AP LANGUAGE & AP LANGUAGE & COMPOSITIONCOMPOSITION

Rhetorical Terms ReviewSet 8

Miscellaneous Strategies

RHETORICRHETORICDefinition: the study and practice of effective

communication; the ability to use language effectively, particularly in argument and persuasion

Examples: Marc Antony’s speech over Caesar’s body in

Julius Caesar, in which he incites the crowd to revolt and go to war against the assassins.

Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech (and other writings) in which he argues for equality and brotherhood

SATIRESATIREDefinition: the use of irony, sarcasm, or

ridicule to emphasize the vice, foolishness or weaknesses in humans, organizations, or social conventions.

Examples: Gulliver's Travels, a satire of eighteenth-

century British society, and “A Modest Proposal,” both by Jonathan Swift.

most political cartoons in newspapers and magazines

The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, skits on Saturday Night Live

POINT OF VIEWPOINT OF VIEWDefinition: the position from which a story is narrated;

the narrator's viewpoint on events and characters.

Examples: “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father

gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.” from The Great Gatsby, told from Nick’s point of view.

If the point of view were 3rd person omniscient, then the reader would know the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters in the story. If it’s 3rd person limited, the reader only knows the thoughts of one or two characters.

ALLEGORYALLEGORYDefinition: an extended metaphor or “conceit” that is

sustained through whole sentences or even through a whole discourse in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated with meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The underlying meaning has moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters often represent abstract ideas such as charity, greed, or envy.

Examples: The Pandora woods in Avatar is an allegory for the

Amazon rainforest. Also, the attempt to get the Na'vi to 'cooperate' carries overtones of the U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.” (Owen Gleiberman, review of Avatar. Entertainment Weekly, Dec. 30, 2009).

Lord of the Flies is an allegory, with the island representing Eden or paradise, each of the boys representing a type of government, the conch representing authority, and so on.

TONETONEDefinition: the writer's attitude toward

the subject of the message. Elements that create tone include DIDLS.

Examples: In his New York Times column (29 July

2011 ), Charles M.  Blow conveys a bittersweet tone toward the Buffalo Soldiers and his grandfather in particular.

Orwell’s tone in “Shooting an Elephant” is conflicted and resentful toward both the British Empire and the Burmese.

TAUTOLOGYTAUTOLOGY

Definition: unnecessary repetition of an idea, in different words; to repeat the same thing in different words

Examples: a good-looking beautiful womana round circlea big gianta widow woman

CACOPHONY CACOPHONY ((ka-kä-fə-nē)ka-kä-fə-nē)

Definition: harsh or discordant sound, in writing created through use of sound devices like alliteration, assonance, consonance and onomatopoeia

Examples: It created a cacophony of hacking coughs,

bronchial rattles, asthmatic wheezes, consumptive croaks. (Angela’s Ashes)

The cacophony of phlegmatic and tubercular lungs was punctuated here and there by a moan or a scream of someone terrified, thrashing in the throes of a nightmare. —Ronald Gearles, Undoing Time, 2001

EPITHETEPITHETDefinition: an adjective or adjectival

phrase to characterize a person, thing, attribute, or quality; the use of a qualifying word or phrase to further describe something

Examples: Ivan the TerribleThe Artist formerly known as PrinceDwayne “The Rock” Johnson

EXPLETIVEEXPLETIVEDefinition: a figure of emphasis in which a single

word or short phrase, usually interrupting normal speech, is used to lend emphasis to the words on either side of the expletive but adds nothing to the meaning

Examples: "The strength of America's response, please

understand, flows from the principles upon which we stand.“ -- Rudy Giuliani, 9/11 Speech to the United Nations General Assembly

"The minimum wage, I might add, today is far less than it was in 1960 and 1970 in terms of purchasing power.“ -- Ralph Nader, 2000 NAACP Address

ANESIS (ANESIS (an'-e-sis )an'-e-sis )Definition: the addition of a concluding sentence that

diminishes the effect of what has been said previously.

Examples: She had set more track records than any woman in

the country. She had more stamina, skill, and perseverance than many of the best, but she had broken her leg and would not be competing this year.

"This year's space budget is three times what it was in January 1961, and it is greater than the space budget of the previous eight years combined. That budget now stands at 5 billion, 400 million dollars a year -- a staggering sum, though somewhat less than we pay for cigarettes and cigars every year.“ --John F. Kennedy, Rice University Address on Space Exploration