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| 7183273965 | Allegory | The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to literal meaning. To the literal meaning. In some allegories, for example, an author may intend the characters to personify an abstraction lile hope or freedom. The allegorical meaning usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence | 0 | |
| 7183273966 | Alliteration | The repetition of sounds, especially intial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words. Although the term is not used frequently in the multiple choice section you can look for alliteration in any essay passage. The repetition can reinforce meaning, unify idead, supply a musical sound, and/ or echo the sense of passage | 1 | |
| 7183273967 | Allusion | A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. Allusions can be historical, literal, religious, topical, or mythical. There are many more possibilities, and a work may simultaneously use multiple layers of allusion. | 2 | |
| 7183273968 | Ambiguity | The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage | 3 | |
| 7183273969 | Anadiplosis | The repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following claise. "Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering" Yoda | 4 | |
| 7183273970 | Analogy | A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them. An analogy can explain something unfamiliar by associating it with or pointing out its similarity to something more familiar. Analogies can also make writing more vivid, imaginative, or intellectually engaging. | 5 | |
| 7183273971 | Anaphora | One of the devices of repetition, in ehich the same expression. Is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences. "It was the best of times it was the worst of times." | 6 | |
| 7183273972 | Anecdote | A short narrative detailing particulars of an imteresting episode or event. The term most frequently refers to an incident in the life of a person | 7 | |
| 7183273973 | Antecedent | The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. The AP language exam occasionally asks for the antecedent of a given pronoun in a long, complex sentence or in a group of sentences. | 8 | |
| 7183273974 | Aphorism | A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle (if the authorship is unknown the statement generally considered to be a folk proverb.) An aphorism can a memorable summation of the authors point | 9 | |
| 7183273975 | Apostrophe | A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. It is an address to someone or something that cannot answer. The effect may add familiarity or emotional intendity. William Wordsworth addresses John Milon as he writes, "Milton, thou shouldst be living at this hour: / England hath need of thee." | 10 | |
| 7183273976 | Atmosphere | The emotional mood 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 atmosphere. Frequently atmosphere foreshadows events. Perhaps it can create a mood. | 11 | |
| 7183273977 | Clause | A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. An independent, or main, clause stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent clause. The point that you want consider is the question of what or why the author subordinates one element to the other. You should also become aware of making effective use of subordination in your own writing | 12 | |
| 7183273978 | Colloquial/ Colloquialism | The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing. Not generally acceptable for formal writing, colloquialisms give a work a conversational, familiar tone. Colloquial expressions in writing include local or regional dialects | 13 | |
| 7183273979 | Coherence | A principle demanding that the parts of any composition be arranged so that the meaning of the whole may be immediately clear and intelligible. Words, phrases, clauses within the sentence; and sentences, paragraphs, and chapters in larger pieces of writing are the units that, by their progressivd and logical arrangement make for coherence | 14 | |
| 7183273980 | Conciet | A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between dissimilar objects. A conciet displays intellectual cleverness as a result of the unusual comparison being made | 15 | |
| 7183273981 | Connotation | The nonliteral, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning. May involve ideas, emotions, or attitudes. | 16 | |
| 7183273982 | Denotation | The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color. | 17 | |
| 7183273983 | Diction | Related to style, refers to the writer's word choices, especially with their regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness. Combines with syntax, figurative language, literary devices etc., creates an author's style. | 18 | |
| 7183273984 | Didactic | From the Greek it literally means "teaching." These works have the primary aim of teaching or instructing, especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles. | 19 | |
| 7183273985 | Epistrophe | The opposite of anaphors, repetition at the end of successive clauses. "They saw no evil, they spoke no evil, and they heard no evil." | 20 | |
| 7183273986 | Euphemism | From the Greek for "good speech," euphemisms are a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept. May be used to adhere to standards of social or political correctness or to add humor or ironic understatement. Saying "earthly remains" rather than "corpse" is an example. | 21 | |
| 7183273987 | Exposition | In essays, one of the for chief types of composition, the others being argumentation, description, and narration. The purposes of exposition is to explain something. In drama, it is the introductory material | 22 | |
| 7183273988 | Extended Metaphor | A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work | 23 | |
| 7183273989 | Figurative Language | Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid. | 24 | |
| 7183273990 | Figure of speech | A device used to produce figurative language. Many compare dissimilar things. These include apostrophe, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron, paradox, personification, simile, synecdoche, and understatement. | 25 | |
| 7183273991 | Generic Conventions | This term describes traditions for each genre. These conventions help to define each genre; for example, they differentiate an essay and journalistic writing or an autobiography and political writing. On the AP language exam, try to distinguish the unique features of a writers' work from those dictated by convention. | 26 | |
| 7183273992 | Genre | The major category into which a literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry, and drama. However, this is a flexible term; within these broad boundaries exist many subdivisions that are often called this themselves. For example, prose can be divided into fiction or nonfiction. Poetry can be divided into lyric, dramatic, narrative, epic, etc. Drama can be divided into tragedy, comedy, melodrama, farce, etc. | 27 | |
| 7183273993 | Homily | This term literally means "sermon," but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice. | 28 | |
| 7183273994 | Hyperbole | A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement. These often have a comic effect; however, a serious effect is also possible. Often these produce irony | 29 | |
| 7183273995 | Imagery | The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. On a physical level it uses terms related to the five senses; we prefer visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, or olfactory imagery. On a broader and deeper level, however, one image 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. | 30 | |
| 7183273996 | Inference/ infer | To draw a reasonable conclusion from information presented | 31 | |
| 7183273997 | Invective | An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language | 32 | |
| 7183273998 | Irony/ ironic | The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant. The difference between what appears to be and what is actually true. In general the three types are: verbal, word's that mean the opposite of the writer's true meaning. In situational, events turn out the opposite of what was expected. What the characters and readers think ought to happen is what does not happen. I n dramatic, facts or events are unknown to a character in a play or piece of fiction but known to the reader, audience, or other characters in the work. | 33 | |
| 7183273999 | Loose Sentence | A type of sentence in which the main idea comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as 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 of these may seem informal, relaxed, and conversational. It creates a loose style. | 34 | |
| 7183274000 | Metaphor | A figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity. This type of language makes writing more vivid, imaginative, thought provoking, and meaningfu | 35 | |
| 7183274001 | Metonomy | A term from the Greek meaning "changed label" or "substitute name," metonymy is a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it. A news release that claims "the White House declared" rather than "the President declared" is using this. The substituted term generally carries a more potent emotional impact. | 36 | |
| 7183274002 | Mood | This term has two distinct technical meanings in English writing. The first is grammatical and deals with verbal units and a speaker's attitude. The indicative this is used only for factual sentences. For example, "Joe eats too quickly." The subjunctive this is used to express conditions contrary to the fact. For example, "If I were you I would get another job." The imperative this is used for commands. For example, "Shut the door!" The second meaning of this is literary meaning prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work. | 37 | |
| 7183274003 | Narrative | The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events. | 38 | |
| 7183274004 | Onomatopeoia | A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words. Simple examples include such words as buzz, hiss, crack, whinny, and murmur. | 39 | |
| 7183274005 | Oxymoron | From the Greek for "pointedly foolish," this is a figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox. Simple examples include "jumbo shrimp" and "cruel kindness". This term does not usually appear in the multiple-choice questions, but there is a chance that you might find it in an essay. Take note of the effect which the author achieves with this term. | 40 | |
| 7183274006 | Paradox | A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity. "Macbeth" | 41 | |
| 7183274007 | Parallelism | Also referred to as parallel construction or parallel structure, this term comes from Greek roots meaning "beside one another." It refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity. This can involve, but is not limited to, repetition of a grammatical element such as a preposition of verbal phrase. A famous example of parallelism begins Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was an age of wisdom, it was an age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity..." The effects of this 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 | 42 | |
| 7183274008 | Parody | A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/ or ridicule. As comedy, this distorts or exaggerates distinctive features of the original. As ridicule, it mimics the work by repeating and borrowing words, phrases, or characteristics in order to illuminate weaknesses in the original. Well-written this offers enlightenment about the original, but poorly written t his only offers ineffectual imitation. Usually an audience must grasp literary allusion to understand the work being imitated. | 43 | |
| 7183274009 | Pedantic | An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish. | 44 | |
| 7183274010 | Periodic Sentence | A sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end. This independent clause is preceded by a phrase or clause that cannot stand alone. For example: "Ecstatic with my AP score, I let out a loud, joyful Shout!" The effect of a periodic sentence is to add emphasis and structural variety. It is also a much stronger sentence than the loose sentence. | 45 | |
| 7183274011 | Personification | A figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions. Personification is used to make these abstractions, animals, or objects more vivid to the reader. | 46 | |
| 7183274012 | Point of View | In literature, the perspective from which a story is told. There are two general divisions of this and many subdivisions within those. The first person narrator tells the story with the first person pronoun, "I", and is a character in the story. This narrator can be the protagonist, a participant, or an observer. The third person narrator relates the events of: omniscient and limited omniscient. In the third person omniscient the narrator, with god-like knowledge, presents thoughts and actions of any or all characters. This all-knowing narrator can reveal what each character feels and thinks at any given moment. The third person limited omniscient presents feelings and thoughts of only one character. | 47 | |
| 7183274013 | Predicate Adjective | One type of subject complement—an adjective, group of adjectives, or adjective clause that follows a linking verb. It is in the predicate of the sentence, and modifies, or describes, the subject. | 48 | |
| 7183274014 | Prose | One of the major divisions of genre, this refers to fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms. The printer determines the length of the line; word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern. | 49 | |
| 7183274015 | Repetition | The duplication either exact or approximate of any element of language such as a sound word phrase clause sentence or grammatical pattern | 50 | |
| 7183274016 | Rhetor | The speaker who uses elements of rhetoric effectively in oral or written test. | 51 | |
| 7183274017 | Rhetoric | From the Greek word "orator" this term describes the principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively. | 52 | |
| 7183274018 | Rhetorical Modes | This flexible term describes variety, the conventions, and the purposes of the major kinds of writing. The four most common of these modes and their purposes are as follows: The purpose of exposition is to explain and analyze information by presenting an idea, relevant evidence, and appropriate discussion. The purpose of argumentation is to prove validity of an idea, or point of view, by presenting sound reasoning, discussion, and argument that thoroughly convinces the reader. Persuasive writing is a type of argumentation having an additional aim of urging some form o action. The purpose of description is to re-create, invent, or visually present a person, place, event, or action so that the reader can picture that being described. Sometimes an author engages all five senses in description; good descriptive writing can be sensuous and picturesque. Descriptive writing may be straightforward and objective or highly emotional and subjective. The purpose of narration is to tell a story or narrate an event or series of events. The writing mode frequently uses tools of descriptive writing. These four writing modes are sometimes referred to as modes of discourse. | 53 | |
| 7183274019 | Sarcasm | From the Greek meaning "to tear flesh," sarcasm involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something. It may use irony as a device, but not all ironic statements are this, or intended to ridicule. When well done, sarcasm can be witty and insightful; when poorly done, it's simply cruel. | 54 | |
| 7183274020 | Satire | A 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, this 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 satire are varied, depending on the writer's goal. It is thought provoking and insightful about the human condition. | 55 | |
| 7183274021 | Semantics | The branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, their historical and psychology development, their connotations, and their relation to one another. | 56 | |
| 7183274022 | Style | The consideration of this has two purposes: An evaluation of the sum of the choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary devices. Some authors' styles are so idiosyncratic that we can quickly recognize works by the same author. Compare, for example, Jonathan Swift to George Orwell or William Faulkner to Ernest Hemingway. We can analyze and describe an author's personal thus and make judgments on how appropriate it is to the author's purpose. Styles can be called flowery, explicit, succinct, rambling, bombastic, commonplace, incisive, or laconic, to name only a few examples. Classification of authors to a group and comparison of an author to similar authors. By means of such a classification and comparison, we can see how an author's this reflects and helps to define a historical period, such as the Renaissance or the Victorian period, or a literary movement, such as the romantic, transcendental, or realist movement. | 57 | |
| 7183274023 | Subject Complement | The word (with any accompanying phrases) or clauses that follows a linking verb and complements, or completes, the subject of the sentence by either (1) renaming it or (2) describing it. The former is technically a predicate nominative, the latter a predicate adjective. | 58 | |
| 7183274024 | Subordinate Clause | Like all clauses, this word group contains both a subject and a verb (plus any accompanying phrases or modifiers), but unlike the independent clause, this clause cannot stand alone; it does not express a complete thought. Also called a dependent clause, this clause depends on a main clause, sometimes called an independent clause, to complete its meaning. Easily recognized key words and phrases usually begin these clauses—for example: although, because, unless, if, even though, since, as soon as, while, who, when, where, how, and that. | 59 | |
| 7183274025 | Syllogism | From the Greek for "reckoning together," this (also called syllogistic reasoning or syllogistic logic) is a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises (the first one called "major" and the second, "minor") that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion. A frequently cited example proceeds as follows: major premise: all men are mortal, minor premise: Socrates is a man, conclusion: Therefore, Socrates is mortal. The conclusion is valid only if each of the two premises is valid. These may also present a specific idea first ("Socrates") and the general second ("All men"). | 60 | |
| 7183274026 | Symbol/ Symbolism | Generally, anything that represents itself and stands for something else. Usually this is something concrete—such as an object, action, character, or scene—that represents something more abstracts. However, it can be much more complex. One system classifies this into three categories: (1) Natural these are objects and occurrences from nature to represent ideas commonly associated with them (dawn representing hope or a new beginning, a rose representing love, a tree representing knowledge). (2) Conventional these are those that have been invested with the meaning by a group (religious these such as a cross or Star of David; national these, such as a flag or an eagle; or group symbols, such as a skull and crossbones for pirates or the scales of justice for lawyers.) (3) Literary these are sometimes also conventional in the sense that they are found in a variety of works and are generally recognized. However, a work's symbol may be more complicated as is the whale in Moby Dick and the jungle in Heart of Darkness. | 61 | |
| 7183274027 | Syntax | The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. This is similar to diction, but you can differentiate them by thinking of this as the group of words, while diction refers to the individual words. In the multiple-choice section, you will need to analyze how syntax produces effects. | 62 | |
| 7183274028 | Theme | The central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers into life. Usually it is unstated in fictional works, but in nonfiction, the theme may be directly stated, especially in expository or argumentative writing. | 63 | |
| 7183274029 | Thesis | In expository writing, this statement is the sentence or group of sentences that directly express the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or position. Expository writing is usually judged by analyzing how accurately, effectively, and thoroughly a writer has proved this. | 64 | |
| 7183274030 | Tone | Similar to mood, this describes the author's attitude toward his material, the audience, or both. It is easier to determine this in spoken language than in written language. Considering how a work would sound if it were read aloud can help in identifying an author's tone. Some words describing this are playful, serious, businesslike, sarcastic, humorous, formal, ornate, sardonic, and somber. | 65 | |
| 7183274031 | Transition | A word or phrase that links different ideas. Used especially, although not exclusively, in expository and argumentative writing, transitions effectively signal a shift from one idea to another. A few commonly uses transitional words or phrases are furthermore, consequently, nevertheless, for example, in addition, likewise, similarity, and on the contrary. More sophisticated writers use more subtle means of this. | 66 | |
| 7183274032 | Trope | An artful variation from expected modes of expression of thoughts and ideas, a figure of speech involving a "turn" or change of sense—a use of the word in a sense other than its proper or literal one. Common types of tropes include: metaphor, synecdoche, metonymy, personification, hyperbole, litotes, irony, oxymoron, onomatopoeia, etc. | 67 | |
| 7183274033 | Understatement | The ironic minimizing of fact, understatement presents something as less significant than it is. The effect can frequently be humorous and emphatic. This is the opposite of hyperbole. | 68 | |
| 7183274034 | Undertone | An attitude that may lie under the ostensible tone of the piece. Under a cheery surface, for example, a work may have a threatening this. William Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper" from the Songs of Innocence has a grim this. | 69 | |
| 7183274035 | Unreliable Narrator | An untrustworthy or naïve commentator on the events and characters in a story. Huck Finn is one of American literature's most famous of this type. | 70 | |
| 7183274036 | Wit | In modern usage, intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights. A witty statement is humorous, while suggesting the speaker's verbal power in creating ingenious and perceptive remarks. This usually uses terse language that makes a pointed statement. Historically, this originally meant basic understanding. Its meaning evolved to include speed of understanding, and finally (in the early seventeenth century), it grew to mean quick perception including creative fancy and a quick tongue to articulate an answer that demanded the same quick perception | 71 | |
| 7183274037 | Zeugma | A trope, one word (usually a noun or main verb) governs two other words not related in meaning. "He maintained a business and his innocence." | 72 |
