2724282398 | Allegory | a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one | 0 | |
2724282669 | Alliteration | the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. | 1 | |
2724282670 | Allusion | an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference. | 2 | |
2724283150 | Anaphora | the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. | 3 | |
2724283151 | Antithesis | a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect. "a small step for a man but a giant step for mankind" | 4 | |
2724283382 | Aphorism | a statement of truth or opinion expressed in a concise and witty manner. The term is often applied to philosophical, moral and literary principles. | 5 | |
2724283579 | Apostrophe | an arrangement of words addressing a non-existent person or an abstract idea in such a way as if it were present and capable of understanding feelings. | 6 | |
2724283580 | Assonance | in poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in nonrhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible | 7 | |
2724283916 | Asyndeton | a practice in literature whereby the author purposely leaves out conjunctions in the sentence, while maintaining the grammatical accuracy of the phrase. | 8 | |
2724284247 | Attitude | revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization | 9 | |
2724379901 | Begging the question | a type of circular reasoning. This is an informal fallacy where someone includes the conclusion they are attempting to prove in the initial premise of their argument—often in an indirect way that conceals it. "The belief in God is universal. After all, everyone believes in God." | 10 | |
2724380071 | Canon | the entire body of literature traditionally thought to be suitable for admiration and study. | 11 | |
2724380072 | Chiasmus | a reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases, as in "He went to the country, to the town went she.". | 12 | |
2724380073 | Claim | A statement essentially arguable but used as a primary point to support or prove an argument | 13 | |
2724380268 | Colloquial | (of language) used in ordinary or familiar conversation; not formal or literary; slang | 14 | |
2724380269 | Compare and contrast | pertaining to a written exercise about the similarities and differences between two or more people, places, or things | 15 | |
2724380515 | Conceit | a figure of speech in which two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of similes or metaphors. | 16 | |
2724380516 | Connotation | an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning. | 17 | |
2724380849 | Consonance | the recurrence of similar sounds, especially consonants, in close proximity (chiefly as used in prosody). | 18 | |
2724380850 | Convention | a practice or device which is accepted as a necessary, useful, or given feature of a genre | 19 | |
2724381045 | Critique | an article or essay criticizing a literary or other work; detailed evaluation; review. | 20 | |
2724381750 | Deductive reasoning | the process of reasoning from one or more statements (premises) to reach a logically certain conclusion. "Since all humans are mortal, and I am a human, then I am mortal" | 21 | |
2724381751 | Dialect | A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, especially a variety of speech differing from the standard literary language or speech pattern of the culture in which it exists | 22 | |
2724381752 | Diction | the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing. | 23 | |
2724382503 | Didactic | works often have morals to impart or are written to teach us something about religion, philosophy, history, or politics | 24 | |
2724599687 | Elegy | a form of literature which can be defined as a poem or song in the form of elegiac couplets, written in honor of someone deceased. It typically laments or mourns the death of the individual. | 25 | |
2724599688 | Epistrophe | stylistic device that can be defined as the repetition of phrases or words at the end of the clauses or sentences. Used in persuasive writing and speeches. | 26 | |
2724599824 | Epitaph | an inscription written on a grave. Generally, it is a brief composition, having figurative sense in a verse or in prose form, written to pay tribute to a deceased person, or to remember a past event. | 27 | |
2724599825 | Ethos | In rhetoric, it represents credibility or an ethical appeal which involves persuasion by the character involved. | 28 | |
2724599826 | Eulogy | a speech or writing in praise of a person(s) or thing(s), especially one who recently died or retired or as a term of endearment. | 29 | |
2724600188 | Euphemism | the use of indirect and polite expressions to replace impolite and harsh words and phrases. | 30 | |
2724600189 | Exposition | a literary device used to introduce background information about events, settings, characters etc. to the audience or readers. | 31 | |
2724600303 | Extended metaphor | a metaphor that an author develops over the course of many lines or even an entire work of literature. | 32 | |
2724606492 | Figurative language | language in which figures of speech are used to make it effective, persuasive and impactful. | 33 | |
2724606587 | Flashback | a transition in a story to an earlier time, that interrupts the normal chronological order of events. | 34 | |
2724606588 | Genre | the type of art, literature or music characterized by a specific form, content and style. | 35 | |
2724606684 | Homily | a sermon or speech that a religious person or priest delivers before a group of people to offer them moral correction. | 36 | |
2724606685 | Hyperbole | exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. | 37 | |
2724606993 | Imagery | to use figurative language to represent objects, actions and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses. | 38 | |
2724607134 | Inductive reasoning | a writer collects a number of instances and forms a generalization that is meant to apply to all instances. | 39 | |
2724607135 | Inference | a literary device used commonly in literature and in daily life where logical deductions are made based on premises assumed to be true. | 40 | |
2724607380 | Irony | a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. | 41 | |
2724607832 | Isocolon | a rhetorical device that involves a succession of sentences, phrases and clauses of grammatically equal length; the repetition of similar grammatical forms. | 42 | |
2724640222 | Jargon | a use of specific phrases and words by writers in a particular situation, profession or trade. These specialized terms are used to convey hidden meanings accepted and understood in that field. | 43 | |
2724640379 | Juxtaposition | a literary technique in which two or more ideas, places, characters and their actions are placed side by side in a narrative or a poem for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts. | 44 | |
2724640380 | Litote | a figure of speech which employs an understatement by using double negatives or, in other words, positive statement is expressed by negating its opposite expressions. "not too bad" for "very good" | 45 | |
2724640810 | Loose sentence | A sentence structure in which a main clause is followed by one or more coordinate or subordinate phrases and clauses. "I went to the movies yesterday, bought candy, and shopped at the mall." | 46 | |
2724640811 | Metaphor | a figure of speech that identifies something as being the same as some unrelated thing for rhetorical effect, thus highlighting the similarities between the two. | 47 | |
2724641007 | Metonymy | a figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated. "crown" for "king" or "queen" | 48 | |
2724686743 | Mode of discourse | In composition studies, the four traditional categories of written texts: narration, description, exposition, and argument. | 49 | |
2724709025 | Mood | a literary element that evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions. | 50 | |
2724709026 | Narrative | a report of related events presented to the listeners or readers in words arranged in a logical sequence; a story | 51 | |
2724709157 | Onomatopoeia | the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named | 52 | |
2724709158 | Oxymoron | a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction | 53 | |
2724709305 | Paradox | a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or silly but may include a latent truth. It is also used to illustrate an opinion or statement contrary to accepted traditional ideas. "I can resist anything but temptation." | 54 | |
2724709431 | Parallel structure | the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning or meter."Alice ran into the room, into the garden, and into our hearts." | 55 | |
2724709432 | Pathos | an appeal to emotion, and is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response. | 56 | |
2724709863 | Periodic sentence | A long and frequently involved sentence, marked by suspended syntax, in which the sense is not completed until the final word--usually with an emphatic climax. "To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, that is genius." | 57 | |
2724709864 | Personification | the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form. | 58 | |
2724709965 | Point of view | the angle of considering things, which shows us the opinion, or feelings of the individuals involved in a situation. | 59 | |
2724709966 | Prose | Prose is a form of language that has no formal metrical structure. It applies a natural flow of speech, and ordinary grammatical structure | 60 | |
2724730077 | Realism | a style of art or literature that shows or describes people and things as they are in real life | 61 | |
2724730354 | Rebuttal | In an argument or debate, the presentation of evidence and reasoning meant to weaken or undermine an opponent's claim. | 62 | |
2724730355 | Rhetoric | a technique of using language effectively and persuasively in spoken or written form. It is an art of discourse, which studies and employs various methods to convince, influence or please an audience. | 63 | |
2724730471 | Rhetorical question | asked just for effect or to lay emphasis on some point discussed when no real answer is expected. | 64 | |
2724730472 | Sarcasm | the literal meaning is different than what the speaker intends to say; meant to mock with satirical or ironic remarks | 65 | |
2724730473 | Satire | a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule. | 66 | |
2724730573 | Style | the way a writer writes and it is the technique which an individual author uses in his writing. depends upon one's syntax, word choice, and tone | 67 | |
2724730574 | Symbolism | the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense. | 68 | |
2724730797 | Synecdoche | a literary device in which a part of something represents the whole or it may use a whole to represent a part. calling a car "wheels" | 69 | |
2724730998 | Syntax | a set of rules in a language. It dictates how words from different parts of speech are put together in order to convey a complete thought. | 70 | |
2724742067 | Theme | a main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work that may be stated directly or indirectly. | 71 | |
2724742068 | Tone | an attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience. Tone is generally conveyed through the choice of words or the viewpoint of a writer on a particular subject. | 72 | |
2724742069 | Voice | an author's individual writing style or point of view. | 73 | |
2724742179 | Zeugma | a figure of speech in which a word, usually a verb or an adjective, applies to more than one noun, blending together grammatically and logically different ideas. "John lost his coat and his temper" | 74 |
AP Language Terms Flashcards
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