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AP English Language terms "A" Flashcards

Terms : Hide Images
9637232749allegoryA story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself; characters have meanings outside themselves.0
9637232750anecdoteA brief story told in order to make a larger point; the event/incident itself helps speaker promote a related idea.1
9637232751aphorismA concise statement designed to make a point or illustrate a commonly held belief.2
9637232752allusionA direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art.3
9637232753asyndetonCommas used (with no conjunction) to separate a series of words; speeds up flow of sentence. X, Y, Z as opposed to X, Y, and Z.4
9637232754alliterationRepetition of initial consonant sounds.5
9637232755anaphoraRepetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences.6
9637232756antithesisThe direct opposite, a sharp contrast (ex: Whereas he was fractious, I was calm).7
9637232757apostropheA figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and could reply (ex: Oh, love, where have you gone?).8
9637232758anadiplosisRepetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause.9
9637232759appeal to pathosWhen a writer appeals to readers' emotions to excite and involve them in an argument.10
9637232760appeal to logosUsing logic or facts to appeal to audience.11
9637232761appeal to ethosAll about the speaker; appeal to Credibility.12
9637232762anachronismSomething that is not in its correct historical time; a mistake in chronology, such as by assigning a person or event to the wrong time period.13
9637232763analogyA comparison of two different things that are similar in some way.14
9637232764audienceOne's listener or readership; those to whom a speech or piece of writing is addressed.15
9637232765assonanceRepetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity.16
9637232766antecedentThe word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. The AP language exam occasionally asks for this of a given pronoun in a long, complex sentence or in a group of sentences; every one of this refers back to a previous noun/pronoun (Ex: the car he wanted was a green one. - the antecedent of "one" is "car").17
9637232767appositiveA noun phrase that modifies the noun set next to it., A noun or noun substitute that is placed directly next to the noun it is describing (ex: My student, Sidney, makes me want to adopt a child).18

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