AP Language and Composition Skills Flashcards
Grade 11 · English · Flashcards
Essential rhetorical terms, devices, essay types, and analytical concepts for the AP Language and Composition exam.
Flashcards
- Ethos
- Appeal to credibility and character; established through expertise, honest evidence handling, and appropriate tone; answers 'why should we trust the speaker?'
- Pathos
- Appeal to emotion, values, and sympathies of the audience; uses vivid stories, emotional language, and imagery to move readers
- Logos
- Appeal to logic and reason; uses statistics, data, expert testimony, examples, and reasoned argument to persuade
- Kairos
- The opportune moment or timing for a message; the same argument can succeed or fail based on when and where it is delivered
- Anaphora
- Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses for rhetorical emphasis ('I have a dream that... I have a dream that...')
- Antithesis
- Contrasting ideas expressed in parallel grammatical structures to create sharp juxtaposition ('To err is human; to forgive, divine')
- Chiasmus
- A reversal of grammatical structures in successive clauses ('Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country')
- Periodic Sentence
- Sentence that builds suspense by placing the main clause at the end, after subordinate material; opposite of a cumulative (loose) sentence
- Synthesis Essay
- AP essay type requiring an original argument supported by evidence drawn from at least three of the provided sources; students lead, sources serve
- Rhetorical Analysis Essay
- AP essay requiring analysis of how specific rhetorical strategies serve the writer's purpose and affect the intended audience
- Claim (Thesis)
- The central, defensible argument of an essay; in AP Language, a strong claim takes a specific, contestable position and signals the line of reasoning
- Counterargument
- An opposing view that a writer acknowledges and responds to; addressing counterarguments builds ethos and makes arguments more persuasive
- Rhetorical Situation
- The context for a piece of writing: Speaker, Purpose, Audience, Context/Subject (SPACE or SOAPS); understanding it is the foundation of rhetorical analysis
- Diction
- Word choice; formal vs. informal, Latinate vs. Anglo-Saxon, abstract vs. concrete — diction shapes tone and reveals the writer's relationship to subject and audience
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