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Rhetorical terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| allegory | Use character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. Meaning usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence. |
| alliteration | The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words (as in “she sells sea shells”). Can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of the passage. |
| allusion | A direct or indirect reference to something that is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. Can be historical, literary, religious, topical, or mythical. |
| ambiguity | The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage. |
| analogy | A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them. Can explain something unfamiliar by associating it with or pointing out its similarity to something more familiar. |
| anaphora | The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses |
| antecedent | The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. The AP language exam occasionally asks for the antecedent of a given pronoun in a long, complex sentence or in a group of sentences. |
| antithesis | the opposition or contrast of ideas; the direct opposite. |
| aphorism | A terse statement of known authorship that expresses a general truth or a moral principle. (If the authorship is unknown, the statement is generally considered to be a folk proverb.) An aphorism can be a memorable summation of the author’s point. |
| apostrophe | A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. It is an address to someone or something that cannot answer. The effect may add familiarity or emotional intensity. |
| Asyndeton | the omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence |
| caricature | a verbal description, the purpose of which is to exaggerate or distort, for comic effect, a person’s distinctive physical features or other characteristics. |
| colloquial/colloquialism | The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing. Not generally acceptable for formal writing, colloquialisms give a work a conversational, familiar tone. Colloquial expressions in writing include local or regional dialects. |
| conceit | A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects. A conceit displays intellectual cleverness as a result of the unusual comparison being made. |
| connotation | The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning. Connotations may involve ideas, emotions, or attitudes. |
| denotation | The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color. (Example: the denotation of a knife would be a utensil used to cut; the connotation of a knife might be fear, violence, anger, foreboding, etc.) |
| diction | Related to style, diction refers to the writer’s word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness. Diction, combined with syntax, figurative language, literary devices, etc., creates an author’s style. |
| Epistrophe | the repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences. |
| euphemism | From the Greek for “good speech", more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept. May be used to adhere to standards of social or political correctness or to add humor or ironic understatement. |
| extended metaphor | A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work. |
| figure of speech | A device used to produce figurative language. Many compare dissimilar things. Figures of speech include apostrophe, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, oxymoron, paradox, personification, simile, synecdoche, and understatement. |
| homily | This term literally means “sermon,” but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice. |
| hyperbole | A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement. Hyperboles often have a comic effect; however, a serious effect is also possible. Often, hyperbole produces irony. The opposite of hyperbole is understatement. |
| imagery | The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. Imagery uses terms related to the five senses: visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, and olfactory. |
| irony/ironic | The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant, or the difference between what appears to be and what is actually true. Irony is often used to create poignancy or humor. |
| verbal irony | when the words literally state the opposite of the writer’s (or speaker’s) meaning |
| situational irony | when events turn out the opposite of what was expected; when what the characters and readers think ought to happen is not what does happen |
| dramatic irony | when facts or events are unknown to a character in a play or piece of fiction but known to the reader, audience, or other characters in the work |
| litotes | a form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite. Litote is the opposite of hyperbole. |
| metaphor | A figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity. |
| metonymy | A figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it. |
| onomatopoeia | A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words. |
| Juxtaposition | the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with a contrasting effect. |
| oxymoron | A figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox. Simple examples include “jumbo shrimp” and “cruel kindness.” |
| paradox | A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity. |
| parallelism | The grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity. |
| anaphora | A sub-type of parallelism, when the exact repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive lines or sentences. |
| parody | A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule. |
| personification | A figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions. |
| first-person point of view | tells the story with the pronoun, “I,” and is a character in the story. This narrator can be the protagonist, a secondary character, or an observing character. |
| third-person point of view | pronouns: he, she, & it. 2 subdivisions: __ omniscient: narrator w/ godlike knowledge presents thoughts/actions of any/all characters, or __ limited omniscient: narrator presents feelings/thoughts of only 1 character, only the actions of other chars. |
| Polysyndeton | uses repeated conjunctions to emphasize words or phrases in a sentence |
| repetition | The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern. |
| sarcasm | involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something. It may use irony as a device, but not all ironic statements are sarcastic. |
| satire | A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule. |
| symbol/symbolism | Generally, anything that represents itself and stands for something else. Usually, a symbol is something concrete that represents something more abstract. |
| synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole or, occasionally, the whole is used to represent a part. |
| syntax | The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. |
| theme | The central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers into life. |
| thesis | In expository writing, the thesis statement is the sentence or group of sentences that directly expresses the author’s opinion, purpose, meaning, or position. |
| tone | describes the author’s attitude toward his material, the audience, or both. |
| understatement | the ironic minimalizing of fact, understatement presents something as less significant than it is. |
| wit | intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights. |
Created by:
arianacontreras