3380225486 | allusion | A reference to an artistic work, person, place, event about which readers are assumed to already know | 0 | |
3380225487 | analogy | An extended comparison. An analogy explains features of one things by reference to features shared with something more commonly known and understood | 1 | |
3380225488 | argument | Writing the attempts to prove a point through reasoning. Argument presses it case by using logic and by supporting its logic with examples and evidence. Making a claim. | 2 | |
3380225489 | audience | As actors audiences who can see and hear them, writers have readers. Having a sense of audience is important in writing because we write differently depending on who we think will be reading our work. If our audience is specific we write in such a way that will appeal to a small group. If it is general we write in such a way that will appeal to as many people as possible. | 3 | |
3380225490 | Cause and Effect | Analysis of events and situations in which reasons are sought and effects are considered. Writers tracing the chain of events leading to a present situation or arguing the consequences of a future decision are doing cause and effect. | 4 | |
3380225491 | Claim | What an argument tries to prove. Often called a thesis. An unarguable statement. | 5 | |
3380225492 | Classification and Division | The sorting out of elements into classes or groups, or the separation of something into its parts. Classifications and Division are used when a writer wants to break something down into it elements or groups. | 6 | |
3380225493 | Cliche | An old tired expression that writers should avoid like the plague. "Like the plague" is an example of a cliche | 7 | |
3380225494 | Comparison and Contrast | Examination of similarities and differences. One usually but not always appears with the other. | 8 | |
3380225495 | Conclusion | The ending of an essay, which should bring the writer's point home in a few sentences or even a paragraph or two. Good conclusions do more than repeat the thesis, and they can even sometimes point the way to extensions, but they should not introduce new thoughts. | 9 | |
3380225496 | Definition | Explanation of the nature of a word, thing, or idea. Essays that define may use many other kinds of writing, such as description, exposition, and narration. | 10 | |
3380225497 | Description | Depiction through sensory evidence. Description is not just visual, It can use details of touch, smell, taste, and hearing. These concrete details can support a specific argument. | 11 | |
3380225498 | Diction | Word choice. Can be characterized in terms of level of formality, concreteness, and other choices that reflect a level appropriate to the writer's subject and audience. | 12 | |
3380225499 | Draft | An unfinished essay. A draft may have a conclusion but it has not been completely revised, edited, and proofread. | 13 | |
3380225500 | Essay | A short nonfiction piece of writing. A writer should present on main idea in an essay. | 14 | |
3380225501 | Evidence | The facts that support an argument | 15 | |
3380225502 | exemplification | Providing specific instances in support of general ideas. | 16 | |
3380225503 | Exposition | Writing that explains. Rather than showing, as in narrative, exposition tells. A majority of essays contain some exposition because they need to convey information. | 17 | |
3380225504 | Fallacy | A logical error. Fallacies weaken an argument. | 18 | |
3380225505 | Introduction | The beginning of an essay; it should generally state a writer's main point. Can include a thesis statement or development of a thesis. | 19 | |
3380225506 | Irony | Verbal irony is writing that say one thing while it means something else, often the opposite of what it says (sarcasm is one form of verbal irony). | 20 | |
3380225507 | Metaphor | Metaphor can be understood as a figure of speech (a non-literal use of language) that says on thing is another or, in the form of simile as a figure of speech that says one thing is like another. | 21 | |
3380225508 | Narration | Telling a story, or giving an account of an event. Narration is a part of many different kinds of writing. Essays are mostly narration. Often tell an anecdote. | 22 | |
3380225509 | Rhetoric | The effective use of a language; also the study of effective language use. Term can be used negatively | 23 | |
3380225510 | Story | A narrative. The term is used in a number of different senses-to indicate a narrative within a nonfiction pieces, to label a news article in a newspaper or magazine, or to name the genre of short fiction. | 24 | |
3380225511 | Style | The way a writer writes. Any of the choice writers make while writing-about diction, sentence length, structure, rhythm, and figures of speech- that make their work sound like them. | 25 | |
3380225512 | Summary | A condensation, in one's own words, of a work. Summaries consist of the main points of the work; supporting points, examples, and other kinds of support that are left out. | 26 | |
3380225513 | Synthesis | The use of outside sources to gather information and opinions, in order to develop ideas, amass evidence, and support evidence. | 27 | |
3380225514 | Thesis | The main idea in the piece of writing, which the work is trying to argue or explore. Also sometime knows as the claim, a term which also has a more specific meaning related to augmentation. | 28 | |
3380225515 | Thesis statement | A sentence or group of sentences, usually appearing early in a piece of writing, that announce the thesis. | 29 | |
3380225516 | Tone | Attitude toward subject, readers and even the writer and work itself; also sometime mood of atmosphere more generally. | 30 | |
3380225517 | Topic sentence | The sentence in which the writer state's a paragraph's main idea. The topic sentence often appears at or near the beginning of the paragraph. | 31 | |
3380225518 | Transition | The connective tissue among sentences, ideas, and paragraphs. Transition help readers follow writers through their ideas and see the connections among parts of an argument or the relation between the scenes of a narrative. | 32 | |
3380225519 | Exigence | An issue, problem, or situation that cause or prompt someone writes or speak. | 33 | |
3380225520 | Warrant | The claim's underlying, commonly held belief. | 34 | |
3380225521 | Logos | The logic used to support a claim (induction and deduction) - can also be the facts and statistics used to help support the argument. Internal consistency of the message- the clarity of a claim. | 35 | |
3380225522 | Pathos | The emotional or motivational appeals-vivid language, emotional language, and numerous sensory details. | 36 | |
3380225523 | Ethos | The source's credibility and the speaker's/author's authority. | 37 | |
3380225524 | Arrangement | Refers to the structure of a text-the organization of thoughts-how the paragraphs "move".` | 38 | |
3380225525 | Form | Beginning, middle, end | 39 | |
3380225526 | Function | how one paragraph "moves" to the next paragraph to the next paragraph and so forth | 40 | |
3380225527 | Discourse | The use of spoken or written language in a social context | 41 | |
3380225528 | Modes of Discourse | The four traditional categories of written texts: narration, description, exposition, and argument. Also may include these ways of writing about a topic: definition, comparison, and/or contrast, division, and/or classification, cause and/or effect the steps in a process, exemplification (giving examples of something) and expert authority. | 42 | |
3380225529 | Tone | The writer's attitude toward a subject, audience, and self. Tone is easier to determine in spoken language than in written language. | 43 | |
3380225530 | Colloquial/Colloquialism | The use of slang or in formalities in speech or writing. Not generally acceptable for formal writing, colloquialisms give a work a conversational, familiar tone. | 44 | |
3380225531 | Pedantic | An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is in scholarly, academic, or bookish (show offish language) | 45 | |
3380225532 | Sarcastic | From the Greek meaning "to tear flesh" sarcasm involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something. | 46 | |
3380225533 | Deductive Reasoning | The valid form of proof. It is in fact, the way in which geometric proofs are written. It is the process by which a person make conclusions based on previously know facts. | 47 | |
3380225534 | Inductive Reasoning | This is the process of arriving at a conclusion based on a set of observations. In itself, it is not a valid method of proof. | 48 | |
3380225535 | Selection of Detail | The authors choice of specific events and which the words and sensory images and incidents, which are used together to make and create a narrative, descriptive, argumentative, or expositive piece of writing. | 49 | |
3380225536 | Aesthetic | Concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty | 50 | |
3380225537 | Anecdote | A short story about an interesting or funny event or occurrence that supports the author's argument | 51 | |
3380225538 | Rhetorical Question | The form of a question that is asked in order to make a point and without the expectation of a reply. Question for the sake of encouraging its listener or reader to consider a message or viewpoint | 52 | |
3380225539 | Rhetorical Fragment | An incomplete sentence used to emphasize a particularly importantly idea that the author wants to get across to the audience by eliminating most words except the ones that carry the most essential meaning and to slow down the pace of writing by creating additional pausing with punctuation | 53 | |
3380225540 | Diction | The choice and use of words in speech or writing | 54 | |
3380225541 | Imagery | The vivid descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the senses. | 55 | |
3380225542 | Figurative Language | Writing that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid | 56 | |
3380225543 | Trope | The use of a word, phrase, and image in a way not intended by its normal signification | 57 | |
3380225544 | Analogy | A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them. | 58 | |
3380225545 | Metaphor | A trope in which a word and phrase is transferred from its literal meaning to stand for something else. not like simile like or is. it is something else. | 59 | |
3380225546 | Simile | A trope in which one states a comparison between two things that are not alike but have similarities. | 60 | |
3380225547 | Personification | A troupe in which human abilities hare assigned to abstractions or inanimate objects. | 61 | |
3380225548 | Paradox | A troupe that makes a seemingly self-contradictory statement. | 62 | |
3380225549 | Pun | A play on words in which a homophone is used for humor. | 63 | |
3380225550 | Oxymoron | A troupe that connects two contradictory terms. | 64 | |
3380225551 | Hyperbole | A troupe composed of exaggerated words or ideals used for emphasis and not to be taken literally. | 65 | |
3380225552 | Understatement | A troupe that presents something as less significant than it is | 66 | |
3380225553 | Litotes | A troupe that is a form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite. | 67 | |
3380225554 | Anatanaclasis | A troupe that repeats a word of phrase whereby the meaning changes the second instance. | 68 | |
3380225555 | Anthimera | A troupe in which substitution of one part of speech is made into another. | 69 | |
3380225556 | Periphrasis | A troupe in which one substitutes a descriptive word or phrase for a proper noun | 70 | |
3380225557 | Metonymy | A troupe that substitute an associated word for one that is meant. | 71 | |
3380225558 | Synecdoche | A troupe in which a part of something stands for a whole. | 72 | |
3380225559 | Zeugma | A troupe in which one verb governs several words, or clauses each in a different sense. | 73 | |
3380225560 | Syntax | The study of rules that govern the ways words combine to form phrases, clauses and sentences- the arrangement of words in a sentences | 74 | |
3380225561 | Antecendent | The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. | 75 | |
3380225562 | Clause | A grammatical unit that contains both a subject or a verb. | 76 | |
3380225563 | Subordinate Clause | Like all clauses, this word group contains both subject and a verb, but unlike the independent clause, the subordinate clause cannot stand alone, it doesn't express a complete thought. | 77 | |
3380225564 | Loose Sentence or Cumulative Sentence | A type of sentence in which the main idea come first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases or clauses. | 78 | |
3380225565 | Periodic Sentence | The opposite of loose sentence, a sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end. | 79 | |
3380225566 | Simple Sentence | Experienced writers use a variety of sentences to make their writing interested and lively. | 80 | |
3380225567 | Compound Sentence | A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. | 81 | |
3380225568 | Complex Sentence | A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. | 82 | |
3380225569 | Compound-Complex Sentences | A compound-complex sentence is made of a compound sentence and a complex sentence. | 83 | |
3380225570 | Parallelism | Also referred to as parallel construction or parallel structure, this term comes from Greek roots meaning beside one another. | 84 | |
3380225571 | Repetition | The duplication, either exact, or approximate, of any element of language, such as sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern. | 85 | |
3380225572 | Scheme | A way that something is arranged or organized--sometimes in an unusual way or order. Think about the way words are arranged in a sentence. | 86 | |
3380225573 | Anaphora | A scheme in which the same word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or sentences. | 87 | |
3380225574 | Epanalepis | A scheme that repeats the beginning word or phrase. | 88 | |
3380225575 | Epistrophe | A scheme that repeats a word or phrase for emphasis, usually with no words in between. | 89 | |
3380225576 | Epizeuxis | A scheme that repeats a word or phrase for emphasis, usually with no words in between. | 90 | |
3380225577 | Polyptoton | A scheme that repeats words derived from the same root but with different endings. | 91 | |
3380225578 | Tricolon | A scheme in which three parallel elements of the same length occur together in a series. | 92 | |
3380225579 | Climax | A scheme that arranges words, phrases, and clauses in increasing order of importance. | 93 | |
3380225580 | Antithesis | A scheme that makes use of contrasting words, phrases, sentences, or ideas for emphasis. | 94 | |
3380225581 | Anadiplosis | A scheme that repeats the last word or phrase from the previous line or sentence at the beginning of the next line or sentence. | 95 | |
3380225582 | Brachylogia | A scheme that omits conjunctions between single words. | 96 | |
3380225583 | Asyndeton | A scheme that omits cconjunctions between phrases or clauses. | 97 | |
3380225584 | Polysyndeton | A scheme that places a conjuctions after every term in the list. | 98 | |
3380225585 | Anastrophe | A scheme in which a normal order is changed for emphasis;. | 99 | |
3380225586 | Chiasmus | A scheme in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed. | 100 | |
3380225587 | Antimetabole | A scheme in which an inverted order of repeated words in adjacent phrase or clauses. | 101 | |
3380225588 | Apposition | A scheme in which an additional explanatory element is added. | 102 | |
3380225589 | Apostrophe | A scheme in which a person or an abstract quality is directly addressed whether present or not. | 103 | |
3380225590 | Ellipsis | A scheme that omits some words that would be necessary for a complete constrution | 104 | |
3380225591 | Punctuation | Pay attention to the punctuation. Does that author ask a bunch of questions. | 105 | |
3380225592 | Aphorism | A terse statement of know authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principal | 106 | |
3380225593 | Digression | The inclusion of material unrelated to the actual subject of work. | 107 | |
3380225594 | Elegy | A poem that praises the dead. | 108 | |
3380225595 | Euphemism | From the Greek for "good speech" more aggressive or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept | 109 | |
3380225596 | Jaragon | The specialized language of a profession or group | 110 | |
3380225597 | Juxtaposition | The act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side for emphasis | 111 | |
3380225598 | Inference/Infer | To draw a reasonable conclusion for the information presented. | 112 | |
3380225599 | Lyrical | Songlike, expressing the writer's emotions in an imaginative and beautiful way. | 113 | |
3380225600 | Mood | The prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work. | 114 | |
3380225601 | Parody | A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule | 115 | |
3380225602 | Persona | A individual social facade or front that reflects the role in life the individual is playing. | 116 | |
3380225603 | Satire | A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions or conventions for reform or ridicule | 117 | |
3380225604 | Syllogism | From the Greek for "reckoning together | 118 | |
3380225605 | Synesthesia | A device by which one sensory stimulus evokes the subjective experiences of another. | 119 |
AP Language Flashcards
Primary tabs
Need Help?
We hope your visit has been a productive one. If you're having any problems, or would like to give some feedback, we'd love to hear from you.
For general help, questions, and suggestions, try our dedicated support forums.
If you need to contact the Course-Notes.Org web experience team, please use our contact form.
Need Notes?
While we strive to provide the most comprehensive notes for as many high school textbooks as possible, there are certainly going to be some that we miss. Drop us a note and let us know which textbooks you need. Be sure to include which edition of the textbook you are using! If we see enough demand, we'll do whatever we can to get those notes up on the site for you!