Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

AP Language > Literary and Rhetorical Devices > Flashcards

Literary and Rhetorical Devices Flashcards

1
Q

Active Voice

A
  • The subject of the sentence performs the action. This is a more direct and preferred style of
    writing in most cases.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Allusion

A
  • An indirect reference to something with which the reader is supposed to be familiar.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Alter-ego

A

– A character that is used by the author to speak the author’s own thoughts; when an author
speaks directly to the audience through a character.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Anecdote

A

A brief recounting of a relevant episode.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Antecedent

A

The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Classicism

A

Art or literature characterized by a realistic view of people and the world; sticks to traditional
themes and structures.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Comic relief

A

– when a humorous scene is inserted into a serious story, in order to lighten the mood
somewhat.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Diction

A

Word choice, particularly as an element of style. Different types of words have significant effects
on meaning.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Colloquial

A

Ordinary or familiar type of conversation.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Connotation

A
  • Rather than the dictionary definition (denotation), the associations suggested by a
    word.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Denotation

A

The literal, explicit meaning of a word, without its connotations.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Jargon

A

The diction used by a group which practices a similar profession or activity. Lawyers
speak using particular jargon, as do soccer players.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Vernacular

A
    1. Language or dialect of a particular country. 2. Language or dialect of a regional
      clan or group. 3. Plain everyday speech
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Didactic

A
  • A term used to describe fiction, nonfiction or poetry that teaches a specific lesson or moral or
    provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Adage

A

– A folk saying with a lesson.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Allegory

A
  • A story, fictional or non fictional, in which characters, things, and events represent
    qualities or concepts.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Aphorism

A

A terse statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Ellipsis

A
  • The deliberate omission of a word or phrase from prose done for effect by the author.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Euphemism

A

A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Figurative Language

A

writing that is not meant to be taken literally.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Analogy

A

An analogy is a comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set of variables.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Hyperbole

A

Exaggeration.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Idiom

A

A common, often used expression that doesn’t make sense if you take it literally.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Metaphor

A

Making an implied comparison, not using “like,” as,” or other such words.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Metonymy

A

Replacing an actual word or idea, with a related word or concept.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Syncedoche

A

– A kind of metonymy when a whole is represented by naming one of its
parts, or vice versa.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Simile

A

Using words such as “like” or “as” to make a direct comparison between two very
different things.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Synesthesia

A

– a description involving a “crossing of the senses.”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Personification

A

Personification: Giving human-like qualities to something that is not human.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

foreshadowing

A

– When an author gives hints about what will occur later in a story.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

genre

A
  • The major category into which a literary work fits.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

gothic

A

– Writing characterized by gloom, mystery, fear and/or death.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

imagery

A
  • Word or words that create a picture in the reader’s mind.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

invective

A

– A long, emotionally violent, attack using strong, abusive language.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

irony

A
  • When the opposite of what you expect to happen does.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

verbal irony

A
  • When you say something and mean the opposite/something different.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

dramatic irony

A
  • When the audience of a drama, play, movie, etc. knows something that the
    character doesn’t and would be surprised to find out.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

situational irony

A

movie. Sometimes it

makes you laugh because it’s funny how things turn out.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
39
Q

juxtaposition

A
  • Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
40
Q

mood

A
  • The atmosphere created by the literature and accomplished through word choice (diction).
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
41
Q

motif

A

– a recurring idea in a piece of literature.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
42
Q

oxymoron

A

– When apparently contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox – “wise
fool,” “eloquent silence,” “jumbo shrimp.”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
43
Q

pacing

A

– The speed or tempo of an author’s writing.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
44
Q

paradox

A

A seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
45
Q

parallelism

A

Sentence construction which

places equal grammatical constructions near each other, or repeats identical grammatical patterns.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
46
Q

anaphora

A
  • Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences or
    clauses in a row.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
47
Q

chiasmus

A

– When the same words are used twice in succession, but the second time, the order of
the words is reversed.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
48
Q

antithesis

A
  • Two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, or even ideas, with parallel
    structure.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
49
Q

zuegma

A
  • 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.
50
Q

parenthetical idea

A
  • Parentheses are used to set off an idea from the rest of the sentence.
51
Q

parody

A
  • An exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes.
52
Q

persona

A
  • The fictional mask or narrator that tells a story.
53
Q

poetic device

A

– A device used in poetry to manipulate the sound of words, sentences or lines.

54
Q

alliteration

A

The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words.

55
Q

assonance

A

The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds.

56
Q

consonance

A

The repetition of the same consonant sound at the end of words or within words.

57
Q

onomatopoeia

A

The use of a word which imitates or suggests the sound that the thing makes.

58
Q

internal rhyme

A

When a line of poetry contains a rhyme within a single line.

59
Q

slant rhyme

A

When a poet creates a rhyme, but the two words do not rhyme exactly – they are merely similar.

60
Q

end rhyme

A

When the last word of two different lines of poetry rhyme.

61
Q

rhyme scheme

A

The pattern of a poem’s end rhymes.

62
Q

stressed and unstressed syllables

A

In every word of more than one syllable, one of the syllables is stressed, or said with more force
than the other syllable(s).

63
Q

meter

A

A regular pattern to the syllables in lines of poetry.

64
Q

free verse

A

Poetry that doesn’t have much meter or rhyme.

65
Q

iambic pentameter

A

Poetry that is written in lines of 10 syllables, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables.

66
Q

sonnet

A

A 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter. Usually divided into three quatrains and a couplet.

67
Q

polysyndeton

A

– When a writer creates a list of items which are all separated by conjunctions.

68
Q

pun

A

– When a word that has two or more meanings is used in a humorous way.

69
Q

rhetoric

A
  • The art of effective communication.
70
Q

rhetorical question

aristotles rhetorical triangle

A

-Question not asked for information but for effect.
-The relationships, in any piece of writing,
between the writer, the audience, and the
subject. All analysis of writing is essentially
an analysis of the relationships between the
points on the triangle.

71
Q

romanticism

A

– Art or literature characterized by an idealistic, perhaps unrealistic view of people and the
world, and an emphasis on nature.

72
Q

sarcasm

A
  • A generally bitter comment that is ironically or satirically worded.
73
Q

satire

A
  • A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of life to a humorous effect.
74
Q

sentence

A
  • A sentence is group of words (including subject and verb) that expresses a complete thought.
75
Q

appositive

A
  • A word or group of words placed beside a noun or noun substitute to supplement its
    meaning.
76
Q

clause

A
  • A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb.
77
Q

balanced sentence

A

– A sentence in which two parallel elements are set off against each
other like equal weights on a scale.

78
Q

compound sentence

A
  • Contains at least two independent clauses but no dependent

clauses.

79
Q

complex sentence

A
  • Contains only one independent clause and at least one dependent
    clause.
80
Q

cumulative sentence

A

When the writer begins with an

independent clause, then adds subordinate elements.

81
Q

periodic sentence

A
  • When the main idea is not completed until the end of the sentence.
82
Q

simple sentence

A

Contains only one independent clause.

83
Q

declarative sentence

A
  • States an idea.
84
Q

imperative sentence

A
  • Issues a command.
85
Q

interrogative sentence

A
  • Sentences incorporating interrogative pronouns
86
Q

style

A
  • The choices in diction, tone, and syntax that a writer makes. Style may be conscious or unconscious.
87
Q

symbol

A
  • Anything that represents or stands for something else.
88
Q

syntax/sentence variety

A
  • Grammatical arrangement of words.
89
Q

theme

A
  • 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.
90
Q

thesis

A
  • The sentence or groups of sentences that directly expresses the author’s opinion, purpose, meaning,
    or proposition.
91
Q

tone

A
  • A writer’s attitude toward his subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language and
    organization.
92
Q

understatement

A

The ironic minimizing of fact, understatement presents something as less significant
than it is.

93
Q

litotes

A
  • a particular form of understatement, generated by denying the opposite of the statement
    which otherwise would be used.
94
Q

argument

A

An argument is a piece of reasoning with one or more premises and a conclusion.

95
Q

premises

A

Statements offered as reasons to support a conclusion are premises.

96
Q

conclusion

A

A conclusion is the end result of the argument – the main point being made. In an
argument one expects that the conclusion will be supported with reasons or premises. Moreover,
these premises will be true and will, in fact, lead to the conclusion.

97
Q

aristotles appeals

A

The goal of argumentative writing is to persuade an audience that one’s ideas are valid, or more
valid than someone else’s.

98
Q

ethos

A

Ethos (credibility) means being convinced by the credibility of the author. We tend to
believe people whom we respect.

99
Q

pathos

A

(emotional) means persuading by appealing to the reader’s emotions. (Also see
the fallacy of appeal to emotion). An argument that relies too much on emotion, without
any corroborating logos, can become a fallacy.

100
Q

logos

A

(logical) means persuading by the use of reasoning, using true premises and valid
arguments. This is generally considered the strongest form of persuasion.

101
Q

concession

A

Accepting at least part or all of an opposing viewpoint.

102
Q

conditional statement

A

A conditional statement is an if-then statement and consists of two parts, an antecedent and a
consequent.

103
Q

contradiction

A

A contradiction occurs when one asserts two mutually exclusive propositions, such as, “Abortion
is wrong and abortion is not wrong.” Since a claim and its contradictory cannot both be true, one
of them must be false.

104
Q

counterexample

A

an example that runs counter to (opposes) a generalization, thus falsifying it.

105
Q

deductive argument

A

An argument in which it is thought that the premises provide a guarantee of the truth of the
conclusion.

106
Q

fallacy

A

A fallacy is an attractive but unreliable piece of reasoning.

107
Q

ad hominem

A

Latin for “against the man”. Personally attacking your opponents instead of their
arguments. It is an argument that appeals to emotion rather than reason, feeling rather than
intellect.

108
Q

appeal to authority

A

The claim that because somebody famous supports an idea, the idea must be
right.

109
Q

appeal to the bandwagon

A

The claim, as evidence for an idea, that many people believe it, or
used to believe it, or do it.

110
Q

appeal to emotion

A

An attempt to replace a logical argument with an appeal to the audience’s
emotions.

111
Q

bad analogy

A

Claiming that two situations are highly similar, when they aren’t.

112
Q

cliche thinking

A

Using as evidence a well-known saying, as if it is proven, or as if it has no
exceptions.

113
Q

false cause

A

Assuming that because two things happened, the first one caused the second one.

114
Q

hasty generalization

A

A generalization based on too little or unrepresentative data.

115
Q

non sequitur

A

A conclusion that does not follow from its premises; an invalid argument.

116
Q

slippery slope

A

The assumption that once started, a situation will continue to its most extreme
possible outcome.

117
Q

inductive argument

A

An argument in which it is thought that the premises provide reasons supporting the probable truth
of the conclusion.

118
Q

sound argument

A

A deductive argument is said to be sound if it meets two conditions: First, that the line of
reasoning from the premises to the conclusion is valid. Second, that the premises are true.

119
Q

unstated premises

A

Not every argument is fully expressed.

120
Q

valid argument

A

An argument is valid if the conclusion logically follows from the premises.

AP Language (1 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions