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AP Lang & Comp > Rhetorical Devices > Flashcards

Rhetorical Devices Flashcards

1
Q

Latin for “against the man”; when a writer personally attacks his or her opponents instead of their arguments

A

Ad hominem (logical fallacy)

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2
Q

A narrative that serves as an extended metaphor; a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions

A

Allegory

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3
Q

Repetition of the same sound beginning several words in sequence

A

Alliteration

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4
Q

A brief reference to something literary, mythological, or historical

A

Allusion

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5
Q

A partial similarity of features on which a comparison may be based

A

Analogy

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6
Q

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines

A

Anaphora

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7
Q

Reversal of the usual, logical, or normal order of the parts of a sentence

A

Anastrophe

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8
Q

A short narrative account of an amusing, curious, revealing, or otherwise interesting event

A

Anecdote

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9
Q

One who deceives, opposes, or works against the main character of a story or poem

A

Antagonist

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10
Q

Repetition of words in reverse order

A

Antimetabole

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11
Q

The use of a word which conveys a sense opposite to its usual meaning

A

Antiphrasis

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12
Q

Opposition, or contrast, of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction

A

Antithesis

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13
Q

Language describing ideas and qualities rather than observable or specific things

A

Abstract language

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14
Q

The identification of a person by and epithet (an adjective or phrase describing someone) or other term that is not his name

A

Antonomasia

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15
Q

A general truth or observation about life, usually stated concisely, and often witty and wise

A

Aphorism

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16
Q

A sudden breaking off in the middle of a sentence, resulting from unwillingness or inability to proceed

A

Aposiopesis

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17
Q

The act of speaking directly to an absent or imaginary person, or to some abstraction

A

Apostrophe

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18
Q

A classification of writing; persuasive writing intended to convince the reader by proving the truth or establishing the falsity of an idea or proposition

A

Argumentation

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19
Q

The repetition of vowel sound

A

Assonance

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20
Q

Omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words (FANBOYS)

A

Asyndeton

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21
Q

French turn that means “vanguard “; often refers to literature or art that rejects traditional approaches in favor of innovations in style or content

A

Avant-garde

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22
Q

A narrative folk song

A

Ballad

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23
Q

Prejudice or predisposition toward one side of the subject or issue

A

Bias

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24
Q

A German word meaning “novel of development”; it is a study of the maturation of a youthful character, typically brought through a series of social encounters that lead to self-awareness

A

Bildungsroman

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25
Q

A rhythmic flow, or sequence of sounds in writing and speaking; the natural rhythm of language caused by the alternation of accented and unaccented syllables

A

Cadence

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26
Q

A pause, or break, and in a line of poetry

A

Caesura

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27
Q

Arrangement of repeated thoughts in the pattern of XYYX; they’re often short, summarizing the main idea

A

Chiasmus

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28
Q

A word, phrase, or form of pronunciation that is acceptable in casual conversation but not in formal, written communication; considered more acceptable than slang

A

Colloquialism

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29
Q

A fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor

A

Conceit

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30
Q

A reluctant acknowledgment or yielding

A

Concession

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31
Q

Language describing the perceptible and material world; it appeals or engages the senses

A

Concrete language

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32
Q

An association that comes along with a particular word; does not relate to the word’s actual meaning

A

Connotation

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33
Q

The repetition of consonant sounds anywhere within words

A

Consonance

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34
Q

Sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence, and builds and adds on

A

Cumulative sentence

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35
Q

The specific, exact, and concrete meaning of a word; a word’s literal meaning

A

Denotation

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36
Q

The classification of writing; writing intended to portray a sense of impression and to indicate mood; relays how something looks, tastes, smells, sounds, feels, or acts

A

Description

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37
Q

Latin term meaning “God out of a machine “; refers to an artificial device or coincidence used to bring about convenient and simple solution to a plot

A

Deus ex machina

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38
Q

Word choice; an element of style

A

Diction

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39
Q

From the Greek word meaning “to teach “; literature that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior

A

Didactic

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40
Q

A French phrase referring to a word or phrase with a “double meaning” [Joey from friends- how you doin?]

A

Double entendre

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41
Q

Genre of literature; a composition in prose or poetry presenting in pantomime and dialogue a story intended to be performed for an audience

A

Drama

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42
Q

The omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context (…)

A

Ellipsis

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43
Q

A moment of sudden revelation or insight

A

Epiphany

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44
Q

The name of someone so commonly associated with a specific characteristic or quality that the name itself stands for the attribute

A

Eponym

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45
Q

When the writer tries to persuade the audience to believe him and to gain their confidence based on his/her reputation and representation of him/ her throughout the text

A

Ethos (ethical appeal)

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46
Q

The study of the origin of words, an account of the history of a particular word

A

Etymology

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47
Q

The use of an indirect, mild, or vague word or expression for one thought to be coarse, offensive, or blunt (adds positive connotation)

A

Euphemism

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48
Q

A writers method of drawing us in

A

Exodium

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49
Q

The classification of writing; writing intended to explain, define, and interpret

A

Exposition

50
Q

Deliberate and intentional departure from normal word meanings or word order so as to gain freshness and strength of expression; writing that employs one or more figures of speech

A

Figurative language

51
Q

Expressive uses of language in which words are used in other than their literal senses so as to suggest or produce images in a readers’ mind; helps gain freshness and strength of expression

A

Figure of speech

52
Q

A narrative device that flashes back to the presentation of an incident that occurred prior to the opening scene of a literary work

A

Flashback

53
Q

A person or thing that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more prominent

A

Foil

54
Q

Showing, indicating, or suggesting before hand; in literature, it provides a hint of what is going to occur later

A

Foreshadowing

55
Q

A category of literary work; it can refer to a literary form (poetry, novel, drama, short story) or to the content or technique (tragedy, comedy)

A

Genre

56
Q

The Greek word meaning “fault”; an error in judgment also known as the “tragic flaw”; a fatal weakness that causes the downfall of a protagonist in tragedy

A

Hamartia

57
Q

Conscious exaggeration used to heighten effect

A

Hyperbole

58
Q

The use of concrete language to represent actions, persons, objects, and ideas descriptively; the formation of mental images

A

Imagery

59
Q

A term used to describe the so-called error of judging the meaning and success of a literary work in terms of the author’s expressed purpose in writing it

A

Intentional fallacy

60
Q

An intensely, highly emotional verbal attack

A

Invective

61
Q

Inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the subject – verb – object order)

A

Inversion

62
Q

The fact of language when the intended meaning is the opposite of what is stated (verbal) when the audience of a play or the reader of the piece know something that a character in the work itself does not (dramatic)

A

Irony

63
Q

Language that is used or understood by select group of people

A

Jargon

64
Q

A mournful complaint, an expression of sorrow, a lamentation denouncing evil; refers to any literary work which contains prophecies of destruction or complaints about the state of society and the world

A

Jeremiad

65
Q

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts

A

Juxtaposition

66
Q

The unit of meaning in poetry; comparable to a sentence in prose

A

Line

67
Q

A type of understatement in which something affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite

A

Litotes

68
Q

An appeal to logic

A

Logos (logical appeal)

69
Q

Direct comparison of two different things which suggests they’re somehow the same

A

Metaphor

70
Q

Substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it

A

Metonymy

71
Q

A reoccurring theme, idea, or subject in the literary work; the unifying thread in a work

A

Motif

72
Q

Can anonymous tale emerging from the traditional beliefs of a culture or social unit

A

Myth

73
Q

The classification of writing; writing intended to relate an event or series of events

A

Narration

74
Q

A device used at the beginning of a work of fiction intended to arouse the interest of readers and make the eager to read further

A

Narrative hook

75
Q

Turning a verb or an adjective into a noun

A

Nominalization

76
Q

Latin for “it does not follow”; when one statement isn’t logically connected to another

A

Non-sequitur

77
Q

A word formed by the imitation of a sound

A

Onomatopoeia

78
Q

The literary technique in which to contradictory words come together for special effect

A

Oxymoron

79
Q

Story design to convey some religious principal, moral lesson, or general truth

A

Parable

80
Q

Seemingly contradictory statement which is actually true, this rhetorical device is often used for emphasis or to attract attention to an issue or idea

A

Paradox

81
Q

A humorous imitation of a serious work

A

Parody

82
Q

Sentence construction which places in close proximity 2 or more equal grammatical constructions

A

Parallelism

83
Q

Crediting inanimate objects with the emotion and traits of human beings

A

Pathetic fallacy

84
Q

When a writer appeals to an audiences emotions to involve them in the story or argument

A

Pathos (emotional appeal)

85
Q

Describing an excessive display of learning or scholarship

A

Pedantic

86
Q

Sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end

A

Periodic sentence

87
Q

A Latin term meaning “mask”; it generally functions as a mask through which the author tells a story in a voice other than their own

A

Persona

88
Q

Attribution of a life like quality to an inanimate object or idea

A

Personification

89
Q

Verbal composition designed to convey experiences, ideas, any emotions in a vivid and imaginative way

A

Poetry

90
Q

A work in which the author takes a stand on a controversial subject; these works are often argumentative and provocative

A

Polemic

91
Q

The narrative perspective from which a literary work is presented to the reader

A

Point of view

92
Q

The deliberate use of a series of conjunctions

A

Polysyndeton

93
Q

Information, ideas, or rumor spread to help or harm a person, group, movement, belief, institution, or nation. A negative term for writing design to sway opinion rather than present information

A

Propaganda

94
Q

Every day writing using sentences and paragraphs

A

Prose

95
Q

A play on words that have similar sounds but different meanings

A

Pun

96
Q

Using the same words and phrases

A

Repetition

97
Q

The art of effective communication, especially in persuasive discourse; in it’s strictest sense, rhetoric adheres to the various principles developed since classical times for arranging facts and ideas in a clear, persuasive, ethical manner, although today it can refer to affective prose in general

A

Rhetoric

98
Q

Patterns of organization developed to achieve a specific purpose; modes include but are not limited to narration, description, comparison and contrast, cause-and-effect, definition, exemplification, classification and division, process analysis, and argumentation

A

Rhetorical modes

99
Q

Figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer

A

Rhetorical question

100
Q

The repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following them in words that are close together in a poem

A

Rhyme

101
Q

Harsh, cutting language/tone design to ridicule

A

Sarcasm

102
Q

A literary work that seeks to criticize and correct the behavior of human beings and their institutions by means of humor, wit, and ridicule

A

Satire

103
Q

Artful syntax

A

Scheme

104
Q

A figure of speech that compares two unlike things using the words like or as

A

Simile

105
Q

A type of informal communication that is generally unacceptable for formal writing

A

Slang

106
Q

A division in poetry often named for the number of lines it contains; comparable to a paragraph in prose

A

Stanza

107
Q

The overall manner in which an individual writer expresses ideas

A

Style

108
Q

The linking of one word with two other words in 2 strikingly different ways

A

Syllepsis

109
Q

A form of deductive reasoning in which the conclusion is supported by a major and minor premise

A

Syllogism

110
Q

Something that represents something else

A

Symbol

111
Q

A figure of speech whereby the part is substituted for the whole or the whole for the part

A

Synecdoche

112
Q

Sentence structures utilized by the writer

A

Syntax

113
Q

Combining or bringing together two or more elements to produce something more complex

A

Synthesize

114
Q

Needless repetition which adds no meaning or understanding

A

Tautology

115
Q

The central and dominating idea in a literary work, the message or moral implicit in any work of art

A

Theme

116
Q

An author’s attitude toward his or her subject, device used to create the mood and atmosphere of a literary work

A

Tone

117
Q

A weakness in character or error in judgment that leads to the protagonist’s destruction and/or death

A

Tragic flaw

118
Q

Artful diction; any literary or rhetorical device which consists of the use of words other than there a literal sense; Greek word meaning “turn” or “turning”

A

Trope

119
Q

Use of two different words in a grammatically similar way, but producing different, often incongruous meanings

A

Zeugma

120
Q

Opposite of euphemism, harsh, negative, offensive language

A

Dysphemism

AP Lang & Comp (6 decks)

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