Conquering the multiple-choice section of the English Literature AP® exam depends in part on being able to identify and understand certain essential literary concepts, known in this article as rhetorical terms. The AP® English Literature rhetorical terms defined and described below are only a sampling of the many concepts that could appear on the test. However, these 15 terms are some of the must-know concepts necessary for success in the English Literature exam.

Studying These Terms

I personally found writing the words and their definitions over and over again, an approach known as inculcation, to be the best way for me to master this vocabulary before I took the AP® English Literature exam. When facing a large vocabulary list such as this one, it’s easy to look at and consider it as a whole, a practice that creates a lot of unnecessary stress.

Compartmentalization is a very useful study skill we can employ in exploring AP® English Literature rhetorical terms. Try not to consider the list as a whole. Try to think of these terms as independent parts that must be placed in different compartments so that they can be easily called up when they’re needed. You’ll know exactly where to find them when you need them if you study them in parts. Consider the 15 rhetorical terms below the first set of words for you to study.

AP® English Literature Rhetorical Terms

1. Alliteration

The repetition of the same initial consonants of words or of stressed syllables in any sequence of neighboring words

Purpose: Alliteration highlights a particular part of a piece through the repetition of initial consonants. The repetition of certain sounds creates emphasizes not only the words in the passage themselves but on the pattern, creating a musical effect.

Example: American Airlines, Best Buy, Coca-Cola

2. Allusion

An indirect or passing reference to an event, person, place, or artistic work

Purpose: Allusion allows the audience to connect the characteristics of one object/concept to another. More often than not, an allusion in a literary work refers to some feature of another, previous literary work.

Example: One everyday example of an allusion is “This place is a Garden of Eden.” Literally, the place probably isn’t evocative of the biblical Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis, but the intended meaning is that the setting is a paradise.

3. Analogy

Comparing two things or instances in time often based on their structure and used to explain a complex idea in simpler terms

Purpose: Analogies are typically used to clarify or explain an author’s idea to the reader by likening a new idea to an older, better known one. They typically appear as similes that allow the reader to more easily understand the author’s meaning. It’s important for the reader to be able to understand or able to infer using context clues the meaning of the comparison.

Example: An everyday example of an analogy that appears as a simile is “nails on a chalkboard.” Readers understand the assaulting sound of nails on a chalkboard and are encouraged to liken it to some new occurrence that is assaulting or annoying.

4. Antithesis

A device used to create contrast by placing two parallel but opposite ideas in a sentence

Purpose: Antithesis literally means opposite, but the rhetorical definition calls for parallel structures of contrasting words or clauses. These opposing words or clauses are placed in close proximity within a sentence in order to create a focal point for the reader.

Example: A well-known example of antithesis is “Speech is silver, but silence is gold.” The two opposites, speech and silence, are compared to one another by using the stratified value of silver and gold.

5. Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds two or more times in short succession within a sentence or phrase

Purpose: Consonance is, again, a device used by writers in order to create focus on a particular part of a piece. In many cases, consonance appears in poetry as a device used to create slant rhymes.

Example: An easy way to think of consonance is to remember tongue twisters like “She sells sea shells down by the sea shore.”

6. Diction

Refers to the author’s word choice

Purpose: Diction is the umbrella term used to identify an author’s choice of words. This is important to define because understanding diction allows the reader to identify other concepts like the tone of a piece, the intended audience, or even the era in which the piece was written.

Example: Examples of diction are present throughout whatever piece you’re reading. Notice repetitive words, phrases, and thoughts. Consider the lofty or lowly word choice such as the formal “ye” versus the informal “you.”

7. Ellipsis

When one or more words are omitted from a sentence

Purpose: Often, ellipsis is used to omit some parts of a sentence or even an entire story, forcing the reader to figuratively fill in the gaps. This heavily depends on the reader being not only invested but also immersed in the story enough to care about what happens during those gaps.

Example: A good example of ellipsis is “I went to the park, and she went too.” The reader can infer that she also went to the park, though “to the park” is omitted from the second clause.

8. Ethos

A characteristic spirit of a given culture, era, or community or its beliefs; Ethos, in purely rhetorical terms, is a label used to identify an appeal to the ethics of a culture or individual

Purpose: The purpose of an appeal to ethos, an ethical appeal, is to establish the speaker’s credibility through exposition of that speaker’s character. Identifying an ethical appeal will be of particular use to readers when analyzing the work of the ancients.

Example: Consider the overlap between diction and appeal. The author’s word choice can tip the reader off that an ethical appeal is being made.

9. Hyperbole

An intentionally exaggerated statement or claim not meant to be taken literally but creating a desired humorous effect

Purpose: A hyperbole involves exaggeration in order to create emphasis. Unlike other figurative language devices, hyperbole creates emphasis through the humorous effect that is created by the author’s overstatement.

Example: One of the best examples is the phrase “I’m dying to…” One is literally not dying to see someone or do something, but the exaggeration intends to show affection or intense longing while maintaining a humorous tone.

10. Imagery

Visually descriptive or figurative language

Purpose: Imagery is used to characterize objects, actions, and ideas in a way that appeals to our physical senses. The true purpose of imagery is to create a visual imagination of the scenarios or things being described.

Example: Again, consider the diction of the piece. Imagery is created by the writer’s choice of words. Evocative words that arouse the senses—touch, sight, smell, etc.—are indicators of imagery at work.

11. Irony

The expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite of what the writer intends to achieve a humorous effect or to add emphasis.

Purpose: A writer utilizes irony to show that the words they use do not necessarily represent their intended meaning. Further, irony can be manifest as a situation that does not pan out the way that the audience, speaker, or characters believe it will.

Example: A common example of irony is the nickname “Tiny” for a large man. We know and see that a large man is not, in fact, tiny, yet we employ the nickname ironically.

12. Oxymoron

A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

Purpose: An oxymoron is a juxtaposition of two opposing words with the intended effect of creating emphasis through the nonsensical nature of this device. Oxymoron is used to characterize conflicting emotions, thoughts, or occurrences.

Example: An easy example of oxymoron is a two-word, adjective and noun construction such as original copy

13. Pathos

A quality that evokes pity or sadness

Purpose: Pathos is a term used to identify an appeal to the pathetic. A writer may want a reader to sympathize with a character and employ a pathetic appeal to inspire feelings of pity, sympathy, or sadness.

Example: Examples of pathetic appeals are, once more, bound to diction. Look for clues in word choice that indicate an appeal to the emotions of an individual. A good, though sometimes sad, example of pathos is a call for donations to cancer research which features the stories or pictures of survivors and sufferers.

14. Personification

The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristic to a nonhuman or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.

Purpose: A writer might employ personification in order to apply human characteristics to something nonhuman, thus furthering the writer’s use of imagery and figurative language

Example: “The wind whispers” is a fitting example of personification. The wind doesn’t actually whisper, but the human action of whispering characterizes well the sounds that the wind can make.

15. Symbol/Symbolism

A thing that represents or stands for another thing like an object that represents an abstract idea

Purpose: Employing symbolism is a way for a writer to attach meaning to an object or action, some symbol within the piece, that goes beyond the face-value of the symbol itself. Symbols represent something more than their literal meanings.

Example: Consider the phrase “a new dawn.” It literally refers to the beginning of a new day. However, figuratively speaking, the beginning of a new day signifies a new start.

Conclusion

Now that you’ve explored a few of the necessary rhetorical terms and gained a possible strategy for studying the rest of the terms, you’re well on your way to conquering the multiple-choice section of the AP® English Literature exam. Continue studying using repetition and compartmentalizing, and you’ll be able to easily recall these definitions and examples when you’re taking the test.

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