4785598149 | Analogy | An extended comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things. Example: "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get" | 0 | |
4785605268 | Anaphora | The repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses. Example: "He came to the party. He ate a lot. He talked a lot. He met new friends." | 1 | |
4785610208 | Anecdote | A short account of an interesting event. Example: "We went to the Jersey Shore and spent time swimming and spending time with my mom and friends. We went to dinner and shopped on the Boardwalk and had a great time." | 2 | |
4785611472 | Annotation | Explanatory or critical notes added to a text. Example: A student quoting a source or adding a note to remind themselves of something. | 3 | |
4785616927 | Antecedent | The noun to which a later pronoun refers. Example: "My Aunt likes to shop, she spends a lot of money." | 4 | |
4785621681 | Antimetabole | A repetition of words in an inverted order to sharpen a contrast. Example: "I go where I like and I like where I go." | 5 | |
4785625859 | Antithesis | Parallel structure that juxtaposes contrasting ideas. Example: "Promise nothing, give everything." | 6 | |
4785629629 | Aphorism | A short, astute statement of general truth. Example: "Forgive and forget." | 7 | |
4785632176 | Appositive | A word or phrase that renames a nearby noun or pronoun. Example: "My cousin Austin loves basketball." | 8 | |
4785638453 | Archaic diction | The use of words common to an earlier time period; antiquated language. Example: "Do unto others as you would have done to you." | 9 | |
4785642622 | Argument | A statement put forth and supported by evidence. Example: "Soccer is a very physical sport. You must be able to run for long periods of time while "dribbling" the ball all over the field." | 10 | |
4785651385 | Aristotelian triangle | A diagram that represents a rhetorical situation as the relationship among the speaker, the subject, and the audience (see rhetorical triangle). Example: You apply three different aspects. Rational such as facts, emotional such as your feelings towards the subject and ethical how you convince reader you are credible. | 11 | |
4785665273 | Assertion | An empathetic statement; declaration. An assertion supported by evidence becomes an argument. Example: "I know you are busy but could you help me for a few minutes?" | 12 | |
4785672843 | Assumption | A belief or statement taken for granted without proof. Example: "He will be here later today, he always stops by on Tuesdays." | 13 | |
4785676241 | Asyndeton | Leaving out conjunctions between words, phrases, clauses. Example: "Go wake him. Tell him he will be late for school. Tell him to be safe." | 14 | |
4785683913 | Attitude | The speaker's position on a subject as revealed through his or her tone. Example: "Who cares who wins? Both teams are terrible." | 15 | |
4785691908 | Audience | One's listener or readership; those to whom a speech or piece of writing is addressed. Example: You deliver a message at your youth group, the group is your audience. | 16 | |
4785697735 | Authority | A reliable, respected source-someone with knowledge. Example: When researching for a paper you use an encyclopedia as a source because you know it is reliable and accurate. | 17 | |
4785708681 | Bias | Prejudice or predisposition toward one side or a subject or issue. Example: " Pit bulls are a bad breed of dog." | 18 | |
4785713666 | Cite | Identifying a part of a piece of writing as being derived from a source. Example: When writing, you quote the source where you found the information. | 19 | |
4785718447 | Claim | An assertion, usually supported by evidence. Example: When writer makes a statement and presents evidence to support it and make you believe it. | 20 | |
4785720022 | Close reading | A careful reading that is attentive to organization, figurative language, sentence structure, vocabulary, and other literary and structural elements of a text. Example: When you read something and pay very close attention to everything about the piece you are reading. | 21 | |
4785732331 | Colloquialism | An informal or conversational use of language. Example: "Wanna go? Gonna go." | 22 | |
4785734273 | Common ground | Shared beliefs, values or positions. Example: When you and person or persons you are talking to are have something they agree upon. | 23 | |
4785735768 | Complex sentence | A sentence that includes one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Example: "When we were younger, we played outside a lot." | 24 | |
4785739755 | Concession | A reluctant acknowledgment or yielding. Example: "It is true it is hot outside but it is better than frigid cold and snow." | 25 | |
4785741976 | Connotation | That which is implied by a word, as opposed to the word's literal meaning (see denotation) Example: When a word can have other implied meanings than the literal one. | 26 | |
4785748934 | Context | Words, events, or circumstances that help determine meaning. Example: Putting something in a sentence to help reader or audience to understand the meaning. | 27 | |
4785751554 | Coordination | Grammatical equivalence between parts of a sentence, often through a coordinating conjunction such as and, or but. Example: "It was a good game but I am tired of football." | 28 | |
4785803159 | Counterargument | A challenge to a position; an opposing argument. Example: When you provide an alternate opinion to the one you have taken. | 29 | |
4785804881 | Cumulative sentence | An independent clause followed by subordinate clauses or phrases that supply additional detail. Example: "The beach is full of kids swimming, people sunbathing, college kids playing volleyball and older people walking." | 30 | |
4785807709 | Declarative sentence | A sentence that makes a statement. Example: "It is 95 degrees outside." | 31 | |
4785809249 | Deduction | Reasoning from general to specific. Example: "It must not be raining, the pavement is dry." | 32 | |
4785810293 | Denotation | The literal meaning of a word; its dictionary definition. Example: Denotation is the actual meaning of the word instead of an implied meaning. | 33 | |
4785812884 | Diction | Word choice Example: Words you chose to show your style of speaking. | 34 | |
4785814069 | Documentation | Bibliographic information about the sources used in a piece of writing. Example: When you research and find facts about what you are writing. | 35 | |
4785816496 | Elegiac | Mournful over what has passed or been lost; often used to describe one. Example: Using words to express feelings about losing someone. | 36 | |
4785823545 | Epigram | A brief witty statement. Example: "No pain, no gain." | 37 | |
4785824626 | Ethos | A Greek term referring to the character of a person; one of Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals (see logos or pathos) Example: Trying to convince listener or audience of speaker's credibility. | 38 | |
4785830263 | Figurative language | The use of tropes or figures of speech; going beyond literal meaning to achieve literary effect. Example: "Her room is a disaster area." | 39 | |
4785838864 | Figure of speech | An expression that strives for literary effect rather than conveying a literal meaning. Example: "The clouds are like huge cotton balls floating in the sky." | 40 | |
4785844981 | Hyperbole | Exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis. Example: "I have a million things to do today." | 41 | |
4785846675 | Imagery | Vivid use of language that evokes a reader's senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing. Example: "I woke up to the smell of hot coffee." | 42 | |
4785851434 | Imperative sentence | A sentence that requests or commands. Example; "I have to have an answer today." | 43 | |
4785867544 | Induction | Reasoning from specific to general. Example: "Five people have walked through the door carrying umbrellas. It must be raining outside." | 44 | |
4785871809 | Inversion | A sentence in which the verb precedes the subject. Example: "The angry client." | 45 | |
4785877296 | Irony | A contradiction between what is said and what is meant; incongruity between action and result. Example: The bread is as hard as a rock." | 46 | |
4785883359 | Juxtaposition | Placement of two things side by side for emphasis. Example: "They are like day and night." | 47 | |
4785885184 | Logos | A Greek term that means "word"; an appeal to logic; one of Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals (see ethos and pathos) Example: When writer or speaker used logic to convince audience. | 48 | |
4785888985 | 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. Example: "My homework was a breeze." | 49 | |
4785893606 | Metonymy | Use of an aspect of something to represent the whole. Example: The Dallas Cowboys football team, they play football but they are not Cowboys. | 50 | |
4785894715 | Occasion | An aspect of context; the cause or reason for writing. Example: Why you are writing | 51 | |
4785918273 | Oxymoron | A figure of speech that combines two contradictory terms. Example: "That guy is pretty ugly." | 52 | |
4785919455 | Paradox | A statement that seems contradictory but is actually true. Example: "I am no one." | 53 | |
4785920790 | Parallelism | The repetition of similar grammatical or syntactical patterns. Example: "Easy come, easy go." | 54 | |
4785927569 | Parody | A piece that imitates and exaggerates the prominent features of another, used for comic effect or ridicule. Example: When you mimic a person or a song to make fun of it or them. | 55 | |
4785930354 | 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) Example: When you are trying to convince someone of what your are saying, you use emotions to convince them. | 56 | |
4785938808 | Persona | The speaker, voice, or character assumed by the author of a piece of writing. Example: When an actor is acting in a movie, they take on a different persona by acting like their character. | 57 | |
4785945178 | Personification | Assigning lifelike characteristics to inanimate objects. Example: "The wind whistles through the trees." | 58 | |
4785947694 | Polemic | An argument against an idea, usually regarding philosophy, politics, or religion. Example: When a writer argues a position about politics or religion. | 59 | |
4785954198 | Polysyndeton | The deliberate use of a series of conjunctions. Example: "We are ready for vacation. The flight and hotel is booked." | 60 | |
4785956974 | Premise | Major, 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. Major premise: All mammals are warm-blooded. Minor premise: All horses are mammals. Conclusion: All horses are warm-blooded (see syllogism) Example: What the argument or message is about. | 61 | |
4786008277 | Propaganda | A negative term for writing designed to sway opinion rather than present information. Example: When writer/speaker tried to change someone's opinion without using facts. | 62 | |
4786012310 | Purpose | One's intention or objective in a speech or piece of writing. Example: What the writer or speaker hopes to achieve. | 63 | |
4786014459 | Refute | To discredit an argument, particularly a counterargument. Example: When writer tried to make audience doubt an argument. | 64 | |
4786018753 | Rhetoric | The study of effective, persuasive language use, according to Aristotle, use of the "available means of persuasion." Example: Using any style of language to persuade the audience. | 65 | |
4786023606 | 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. Example: Different patterns in which the writer writes to achieve their purpose. | 66 | |
4786032854 | Rhetorical question | A question asked more to produce an effect than to summon an answer. Example: "Who knows?" | 67 | |
4786036611 | Rhetorical triangle | A diagram that represents a rhetorical situation as the relationship among the speaker, the subject, and the audience (see Aristotelian triangle). Example: Writing to appeal to emotions of audience to deliver message. | 68 | |
4786040981 | Satire | An ironic, sarcastic, or witty composition that claims to argue for something, but actually argues against it. Example: Writing or speaking of something to convince audience of the opposite of what you say you are trying to convince them of. | 69 | |
4786046813 | Scheme | A pattern of words or sentence construction used for rhetorical effect. Example: Helps the writers organize their relationship with readers. | 70 | |
4786054110 | Sentence patterns | The arrangement of independent and dependent clauses into known sentence constructions-such as simple, compound, complex or compound-complex. Example: The arrangement of sentences to make the message more effective. | 71 | |
4786062421 | Sentence variety | Using a variety of sentence patterns to create desired effect. Example: When you use different types of sentences to create the message. | 72 | |
4786063865 | Simile | A figure of speech that uses "like" or "as" to compare two things. Example: "She acts like a child." | 73 | |
4786069824 | Simple sentence | A statement containing a subject and predicate; an independent clause. Example: "The sky is blue." | 74 | |
4786072489 | Source | A book, article, person or other resource consulted for information. Example: A book, newspaper, magazine or person can be a source. | 75 | |
4786073856 | 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. Example: The person giving the speech or writing the book. | 76 | |
4786083424 | Straw man | A logical fallacy that involves the creation of an easily refutable position; misrepresenting, then attacking an opponent's position. Example: Someone is talking about another persons position on something and mis represents it intentionally. | 77 | |
4786086268 | Style | The distinctive quality of speech or writing created by the selection and arrangement of words and figures of speech. Example: The way in which a writer or speaker selects how to write or speak. | 78 | |
4786088854 | Subject | In rhetoric, the topic addressed in a piece of writing. Example: What the speaker or writer is talking about. | 79 | |
4786090542 | Subordinate clause | Created by a subordinating conjunction, a clause that modifies an independent clause. | 80 | |
4786092991 | Subordination | The dependence of one syntactical element on another in a sentence. Example: "Although it was cold, I walked to the store." | 81 | |
4786094828 | Syllogism | A form of deductive reasoning in which the conclusion is supported by a major and minor premise (see premise; major and minor). Example: Saying all black birds are crows because a crow is a black bird. | 82 | |
4786102096 | Syntax | Sentence structure. Example: How words are put together to describe a complete thought. | 83 | |
4786103142 | Synthesize | Combining or bringing together two or more elements to produce something more complex. Example: Using different elements to create something for the reader or audience that is more interesting. | 84 | |
4786105938 | Thesis | The central idea in a work to which all parts of the work refer. Example: What the writer intends to prove or support. | 85 | |
4786109094 | Thesis statement | A statement of the central idea in a work, may be explicit or implicit. Example: An introduction of what the writer intends to prove or support. | 86 | |
4786109101 | Tone | The speaker's attitude toward the subject or audience. Example: The words and phrases used when speaking which tells listener how you feel. | 87 | |
4786110574 | 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. Example: The sentence in the beginning that tells the audience the idea. | 88 | |
4786114289 | Trope | Artful diction; the use of language in a nonliteral way; also called a figure of speech. Example: When you a word in any form other than it was intended. | 89 | |
4786117503 | Understatement | Lack of emphasis in a statement or point; restraint in language often used in ironic effect. Example: Not giving enough emphasis to the point. | 90 | |
4786121246 | Voice | In grammer, a term for the relationship between a verb and a noun (active or passive voice). In rhetoric, a distinctive quality in the style and tone of writing. Example: The way a writer choses to tell his or her story. | 91 | |
4786124723 | 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. Example: Using a word that relates two different words in a sentence that wouldn't normally be used together. | 92 |
AP Language Flashcards
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