7070959025 | Alliteration | the repetition of the same sound or letter at the beginning of consecutive words or syllables. ex. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. | 0 | |
7070959026 | Allusion | an indirect reference, often to another text or a historical event. ex. In George Orwell's Animal Farm, Napoleon is an allusion to Joseph Stalin and Snowball is an allusion to Leon Trotsky. | 1 | |
7070959027 | Analogy | an extended comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things. ex. "She was as quiet as a mouse." | 2 | |
7070959028 | Anaphora | the repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses. ex. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech" | 3 | |
7070959029 | Anecdote | a short account of an interesting event. | 4 | |
7070959030 | Annotation | explanatory or critical notes added to a text. | 5 | |
7070959031 | Antecedent | the noun to which a later pronoun refers. ex. My sister is in a bad mood. The day went very poorly for her. ("her" refers to "my sister") | 6 | |
7070959032 | Antimetabole | the repetition of words in an inverted order to sharpen a contrast. ex. "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going." | 7 | |
7070959033 | Antithesis | parallel structure that juxtaposes contrasting ideas. ex. "Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice" "One small step for man, one giant leap for all mankind" | 8 | |
7070959034 | Aphorism | a short, astute statement of a general truth. ex. "All that glitters is not gold." | 9 | |
7070959035 | Appositive | a word or phrase that renames a nearby noun or pronoun. ex. John, my 22-year-old brother, is mocking me at this very moment. | 10 | |
7070959036 | Archaic diction | the use of words common to an earlier time period; antiquated language. ex. Use of the words thee, thou, shall, etc. | 11 | |
7070959037 | Argument | a statement put forth and supported by evidence. | 12 | |
7070959038 | Aristotelian triangle | a diagram that represents a rhetorical situation as the relationship among the speaker, the subject, and the audience (see rhetorical triangle). ex. ethos, pathos, logos | 13 | |
7070959039 | Assertion | an emphatic statement; declaration. An assertion supported by evidence becomes an argument. ex. One could argue that Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a social commentary piece in the 1950s. | 14 | |
7070959040 | Assumption | a belief or statement taken for granted without proof. ex. All Americans love fast food. | 15 | |
7070959041 | Asyndeton | leaving out conjunctions between words, phrases, clauses. ex. "Speed up the film, Montag quick. Click, pick, look, eye, now... Uh! Bang! Wallop, bing, bong, boom!" (F451, leaving out "and") | 16 | |
7070959042 | Attitude | the speaker's position on a subject as revealed through his or her tone. ex. She talked about her mother with such a positive attitude. | 17 | |
7070959043 | Audience | one's listener or readership; those to whom a speech or piece of writing is addressed. ex. Thomas Jefferson's audience in the "Declaration of Independence" was King George III and the colonies. | 18 | |
7070959044 | Authority | a reliable, respected source--someone with knowledge. ex. government figures, leaders, intellectuals | 19 | |
7070959045 | Bias | prejudice or predisposition toward one side of a subject or issue. ex. Although CNN claims to be unbiased, their network tends to favor democratic views. | 20 | |
7070959046 | Cite | identifying a part of a piece of writing as being derived from a source. | 21 | |
7070959047 | Claim | an assertion, usually supported by evidence. | 22 | |
7070959048 | Close reading | a careful reading that is attentive to organization, figurative language, sentence structure, vocabulary, and other literary and structural elements of a text. | 23 | |
7070959049 | Colloquial | an informal or conversational use of language. ex. "When are y'all going to come over?" | 24 | |
7070959050 | Common ground | shared beliefs, values, or positions. | 25 | |
7070959051 | Complex sentence | a sentence that includes one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. ex. While she may have been living in luxury all her life, she was still very unhappy. | 26 | |
7070959052 | Concession | a reluctant acknowledgement or yielding. ex. "I know you're worried about my safety, but I think that I'm mature enough to move out and live on my own." | 27 | |
7070959053 | Connotation | that which is implied by a word, as opposed to the word's literal meaning (see denotation). | 28 | |
7070959054 | Context | words, events, or circumstances that help determine meaning. | 29 | |
7070959055 | Coordination | grammatical equivalence between parts of a sentence, often through a coordinating conjunction such as and, or but. ex. We were supposed to go to New York that day, but it rained and we stayed home instead. | 30 | |
7070959056 | Counterargument | a challenge to a position; an opposing argument. ex. Though some feel as if racism is no longer an issue in American society, there still exists several instances of discrimination toward minority groups in the United States. | 31 | |
7070959057 | Cumulative sentence | an independent clause followed by subordinate clauses or phrases that supply additional detail. ex. Her brother is stubborn, so much so that one time, he threw a tantrum in the middle of a store until his parents bought him the toy he wanted. | 32 | |
7070959058 | Declarative sentence | a sentence that makes a statement. ex. You aren't lazy. Those are my shoes. She asked about you. | 33 | |
7070959059 | Deduction | reasoning from general to specific. ex. Since all humans are mortal, and I am a human, then I am a mortal. | 34 | |
7070959060 | Denotation | the literal meaning of a word; its dictionary definition. ex. The denotation of home literally means the place someone lives, whereas a less literal meaning could refer to family and belonging. | 35 | |
7070959061 | Diction | word choice ex. In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, his way of speaking portrayed the way those in the South spoke during the Antebellum era. | 36 | |
7070959062 | Documentation | bibliographic information about the sources used in a piece of writing. ex. a works cited page | 37 | |
7070959063 | Elegiac | mournful over what has passed or been lost; often used to describe tone. ex. O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman is an elegy to Abraham Lincoln | 38 | |
7070959064 | Epigram | a brief witty statement. ex. "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind." - John F. Kennedy | 39 | |
7070959065 | Ethos | a Greek term referring to the character of a person; one of Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals (see logos and pathos). ex. "Doctors all over the world would reccommend this type of treatment." | 40 | |
7070959066 | Figurative language | an expression that strives for literary effect rather than conveying a literal meaning. ex. "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse" "I've told you this a million times" "Time is money" | 41 | |
7070959067 | Hyperbole | exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis. ex. I am dying in anticipation That bag weighs a ton I love you to the moon and back | 42 | |
7070959068 | Imagery | vivid use of language that evokes a reader's senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing). ex. When she walked into her dim-lit kitchen, she was able to inhale the pungent aroma of her grandmother's cooking. | 43 | |
7070959069 | Imperative sentence | a sentence that requests or commands. ex. Do the right thing. Go ahead, make my day. Be nice to others. | 44 | |
7070959070 | Induction | reasoning from specific to general. ex. Since the first three marbles she picked out of the bag were black, the bag must be filled with black marbles. | 45 | |
7070959071 | Inversion | a sentence in which the verb precedes the subject. ex. A great home run he made there. Astonished, I was. Next week will come the big announcement. | 46 | |
7070959072 | Irony | a contradiction between what is said and what is meant; incongruity between action and result. ex. I have four exams today, how fun! | 47 | |
7070959073 | Juxtaposition | placement of two things side by side for emphasis. ex. Sometimes, the good and the bad may live within the same person. That vacation was to be our first and our last. | 48 | |
7070959074 | Logos | a Greek term that means "word"; an appeal to logic; one of Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals (see ethos and pathos). ex. "All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is a mortal." (Aristotle's Art of Rhetoric) Data & charts can also be an example of logos | 49 | |
7070959075 | Metaphor | a figure of speech or trope through which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else, thus making an implicit comparison. ex. Her singing was music to my ears. That class was a walk in the park. | 50 | |
7070959076 | Metonymy | use of an aspect of something to represent the whole. ex. Could you lend me a hand? - hand represents help An heir to the throne. - throne represents royalty | 51 | |
7070959077 | Occasion | an aspect of context; the cause or reason for writing. | 52 | |
7070959078 | Oxymoron | a figure of speech that combines two contradictory terms. ex. pretty ugly open secret virtual reality larger half | 53 | |
7070959079 | Paradox | a statement that seems contradictory but is actually true. ex. The youth is wasted on the young. An enemy of my enemy is a friend. I am nobody. | 54 | |
7070959080 | Parallelism | the repetition of similar grammatical or syntactical patterns. ex. Like father, like son. Easy come, easy go. | 55 | |
7070959081 | Parody | a piece that imitates and exaggerates the prominent features or another; used for comic effect or ridicule. ex. SNL parodies a lot of occurences in pop culture and politics. | 56 | |
7070959082 | Pathos | a Greek term that refers to suffering but has come to be associated with broader appeals to emotion; one of Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals (see ethos and logos). ex. Sad instrumental music in ASPCA commercials with sad looking animals. | 57 | |
7070959083 | Persona | the speaker, voice, or character assumed by the author of a piece of writing. ex. A politician may use a relative, "nice-guy" persona to appeal to his voter. | 58 | |
7070959084 | Personification | assigning lifelike characteristics to inanimate objects. ex. The tableware in Beauty and the Beast. "The tall grass danced in the wind." | 59 | |
7070959085 | Polemic | an argument against an idea, usually regarding philosophy, politics, or religion. ex. Debate on gun rights. Debate on LGBT+ rights. Debate on separation of church and state. | 60 | |
7070959086 | Polysyndeton | the deliberate use of a series of conjunctions. ex. For Christmas, I want a new phone and jack and shoes and headphones. (use of a series of "and") | 61 | |
7070959087 | Premise (major and minor) | two parts of a syllogism. The concluding sentence of a syllogism takes its predicate from the major premise and its subject from the minor premise. ex. All humans deserve a good life. (major) We are all human. (minor) We all deserve a good life. (conclusion) | 62 | |
7070959091 | Propaganda | a negative term for writing designed to sway opinion rather than present information. ex. George Orwell's Animal farm served as Anti-communist propaganda during the Russian Revolution. | 63 | |
7070959092 | Purpose | one's intention or objective in a speech or piece of writing. | 64 | |
7070959093 | Refute | to discredit an argument, particularly a counterargument. ex. While some may argue that United States is faultless "Land of Opportunity," America may be more inopportune than it initially seems. | 65 | |
7070959094 | Rhetoric | the study of effective, persuasive language use; according to Aristotle, use of the "available means of persuasion." | 66 | |
7070959095 | Rhetorical modes | patterns of organization developed to achieve a specific purpose; modes include but are not limited to narration, description, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, definition, exemplification, classification and division, process analysis, and argumentation. | 67 | |
7070959096 | Rhetorical question | a question asked more to produce an effect than to summon an answer. ex. Is rain wet? Are you kidding me? Who cares? | 68 | |
7070959097 | Rhetorical triangle | a diagram that represents a rhetorical situation as the relationship among the speaker, the subject, and the audience (see Aristotelian triangle). | 69 | |
7070959098 | Satire | an ironic, sarcastic, or witty composition that claims to argue for something, but actually argues against it. ex. "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift | 70 | |
7070959099 | Scheme | a pattern of words or sentence construction used for rhetorical effect. ex. "One should eat to live, not live to eat." - antimetabole "You can eat well or you can sleep well." - alliosis | 71 | |
7070959100 | Sentence patterns | the arrangement of independent and dependent clauses into known sentence constructions--such as simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex. ex. She went to the movies. (simple) She went to the movies and bought popcorn. (compound) | 72 | |
7070959101 | Sentence variety | using a variety of sentence patterns to create a desired effect. | 73 | |
7070959102 | Simile | a figure of speech that uses "like" or "as" to compare two things. ex. As quiet as a mouse. Flow like water. | 74 | |
7070959103 | Simple sentence | a statement containing a subject and predicate; an independent clause. ex. She doesn't like fruits. He is nice. | 75 | |
7070959104 | Source | a book, article, person, or other resource consulted for information. | 76 | |
7070959105 | Speaker | a term used for the author, speaker, or the person whose perspective (real or imagined) is being advanced in a speech or piece of writing. | 77 | |
7070959106 | Straw man | a logical fallacy that involves the creation of an easily refutable position; misrepresenting, then attacking an opponent's position. ex. Person 1: We should have stricter limitations on guns. Person 2: [Person 1] has no respect for our Constitution and they believe we should throw away the foundations set by our founding fathers. | 78 | |
7070959107 | Style | the distinctive quality of speech or writing created by the selection and arrangement of words and figures of speech. ex. narrative, descriptive, etc. | 79 | |
7070959108 | Subject | in rhetoric, the topic addressed in a piece of writing. | 80 | |
7070959109 | Subordinate clause | created by a subordinate conjunction, a clause that modifies an independent clause. ex. My brother is a college student who is very smart but is too lazy to turn in assignments on time. | 81 | |
7070959110 | Subordination | the dependence of one syntactical element on another in a sentence. ex. The dog that bit me is on the loose again. "The dog... is on the loose again" - independent "... that bit me.." - dependent, thus subordinate | 82 | |
7070959111 | Syllogism | a form of deductive reasoning in which the conclusion is supported by a major and minor premise (see premise; major, and minor). ex. All rectangles are quadrilaterals. All squares are quadrilaterals. All squares are rectangles. | 83 | |
7070959112 | Syntax | sentence structure. ex. "I cannot go out." vs "Go out, I cannot." | 84 | |
7070959113 | Synthesize | combining or bringing together two or more elements to produce something more complex. | 85 | |
7070959114 | Thesis | the central idea in a work to which all parts of the work refer. | 86 | |
7070959115 | Thesis statement | a statement of the central idea in a work, may be explicit or implicit. | 87 | |
7070959116 | Tone | the speaker's attitude toward the subject or audience. | 88 | |
7070959117 | Topic sentence | a sentence, most often appearing at the beginning of a paragraph, that announces the paragraph's idea and often unites it with the work's thesis. | 89 | |
7070959118 | Trope | artful diction; the use of language in a nonliteral way; also called a figure of speech. ex. I've done this a million times. (hyperbole) That's not the worst thing I've ever heard. (litotes) Blind as a bat. (simile) | 90 | |
7347269635 | Understatement | lack on emphasis in a statement or point; restrain in language often used for ironic effect. ex. The injury isn't too bad. I only broke both of my legs. | 91 | |
7347271618 | Voice | In grammar, a term for the relationship between a verb and a noun (active or passive voice) In rhetoric, a distinctive quality in style and tone of writing ex. Grammar: I am going to cook dinner tonight. (active) Dinner is going to be cooked by me tonight. (passive) Rhetoric: Character Voice Third-Person Voice (objective and subjective) | 92 | |
7347278509 | Zeugma | a construction in which one word (usually a verb) modifies or governs- often in different, sometimes incongruent ways- two or more words in a sentence ex. My dad lost his socks and his patience. He grew corn and bored on his farm. | 93 |
AP Language & Composition Terminology Flashcards
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