AP Lang Vocab - Rhetorical Devices

Question 1

Connotation

Answer 1

An idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

Question 2

Denotation

Answer 2

A literal or primary meaning of a word; the textbook definition.

Question 3

Tone

Answer 3

Expresses the writes attitude toward or feelings about the subject matter and audience.

Question 4

Tonal Shift

Answer 4

A shift in a story’s overall feeling from where it started

Question 5

Diction

Answer 5

The author’s word choice

Question 6

Details

Answer 6

Descriptive words in a sentence

Question 7

Colloquialism

Answer 7

An informal expression that is more often used in casual conversation than in formal speech or writing.

Question 8

Pathos

Answer 8

To appeal to the audience’s feelings and emotions

Question 9

Ethos

Answer 9

An appeal to credibility

Question 10

Logos

Answer 10

An appeal to audience’s logic

Question 11

Rhetorical Question

Answer 11

A question asked for effect or answer is obvious.

Question 12

Paradox

Answer 12

A statement that appears to contradict itself

Question 13

Oxymoron

Answer 13

A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.

Question 14

Metaphor

Answer 14

Comparison between 2 things that are otherwise unrelated

Question 15

Simile

Answer 15

Compares 2 things using “like” or “as”

Question 16

Hyperbole

Answer 16

Exaggeration & overstatement for emphasis and not to be taken literally

Question 17

Alliteration

Answer 17

A series of words that begin with the same constant sound

Question 18

Repetition

Answer 18

A phrase used multiple times

Question 19

Anaphora

Answer 19

Repetition of a word or group of words at the beginning of clauses or sentences.

Question 20

Polysyndeton

Answer 20

Uses multiple repetitions of the same conjunction (and, but, if, etc.)

Question 21

Syntax

Answer 21

Sentence structure or how words are arranged

Question 22

Parallel Structure

Answer 22

Using the same pattern of words to show that 2 or more ideas have the same level of importance

Question 23

Fragment

Answer 23

An incomplete sentence

Question 24

Ellipsis

Answer 24

Omission of words

Question 25

Catalogue

Answer 25

A collection of people, objects, ideas, and other elements in list form

Question 26

Allusion

Answer 26

A circumstance from an unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly

Question 27

Anecdote

Answer 27

A story about something that usually comes with a lesson or singular theme

Question 28

Allegory

Answer 28

A symbolic fictional narrative that conveys a secondary meaning or representation of something other than it is.

Question 29

Analogy

Answer 29

A connection between 2 ideas.

Question 30

Symbol

Answer 30

An object, person, situation, or action that has a literal meaning in a story but suggests or represents other meanings