AP English Language and Composition Exam: Rhetorical and Literary Terms 2

Ensure you're prepared for the AP English Language and Composition Exam by learning the words in this collection of essential vocabulary. Our lists cover the language you'll see in test questions and writing prompts, important rhetorical and literary terminology, and vocabulary related to writing and grammar.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. anaphora
    repetition of a word or phrase to begin successive clauses
  2. aphorism
    a short pithy instructive saying
  3. chiasmus
    inversion in the second of two parallel phrases
  4. cliche
    a trite or obvious remark
  5. colloquialism
    an expression that seeks to imitate informal speech
  6. conceit
    an artistic device or effect
  7. contradiction
    opposition between two conflicting forces or ideas
  8. emphasis
    special and significant stress by position or repetition
  9. idiom
    expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from its words
  10. litotes
    understatement for rhetorical effect
  11. non sequitur
    a conclusion that does not follow from the premises
  12. oxymoron
    conjoined contradictory terms
  13. paradox
    a statement that contradicts itself
  14. perspective
    a way of regarding situations or topics
  15. point of view
    a mental position from which things are perceived
  16. premise
    a statement that is held to be true
  17. rhetorical question
    an inquiry that is not supposed to be answered
  18. sarcasm
    witty language used to convey insults or scorn
  19. syllogism
    reasoning in which a conclusion is derived from two premises
  20. understatement
    something said in a restrained way for ironic contrast
Created on Wed Feb 10 10:31:25 EST 2021 (updated Wed Feb 10 11:44:02 EST 2021)

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