AP Rhetorical and Lit Terms Flashcards
Definition: Active Voice
Subject of the sentence performs the action
Example + Non-example:
Active Voice
Example: Someone will walk her dog.
Non-example: Her dog will be walked.
Impact: Active Voice
Lively, concise, interesting writing
Definition: Allusion
Indirect reference to something with which the reader is supposed to be familiar.
Example: Allusion
I’m Juliet to your Romeo.
Impact: Allusion
Enhances a text by providing further meaning.
Definition: Anecdote
Brief recounting of a relevant episode.
Example: Anecdote
“Last night, I accidentally locked myself out of the house and had to crawl through a window to get back in.”
Impact: Anecdote
A way of developing a point or injecting humor.
Definition: Antecedent
The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.
Example: Antecedent
Chelsey finished her presentation.
Antecedent: Chelsey
Pronoun: her
Definition: Classicism
Art or literature characterized by a realistic view of people and the world; sticks to traditional themes and structures.
Example: Classicism
Dante, Petrarch, and Shakespeare in poetry and theatre.
Definition: Comic Relief
When a humorous scene is inserted into a serious story, in order to lighten the mood somewhat.
Example: Comic Relief
“Gatekeeper scene” in Macbeth.
Impact: Comic Relief
Used to break tension and lighten the mood.
Definition: Diction
Word choice, particularly as an element of style. Different types of words have significant effects on meaning. Describe the TYPE of diction when including it in a thesis.
Definition: Colloquial
Ordinary or familiar type of conversation. A “colloquialism” is a common or familiar type of saying, similar to an adage or an aphorism.
Example: Colloquial
“Y’all, gonna, wanna, graveyard dead.”
Impact: Colloquial
Creates a sense of community and society.
Definiton: Connotation
Rather than the dictionary definition (denotation), the associations suggested by a word. Implied meaning rather than literal meaning.
Definition: Denotation
Literal, explicit meaning of a word, without its connotations.
Definition: Jargon
Diction used by a group which practices a similar profession or activity.
Example: Jargon
Business Jargon: “Bang for the buck.”
Internet Jargon: FAQ
Impact: Jargon
Adds a realistic effect to the text or characters’ backgrounds and profession.
Definition: Vernacular
- Language or dialect of a particular country.
- Language or dialect of a regional clan or group.
- Plain everyday speech.
Definition: Didactic
Term used to describe fiction, nonfiction or poetry that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.
Example: Didactic
The Tortoise and the Hare.
Definition: Adage
A folk saying with a lesson. Similar to aphorism and colloquialism.
Example: Adage
” A rolling stone gathers no moss.”
“Better safe than sorry.”
Impact: Adage
Convey dynamic and powerful ideas into meaningful sentences.
Definition: Allegory
A story, fictional or non fictional, in which characters, things, and events represent qualities or concepts. The interaction of these characters, things, and events is meant to reveal an abstraction or a truth.
Example: Allegory
Animal Farm, by George Orwell.
Impact: Allegory
Allows the writer to tell two different, related stories at once.
Definition: Aphorism
A terse statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle. Can be a memorable summation of the author’s point.
Example: Aphorism
“God helps them that help themselves.”
“A watched pot never boils.”
Impact: Aphorism
Allow people to convey an idea or even a worldview using just a few words.
Definition: Ellipsis
The deliberate omission of a word or phrase from prose done for effect by the author.
Example: Ellipsis
“The whole day, rain, torrents of rain.”
Impact: Ellipsis
Creates suspense or a dramatic pause to enhance the emotional impact.
Definition: Euphemism
A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts. Sometimes used for political correctness or to exaggerate correctness to add humor.
Example: Euphemism
“Physically Challenged” instead of “Crippled.”
Impact: Euphemism
Helps avoid offending others and keep the peace.
Definition: Figurative Language
Writing that is not meant to be taken literally. Also the opposite of “Literal Language.”
Example: Analogy
America is to the world as the hippo is to the jungle.
Definition: Analogy
A comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set of variables. The writer argues that the relationship between the first pair of variables is the same as the relationship between the second pair of variables.
Impact: Analogy
Shows how two things are similar but also different.
Definition: Hyperbole
Exaggeration
Example: Hyperbole
“My mother will kill me if I am late.”
Impact: Hyperbole
Creates emphasis, vivid images, or conveys intensity or emotion.
Definition: Idiom
A common, often used expression that doesn’t make sense if you take it literally.
Example: Idiom
“I got chewed out by my coach.”
Impact: Idiom
Draws the readers’ attention and helps awaken their senses.
Definition: Metaphor
Making an implied comparison, not using “like,” as,” or other such words. An extended metaphor is when the metaphor is continued later in the written work. A particularly elaborate extended metaphor is called using conceit.
Example + Non-example: Metaphor
Example: My feet are popsicles.
Non-example: My feet are as cold as popsicles.
Impact: Metaphor
Compare the concept to something more familiar.
Definiton: Metonymy
Replacing an actual word or idea, with a related word or concept.
Example: Metonymy
I could not understand his tongue.
Impact: Metonymy
Creates concrete and vivid images in place of generalities.
Definition: Synecdoche
A kind of metonymy when a whole is represented by naming one of its parts, or vice versa.
Example: Synecdoche
“Check out my new wheels.”
Impact: Synecdoche
Reinforces a deeper meaning and compels the reader to reflect on a larger viewpoint.
Definition: Simile
Using words such as “like” or “as” to make a direct comparison between two very different things.
Example + Non-example: Simile
Example: “My feet are so cold they feel like popsicles.”
Non-example: My feet are popsicles.
Impact: Simile
Provides more descriptive image of the thing being described.
Definition: Synesthesia
a description involving a “crossing of the senses.”
Example: Synesthesia
A purplish scent filled the room.
Impact: Synesthesia
Allows reader to see things from protagonists perspective.
Definition: Personification
Giving human-like qualities to something that is not human.
Example: Personification
The tired old truck groaned as it inched up the hill.
Impact: Personification
Give liveliness to an object or animal that may seem dull.
Definition: Foreshadowing
When an author gives hints about what will occur later in a story.
Example: Foreshadowing
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
Impact: Foreshadowing
Increases a story’s sense of tension, suspense, or anticipation.
Definiton: Genre
Major category into which a literary work fits. Divisions are prose, poetry, and drama. Genres can be subdivided. Focus on (auto)biography, diaries, criticism, essays, and journalistic, political, scientific, and nature writing.
Definition: Gothic
Writing characterized by gloom, mystery, fear and/or death. Also an architectural style of the Middle Ages.
Example: Gothic
Writing: Frankenstein
Architecture: Cathedrals from Middle Ages
Definiton: Imagery
Word(s) that create a picture in the reader’s mind involving the five senses.
Example: Imagery
The warm donut tasted sweet with hints of vanilla and strawberry.
Impact: Imagery
Improves a reader’s experience of the text and allows writers to provoke powerful emotions.
Definition: Invective
A long, emotionally violent, attack using strong, abusive language.
Example: Invective
“What, are you a chicken?”
Impact: Invective
Has a strong emotional impact and used to express negative emotions.
Definition: Irony
When the opposite of what you expect to happen does.
Definition: Verbal Irony
When you say something and mean the opposite/something different.
Example: Verbal Irony
If your gym teacher wants you to run a mile in eight minutes or faster, but calls it a “walk in the park.”
Impact: Verbal Irony
Adds layers of humor, sarcasm, critique, or emphasis to the author’s communication.
Definition: Dramatic Irony
When the audience of a drama, play, movie, etc. knows something that the character doesn’t and would be surprised to find out.
Example: Dramatic Irony
In horror movies, the audience knows who the killer is, which the future victim has no idea of. Sometimes the character trusts the killer completely when they shouldn’t.
Impact: Dramatic Irony
creates a sense of tension, suspense, or even humor.
Definition: Situational Irony
Found in the plot of a book, story, or movie. Can make you laugh because it’s funny how things turn out.
Example: Situational Irony
Johnny spent two hours planning on sneaking into the movie theater and missed the movie. When he finally did manage to sneak inside he found out that kids were admitted free that day.
Impact: Situational Irony
Leads audience to heightened engagement, deeper understanding of the characters, and a memorable reading experience.
Definition: Juxtaposition
Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison. Authors often use juxtaposition of ideas or examples in order to make a point.
Example: Juxtaposition
Juxtaposing the average day of a typical American with that of someone in the third world in order to make a point of social commentary.
Impact: Juxtaposiition
Creates contrast, adds meaning, and evokes an emotional response.
Definition: Mood
The atmosphere created by the literature and accomplished through word choice (diction). Syntax creates mood and setting, tone, and events can affect mood.
Definition: Motif
a recurring idea in a piece of literature
Example: Motif
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the idea that “you never really understand another person until you consider things from his or her point of view” is brought up several times throughout the novel.
Impact: Motif
highlights something about a character, to help us understand them better, or helps establish the mood of the story
Definition: Oxymoron
When apparently contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox
Example: Oxymoron
Wise fool or Jumbo shrimp
Impact: Oxymoron
bring dramatic effect to writing and creates irony, suspense, or comedy
Definition: Pacing
Speed or tempo of an author’s writing. Can use a variety of devices (syntax, polysyndeton, anaphora, meter) to change the pacing of words.
Example: Pacing
Fast, sluggish, stabbing, vibrato, staccato, or measured.
Impact: Pacing
evokes emotions in readers
Definition: Paradox
A seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true
Example: Paradox
You can’t get a job without experience, and you can’t get experience without getting a job
Impact: Paradox
Grabs attention and prompts readers to contemplate a statement more deeply
Definition: Parallelism
Sentence construction which places equal grammatical constructions near each other, or repeats identical grammatical patterns
Example: Parallelism
Cinderella swept the floor, dusted the mantle, and beat the rugs
Impact: Parallelism
adds emphasis, organization, or sometimes pacing to writing
Definition: Anaphora
Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences or clauses in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition.
Example: Anaphora
I came, I saw, I conquered
Impact: Anaphora
Helps make the writer’s point more coherent.
Definition: Chiasmus (Antimetabole)
When the same words are used twice in succession, but the second time, the order of the words is reversed.
Example: Chiasmus
Fair is foul and foul is fair
Impact: Chiasmus
creates a memorable rhythm and deepens the idea through contrast
Definition: Antithesis
Two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, or even ideas, with parallel structure
Example: Antithesis
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
Impact: Antithesis
enhances your writing by illuminating differences and making your point more persuasive
Definition: Zuegma (Syllepsis)
When a single word governs or modifies two or more other words, and the meaning of the first word must change for each of the other words it governs or modifies
Example: Zuegma (Syllepsis)
The butler killed the lights, and then the mistress.
Impact: Zuegma (Syllepsis)
adds emotion, produce a level of shock, create a thoughtful effect, or add emotion
Definition: Parenthetical Idea
Parentheses are used to set off an idea from the rest of the sentence. It is almost considered an aside and should be used sparingly for effect. Parentheses can also be used to set off dates and numbers
Example: Parenthetical Idea
In a short time (and the time is getting shorter by the gallon) America will be out of oil
Impact: Parenthetical Idea
adds crucial new information to a sentence without disrupting the flow.
Definition: Parody
An exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes. Borrows words or phrases from an original, and pokes fun at it. Also a form of allusion, since it’s referencing a previous text, event. Not the same as satire.
Example: Parody
Saturday Night Live parodies famous persons and events.
Definition: Persona
Fictional mask or narrator that tells a story. Not the same as alter-ego.
Definition: Poetic Device
A device used in poetry to manipulate the sound of words, sentences or lines
Definition: Alliteration
Repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words
Example: Alliteration
Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore
Impact: Alliteration
Grasps the reader’s attention, making them focus on a particular line/section. Also makes a line/poem more memorable and appealing.
Definition: Assonance
Repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds
Example: Assonance
From the molten-golden notes
Impact: Assonance
Creates rhythm and grasps the reader’s attention to a particular phrase and helps exaggerate the meaning
Definition: Consonance
Repetition of the same consonant sound at the end of words or within words
Example: Consonance
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door
Impact: Consonance
Gives language a musical element and emphasizes sounds/words that resonate with the main ideas or themes of the work
Definition: Onomatopoeia
Use of a word which imitates or suggests the sound that the thing makes
Example: Onomatopoeia
Snap, rustle, boom, murmur
Impact: Onomatopoeia
Adds excitement, action, and interest by allowing the reader to hear and remember your writing
Definition: Internal Rhyme
When a line of poetry contains a rhyme within a single line
Example: Internal Rhyme
To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!
Impact: Internal Rhyme
Creates an echo in the poem, which can leave a lasting effect on the audience
Definition: Slant Rhyme
When a poet creates a rhyme, but the two words do not rhyme exactly but are merely similar
Example: Slant Rhyme
I sat upon a stone, / And found my life has gone
Impact: Slant Rhyme
Make poetry and prose sound more cohesive
Definition: End Rhyme
When the last word of two different lines of poetry rhyme
Example: End Rhyme
Roses are red, violets are blue, / Sugar is sweet, and so are you
Impact: End Rhyme
Creates a rhythm/unity in a poem
Definition: Rhyme Scheme
The pattern of a poem’s end rhymes
Example: Rhyme Scheme
a b a b c d c d
Impact: Rhyme Scheme
Provide structure and organization to the poem
Definition: Stressed and unstressed syllables
In every word of more than one syllable, one of the syllables is stressed, or said with more force than the other syllable(s)
Example: Stressed and unstressed syllables
In “Nathan,” the first syllable is stressed
Impact: Stressed and unstressed syllables
Creates a pattern that helps establish the meter, which is essential for analyzing a poem’s rhythm
Definition: Meter
A regular pattern to the syllables in lines of poetry
Example: Meter
Falling Meter: unstressed, unstressed, stressed
Peter, Peter, Pumpkin-eater.
Impact: Meter
Creates a sense of order, emphasizes certain words or themes, and contributes to the overall emotional impact of a piece
Definition: Free Verse
Poetry that doesn’t have much meter or rhyme
Example: Free Verse
“So much depends / upon / a red wheel / barrow / glazed with rain / water / beside the white / chickens”
Impact: Free Verse
Gives poets more freedom to express their thoughts, use personal style of musical rhythms, use different rhythms and meters that go with their emotions and themes and to best express their experiences
Definition: Iambic Pentameter
Poetry that is written in lines of 10 syllables, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables
Example: Iambic Pentameter
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Impact: Iambic Pentameter
creates a pleasing rhythm and makes the text more musical and memorable. Also emphasizes certain words/ideas, giving the text a sense of importance and weight
Definition: Sonnet
A 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter. Usually divided into three quatrains and a couplet
Example: Sonnet
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Impact: Sonnet
Their versatility, structure, and themes have provided a foundation for poets to express their thoughts and emotions
Definition: Polysyndeton
When a writer creates a list of items which are all separated by conjunctions. Normally, a conjunction is used only before the last item in a list
Example: Polysyndeton
I walked the dog, and fed the cat, and milked the cows.
Impact: Polysyndeton
Slows down the pace of the writing and/or adds an authoritative tone
Definition: Pun
When a word that has two or more meanings is used in a humorous way
Example: Pun
I was stirred by his cooking lesson
Impact: Pun
Used to create a comedic effect and also convey a sense of irony
Definition: Rhetoric
The art of effective communication
Definition: Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle
The relationships in a piece of writing or a speech among the SPEAKER/WRITER, the event(s) or experiences that inspired the subject (EXIGENCE), the AUDIENCE, the MESSAGE, the AUTHOR’S PURPOSE, and the APPEALS, TOOLS, and TECHNIQUES used to achieve that purpose. CONTEXT (history, environment, background information, culture) surround and influence every part of the triangle.
All analysis of writing is essentially an analysis of the relationships between the points on the triangle
Definition: Rhetorical Question
Question not asked for information but for effect
Example: Rhetorical Question
“The angry parent asked the child, ‘Are you finished interrupting me?’” In this case, the parent does not expect a reply, but simply wants to draw the child’s attention to the rudeness of interrupting.
Impact: Rhetorical Question
Used to emphasize a point or just to get the audience thinking
Definition: Romanticism
Art or literature characterized by an idealistic, perhaps unrealistic view of people and the world, and an emphasis on nature. Does not rely on traditional themes and structures
Example: Romanticism
I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and Hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden Daffodils;
Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Definition: Sarcasm
A generally bitter comment that is ironically or satirically worded. Not all satire and irony are sarcastic. It is the bitter, mocking tone that separates sarcasm
Example: Sarcasm
“They’re really on top of things” to describe a group of people who are very disorganized
Impact: Sarcasm
To mock or convey contempt
Definition: Satire
A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of life to a humorous effect. Targets human vices and follies, or social institutions and conventions. Good satire has three layers: serious on the surface; humorous when you discover that it’s satire instead of reality; and serious when you discern the underlying point of the author
Example: Satire
Saturday Night Live
Impact: Satire
Create deep meaning in stories
Definition: Sentence
A group of words (including subject and verb) that expresses a complete thought
Definition: Appositive
A word or group of words placed beside a noun or noun substitute to supplement its meaning
Example: Appositive
Bob, the lumber yard worker, spoke with Judy, an accountant from the city
Impact: Appositive
Provides information that further identifies or defines it
Definition: Clause
Grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. An independent clause expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent, or subordinate clause cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent clause
Definition: Balanced Sentence
Sentence in which two parallel elements are set off against each other like equal weights on a scale. Both parts are parallel grammatically. Also called parallelism.
Example: Balanced Sentence
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich
Impact: Balanced Sentence
Enhance clarity and emphasize connections between ideas
Definition: Compound Sentence
Contains at least two independent clauses but no dependent clauses
Example: Compound Sentence
This house is too expensive, and that house is too small
Definition: Complex Sentence
Contains only one independent clause and at least one dependent clause
Example: Complex Sentence
When the cake is brown, remove it from the oven
Definition: Cumulative sentence (loose sentence)
When the writer begins with an independent clause, then adds subordinate elements. The opposite construction is called a periodic sentence.
Example: Cumulative Sentence
He doubted whether he could ever again appear before an audience, his confidence broken, his limbs shaking, his collar wet with perspiration
Definition: Periodic Sentence
When the main idea is not completed until the end of the sentence. The writer begins with subordinate elements and postpones the main clause. The opposite construction is called a cumulative sentence.
Example: Periodic Sentence
His confidence broken, his limbs shaking, his collar wet with perspiration, he doubted whether he could ever again appear before an audience.
Definition: Simple sentence
Contains only one independent clause
Example: Simple sentence
The train was late
Definition: Declarative Sentence
States an idea. It does not give a command or request, nor does it ask a question.
Example: Declarative Sentence
The ball is round
Definition: Imperative Sentence
Issues a command
Example: Imperative Sentence
Kick the ball
Definition: Interrogative Sentence
Sentences incorporating interrogative pronouns (what, which, who, whom, and whose)
Example: Interrogative sentence
To whom did you kick the ball?
Definition: Style
The choices in diction, tone, and syntax that a writer makes. Style may be conscious or unconscious
Definition: Symbol
Anything that represents or stands for something else. Usually a symbol is something concrete such as an object, actions, character…that represents something more abstract.
Example: Symbol
the Raven in “The Raven”
Impact: Symbol
They evoke emotions, influence decision-making, and shape perception
Definition: Syntax/sentence variety
Grammatical arrangement of words. This is perhaps one of the most difficult concepts to master. First, a reader should examine the length of sentences (short or long). How does sentence length and structure relate to tone and meaning. Are they simple, compound, compound-complex sentences? How do they relate to one another? Syntax is the grouping of words, while diction refers to the selection of individual words.
Definition: Theme
The central idea or message of a work. The theme may be directly stated in nonfiction works, although not necessarily. It is rarely stated directly in fiction.
Example: Theme
Love, redemption, forgiveness, coming of age, revenge, good vs evil, bravery and hardship
Definition: Thesis
The sentence or groups of sentences that directly expresses the author’s opinion, purpose, meaning, or proposition. It should be short and clear.
Definition: Tone
A writer’s attitude toward his subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language and organization. To identify tone, consider how the piece would sound if read aloud (or how the author wanted it to sound aloud)
Example: Thesis
Climate change endangers life on earth because it is leading to an increase in catastrophic weather events, warmer average temperatures, and a rise in sea levels that threaten coastal communities.
Example: Tone
playful, serious, businesslike, sarcastic, humorous, formal, somber
Impact: Tone
influence how audience perceives us and our message
Definition: Understatement
The ironic minimizing of fact, understatement presents something as less significant than it is.
Example: Understatement
Our defense played valiantly, and held the other team to merely eight touchdowns in the first quarter
Impact: Understatement
Comedic effect and humor
