AP Rhetoric

erudite-

very-learned

Infinitives

"to be" verbs... "to come" "to show" "to dance"

Isocolon/parison

- A rhetorical term for a succession of clauses of approximately equal length and corresponding structure. Example: "Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get."(Mark Twain). "It takes a licking, but it keeps on ticking!"(advertising slogan of Timex watches). "Equal is your merits! Equal is your din!"

Anadiplosis

- A rhetorical term for the repetition of the last word of one line or clause to begin the next. Example: "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you."(Frank Oz as Yoda in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menance); "When I give I give myself."(Walt Whitman); "I am Sam, Sam I am."(Dr. Seuss, Green Eggs and Ham); "The land of my fathers. My fathers can have it."

Occlude-

verb- to obstruct or block

Disabuse-

verb- to undeceive; to set right

Malapropism:

A confused, comically inaccurate use of a long word or words. Ex: Rome and Juliet, the nurse says: "I desire some confidence with you sir."

Appeal to ignorance

A fallacy based on the assumption that a statement must be true if it cannot be proved false.

Appeal to authority

A fallacy in which a speaker or writer seeks to persuade not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for a famous person or institution.

False dilemma

A fallacy of oversimplification that offers a limited number of options (usually two) when in fact more options are available.

Synecdoche-

A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole. Example: All hands on deck; "The sputtering economy could make the difference if you're trying to get a deal on a new set of wheels." White-collar criminals

Metonymy-

A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated (such as "crown" for "royalty").Metonymy is also the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it, such as describing someone's clothing to characterize the individual. Example: The White House asked the television networks for air time on Monday night; The suits on Wall Street walked off with most of our savings

Anaphora

A rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. Example: I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun." (Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely). "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine."

Adage:

A saying or proverb embodying a piece of common wisdom based on experience and often couched in metaphorical language. (E.g. It is always darkest before the dawn.)

Nonsequitur:

A statement or idea that fails to follow logically from the one before.

False analogy

Error in assuming that because two things are alike in some ways, they are alike in all ways. EX. A school is not so different from a business. It needs a clear competitive strategy that will lead to profitable growth.

Ad Hominem

Instead of attacking an assertion, the argument attacks the person who made the assertion.

Apposition-

syntactic relation between expressions, usually consecutive, that have the same function and the same relation to other elements in the sentence, the second expression identifying or supplementing the first. In Washington, our first president, the phrase our first president is in apposition with Washington. Same as appositive.

Litotes

understatement, esp. that in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary, as in "not bad at all.

circumlocution

use of an unnecessarily large number of words or an indirect means of expression to express an idea so as to effect an evasion in speech

Verbiage-

use of many words without necessity

Running style

Sentence style that appears to follow the mind as it worries a problem through, mimicking the "rambling, associative syntax of conversation"--the opposite of periodic sentence style.

Verisimilitude:

Similar to truth; the quality of realism in a work that persuades the reader that he/she is getting a vision of life as it is.

abstruse-

dealing with matters difficult to be understood

Declarative

declaring a statement or fact

Refutation-

The part of an argument wherein a speaker or writer anticipates and counters opposing points of view.

Cadence:

The rising and falling rhythm of speech especially in free verse or prose.

Conundrum-

a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun

umbrage-

a sense of injury

Hasty generalization

Unsound inductive inference based on insufficient, inadequate, unspecified evidence.

Apostrophe-

a digression in the form of an address to someone not present, or to a personified object or idea, as "O Death, where is thy sting?"

Encomium-

a formal or discriminating expression of praise

Desuetude-

a state of disuse or inactivity

Invective:

a verbally abusive attack

Heretical-

adj. violating accepted dogma or convention

Convoluted-

adjective- complex or complicated

Eccentric-

adjective- departing from norms or conventions

Ubiquitous-

adjective- existing everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered; wide-spread

Dogmatic-

adjective- expressing a rigid opinion based on unproved or improvable principles

Loquacious-

adjective- extremely talkative

Truculent-

adjective- fierce and cruel; eager to fight

Torpid-

adjective- lethargic; sluggish; dormant

Perennial-

adjective- recurrent through the year or many years; happening repeatedly

Iconoclast-

an image-breaker

anathema-

anything forbidden, as by social usage

Concession

argumentative strategy by which a speaker or writer acknowledges the validity of an opponent's point

Post Hoc

because one thing follows another, it is held to cause the other.

Nascent

beginning to exist or develop

Diatribe-

bitter, sharply abusive denunciation, attack, or criticism. A bitter and abusive speech or writing.

Onerous-(on-er-uhs)

burdensome, oppressive, or troublesome; causing hardship

quixotic-

chivalrous or romantic to a ridiculous or extravagant degree

Aberrant

deviating from the ordinary, usual, or normal type; exceptional; abnormal

aberration-

deviation from a right, customary, or prescribed course

Opprobrium

disgrace or the reproach incurred by conduct considered outrageously shameful; infamy

Epistrophe

epiphora. Rhetoric . the repetition of a word or words at the end of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences, as in "I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong. ..."

Polyphrasis

excessive talking

Explication

explanation; interpretation

Exclamatory

expressing enthusiasm or excitement

Comestible-

fit to be eaten

Gossamer-

flimsy

Maudlin-

foolishly and tearfully affectionate

Ingenuous

free from reserve, restraint, or dissimulation; candid; sincere;artless; innocent; naïve; frank, straightforward; guileless

bumptious-

full of offensive and aggressive self-conceit

Avarice-

greed for riches; inordinate, miserly desire to gain and hoard wealth

asperity-

harshness or roughness of temper

Urbane

having the polish and suavity regarded as characteristic of sophisticated social life in major cities: an urbane manner. Reflecting elegance, sophistication, etc., esp. in expression: He maintained an urbane tone in his letters.

lascivious-

lustful

vociferous-

making a loud outcry

Eclectic

not following any one system, as of philosophy, medicine, etc., but selecting and using what are considered the best elements of all systems

Implacable

not to be appeased, mollified, or pacified; inexorable

Axiom-

noun- a universally recognized principle

Discretion-

noun- cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decisions

Hedonism-

noun- devotion to pleasurable pursuits, esp. to the pleasures of the senses

Misanthrope-

noun- one who hates all other humans

Magnanimity-

noun- the quality of being generously noble in mind and heart, especially in forgiving

Apocryphal-

of doubtful authority or authenticity

noisome-

offensive or disgusting; also harmful, unwholesome

Augury-

omen

moribund-

on the point of dying

Bombastic-

pompous; grandiloquent

acumen-

quickness of intellectual insight, or discernment; keenness of discrimination

contumacious-

rebellious

Epiphora/epistrophe

repetition of a word or phrase at the end of several clauses. Contrast with anaphora. Example: "Take whatever idiot they have at the top of whatever agency and give me a better idiot. Give me a caring idiot. Give me a sensitive idiot. Just don't give me the same idiot." "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as child."

Chiasmus

rhetoric reversal of the order of words in the second of two parallel phrases: he came in triumph and in defeat departs; He went to the country, to the town went she

Anachronism

something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, esp. a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time: The sword is an anachronism in modern warfare.An error in chronology in which a person, object, event, etc., is assigned a date or period other than the correct one

begging the question

supporting a claim with a reason that is really a restatement of the claim in different words

nadir-

the lowest point

Asyndeton

the omission of conjunctions, as in "He has provided the poor with Jobs, with opportunity, with self-respect." I came, I saw, I conquered

Vilify-

verb- to defame; to characterize harshly

Burgeon-

verb- to grow rapidly or flourish

Zeugma

the use of a word to modify or govern two or more words when it is appropriate to only one of them or is appropriate to each but in a different way, as in to wage war and peace or On his fishing trip, he caught three trout and a cold. Mr. Pickwick took his hat and his leave. He lost his coat and his temper. You held your breath and the door for me.

Polysyndeton

the use of several conjunctions in close succession, esp where some might be omitted, as in he ran and jumped and laughed for joy

Mitigate-

to become milder; lessen in severity

Abscond-

to depart suddenly and secretly, as for the purpose of escaping arrest.

Stymie

to hinder, block, or thwart

Amalgamate-

to mix or blend together in a homogeneous body

vituperate-

to overwhelm with wordy abuse.

Imperative

tone/sentence- commanding

Diaphanous-

transparent

Encominum-

tribute or eulogy in prose or verse glorifying people, objects, ideas, or events