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AP English Language & Composition > Rhetorical Devices - Summer Vocabulary Words > Flashcards

Rhetorical Devices - Summer Vocabulary Words Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

Ad Hominem (adj)

A
  • appealing to personal considerations rather than to reason
  • fallacy that occurs when, instead of attacking the argument, one attacks the person or source of the argument

Example: Socrates’ arguments about human excellence are rubbish. What could a man as ugly as he know about human excellence?

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2
Q

Alliteration (n)

A

Use of the same consonant at the beginning of each word

Example: Polly’s prancing pony performed perfectly.

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3
Q

Amplification (n)

A
  • addition of extra material or illustration or clarifying detail
  • adding more detail to a word or idea - such as imagery

Purpose: draws attention to a word, phrase, or idea that may otherwise be passed over

Example: The dog is an excellent breed, full of intelligence, loyalty, and overall healthfulness

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4
Q

Anacoluthon (n)

A
  • an abrupt change within a sentence from one synthetic structure to another
  • finishing a sentence with a different grammatical structure form than which it began with

Example: Seeing the changing leaves makes me so - I don’t want to talk about it.

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5
Q

Anadiplosis (n)

A

The repetition of the final words of a sentence or line at the beginning of the next

WARNING: NOT the same as anaphora. Anadiplosis uses a DIFFERENT word or phrase to be repeated in each clause or line, while anaphora uses the SAME word or phrase.

Example: Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.

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6
Q

Anaphora (n)

A

The repetition of a word or phrase to begin successive clauses

WARNING: NOT the same as anadiplosis. Anaphora uses the SAME word or phrase to be repeated in each clause or line, while anadiplosis uses a DIFFERENT word or phrase.

Example: Stay safe. Stay well. Stay happy.

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7
Q

Anastrophe (n)

A

The reversal of the normal order of words

REMEMBER: A hyperbaton transposes the order of words in a sentence for emphasis. An anastrophe, which transposes one word in the sentence, is a TYPE of hyperbaton.

Example: Powerful you have become.

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8
Q

Antiphrasis (n)

A

The use of a word in a sense opposite to its normal sense (especially in irony)

Example: “Friday” by Rebecca Black is a legendary song.

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9
Q

Antithesis (n)

A
  • the juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas for balance
  • refers to when a phrase contains two contrasting ideas and is used to paint a picture of the concept

Example: I hope that one day my children will be judged not by their skin color but by their character

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10
Q

Aposiopesis (n)

A

Breaking off in the middle of a sentence, leaving the sentence incomplete

Example: If you do that again, I’ll-

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11
Q

Apostrophe (n)

A

An address to an absent or imaginary person or non-human

Example: Oh nature, thou art my goddess

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12
Q

Apposition (n)

A
  • the act of placing close together or side by side
  • addition of an adjacent, coordinate, explanatory, or descriptive element to further describe a noun placed beside it

Example: Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, is America’s greatest inventor.

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13
Q

Archaism (n)

A

The use of an outdated expression

Example: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

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14
Q

Assonance (n)

A

The repetition of similar vowels in successive words

Example: The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.

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15
Q

Asyndeton (n)

A

The omission of conjunctions where they would usually be used

REMEMBER: the “A” stands for “absent.” Asyndeton is the OPPOSITE of polysyndeton.

Example: I came, I saw, I conquered

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16
Q

Bathos (n)

A

A change from a serious subject to a disappointing one

Example: In the United States, Osama bin Laden is wanted for conspiracy, murder, terrorism, and unpaid parking tickets.

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17
Q

Cacophony (n)

A

Loud, confusing, disagreeable sounds

Example: Crawling, sprawling, breaching spokes of stone

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18
Q

Catachresis (n)

A
  • strained or paradoxical use of words either in error (as “blatant” to mean “flagrant”) or deliberately (as in a mixed metaphor: “blind mouths”)
  • a powerful metaphoric phrase that combines highly unlikely ideas or objects in ways that can never be literally true

Example: His voice was a tornado of emotions

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19
Q

Chiasmus (n)

A

Inversion in the second of two parallel phrases

Example: All for one, and one for all.

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20
Q

Climax (n)

A

The decisive moment in a novel or play

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21
Q

Colloquialism (n)

A

An expression that seeks to imitate informal speech

Example: You’re nuts.

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22
Q

Dialectic (n)

A
  • arriving at the truth by the exchange of logical arguments
  • usually in the form of questions and answers
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23
Q

Discourse (n)

A
  • extended verbal expression in speech or writing
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24
Q

Ecphonesis (n)

A

An exclamatory rhetorical device to call/express sudden emotion - “O” is often used but is not necessary

Example: O, the times!

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25
Q

Epideictic (adj)

A
  • designed primarily for rhetorical display
  • speeches that praise or blame someone by describing their actions as shameful or commendable & typically take place at a celebration, commemoration/ceremony, or funeral
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26
Q

Epigraph (n)

A

A quotation at the beginning of some piece of writing

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27
Q

Epistrophe (n)

A

The repetition of the ends of successive sentences, verses, etc.

REMEMBER: An epistrophe is the opposite of an anaphora

Example: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

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28
Q

Epithet (n)

A
  • descriptive word or phrase
  • a phrase or adjective used to express a quality or characteristic that can be attributed to a person or thing

Example: My mother is very green-fingered, and she loves to do gardening.

Example: Ivan the Terrible

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29
Q

Eponym (n)

A

The name derived from a person (real or imaginary)

Example: Achilles’ heel

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30
Q

Eristic (n)

A
  • the art of logical disputation (especially if plausible, but actually wrong)
  • a literary device in which writers and speakers engage in a heated argument without reaching a conclusion or solving the particular issue
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31
Q

Euphemism (n)

A

An inoffensive expression substituted for an offensive one

REMEMBER: Euphemism sounds like euphoria –> makes it sound more pleasant

Example: We’re letting you go (You’re fired)

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32
Q

Euphony (n)

A

Any pleasing or harmonious sounds

REMEMBER: Euphony is the opposite of cacophony

Example: mists, mellow, close, sun, bless, vines. and eves

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33
Q

Exordium (n)

A

The introductory section of an oration or discourse

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34
Q

Hendiadys (n)

A

The use of two conjoined nouns instead of a noun and a modifier

REMEMBER: The example talks about the weather. “Hendiadys” reminds me of the word “sun.”

Example: rainy weather –> rain and weather

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35
Q

Hypallage (n)

A
  • the reversal of the syntactic relation of two words
  • a figure of speech in which an adjective qualifies a noun other than the person or thing it is describing

Example: her beauty’s face
Example: His coward lips did from their color fly

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36
Q

Hyperbaton

A
  • reversal order of normal word order

REMEMBER: A hyperbaton transposes the order of words in a sentence for emphasis. An anastrophe, which transposes one word in the sentence, is a TYPE of hyperbaton.

Example: Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing.

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37
Q

Hyperbole (n)

A

Extravagant exaggeration

Example: My feet are killing me

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38
Q

Hypothesis (n)

A

A message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence

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39
Q

Hysteron proteron (n)

A
  • the reversal of the normal order of two words or sentences, etc.
  • the chronological order does not make sense

Example: I die! I faint! I fall!

40
Q

Invective (n)

A
  • abusive language used to express blame or censure
  • an assaulting expression that aims to shame its target

Example: You dirty rotten scoundrel

41
Q

Irony (n)

A

Incongruity between what is expected and what occurs

42
Q

Jargon (n)

A
  • technical terminology characteristic of a particular subject
  • special words or expressions that are used by a particular person or group and are difficult for others to understand
43
Q

Litotes (n)

A
  • an understatement for rhetorical effect
  • an affirmative is conveyed by the negation of its opposite

Example: Hmm, this day has been less than good so far (bad)

44
Q

Maxim (n)

A

A statement that is widely accepted on its own merits

Example: Actions speak louder than words

45
Q

Metaphor (n)

A

A figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity without using the words “like” or “as”

46
Q

Metonymy (n)

A

Substituting the name of the feature for the name of a thing

Example: the “crown” refers to the “king”

47
Q

Non sequitur (n)

A

A conclusion that does not follow from its premises

REMEMBER: “sequitur” sounds like “sequence” –> the sequence leads to an unreasonable conclusion

Example: All trees are tall. All tall things are yellow. Therefore, all trees are green.

48
Q

Onomatopoeia (n)

A

Using words that imitate the sound they denote

Examples: bang, buzz, boom

49
Q

Oxymoron (n)

A

Conjoined contradictory terms

Example: Deafening silence

50
Q

Paradox (n)

A

A statement that contradicts itself

Example: Save money by spending it.

51
Q

Paralipsis (n)

A
  • suggesting by deliberately concise treatment that much of significance is omitted
  • the speaker specifies that he/she will not discuss a particular topic, yet still mentions it

REMEMBER: An ellipsis (…) is used to omit significance…“para” reminds me of “part,” so “partially an ellipsis”

Example: I will not mention the fact that she missed the last four meetings.

52
Q

Parallelism (n)

A
  • similarity by virtue of corresponding
  • a grammatical device that uses a consistent/parallel structure of two or more clauses, phrases, or words that have similar form and length

Example: No pain, no gain

53
Q

Parenthesis (n)

A
  • a message that departs from the main subject
  • typically surrounded by round or square brackets, commas, or dashes
54
Q

Parody (n)

A

A composition that imitates or misrepresents a style

55
Q

Paronomasia (n)

A

A humorous play on words, a pun

REMEMBER: “Paronomasia” sounds like “paranoid.” When I’m paranoid, I try to be funny or delusional.

Example: I love a good triangle, especially when it’s acute one with a good figure.

56
Q

Periphrasis (n)

A

An act of expressing things in an indirect or roundabout way

Example: The elongated yellow fruit (banana)

57
Q

Personification (n)

A

Representing an abstract quality or idea as human

58
Q

Pleonasm (n)

A

Using more words than necessary to convey a meaning, creating redundancy

Example: True facts –> facts are true

59
Q

Polyptoton (n)

A
  • repetition of a word in a different case or inflection in the same sentence
  • the repetition of words derived from the same root but with different endings

Example: To the movement of pain that is painless and motionless,
To the drift of the sea and the drifting wreckage

60
Q

Polysyndeton (n)

A

Using several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted

REMEMBER: The “poly” stands for many –> many conjunctions. Polysyndeton is the opposite of asyndeton.

Example: He ran and jumped and laughed for joy

61
Q

Prolepsis (n)

A
  • anticipating and answering objections in advance
  • the speaker deals with counterarguments before they arise

REMEMBER: The prefix pro- means forward/before. The objections are answered BEFOREhand.

62
Q

Prosopopoeia (n)

A

Representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature

REMEMBER: Prosopopoeia sounds complicated –> complicated & abstract

Example: death

63
Q

Rebuttal (n)

A

The speech act of refuting by offering a contrary argument

64
Q

Reductio Ad Absurdum (n)

A
  • (reduction to the absurd) a disproof by showing that the consequences of the proposition are absurd; or a proof of a proposition by showing that its negation leads to a proposition
  • the speaker/writer disproves a proposition by making an absurd conclusion in relation to the logical implications of the proposal
  • proving a claim by showing that its opposite would be absurd

Example: I didn’t want to steal the candy bar, but my friend told me to. If your friend told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?

65
Q

Repetition (n)

A

The continued use of the same word or word pattern

Examples: Anaphora, epistrophe, alliteration, assonance

66
Q

Simile (n)

A

A figure of speech expressing a resemblance between things using the words “like” or “as”

67
Q

Syllepsis (n)

A
  • use of a word to govern two or more words through agreeing in number or case etc. with only one
  • when a single word governs or modifies two or more others must be understood differently with respect to each of the words

REMEMBER: Syllepsis is a type of ellipsis: it takes out words but still adds syllables.

REMEMBER: Similar to zeugma, but both/all make logical sense

Example: I finally told Ross, late in the summer, that I was losing weight, my grip, and my mind.

68
Q

Syllogism (n)

A

Reasoning in which a conclusion is derived from two premises

Example: All mammals are animals. All elephants are mammals. Therefore, all elephants are animals.

69
Q

Symploce

A

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning and another at the end of successive clauses (the simultaneous use of anaphora and epistrophe)

Example: When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it. When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it.

70
Q

Syncope (n)

A

The loss of sounds from within a word

REMEMBER: Syncope sounds like another word that lost some letters

Example: ne’er (never)

71
Q

Synecdoche (n)

A

Using part of something to refer to the whole thing

Example: The alphabet is commonly referred to as the ABCs

72
Q

Tautology (n)

A
  • A statement that is necessarily true
  • A redundant word or phrase

REMEMBER: “Taut” means “tight,” if a person is tight (nervous), he/she may repeat the phrase unintentionally.

Example: She was so excited she could hardly contain her enthusiasm.

73
Q

Thesis (n)

A

An unproved statement advanced as a premise in an argument

74
Q

Topos (n)

A
  • a traditional theme, motif, or literary convention
75
Q

Trope (n)

A
  • language used in a nonliteral sense
  • any rhetorical device (metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, irony, etc.) that consists in the use of words other than their literal sense

REMEMBER: Tropes in books are not literal –> friends to lovers is so hard to find in real life

76
Q

Understatement (n)

A

Something said in a restrained way for ironic contrast

Example: Looks like it rained a bit last night (flood)

77
Q

Zeugma (n)

A

Rhetorical use of a word to govern two or more words, but only one makes literal sense

REMEMBER: Somewhat similar to syllepsis but only one makes literal sense

Example: He opened the door and his heart to the homeless man

78
Q

Aphorism (n)

A

A short pithy instructive saying

Example: The grass is always greener on the other side.

79
Q

Anecdote (n)

A

A short account of an incident

80
Q

Connotation (n)

A

An idea that is suggested or implied

81
Q

Denotation (n)

A

The most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression

82
Q

Precis (n)

A

A sketchy summary of the main points of an argument

REMEMBER: Precise sounds like precise, a summary should be precise, but the “e” in precis is missing, so it is sketchy

83
Q

Antecedent (n)

A

A preceding occurrence or cause or event

84
Q

Ellipsis (n)

A
  • a mark indicating that words have been omitted
  • omitting a few words for the reader to fill in gaps, but the sentence is still comprehendible
85
Q

Inductive reasoning (n)

A

Reasoning from detailed facts to general principles

Example: Every cat that you’ve observed purrs. Therefore, all cats must purr.

86
Q

Deductive reasoning (n)

A

Reasoning from the general to the particular

Example: All dogs have ears; golden retrievers are dogs, therefore they have ears.

87
Q

Juxtaposition (n)

A

The act of positioning close together to highlight differences

88
Q

Malapropism (n)

A

Misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar

REMEMBER: “Malapropism” sounds like “mal” and “appropriate” –> the word used is not appropriate & not correct

Example: My doctor gave me a subscription for my allergies

89
Q

Pedantic (adj)

A
  • marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning
  • a character that is pedantic may be someone who constantly corrects another’s grammar, is always ready with a new fact, or monitors events to make sure they turn out exactly as they expect
90
Q

Solecism (n)

A
  • a nonstandard or ungrammatical usage

REMEMBER: “sole wrongness/misuse of grammar”

Examples: Unflammable, they was

  • a socially awkward or tactless act
91
Q

Syntax (n)

A
  • the study of the rules for forming admissible sentences
  • how words and phrases are arranged in sentences
92
Q

Vernacular (n)

A
  • the everyday speech of people
  • the everyday language spoken by “a people”

REMEMBER: The spring season, different parts of the world experience different seasons

Example: soda, pop, soft drink

93
Q

Consonance (n)

A
  • the recurrence of similar consonant sounds in close proximity ANYWHERE in the word

Example: Some mammals are clammy

  • a harmonious state of things and of their properties
94
Q

Archetype (n)

A
  • a universal symbol or pattern that recurs in literature: characters, motifs, themes, symbols
  • something that serves as a model
95
Q

Ploce (n)

A

Repetition to gain special emphasis or extend meaning

Example: When she’s angry, she’s angry.

96
Q

Enjambment (n)

A

Continuation from one line of a verse to the next without a terminating punctuation

REMEMBER: You “jab” into the next verse

97
Q

Synesthesia (n)

A

A sensation that occurs when a different sense is stimulated

REMEMBER: Synesthesia –> synthesia –> piano

Example: The piano piece sounded like colors of blue, black, and purple.

AP English Language & Composition (1 decks)

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