AP LANGUAGE

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AP LANGUAGE COMPOSITION

• Rhetorical Terms Review
• Set 1
• Language Devices

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Synecdoche

• Definition a figure of speech that employs the
  use of a part for the whole, or the whole for the
  part
• Examples
• Jack bought a new set of wheels.
• The Confederates have eyes in Lincoln's
  government.

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Colloquial

• Definition the characteristic of writing that
  seeks the effect of informal spoken language as
  distinct from formal or literary English
• Example
• "If you really want to hear about it, the first
  thing you'll probably want to know is where I was
  born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and
  how my parents were occupied and all before they
  had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of
  crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you
  want to know the truth." (The Catcher in the Rye
  by J.D. Salinger)

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Litotes

• Definition a figure of understatement in which
  an affirmative is expressed by a negation of the
  contrary or opposite
• Examples
• A few unannounced quizzes are not inconceivable.
• I'm not forgetful that you served me well.John
  Milton

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Metonymy

• Definition a figure of speech in which one word
  or phrase is substituted for another with which
  it is closely associated
• Examples
• Wall Street welcomes the reduction in interest
  rates.
• In Shakespeare's time, the crown was
  anti-Catholic.

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Paradox

• Definition an assertion seemingly opposed to
  common sense because it contains a contradiction,
  but that may yet have some truth in it
• Examples
• What a pity that youth must be wasted on the
  young.George Bernard Shaw
• I can resist anything but temptation . Oscar
  Wilde
• Great fiction is a kind of lie that tells the
  truth, but it's impossible to lie about lies and
  end up with anything besides more lies. (Laura
  Miller, Why We Havent Seen a Great 9/11 Novel,
  Salon.com, 14 Sept. 2011)

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Euphemism

• Definition the use of a word or phrase that is
  less direct, but that is also less distasteful or
  less offensive than another
• Examples
• She missed class because her grandmother passed
  away last week.
• Many people are opposed to the governments using
  enhanced interrogation techniques on prisoners.

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Hyperbole

• Definition an extravagant exaggeration of fact,
  used either for serious or comic effect
• Examples
• Ten thousand oceans cannot wash away my guilt.
• "I have seen this river so wide it had only one
  bank.Mark Twain

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Allusion

• Definition a brief or casual reference to a
  famous person, historical event, place, or work
  of art
• Examples
• Since my elementary-school days, math has always
  been my Achilles heel.
• "I have met my Waterloo," the mountain climber
  said after returning from a failed attempt to
  conquer Everest.

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Irony

• Definition an expression of something which is
  contrary to the intended meaning the words say
  one thing but mean another
• Examples
• "What a beautiful day," Maxine said, opening her
  umbrella.
• Yet Brutus says he was ambitiousAnd Brutus is
  an honourable man.Marc Antony in Shakespeares
  Julius Caesar

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Apostrophe

• Definition a sudden turn from the general
  audience to address a specific group or person or
  personified abstraction absent or present
• Examples
• For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's
  angel.Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved
  him.Marc Antony in Shakespeares Julius Caesar
• Death be not proud, though some have called
  theeMighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not
  soe,John Donne