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AP Language & Composition Terms Flashcards

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6816376118audiencethe listener, viewer, or reader of a text. Most texts are likely to have multiple _____________s.0
6816376119concessionan acknowledgement that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable. In a strong argument, a ______________ is usually accompanied by a refutation challenging the validity of the opposing argument.1
6816376120connotationmeanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition, or denotation. ______________s are usually positive or negative, and they can greatly affect the author's tone.2
6816376121contextThe circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text.3
6816376122counterargumentan opposing argument to the one a writer is putting forward. Rather than ignoring a ______________,a strong writer will usually address it through the process of concession and refutation.4
6816376123ethosGreek for "character." Speakers appeal to reason, by offering clear, rational ideas and using specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to back them up.5
6816376124logosGreek for "embodied thought." Speakers appeal to _________, or reason, by offering clear, rational ideas and using specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to back them up.6
6816376125occasionthe time and place a speech is given or a piece is written.7
6816376126pathosGreek for "suffering or "experience". Speakers appeal to the _______________ to emotionally motivate their audience. More specific appeals to ______________ might play on the audience's values, desires, and hopes, on the one hand, or hears and prejudices, on the other.8
6816376127personaGreek for "mask". The face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience.9
6816376128polemicGreek for "hostile". An aggressive argument that tries to establish the superiority of one opinion over all others. ____________s generally do not concede that opposing opinions have any merit.10
6816376129propagandaThe spread of ideas and information to further a cause. In its negative sense, ___________________ is the use of rumors, lies, disinformation, and scare tactics in order to damage or promote a cause.11
6816376130purposeThe goal the speaker wants to achieve.12
6816376131refutationA denial of the validity of an opposing argument. In order to sound reasonable, ______________s often follow a concession that acknowledges that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable.13
6816376132rhetoricAs Aristotle defined the term, "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion." In other words, it is the art of finding ways to persuade an audience.14
6816376133rhetorical appealsRhetorical techniques used to persuade an audience by emphasizing what they find most important or compelling. The three major __________ _______________ are to ethos, logos, and pathos15
6816376134rhetorical triangle (Aristotelian triangle)A diagram that illustrates the interrelationship among the speaker, audience, and subject in determining a text.16
6816376135SOAPSSubject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, and Speaker. The various elements that make the rhetorical situation.17
6816376136speakerThe person or group who creates a text.18
6816376137subjectThe topic of a text. What a text is about.19
6816376138textGenerally means the written word: includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, political cartoons, fine art, photography, performances, fashion, cultural trends, and much more.20
6816376139allegoryThe device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in additional to the literal meaning. An author may intend the characters to personify an abstraction like hope or freedom. They usually deal with moral truth or a generalization about human existence. (ex: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis is a religious allegory with Aslan as Christ and Edmund as Judas. )21
6816376140alliterationThe repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words. (ex: she sells sea shells). The repetition can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sounds, and/or echo the sense of the passage.22
6816376141allusionA direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. These can be historical, literary, religious, topical, or mythical.23
6816376142ambiguityThe multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.24
6816376143analogyA similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them. They can make writing more vivid, imaginative, or intellectually engaging.25
6816376144antithesisThe opposition or contrast of ideas or words in parallel construction. "Support any friend, oppose any foe"26
6816376145anaphoraRepetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines. "not as a call to bear arms... not as a call to battle"27
6816376146antimetaboleRepetition of words in reverse order "With my mind on my money and my money on my mind"28
6816376147asyndetonOmission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words. "We came, we saw, we conquered"29
6816376148apostropheA figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction (love/liberty). An address to someone/ something that cannot answer. The effect could add familiarity or emotional intensity.30
6816376149atmosphereThe emotional nod created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author's choice of objects that are described. Even such elements as a description of the weather can contribute to the _____________. Frequently _____________ foreshadows events. Perhaps it can create a mood.31
6816376150Archaic dictionOld fashioned or outdated choice of words. "beastly, blest, deuced"32
6816376151caricaturea verbal description, the purpose of which is to exaggerate or distort, for comic effect, a person's distinctive physical features or other characteristics.33
6816376152colloquial/colloquialismThe use of slang or informalities in speech or writing. Not generally acceptable for formal writing, these give a work a conversational, familiar tone. These types of expressions in writing include local or regional dialects.34
6816376153conceitA fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects. This displays intellectual cleverness as a result of the unusual comparison being made.35
6816376154connotationThe non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied meaning.36
6816376155denotationThe strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color. (Ex: the __________ of a knife would be a utensil used to cut; the connotation of a knife might be fear, violence, anger, foreboding, etc.)37
6816376156dictionRelated to style, diction refers to the writer's word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness. On exam: describe an author's diction (for example, formal or informal, ornate or plain) and understand the ways in which diction can complement the author's purpose. Diction, combined with syntax, figurative language, literary devices, etc., creates an author's style.38
6816376157didacticFrom the Greek, didactic literally means "teaching." Didactic words have the primary aim of teaching or instructing, especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles.39
6816376158euphemismFrom the Greek for "good speech," euphemisms are a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept. The euphemism may be used to adhere to standards of social or political correctness or to add humor or ironic understatement. (ex: saying "earthly remains" rather than "corpse")40
6816376159extended metaphorA metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.41
6816376160figurative languageWriting or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid.42
6816376161figure of speechA device used to produce figurative language. Many compare dissimilar things. They include apostrophe, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, oxymoron, paradox, personification, simile, synecdoche, and understatement.43
6816376162hyperboleA figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement. (The lit eral Greek meaning is "overshoot.") These often have a comic effect; however, a serious effect is also possible. Often, these produces irony. The opposite is an understatement.44
6816376163imageryThe sensory details/ figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. On a physical level, ______ uses terms related to the five senses: visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, and olfactory. On a broader and deeper level, however, ______ can represent more than one thing. For example, a rose may present visual imagery while also representing the color in a woman's cheeks and/or symbolizing some degree of perfection. An author may use complex imagery while simultaneously employing other figures of speech, especially metaphor and simile. In addition, this term can apply to the total of all the images in a work. On the AP language exam, pay attention to how an author creates imagery and to the effect of this imagery.45
6816376164invectivean emotionally violent, verbal condemnation or attack using strong, abusive language. (For example, in Henry IV, Part I, Prince Hal calls the large character of Falstaff "this sanguine coward, this bedpresser, this horseback breaker, this huge hill of flesh.") *we didn't learn this in AP lang, I just thought it could be a useful term46
6816376165IronyThe contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is meant, or the difference between what appears to be and what is actually true. This is often used to create poignancy or humor.47
6816376166rhetorical questionFigure of speech in the form of a question posed for effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer.48
6816376167synecdocheFigure of speech that uses a part to represent the whole "All hands on deck"49
6816376168zeugmaUse of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings "The farmers grew beans, corn, and bored." "You are free to execute your laws and your citizens as you see fit."50
6816376169juxtapositionPlacement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences. "When it rains, it pours" "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."51
6816376170parallelismSimilarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses This can involve repetition of a grammatical element such as a preposition or verbal phrase. (example: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of believe, it was the epoch of incredulity....") The effects of _________ are numerous, but frequently they act as an organizing force to attract the reader's attention, add emphasis and organization, or simply provide a musical rhythm.52
6816376171cumulative sentenceA type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by dependent phrases and clauses. If a period were placed at the end of the independent clause, the clause would be a complete sentence. A work containing many loose sentences often seems informal, relaxed, or conversational. Generally, loose sentences create loose style. Example: I arrived at the San Diego airport after a long, bumpy ride and multiple delays. Could stop at: I arrived at the San Diego airport.53
6816376172metaphorA figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity. ___________s makes writing more vivid, imaginative, thought provoking, and meaningful.54
6816376173moodThe prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work. Setting, tone, and events can affect the ________. ________ is similar to tone and atmosphere.55
6816376174paradoxA statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity. (Think "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....")56
6816376175satireA work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule. Regardless of whether or not the work aims to reform human behavior, _____ is best seen as a style of writing rather than a purpose for writing. It can be recognized by the many devices used effectively by the satirist: irony, wit, parody, caricature, hyperbole, understatement, and sarcasm. The effects of _______ are varied, depending on the writer's goal, but good _____, often humorous, is thought provoking and insightful about the human condition. Some modern satirists include Joseph57
6816376176style______ is a result of an evaluation of the choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary devices. We can analyze and describe an author's personal ______ and make judgments on how appropriate it is to the author's purpose. ______s can be called flowery, explicit, succinct, rambling, pretentious, commonplace, incisive, laconic, etc.58
6816376177syllogismAn instance of a form of reasoning in which a conclusion is drawn (whether validly or not) from two given or assumed propositions (premises), each of which shares a term with the conclusion, and shares a common or middle term not present in the conclusion (ex: all dogs are animals; all animals have four legs; therefore all dogs have four legs ).59
6816376178syntaxThe way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. It is similar to diction. You can differentiate the two by thinking of _________ as groups of words, while diction refers to individual words.60
6816376179toneSimilar to mood, ____ describes the author's attitude toward his material, the audience, or both. Some words describing ____ are playful, serious, businesslike, sarcastic, humorous, formal, ornate, sardonic, somber61
6816394944hortative (calls to action)What type of sentence is the following: "Let us go then, you and I, when the evening is spread out against the sky."62
6816398600imperative (commands)What type of sentence is the following: "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your life extrodinary."63
6816398601invertedWhat type of sentence is the following: "Named must your fear be before banish it you can."64
6816421810periodicWhat type of sentence is the following: "Out of the bosom of the air, out of the cloud-folds of her garment shaken, over the woodlands brown and bare, silent and soft, and slow, descends the snow."65

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