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| 9814277874 | allegory | The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. In some allegories, for example, an author may intend the characters to personify an abstraction like hope or freedom. The allegorical meaning usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence | 0 | |
| 9814286804 | alliteration | The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words (as in "she sells sea shells"). Although the term is not frequently in the multiple choice section, you can look for alliteration in any essay passage. The repetition can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of the passage | 1 | |
| 9814292942 | 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, literary, religious, topical, or mythical. There are many more possibilities, and a work may simultaneously use multiple layers of allusion | 2 | |
| 9814302918 | ambiguity | The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage | 3 | |
| 9814309195 | 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 | 4 | |
| 9814314233 | 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. A question from the 2001 AP test as an example follows: "But it is the grandeur of all truth which can occupy a very high place in human interests that it is never absolutely novel to the meanest of minds; it exists eternally, by way of germ of latent principle, in the lowest as in the highest, needing to be developed but never to be planted." The antecedent of "it" (bolded) is...? [answer: "all truth"] | 5 | |
| 9814326093 | antithesis | the opposition or contrast of ideas; the direct opposite | 6 | |
| 9814331592 | aphorism | A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle. (If the authorship is unknown, the statement is generally considered to be a folk proverb.) An aphorism can be a memorable summation of the author's point | 7 | |
| 9814338943 | 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 intensity. William Wordsworth addresses John Milton as he writes, "Milton, thou shouldst be living at this hour: / England hath need of thee." Another example is Keats' "Ode to a Grecian Urn," in which Keats addresses the urn itself: "Thou still unravished bride of quietness." Many apostrophes imply a personification of the object addressed | 8 | |
| 9814347648 | atmosphere | The 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 atmosphere. Frequently atmosphere foreshadows events. Perhaps it can create a mood | 9 | |
| 9814370530 | caricature | a verbal description, the purpose of which is to exaggerate or distort, for comic effect, a person's distinctive physical features or other characteristics | 10 | |
| 9814375607 | clause | A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. An independent, or main, clause expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent, or subordinate clause, cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent clause. The point that you want to consider is the question of what or why the author subordinates one element should also become aware of making effective use of subordination in your own writing | 11 | |
| 9814386187 | 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 | 12 | |
| 9814392922 | conceit | A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects. A conceit displays intellectual cleverness as a result of the unusual comparison being made | 13 | |
| 9814399966 | connotation | The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning. Connotations may involve ideas, emotions, or attitudes | 14 | |
| 9814403291 | denotation | The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color | 15 | |
| 9814409580 | diction | Related to style, diction refers to the writer's word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness. For the AP exam, you should be able to describe an author's diction 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 | 16 | |
| 9814417693 | didactic | From the Greek, didactic literally means "teaching." Didactic words have the primary aim of teaching or instructing, especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles | 17 | |
| 9814424022 | euphemism | From 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 | 18 | |
| 9814433252 | extended metaphor | A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work | 19 | |
| 9814439356 | figurative language | Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid | 20 | |
| 9814444873 | figure of speech | A device used to produce figurative language. Many compare dissimilar things. Figures of speech include apostrophe, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, oxymoron, paradox, personification, simile, synecdoche, and understatement | 21 | |
| 9814455905 | 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 writer's work from those dictated by convention | 22 | |
| 9814467545 | genre | The major category into which a literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry, and drama. However, genre is a flexible term; within these broad boundaries exist many subdivisions that are often called genres themselves. For example, prose can be divided into fiction (novels and short stories) or nonfiction (essays, biographies, autobiographies, etc.). Poetry can be divided into lyric, dramatic, narrative, epic, etc. Drama can be divided into tragedy, comedy, melodrama, farce, etc. On the AP language exam, expect the majority of the passages to be from the following genres: autobiography, biography, diaries, criticism, essays, and journalistic, political, scientific, and nature writing. There may be fiction or poetry. | 23 | |
| 9814481408 | homily | This term literally means "sermon," but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice. | 24 | |
| 9814484078 | hyperbole | A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement. (The literal Greek meaning is "overshoot.") Hyperboles often have a comic effect; however, a serious effect is also possible. Often, hyperbole produces irony. The opposite of hyperbole is understatement. | 25 | |
| 9814489781 | imagery | The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. On a physical level, imagery uses terms related to the five senses: visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, and olfactory. 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. 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. | 26 | |
| 9814496313 | inference/infer | To draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented. When a multiple choice question asks for an inference to be drawn from a passage, the most direct, most reasonable inference is the safest answer choice. If an inference is implausible, it's unlikely to be the correct answer. | 27 | |
| 9814505727 | invective | an emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language. | 28 | |
| 9814524887 | irony/ironic | The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant, or the difference between what appears to be and what is actually true. Irony is often used to create poignancy or humor. In general, there are three major types of irony used in language: (1) verbal irony - when the words literally state the opposite of the writer's (or speaker's) meaning (2) situational irony - when events turn out the opposite of what was expected; when what the characters and readers think ought to happen is not what does happen (3) dramatic irony - when 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. | 29 | |
| 9814541951 | litotes | a form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite. | 30 | |
| 9814584532 | loose sentence/non-periodic sentence | A type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) 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 loose sentences often seems informal, relaxed, or conversational. Generally, loose sentences create loose style. The opposite of a loose sentence is the periodic sentence. | 31 | |
| 9814590832 | metaphor | A figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity. Metaphorical language makes writing more vivid, imaginative, thought provoking, and meaningful. | 32 | |
| 9814594264 | metonymy | a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it. | 33 | |
| 9814601692 | mood | The prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work. Setting, tone, and events can affect the mood. Mood is similar to tone and atmosphere. | 34 | |
| 9814603437 | narrative | The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events. | 35 | |
| 9814606189 | onomatopoeia | A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words. | 36 | |
| 9814609298 | oxymoron | is a figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox. | 37 | |
| 9814613667 | 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. | 38 | |
| 9814617098 | parallelism | It refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity. | 39 | |
| 9822015733 | anaphora | A sub-type of parallelism, when the exact repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive linesor sentences. | 40 | |
| 9822021073 | parody | A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule. It exploits peculiarities of an author's expression | 41 | |
| 9822026953 | pedantic | An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish | 42 | |
| 9822032469 | periodic sentence | The opposite of loose sentence, a sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end. | 43 | |
| 9822036097 | 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 appear more vivid to the reader. | 44 | |
| 9822046201 | point of view | In literature, the perspective from which a story is told. There are two general divisions of point of view, and many subdivisions within those. (1) 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 secondary character, or an observing character. (2) third person narrator relates the events with the third person pronouns, "he," "she," and "it." There are two main subdivisions to be aware of: a. third person omniscient, in which the narrator, with godlike knowledge, presents the thoughts and actions of any or all characters b. third person limited omniscient, in which the narrator presents the feelings and thoughts of only one character, presenting only the actions of all the remaining characters. In addition, be aware that the term point of view carries an additional meaning. When you are asked to analyze the author's point of view, the appropriate point for you to address is the author's attitude. | 45 | |
| 9822066453 | prose | one of the major divisions of genre, prose refers to fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms. | 46 | |
| 9822077009 | repetition | The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern. | 47 | |
| 9822080464 | rhetoric | From the Greek for "orator," this term describes the principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively. | 48 | |
| 9822091266 | rhetorical modes | This flexible term describes the variety, the conventions, and the purposes of the major kinds of writing. | 49 | |
| 9822096989 | sarcasm | From the Greek meaning "to tear flesh," sarcasm involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something. | 50 | |
| 9822099961 | satire | A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule. | 51 | |
| 9822131686 | semantics | The branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, their historical and psychological development, their connotations, and their relation to one another. | 52 | |
| 9822135685 | style | The consideration of style has two purposes: (1) 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. We can analyze and describe an author's personal style and make judgments on how appropriate it is to the author's purpose. Styles can be called flowery, explicit, succinct, rambling, bombastic, commonplace, incisive, laconic, etc. (2) Classification of authors to a group and comparison of an author to similar authors. By means of such classification and comparison, we can see how an author's style 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. | 53 | |
| 9822159824 | subject complement | The word (with any accompanying phrases) or clause that follows a linking verb and complements, or completes, the subject of the sentence by either (1) renaming it (the predicate nominative) or (2) describing it (the predicate adjective). | 54 | |
| 9822169701 | 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, the subordinate clause cannot stand alone; it does not express a complete thought. | 55 | |
| 9822177275 | syllogism | From the Greek for "reckoning together," a syllogism (or syllogistic reasoning or syllogistic logic) is a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises (the first one called "major" and the second called "minor") that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion. | 56 | |
| 9822189813 | symbol/symbolism | Generally, anything that represents itself and stands for something else. Usually a symbol is something concrete -- such as an object, action, character, or scene - that represents something more abstract. | 57 | |
| 9822196659 | synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole or, occasionally, the whole is used to represent a part. | 58 | |
| 9822219612 | synesthesia | when one kind of sensory stimulus evokes the subjective experience of another. Ex: The sight of red ants makes you itchy. | 59 | |
| 9822222413 | syntax | The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. Syntax is similar to diction, but you can differentiate them by thinking of syntax as groups of words, while diction refers to the individual words. | 60 | |
| 9822231801 | theme | The central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers into life. Usually theme is unstated in fictional works, but in nonfiction, the theme may be directly state, especially in expository or argumentative writing. | 61 | |
| 9822244408 | thesis | In expository writing, the thesis statement is the sentence or group of sentences that directly expresses the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or position. | 62 | |
| 9822248381 | tone | Similar to mood, tone describes the author's attitude toward his material, the audience, or both. | 63 | |
| 9822252497 | 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. | 64 | |
| 9822258430 | understatement | the ironic minimalizing of fact, understatement presents something as less significant than it is. | 65 | |
| 9822265833 | wit | A witty statement is humorous, while suggesting the speaker's verbal power in creating ingenious and perceptive remarks. | 66 |
