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AP English > Rhetorical Terms > Flashcards

Rhetorical Terms Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
0
Q

A method of storytelling in which the narrator knows the thoughts of all of the characters in the story

A

Third-person omniscient point of view

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1
Q

An ‘all-knowing’ kind of narration; the narrator has full knowledge of the story’s events and of the motives and unspoken thoughts if the various characters.

A

Omniscient narration

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2
Q

When something is stated too strongly; exaggerated or overemphasized

A

Overstatement

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3
Q

A short story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson; a statement or comment that conveys meaning indirectly by the use of comparison, analogy, or the like

A

Parable

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4
Q

A humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing

A

Parody

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5
Q

A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth

A

Paradox

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7
Q

Phrases or clauses within a sentence that are written in the same grammatical pattern; Ex: “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

A

Parallel syntactic structure

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8
Q

The main point of the sentence is located at the end

A

Periodic sentence structure

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9
Q

When the subject of the sentence is acted on by the verb

A

Passive voice

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10
Q

Slavish attention to rules, details

A

Pedantry

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11
Q

The speaker, voice, or character assumed by the author of a piece of writing

A

Persona

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12
Q

A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something

A

Perspective

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13
Q

A belief or set of beliefs, esp. religious or political ones

A

Persuasion

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14
Q

The freedom to depart from the facts of a matter or from the conventional rules of language when speaking or writing in order to create an effect

A

Poetic license

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15
Q

The narrator’s position in relation to the story being told

A

Point of view

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16
Q

A fallacy that consists in assuming that a particular event, B, is caused by another event, A, simply because B follows A in time

A

Post hoc fallacy

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17
Q

A negative term for writing designed to sway opinion rather than present information

A

Propaganda

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18
Q

Written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure

A

Prose

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19
Q

The leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text

A

Protagonist

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20
Q

A quality or accomplishment that makes someone suitable for a particular job or activity

A

Qualification

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21
Q

A cause, explanation, or justification for an action or event

A

Reason

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22
Q

Something, esp. a clue, that is or is intended to be misleading or distracting

A

Red herring

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23
Q

Disproof: any evidence that helps to establish the falsity of something

A

Refutation

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24
Q

The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, esp. the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques

A

Rhetoric

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25
Q

A question asked more to produce an effect than to summon an answer

A

Rhetorical question

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26
Q

An ironic, sarcastic, or witty composition that claims to argue for something, but actually argues against it

A

Satire

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27
Q

A figure of speech that uses “like” or “as” to compare two things

A

Simile

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28
Q

A method of description that begins at one geographical point and moves onward in an orderly fashion

A

Spatial order

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29
Q

An instance of a form of reasoning in which a conclusion is drawn (whether validly or not) from two given or assumed propositions (premises), each of which shares a term with the conclusion, and shares a common or middle term not present in the conclusion

A

Syllogism

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30
Q

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language

A

Syntax

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31
Q

The place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place

A

Setting

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32
Q

A narrative mode that seeks to portray an individual’s point of view by giving the written equivalent of the character’s thought processes, either in a loose interior monologue, or in connection to his or her actions

A

Stream of consciousness narration

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33
Q

A thing that represents or stands for something else, esp. a material object representing something abstract

A

Symbol

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34
Q

A manner of expression in writing

A

Tone

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35
Q

The presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is

A

Understatement

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36
Q

An imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect

A

Utopia

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37
Q

The distinctive tone or style of a literary work or author

A

Voice

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38
Q

Mental sharpness and inventiveness; keen intelligence

A

Wit

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39
Q

Dealing with ideas rather than events

A

Abstract

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40
Q

The voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is performing the action or causing the happening denoted by the verb

A

Active voice

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41
Q

Giving or designed to give pleasure through beauty; of pleasing appearance

A

Aesthetic

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42
Q

An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference

A

Allusion

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43
Q

A negative term applied to a vague or equivocal expression when precision would be more useful

A

Ambiguity

44
Q

Placing an event, person, item, or verbal expression in the wrong historical period

A

Anachronism

45
Q

A thing or event that existed before or logically precedes another

A

Antecedent

46
Q

A drop, often sudden and unexpected, from a dignified or important idea or situation to one that is trivial or humorous

A

Anticlimax

47
Q

A comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification

A

Analogy

48
Q

Any writing in verse or prose that has a double meaning

A

Allegory

49
Q

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

A

Anecdote

50
Q

An attempt to link the validity of a premise to a characteristic or belief of the person advocating the premise

A

Ad hominem fallacy

51
Q

A fallacious argument that concludes a proposition to be true because many or all people believe it

A

Ad populum fallacy

52
Q

a fallacy of defective induction, where it is argued that a statement is correct because the statement is made by a person or source that is commonly regarded as authoritative

A

Appeal to authority

53
Q

A very typical example of a certain person or thing

A

Archetype

54
Q

A thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof

A

Assumption

55
Q

An account of a person’s life written by that person

A

Autobiography

56
Q

A sub-genre of comedy and satire in which topics and events that are usually regarded as taboo, are treated in an unusually humorous or satirical manner while retaining their seriousness

A

Black comedy

57
Q

A logical fallacy in which a premise of an argument contains a direct or indirect assumption that the conclusion is true; offering a circular argument; circular reasoning

A

Begging the question

58
Q

A picture, description, or imitation of a person or thing in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect

A

Caricature

59
Q

A linear sequence of events that logically progress from one to the other, with the prior action “causing” the latter to happen

A

Cause and effect

60
Q

The order in which events happen, especially when emphasizing a cause-effect relationship in history or in a narrative

A

Chronological ordering

61
Q

The process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions

A

Catharsis

62
Q

State or assert that something is the case, typically without providing evidence or proof

A

Claim

63
Q

The most intense, exciting, or important point of something; a culmination or apex

A

Climax

64
Q

A word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation

A

Colloquialism

65
Q

A fanciful expression in writing or speech; an elaborate metaphor

A

Conceit

66
Q

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

A

Connotation

67
Q

A common feature that has become traditional or expected within a specific genre (category) of literature or film

A

Convention

68
Q

To offer praise which is too moderate or marginal to be considered praise at all

A

Damning with praise

69
Q

A conclusion that has been deduced

A

Deduction

70
Q

The literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests

A

Denotation

71
Q

A turn of phrase intended to produce a particular effect in speech or a literary work

A

Device

72
Q

The art of investigating or discussing the truth of opinions

A

Dialectic

73
Q

Conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie

A

Dialogue

74
Q

Intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive

A

Didactic

75
Q

A temporary departure from the main subject in speech or writing

A

Digression

76
Q

A formal discussion of a topic in speech or writing

A

Discourse

77
Q

A short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme

A

Epigraph

78
Q

A moment of sudden revelation or insight

A

Epiphany

79
Q

Relating to or denoting the writing of letters or literary works in the form of letters

A

Epistolary

80
Q

A phrase or statement written in memory of a person who has died, esp. as an inscription on a tombstone

A

Epitaph

81
Q

The quality of being pleasing to the ear, esp. through a harmonious combination of words

A

Euphony

82
Q

A detailed explanation of the meaning of something

A

Explication

83
Q

The part of a play or work of fiction in which the background to the main conflict is introduced

A

Exposition

84
Q

A speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly, typically someone who has just died

A

Eulogy

85
Q

A word or phrase used to fill out a sentence or a line of verse without adding to the sense

A

Expletive

86
Q

A situation in which only two alternatives are considered, when in fact there are other options

A

False dilemma

87
Q

A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter

A

Genre

88
Q

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally

A

Hyperbole

89
Q

Supposed but not necessarily real or true

A

Hypothetical

90
Q

A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words

A

Idiom

91
Q

Reversing a normal word order of the sentence

A

Inverted syntax

92
Q

Visually descriptive or figurative language, esp. in a literary work

A

Imagery

93
Q

The logical assumption or process of assuming that what is true for a single specimen or example is also true for other specimens or examples of the same type

A

Induction

94
Q

A literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character’s words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character

A

Irony

95
Q

Taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory

A

Literal

96
Q

Ironical understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary

A

Litotes

97
Q

Into the middle of a narrative; without preamble

A

In medias res

98
Q

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable

A

Metaphor

99
Q

A sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions

A

Melodrama

100
Q

A conspicuous recurring element, such as a type of incident, a device, a reference, or verbal formula, which appears frequently in works of literature

A

Motif

101
Q

A conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement

A

Non sequitur

102
Q

A sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations

A

Nostalgia

103
Q

A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

A

Oxymoron

104
Q

A traditional story, esp. one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events

A

Myth

105
Q

The atmosphere or pervading tone of something, esp. a work of art

A

Mood

106
Q

Looking back on or dealing with past events or situations

A

Retrospective

AP English (2 decks)

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