AP ENGLISH III: SOME IMPORTANT CONCEPTS TO KNOW
I. Rhetoric: General Terms
Classical Arrangement: exordium (intro), narratio (narration), confirmatio (confirmation/proof) , refutatio (refutation/counterargument),
peroration (conclusion)
Modes of discourse: narrative, expository, argumentative/persuasive, descriptive, imaginative
Patterns of Development: narration, description, exemplification, definition, division/classification, process analysis, cause/effect, compare/contrast,
persuasion
Organization – the arrangement of the information in a text (e.g., chronological, cause/effect, problem/solution, spatial, order of importance
(strongest/weakest), categorical, comparison/contrast block [first compare, then contrast], compare/contrast point-by-point)
Persona -- the role(s) the author/speaker assumes (associated with ethos)
Purpose -- the central reason(s) for writing/speaking
Rhetorical Appeals: Logos--MESSAGE, appeal to logic; Pathos--AUDIENCE, appeal to emotion; Ethos--AUTHOR, appeal to credibility
Kairos – the opportune moment for persuasion
Rhetorical Analysis - analyzing how an author/speaker achieves the effects he or she does in a piece of discourse
Rhetorical devices -- words and phrases used to create an impact on the reader, whether for ethos, logos, or pathos (see Section II)
Style -- characteristics of a writer/speaker’s work, usually examined in terms of diction and syntax (see Section II)
Tone -- the attitude a writer takes towards the subject or audience (can be describe simply, such as “sarcastic” or “serious;” or for more complicated pieces, in
related terms, such as “disinterested, yet informed” or “passionate, yet reserved” or “aggressive and knowledgeable”
II. Examining Style: A Few Important Rhetorical Devices, Strategies, and Structures
A. DICTION--word choice and use (some can also be used with syntax)
1. General Figurative Language
double entendres - suggests two meanings, one of which is risqué (highly suggestive)
If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
euphemism - is a special form of understatement using a less offensive word to replace an offensive one. -- He recently passed away.
hyperbole - language used to overstate or add more detail -- "A million voices" were calling him.
litote (ironic understatement) - downplaying language -- He was not unintelligent. (= He was intelligent)
personification - implicit comparison where inanimate or nonhuman object is characterized by quality or action associated with human behavior
The trees whispered in the wind.
polemical language -- extremist language (developed through heavily connoted word choices)
puns - use of one word to suggest two different meanings, both appropriate: I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
Others you’ve heard and know: imagery, sensory details, symbol, foreshadowing, verbal irony and sarcasm, motif, cliché, allusion, onomatopoeia, mood
2. Comparison and explanation
analogy - implicit comparison that sets of proportional relationship between two sets of ideas
This (situation) is to that as this is to that.
appositive - placing one word or phrase next to another to add more detail (definitely also syntax) Mr. Smith, the science teacher, was a very happy man.
epithets - single-word adjective linked to a person or thing to describe a specific quality -- Alexander, the Great
juxtaposition – placing side by side for comparison (an oxymoron is a small-scale example)
metaphor - implied comparison (is, are) -- He was a rock.
metonymy – A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated -- When he killed the King, everyone
knew he sought the crown.
oxymoron - linking two apparently contradictory words in a single phrase -- There was a "silent noise" about the battlefield.
paradox - an apparent contradiction -- He lived in Dead Man's Hollow. (also syntax)
personification - implicit comparison where inanimate or nonhuman object is characterized by quality or action associated with human behavior
The trees whispered in the wind.
simile - like or as to compare two different ideas, things -- He stood like a tree.
synecdoche - A figure of speech is which a part is used to represent the whole or the whole for a part (a kind of metonymy) -- He jumped in his wheels and left.
3. Language
archaic diction - outdated word usage -- Why dost thou talk like that?
colloquialism - informal expression more often used in casual conversation than in formal speech/writing. I’m gonna go and get a drink from the fridge.
connotation – the associated feelings and emotions around a word
denotation – the definition of a word; the literal meaning
dialect - a regionalized version of a language (ours is “Appalachian dialect”) -- I ain’t thinkin’ ‘bout nothin’ no more.
euphemism - is a special form of understatement using a less offensive word to replace an offensive one -- He recently passed away.
idiom – an expression in a language unique to that language or dialect “It’s raining cats and dogs.”
4. Address and Order
apostrophe - a direct address to the audience or a character within the work-- Congress, why have you not yet agreed on anything?
anachronism – an error in chronology – Romeo plugged his iPhone into the charger and took a drink.
B. SYNTAX--Sentence-level (some can also be used as diction)
1. Sentence and Sentence Structure
Basic Types: Declarative, Exclamatory, Imperative (identified particularly often in analysis), Interrogative
clauses and phrases – groups of words (clauses have both a subject and predicate) that make up part of a sentence; different types (e.g.,
prepositional phrases, participial phrases, independent clauses) are used for different effects
cumulative sentence- a sentence that build meaning upon the previous sentence
“I look forward to a great future for America, a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our
wisdom, its power with our purpose. I look forward to an America which will not be afraid of grace and beauty,
which will protect the
beauty of our natural environment, which will preserve the great old American houses and squares and parks of our national past, and which will
build handsome and balanced cities for our future.” -JFK
hortatory - using language to urge or strongly encourage -- Let us all stand.
inversion (inverted sentence) – a sentence in which the verb precedes the subject. -- Go into the woods, he will. – Give to him a hug.
parallelism -Sentence level (SYNTAX): having congruent parts
My favorite things are running in the rain, sleeping in a tent, and biting my nails.
Whether he knew, we can only guess, and whether he cared, we can only hope. (See the similar structures?)
periodic sentence- a sentence where the main clause isn’t expressed until the end (sometimes called “suspended syntax). The clause is delayed for
emphasis, usually by parallel structures and repetitious phrases/clauses).
“If, instead of listening to the war-mongers of the military-industrial establishment, the politicians had only listened to what people had been writing
in their letters and in the newspaper columns, if they had only listened to what the demonstrators had been shouting in the streets and on the campuses,
if they had only listened to what was in their hearts, the war would have ended long ago.” -JFK
rhetorical question--a question asked for effect rather than to solicit an answer
rhetorical fragment--a purposeful sentence fragment used to emphasize a word, phrase, or clause
sentence length: long, short, choppy, fragment
sentence variety -- offering a mix of basic structure types (simple, compound, complex, compound/complex), purposes (declarative, exclamatory,
interrogative, imperative) lengths (short, long), and advanced structures (period, cumulative, inverted, rhetorical fragment, rhetorical question)
zeugma - A general term describing when one part of speech (most often the main verb, but sometimes a noun) governs two or more other parts of a sentence
(often in a series) "He carried a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men." (Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried)
2. Interruption and Omission
anacoluthon - when a sentence abruptly changes from one syntactic structure to another -Agreements entered into when one state of facts exists -- are they to be maintained regardless of changing conditions?
The man who was in the barn—he was the man who was putting up hay.
All of the things we want—do we really want them?
aposiopesis – a device that simulates the impression of a speaker so overwhelmed by emotions that he or she is unable to continue speaking
Why I oughta-ellipsis - the omission of words or phrases that are implied by context
The woman worked, she slept, she worked. / I am a fraidy-cat; my wife, a daredevil.
exclamation - a type of interruption in which
speaker or writer stops a sentence midway and addresses an individual -This is not what I had in—Charles, stop that!
parenthesis - an interruption of a sentence before completion to insert some word, phrase, or clause that launches a new idea
He told his wife - and his family whom he loved more than anything - that he was leaving.
3. Repetition, Rhythm, and Pacing
anadiplosis – repetition of the last word of a line/clause/sentence at the beginning of the next.
They said it was a mistake. Mistakes are funny things, though.
anaphora - the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines, phrases, clauses, verses, or sentences.
Never again will I make that mistake. Never again will I drink old milk. Never again will dairy make me throw up. Never again.
antimetabole - a figure of speech in which a pair of words is repeated in reverse order
“All for one, and one for all.”
antithesis - grammatical forms or parts of speech that are repeated in the sentence and are used to express opposing or contrary meaning
He was worried about his reputation, not his income.
asyndeton – purposeful omission of conjunctions for rhetorical effect
"Give me your tired, your poor, [and] your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”
epistrophe - the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive lines, phrases, clauses, verses, or sentences. (opposite of anaphora)
“We are born to sorrow, pass our time in sorrow, end our days in sorrow.”
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us." —Emerson
mesodiplosis - "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not
destroyed..." -Second Epistle to the Corinthians
pacing -- (sentence level) a general term for the rhythm and speed of a piece, controlled by sentence length and type (see “sentence
variety”)
polyptoton – repetition of different versions of a word with the same root. --"With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder." -Shakespeare
polysyndeton – The repetition of conjunctions in close succession, especially where not needed, for
rhetorical effect -- He wanders here and there and everywhere.
III. Other rhetorical strategies
1. Argumentative techniques
obfuscation – the concealment of intended meaning, making communication confusing, intentionally ambiguous, and difficult to interpret.
paralipsis - a kind of irony in which the speaker proposes not to speak of a matter, but still somehow reveals it
circumlocution – talking around a subject rather than addressing it directly
raising extremes – using another’s extreme argument to make one’s own look less extreme
2. Logical Fallacies
(just a few)
Straw man – arguing with an over-simplified version of an opposing argument
Non sequitur – making a conclusion that doesn’t follow from the reasons
False dilemma/false dichotomy – acting as if the decision is either______or _______ when there could be other options
Ad hominem – attacking an opponent’s character rather than his or her argument
Slippery slopes – assuming a chain of events will occur (If we allow this to happen…)
Red herrings – changing the argument by discussing something related but not the central issue
Hasty generalizations – drawing conclusions too quickly without considering all sides of the issue
Post hoc – assuming a relationship (especially cause and effect) when there isn’t grounds for such an assumption
Begging the question – talking around the question (sometimes called circumlocution; often, obfuscation is lumped into this category)
IV. Literary and Other Writing Conventions Theme, point of view, plot, setting, mood, major points, citation, transitions