AP Language Terms List

AP Language Terms List - the following is a list of rhetorical strategies, including literary terms and argumentative strategies you will need to know for the exam. Examining these techniques is how we understand not just what an author is saying, but how the way he says it truly impacts the meaning. They’ve been grouped together where appropriate. Define and find an example for each.

  1. Rhetoric - The study of effective communication; the study of the effects of audience on texts; the art of persuasion.

a.Rhetorical strategies can include everything about analysis: literary devices, imagery, diction, modes, argumentation, and syntax.

b.Rhetorical Triangle - Ethos, pathos, logos - you know these well :)

c.Rhetorical Question and pause (caesura) - question not expected to be answered; natural pause unmarked by punctuation

d.Rhetorical Modes of Discourse - expository/explication, narration, description,definition, cause/effect, compare/contrast, argumentation/persuasion, classification, order (chronological, least to most important, etc) and process analysis

  1. Syntax - the pattern or structure of the word order in a sentence or phrase; it is the study of grammatical structure; therefore, any techniques that use grammatical structure for effect fall under syntax.

a.Parallelism

i.anaphora/epistrophe

ii.asyndeton/polysyndeton

iii.isocolon/tricolon

iv.chiasmus/antimetabole

v.zeugma/syllepsis/ellipses

vi.amplification

b.Sentence Structure (see handout for types of sentences)

i.antithesis/juxtaposition/foil

ii.apostrophe/ecphonesis

  1. Literary Devices/Figurative Language (includes irony, metaphors, imagery, etc)

a.Similes/Metaphors

b.Personification

c.synecdoche/metonymy

d.hyperbole

e.litotes/understatement

f.paradox/oxymoron

  1. Other Devices

a.connotation/denotation

b.colloquialism/jargon/slang/dialect

c.parody/verisimilitude

d.euphemism/dysphemism

e.epithet

f.epigram/epigraph

g.axiom/aphorism

  1. Methods of Argumentation

a.Doublespeak

b.defensive/offensive

c.generalities

d.anticipating audience response

e.spin

f.call to action

g.rhetorical questions

h.lending credence

i.downplaying/intensifying

j.Rogerian vs. Aristotlean

k.Logical Fallacies

i.ad hominem

ii.non sequitur

iii.red herring

iv.slippery slope

v.false premise

vi.faulty syllogism

vii.sophistry

And that about covers it...Did I mention there will be quizzes? You make want to make flash cards or a quizlet for yourself.