Ms. Crandell
AP Language Rhetorical Terms
Anaphora (uh-naf-er-uh): One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression (word or words)
is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences. Ex. “It was the best of times; it
was the worst of times.” Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Anastrophe (or inversion): transposition of normal word order. Ex: “The helmsman steered; the ship
moved on; yet never a breeze up blew.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Antecedent (an-tuh-seed-nt) - The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. The AP Literature
exam occasionally asks for the antecedent of a given pronoun in a long, complex sentence or in a group of
sentences. Ex: “Our two souls therefore, which are one, / Though I must go, endure not yet / A breach, but
an expansion, / Like gold to airy thinness beat. / 25 If they be two…” John Donne, from A Valediction:
Forbidding Mourning (the antecedent for “they” in line 25 is “Our two souls”)
Antistrophe (an-tis-truh-fee): repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses. Ex:
”In 1931, ten years ago, Japan invaded Manchukuo -- without warning. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia -without warning. In 1938, Hitler occupied Austria -- without warning. In 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia
-- without warning. Later in 1939, Hitler invaded Poland -- without warning. And now Japan has attacked
Malaya and Thailand -- and the United States --without warning.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
Aporia: expression of doubt (often feigned) by which a speaker appears uncertain as to what he should
think, say, or do. Ex: “Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do?'” Luke 16
Asyndeton: lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words. Ex: “But, in a larger
sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.” Lincoln, Gettysburg
Address
Hypophora: Raising and responding to one’s own questions. A common usage is to ask the question at
the beginning of a paragraph and then use the paragraph to answer it. Writers use hypophora to raise
questions which they think the reader obviously has in mind and would like to see formulated and
answered. Ex: “When the enemy struck on that June day of 1950, what did America do? It did what it
always has done in all its times of peril. It appealed to the heroism of its youth.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower
Paraprosdokian: surprise or unexpected ending of a phrase or series.
going was good.” Alistair Cooke on the Duke of Windsor
Ex: “He was at his best when the
Pleonasm: use of superfluous or redundant words, often enriching the thought. Ex: I have seen no
stranger sight since I was born.
Polysyndeton: the repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases, or clauses. Ex: “I
said, ‘Who killed him?’ and he said, ‘I don't know who killed him but he's dead all right,’ and it was dark and
there was water standing in the street and no lights and windows broke and boats all up in the town and
trees blown down and everything all blown and I got a skiff and went out and found my boat where I had
her inside Mango Bay and she was all right only she was full of water.” Hemingway, After The Storm
Syllepsis (also called zeugma): use of a word with two meanings, each of which is understood differently.
Ex: “We must all hang together or assuredly we will all hang separately.” Benjamin Franklin
Information in handout compiled from the following resources:
Essential Literary Terms with Exercises – Sharon Hamilton
A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices – Robert A. Harris [http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm] American Rhetoric: Rhetorical
Figures in Sound [http://www.americanrhetoric.com/rhetoricaldevicesinsound.htm]
“Glossary of Terms” – V. Stevenson