or fictitious) or to a work of art.
paradox
A statement or situation that is seemingly contradictory on the surface, but delivers an ironic truth.
irony
A figure of speech that occurs when a speaker or character says one thing but means something else, or when what is said is the opposite of what is expected, creating a noticeable incongruity.
hyperbole
Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic or ironic effect; an overstatement to make a point.
syntax
The arrangement of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences.
parallel structure
using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance
