1. Preparing for the AP exam
Rhetorical Devices
Preparing for the AP exam

2. Diction (Choice of Words)
Monosyllabic or Polysyllabic
Colloquial (slang), Informal (conversational), Formal (literary), or Anachronistic (Old-fashioned)
Denotative or Connotative
Concrete or Abstract
Euphonious (pleasant sounding) or Cacophonous (harsh sounding)

3. Syntax—sentence structure
Telegraphic (<than 5 words), Short (5 words), Medium (18 words), Long and Involved (30 words)
Declarative (statement), Imperative (command), Interrogative (question), Exclamatory (exclamation)
Simple (1 subject, 1 verb), Compound (2 independent clauses with a conjunction, Complex (1 independent and 1 subordinate clause), Compound-Complex (2 or more independent and 1 or more subordinate clauses)

4. Organization of the sentence
Loose—makes sense if brought to a close before the actual ending
Periodic—makes sense only at the end of the sentence
Balanced—phrases or clauses balanced each other—similar structure, meaning and/or length
Inverted-verb-subject

5. Syntax Stylistic Devices
Juxtaposition—normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another to create an effect of surprise
Parallelism—structural similarity in the arrangement of words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs.
Repetition—words, sounds, and ideas are repeated for enhancing rhythm and creating emphasis
Rhetorical Question—a question which expects no answer—Why have you forsaken me?
Antithesis—A direct contrast of structurally parallel word groupings—sink or swim.

6. Treatment of Subject Matter
Subjective (conclusions based on opinions, personal in nature)
Objective (based on facts, impersonal, scientific)
Supportive (use of evidence and opinions)

7. Figurative Language you should already know
Alliteration
Assonance
Consonance
Simile
Metaphor
Personification
Onomatopoeia
Hyperbole
Irony
Allusion

8. Other Must-Knows Figurative Language
Understatement (irony to represent something as much less than it is)—I could probably manage to survive on a salary of two million dollars per year.
Paradox (statement that contradicts itself—the more you know the more you know you don’t know--Socrates

9. Figurative Language
Oxymoron (a paradox that combines contrary terms into a single expression—jumbo shrimp)
Pun (play on words which are identical or similar in sound but have radically different meanings)
Sarcasm (verbal irony where what is praised is actually meant to be insulted)
Apostrophe (absent or dead are spoken to as if present, and the inanimate as if animate—The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.
Synecdoche/Metonymy (type of metaphor which a part is used to signify the whole or the whole can represent a part

10. Rhetorical Purposes Narration Description Example Definition
Comparison and Contrast
Division and Classification
Causal Analysis

11. Flaws in Appeal
Appeal to Authority—using an expert that is not qualified or with whom other experts disagree
Appeal to Force—predicts dangerous outcomes
Appeal to Popularity—Bandwagon—Everyone is doing it
Attacking the Person—Ad Hominem
False Dilemma—offers limited options
Hasty Generalizations—sample too small
Slippery Slope—threatens a series of increasingly dire consequences from taking a simpler course of action