Vocabulary for AP English Language
Terms : Hide Images
| 14708529425 | Allegory | Fictional work in which the characters represent ideas or concepts(Purpose: Convey difficult idea through an in-depth metaphorical narrative) | 0 | |
| 14708529426 | Alliteration | The repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words |  | 1 |
| 14708529427 | Allusion | A reference, usually oblique or faint, to another thing, idea, or person(Ex: Aslan in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" represents Christ) | 2 | |
| 14708529428 | Ambiguity | Uncertain or indefinite; subject to more than one interpretation(Ex: I rode a black horse in red pajamas.) | 3 | |
| 14708529429 | Analogy | The correspondence or resemblance between two things that are essentially different(Ex: medicine : illness :: law : anarchy) | 4 | |
| 14708529468 | Anaphora | repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row(Ex: "This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings [. . .]This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land,") from Act 2 Scene 1 of "Richard II" | 5 | |
| 14708529430 | Antecedent | Every pronoun refers back to a previous noun or pronoun(Ex: The weather is great today; let's make the most of it by going to the beach.) | 6 | |
| 14708529432 | Apostrophe | A figure of speech in which an absent person or personified object is addressed by a speaker(Ex: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star") | 7 | |
| 14708540778 | anecdote | A brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event usually detailing an event from someone's life . | 8 | |
| 14708529472 | Atmosphere | The emotional feeling -or mood- of a place, scene, or event(Purpose: Create emotional effects) | 9 | |
| 14708529474 | Clause | A structural element of a sentence, consisting of a grammatical subject and a predicate(Ex: Ghost stories are a lot of fun, if you tell them late at night with the lights off.) | 10 | |
| 14708548744 | Conceit | A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects. | 11 | |
| 14708529434 | Colloquial Language | Slang or common language that is informal(Ex: "That totally grossed me out.") | 12 | |
| 14708529435 | Connotative | The interpretive level of a word based on associated images rather than the literal meaning(Ex: "Wall Street" = wealth and power) | 13 | |
| 14708550675 | Coherence | A principle demanding that the parts of any composition be arranged so that the meaning of the whole may be immediately clear and intelligible. | 14 | |
| 14708529477 | Denotation | the literal or dictionary meaning of a word devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color(Ex: Dog suggests an ugly face.) | 15 | |
| 14708529436 | Diction | An author's choice of words with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness (Purpose: Create & convey a typical mood, tone and atmosphere) | 16 | |
| 14708529437 | Didactic | Writing which has the purpose of teaching or instructing especially moral or ethical principles (Ex: Religious text s(teach us about the reality of God)) | 17 | |
| 14708529438 | Euphemism | a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept; adhere to standards of social or political correctness to add humor or ironic understatement (Ex: "Earthly remains" rather than "corpse") | 18 | |
| 14708554777 | Exposition | The purpose is to explain something. The exposition is the introductory material, which creates tone, gives the setting, and introduces the characters and conflict. | 19 | |
| 14708529479 | Extended Metaphor | A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work | 20 | |
| 14708529439 | Figurative Language | Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid. | 21 | |
| 14708529480 | Figure of Speech | A device used to produce figurative language. Many compare dissimilar things. Figures of speech include apostrophe, metaphor, oxymoron, paradox, personification, simile | 22 | |
| 14708619521 | Generic Conventions | This term describes traditions for each genre. These conventions help to define each genre; for example, they differentiate an essay and journalistic writing or an autobiography and political writing. | 23 | |
| 14708529481 | Genre | The major category into which a literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry, and drama(Ex: Non-fiction) | 24 | |
| 14708529482 | Homily | This term literally means "sermon"; includes any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice(Purpose: Convey moral lesson, mainly a religious one) | 25 | |
| 14708529440 | Hyperbole | A figure of speech in which uses deliberate exaggeration or overstatement is used to achieve emphasis (Ex: Your suitcase weighs a ton!) | 26 | |
| 14708529441 | Imagery | The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. | 27 | |
| 14708529483 | Inference | To draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented (Ex: Norman sees cookie crumbs on the floor and chocolate around his son's mouth. Norman infers that his son must have eaten some cookies from the cookie jar.) | 28 | |
| 14708529485 | Invective | An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language (Ex: Chicken for coward) | 29 | |
| 14708529442 | Irony | The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant. When a situation produces and outcome that is the opposite of what is expected (Ex: The name of Britain's biggest dog was "Tiny".) | 30 | |
| 14708641766 | Loose Sentence | A type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses. | 31 | |
| 14708529444 | Metaphor | A figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared directly(Ex: My brother was boiling mad.) | 32 | |
| 14708529445 | Metonymy | A term from the Greek meaning "changed label" or "substitute name," a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it. | 33 | |
| 14708529446 | Mood | This term has two distinct technical meanings in English writing. The first meaning is grammatical and deals with verbal units and a speaker's attitude. The second meaning is literary, meaning the prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work. | 34 | |
| 14708529488 | Narrative | The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events(Purpose: Gain a deep insight of culture and develop some sort of understanding towards it) | 35 | |
| 14708529447 | Onomatopoeia | A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words. (Ex: Buzz, Whip, Crack, Pop) | 36 | |
| 14708529448 | Oxymoron | A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase to suggest a paradox. | 37 | |
| 14708529449 | Paradox | A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. | 38 | |
| 14708529450 | Parallelism | the grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity | 39 | |
| 14708529451 | Parody | Imitates the style of or content of another with the specific aim of comic and/or ridicule | 40 | |
| 14708529489 | Pedantic | An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish(Purpose: Teach something in a complicated manner) | 41 | |
| 14708529452 | Periodic Sentence | Presents the main clause at the end of the sentence, for emphasis(Ex: Unable to join the others at the dance because of my sprained ankle, I went to a movie.) | 42 | |
| 14708733195 | predicate adjective | An adjective that follows a linking verb and describes the subject. It is in the predicate of the sentence and modifies, or describes the subject. | 43 | |
| 14708797092 | predicate nominative | A second type of subject complement - a noun, group of nouns, or noun clause that names the subject. It, like the predicate adjective, follows a linking verb and is located in the predicate of the sentence. | 44 | |
| 14708529453 | Persona | The character created by the voice and narration of the speaker of a text(Purpose: Express ideas due to some restrictions, such as no talking) | 45 | |
| 14708529454 | Personification | A figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions. ((Ex: The flowers danced in the gentle breeze.) | 46 | |
| 14708529455 | Point of View | In literature, the perspective from which a story is told. | 47 | |
| 14708529490 | Prose | One of the major divisions of genre; refers to fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms, because they are written in ordinary language and most closely resemble everyday speech(Ex: "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." 1984 - George Orwell) | 48 | |
| 14708529456 | Repetition | The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern. | 49 | |
| 14708529457 | Rhetoric | The art and logic of a written or spoken argument to persuade, to analyze, or to expose(Ex: Ethos, Logos, Pathos) | 50 | |
| 14708529491 | Ethos | Form, Manner(Purpose: Musician starring in a dog commercial) | 51 | |
| 14708529492 | Pathos | Force, Emotion(Ex: Empathizing with a friend who lost a family member) | 52 | |
| 14708529493 | Logos | Idea, Message(Ex:Facts, Charts, Tables used to support that abortion rates correlates with crime rates) | 53 | |
| 14708529494 | Rhetorical Modes | The flexible term describes the variety, the conventions, and the purposes of the major kinds of writing(Ex: Journal entry = description) (exposition, argumentation, description, narration) | 54 | |
| 14708529495 | Sarcasm | Use of bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something. It may use irony as a device(Ex: " Friends, countrymen, lend me your ears." - Julius Caesar) | 55 | |
| 14708529459 | Satire | To ridicule or mock ideas, persons, events, or doctrines(Ex: The Daily Show) | 56 | |
| 14708529496 | Semantics | The branch of linguistics that studies that meaning of words, their historical and psychological development, their connotations, and their relation to one another(Ex: A water pill at first glance could be a pill with water in it; but, it is understood to be a diuretic that causes a person to lose water from his body.) | 57 | |
| 14708529499 | subject complement | the word or clause that follows a linking verb and complements, or completes, the subject of the sentence by either renaming it or describing it | 58 | |
| 14708529460 | Syllogism | a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion | 59 | |
| 14708529501 | Style | An evaluation of the sum of the choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary devices(Purpose: Create a certain impact on the readers based on one's style) | 60 | |
| 14708529502 | Subject Complement(predicate nominative and predicate adjective) | The word that follows a linking verb and completes the subject by renaming or describing it(Ex: Brandon is a great player.) | 61 | |
| 14708529503 | Subordinate Clause | Like all clauses, it contains both a subject and a verb (plus any accompanying phrases or modifiers), but unlike the independent clause, the subordinate clause cannot stand alone; it does not express a complete thought. Also called a dependent clause, the subordinate clause depends on a main clause (or independent clause) to complete its meaning(Ex: After John played tennis) | 62 | |
| 14708529462 | Symbol | Something that stands for something else(Ex: Dove = peace) | 63 | |
| 14708529463 | Syntax | The way words are arranged in a sentence(Ex: "I cannot go out." vs. "Go out I cannot.") | 64 | |
| 14708529464 | Theme | The central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers of life. (Ex: love and friendship in "Pride and Prejudice") | 65 | |
| 14708529506 | Thesis | The sentence or group of sentences that directly expresses the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or proposition(Purpose: To inform audience about main idea) | 66 | |
| 14708529465 | Tone | Similar to mood, tone describes the author's attitude toward his material, the audience, or both. Tone is easier to determine in spoken language than in written language. Considering how a work would sound if it were read aloud can help in identifying an author's tone. Some words describing tone are playful, serious, businesslike, sarcastic, humorous, formal, ornate, sardonic, somber, etc. | 67 | |
| 14709114805 | Transition | a word or phrase that links different ideas | 68 | |
| 14708529466 | Understatement | The ironic minimizing of fact, presents something as less significant than it is. | 69 | |
| 14709115328 | Undertone | An attitude that may lie under the ostensible tone of the piece. | 70 | |
| 14708529508 | Wit | In modern usage, intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights. Usually uses terse language that makes a pointed statement(Ex: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a young man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen) | 71 |
