AP Lang Rhetorical Terms

Question 1

Active voice

Answer 1

the subject of the sentence is performing the action (verb)

Question 2

Alliteration

Answer 2

the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of words in close proximity

Question 3

Allusion

Answer 3

a reference, direct or indirect, to something the speaker expects the audience to know

Question 4

Analogy

Answer 4

a comparison between two things based on similarities

Question 5

Anaphora

Answer 5

a repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of two or more clauses or sentences

Question 6

Anecdote

Answer 6

brief telling of an incident or event of relevance

Question 7

Antithesis

Answer 7

1. direct opposite (followed by of or two); 2. placing a clause or part of it against another to form a contrast

Question 8

Asyndeton

Answer 8

intentional omission of conjunctions

Question 9

Audience

Answer 9

the person/people the speaker is addressing

Question 10

Cliché

Answer 10

an overused word, phrase, or clause that has lost meaning due to overuse

Question 11

Connotation

Answer 11

emotional or cultural associations of a word

Question 12

Context

Answer 12

the time, place, and occasion for writing as well as the larger discourse about the topic society

Question 13

Denotation

Answer 13

the dictionary definition of a word

Question 14

Diction

Answer 14

word choice

Question 15

Ellipses

Answer 15

three periods (…) used to show omission

Question 16

Epigram

Answer 16

a short, witty, insightful statement that can be sarcastic

Question 17

Ethos

Answer 17

Character and credibility

Question 18

purpose

Answer 18

why the speaker is speaking, what the speaker is trying to accomplish

Question 19

syntax

Answer 19

the way words are organized as the central idea in a work of literature

Question 20

Exigence

Answer 20

causes or prompts someone to write or speak on a topic

Question 21

Hypophora

Answer 21

when the writer identifies a problem and is hyper to answer it immidietly

Question 22

passive voice

Answer 22

subject of the sentence receives action instead of performing the action

Question 23

parallelism

Answer 23

a repetition of syntactical pattern utilizing repeated select diction

Question 24

polysyndeton

Answer 24

the use of multiple conjunctions in succession

Question 25

Euology

Answer 25

a work that highly praises someone or something that has died