AP Lang Glossary Flashcards
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| 4735028896 | Ad Hominem Argument | Latin for "to the man," a logical fallacy where the argument attacks the opposing speaker or another person as opposed to the actual issue. See: Donald Trump. | 0 | |
| 4735029607 | Allegory | A fictional work in which the characters represent ideas or concepts. For instance, in Animal Farm the pigs represent main characters in the Russian Revolution while in the Lord of the Flies different characters represent different ideas such as chaos and order. | 1 | |
| 4735030730 | Alliteration | The repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the start of words. | 2 | |
| 4735031308 | Allusion | A passing reference to a familiar person, place, or thing drawn from history, the Bible, mythology, or literature. It's an economical way for a writer to capture the essence of an idea, atmosphere, emotion, or historical era, as in the "The scandal was Watergate." Generally, these have to be familiar to the reader or they will lose their meaning. | 3 | |
| 4735032865 | Analogy | A form of comparison in which the writer explains something unfamiliar by comparing it to something familiar. It asks the reader to think about the correspondence or resemblance between two things that are essentially different. | 4 | |
| 4735033943 | Analytical Reading | Reading actively, playing close attention to both the content and the structure of the text. It often involves answering base questions such as what the author wants to say?,what is her main point?, why does author want to say it?, etc. | 5 | |
| 4735035779 | Antecedent | The word that a noun or pronoun refers back to. For instance, in the sentence "He would've bought the car, but he couldn't afford it, " car is the antecedent to the pronoun "it". | 6 | |
| 4735036836 | Antithesis | An opposition or contrast of ideas that is often expressed in balanced phrases or clauses. For instance, "Whereas he was boisterous, I was reserved" | 7 | |
| 4735037247 | Aphorism | A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life or of a principle or accepted general truth; a *maxim* or *epigraph* | 8 | |
| 4735038194 | Apostrophe | A figure of speech in which an absent person or personified object is addressed by a speaker. For instance "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore out though Romeo?" Julia utilizes this figure of speech because Romeo isn't there (well she thinks he isn't there, but he's a strange dude) | 9 | |
| 4735039593 | Appositive | A word or phrase that follows a noun or pronoun that helps modify the N/PN for emphasis or clarity, often set off with commas. | 10 | |
| 4735040235 | Argument | Alongside narration, description, and exposition this is one of the four basic types of prose which is geared towards to convincing the reader to agree with a point of view, to make a given decision, or to pursue a particular course of action. Often these arguments are rooted in logic and use reasonable explanations that appeal to the reader's intelligence. | 11 | |
| 4735042504 | Assonance | A type of internal rhyming in which vowel sounds are repeated. For instance the "o" sound in, " the pot's rocky, pocked surface." | 12 | |
| 4735044538 | Consonance | The repetition of similar consonant sounds in a group of words, usually referring to words in which the ending consonants are the same but the vowels which precede them are different, for example, "add" and "read", "bill" and "ball", "born" and "burn" | 13 | |
| 4735046037 | Assumption | A fundamental belief or principle, stated or implied, which is taken to be true or granted. | 14 | |
| 4735046402 | Asyndeton | The omission of conjunctions (FANBOYS) from a string of words, phrases, or clauses from a sentence. For instance: "I came, I saw, I conquered." | 15 | |
| 4735051363 | Atmosphere | The emotional feeling or mood of a place, scene, or event. | 16 | |
| 4735052624 | Attitude | The feelings of a particular speaker or a piece of writing toward a subject, person, or idea. | 17 | |
| 4735054229 | Audience | The intended readership for a piece of writing. | 18 | |
| 4735054353 | Bathos | A false or forced emotional that is often humorous. Think pathos so far, that it's more funny than powerful. | 19 | |
| 4735055157 | Cause and Effect Analysis | Alongside process analysis, definition, division and classification, exemplification, compare and contrast, this is one of the types of exposition that answers the question why an occurrence or the consequences of an action. | 20 | |
| 4735057174 | Claim | The thesis or proposition put forth in the argument. | 21 | |
| 4735057266 | Classification | Another type of exposition where the author arranges and sorts people, laces, or things into categories according to their differing characteristics thus making them more manageable for the writer and more understandable for the reader. | 22 | |
| 4735057885 | Cliché | An expression that become ineffective through overuse. Good writers normally avoid these expressions and instead pursue innovation. Think soap operas. | 23 | |
| 4735059849 | Coherence | The quality of good writing that results when all sentences, paragraphs, and longer divisions of an essay are naturally connected. It is achieved through: 1. A logical sequence of ideas 2. The thoughtful repetition of words and ideas 3. A suitable pace for the topic and reader 4. Use of transitional words and expressions. | 24 | |
| 4735063392 | Colloquial Expression | An expression that is characteristic of or appropriate to spoken language or to writing that seeks its effects that are INFORMAL. They are only allowed in formal writing if they are used purposefully. | 25 | |
| 4735066088 | Comparison and Contrast | One of the types of exposition where the writer points out the similarities and differences between two or more subjects in the same class or category. The function of this form of exposition is to *clarify - to reach some conclusion about the items being compared a contrasted.* | 26 | |
| 4735066693 | Concrete Word | A word which refers to a specific object, person, place, or action that can be directly seen and perceived. | 27 | |
| 4735067183 | Abstract Word | A word that refers to conditions, ideas, actions, or relationships which cannot be directly perceived by the senses. | 28 | |
| 4735068877 | Connotation | The implied or suggested meaning of a word. The feelings associated with a specific word. | 29 | |
| 4735069549 | Denotation | The dictionary decision of a word. | 30 | |
| 4735070000 | Contrast | A technique used by authors to elaborate on ideas by demonstrating what a thing is and what it is not. For instance, a writer might show the greatness of light by juxtaposing it with darkness. | 31 | |
| 4735070746 | Deduction | The process of reasoning from a stated premise to a necessary conclusion that goes from general to the specific. | 32 | |
| 4735071363 | Definition | Another type of exposition that is simply stating the meaning of a word which may be brief or extended. | 33 | |
| 4735071758 | Description | One of the four basic types of prose that tells how a person, place, or thing is perceived by the five senses which can either be objective, only reporting facts, or subjective, giving the writer's interpretation of objects as well. | 34 | |
| 4735074394 | Dialogue | A conversation that is recorded in a piece of writing which reveal important aspects of characters' personalities as well as events in the narrative. | 35 | |
| 4735075113 | Diction | The specific use of words in a written work. For instance using the word "man" over "guy" or "cordial greeting" over "hearty welcome." | 36 | |
| 4735076914 | Division | Similar to compare and contrast, this is a mental operation where a person breaks down a single large unit into smaller subunits or a large group in smaller categories. | 37 | |
| 4735077790 | Draft | A version of a piece of writing at a particular stage in the writing process. | 38 | |
| 4735077989 | Elegiac | A work in the style of an elegy, which mourns the loss of something such as the death of a loved one. | 39 | |
| 4735078229 | Emphasis | The placement of important ideas and words within sentences and longer units of writing so that they have the greatest impact. In general, the end of a work has most impact with the start has slightly less. | 40 | |
| 4735079843 | Essay | A relatively short piece of nonficition in which the writer attempts to make one or more closely related points. | 41 | |
| 4735080360 | Ethos | The characteristic spirit or ideal that informs a work. Also refers more generally to ethics, or values of the arguer: honesty, trustworthiness, and morals for example. In rhetorical writing, the writer will appeal to this corner of the rhetorical triangle to push their point. | 42 | |
| 4735081939 | Euphemism | A mild or pleasant sounding expression that substitutes for a harsher, indelicate, or simply less pleasant idea. For instance, "departed" for "dead" or "with child" for "pregnant." | 43 | |
| 4735094786 | Evaluation | An assessment of effectiveness or merit. | 44 | |
| 4735097326 | Evidence | Data on which a judgement or argument is based or by which proof or probability is established, usually taking the form of statistics, food, names, examples, or illustrations. | 45 | |
| 4735097934 | Examples | These illustrate a larger idea or represent something of which they are a part, serving as a basic means of developing or clarifying of an idea. These also show and not simply tell the audience what the author means. | 46 | |
| 4735099601 | Exemplification | A type of exposition where the writer uses examples to support a generalization and to make it more vivid, understandable, and persuasive. | 47 | |
| 4735099965 | Exposition | One of the four basic types of prose which serves to clarify, explain, and inform. The methods of exposition include process analysis, definition, division and classification, comparison and contrast, exemplification and cause and effect analysis. | 48 | |
| 4735101501 | Fact | A piece of information presented as having a verifiable certainty or reality. | 49 | |
| 4735101699 | Figures of Speech | Brief, imaginative comparisons that highlight the similarities between things that are basically dissimilar, making writing more vivid and interesting. | 50 | |
| 4735102675 | Fiction | Works which can be based on actual occurrences but are rooted in imagination and are completely made up. | 51 | |
| 4735103454 | Figurative Language | An umbrella term for all uses of language that imply an imaginative comparison. | 52 | |
| 4735103933 | Focus | The limitation that a writer gives his or her subject. The task of a writer is to select a manageable topic given the constraints of time, space, and purpose. For example in a work about sports, one may just write about specific subcategories such as track and field. | 53 | |
| 4735105099 | Foreshadowing | A purposeful hint placed in a word of a literature to suggest what may occur later in the narrative. | 54 | |
| 4735105638 | Hyperbole | A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used to achieve emphasis. | 55 | |
| 4735105909 | Idiom | A word or phrase that is used habitually with a particular meaning in a language that is not readily evident to nonnative speakers. Ex: "The cat's out of the bag", "It's raining cats and dogs", "Look what the cat dragged in" | 56 | |
| 4735106553 | Image | The mental picture that is conjured by specific words and associations but there can be auditory and sensory components to imagery as well. Nearly all writing depends on these mental scenes to be effective and interesting. | 57 | |
| 4735107127 | Induction | The process of reasoning to a conclusion about all members of a class though an examination of only a few members of the class. This form of reasoning moves from particular to general, reverse of deduction. | 58 | |
| 4735108336 | Irony | A situation which produces an outcome that is the opposite of what is expected. | 59 | |
| 4735108613 | Juxtaposition | The placement of two contrasting things next to one another for comparison. | 60 | |
| 4735108823 | Logos | The use of reason as a controlling principle in an argument. In rhetorical writing, authors often attempt to persuade reader by appealing to this sense of reason. A type of argumentative proof having to do with the logical qualities of an argument: data, evidence, factual information. | 61 | |
| 4735109455 | Metaphor | A figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared directly usually for emphasis or dramatic effect where one thing is said to be another. | 62 | |
| 4735109948 | Metonymy | A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it. For instance, referring to the royal family as the "crown" or the "white house" for the entire position of the presidency. | 63 | |
| 4735110346 | Mood | The prevailing feeling of a work, scene, or event, similar to atmosphere. | 64 | |
| 4735110981 | Narration | One of the four basic types of prose which tell a story, very common in fiction but also in nonfiction. | 65 | |
| 4735111287 | Objective | Factual and impersonal | 66 | |
| 4735111411 | Subjective | Impressionistic, relying on personal interpretation. | 67 | |
| 4735111678 | Onomatopoeia | An effect created by words that have sounds that reinforce their meaning. "BANG, ZOOM, POW" | 68 | |
| 4735112673 | Opinion | A belief or conclusion not substantiated by proof or knowledge which reveals personal feelings or attitudes or states a position. | 69 | |
| 4735113191 | Organization | The thoughtful arrangement and presentation of one's points or ideas. Narration is often organized chronologically. Exposition can be organized from simplest to most complex from familiar to least familiar. Argument may be organized from least important to most important. | 70 | |
| 4735114275 | Oxymoron | A word trick which combines two contradictory words into one expression. | 71 | |
| 4735114535 | Pacing | The speed of a story's action, dialogue, or narration. | 72 | |
| 4735114758 | Paradox | A seeming contradiction that in fact reveals some greater truth. | 73 | |
| 4735115174 | Paragraph | The single most important unit of thought in an essay which consists of a series of closely related sentences which adequately develop the larger overall structure. | 74 | |
| 4735116222 | Parallelism | A literary technique which relies on the use of the same syntactical structures, (phrases, clauses, sentences), in a series in order to develop an argument or emphasize an idea. | 75 | |
| 4735117975 | Parody | An effort to ridicule or make fun of a literary work or an author by writing an imitation of the work or of the author's style. Think Space Balls. | 76 | |
| 4735118395 | Pathos | The sympathetic feeling of pity or compassion evoked by an artistic work. In rhetoric, authors often attempt to persuade readers by appealing to this corner of the rhetorical triangle by appealing to emotion. | 77 | |
| 4735118961 | Person | A grammatical term that describes the relationship of a writer or speaker to an audience by examining the pronouns that are used and in comes in first, second, or third varieties. | 78 | |
| 4735119543 | Persona | The character created the voice and narration of the speaker of a text. It also implies a fictional representation or an act of disguise (the speaker it not the author, but rather a character created by him or her). | 79 | |
| 4735120005 | Personification | A figure of speech in which ideas or objects are described as having human qualities or personalities. | 80 | |
| 4735121216 | Point of View | The particular perspective from which the story is told such as from the view of the characters, the narrator, etc. | 81 | |
| 4735121781 | Prewriting | All the actives a writer takes place before actually writing a rough draft. | 82 | |
| 4735123158 | Process Analysis | A form a exposition which answers the question how? and explains how something works or gives step by step direction for doing something. | 83 | |
| 4735123922 | Publication | The stage of the writing process when the writer shares his or her writing with the intended audience. | 84 | |
| 4735124323 | pUN | A play on word and the jokes the author of this quizlet is most famous for | 85 | |
| 4735124629 | Purpose | What the author seeks to accomplish in a particular piece of writing, generally to relate, describe, explain, or convince. | 86 | |
| 4735128317 | Repetition | The reiteration of a word or phrase for emphasis. | 87 | |
| 4735129613 | Revision | A stage of writing where the the writer determines what in the draft needs to be developed or clarified so that the essay says what the writer intends it to say. | 88 | |
| 4735132730 | Rhetoric and Rhetorical Purpose | Seriously go read the full entry on this. I'm just one Yasa and I can't summarize this. | 89 | |
| 4735133012 | Rhetorical Devices | The specific language techniques that an author uses to carry out a rhetorical strategy and thus achieve a purpose for writing. | 90 | |
| 4735133350 | Rhetorical Question | A question that is asked for the sake of argument but doesn't need a direct answer usually used to introduce a topic or emphasize important points. | 91 | |
| 4735134031 | Rhetorical Strategies | A plan of action to achieve a goal. In rhetoric, strategy describes the way an author organizes words, sentences, and overall argument in order to achieve a particular purpose. | 92 | |
| 4735134528 | Satire | To ridicule or mock ideas, persons, events or doctrines, or to make fun of human foibles or weaknesses. Usually these works are meant to not only expose the stupidity of a situation but also make the reader laugh. | 93 | |
| 4735135042 | Selection of Detail | The specific words, incidents, images, or events the author uses to create a scene or narrative. | 94 | |
| 4735135669 | Sequence | The order in which a writer presents information. | 95 | |
| 4735135907 | Simile | A comparison with like or as. | 96 | |
| 4735136131 | Slang | Unconventional, very informal language of particular sub groups of a culture. This is only okay in formal writing if used purposefully. | 97 | |
| 4735136448 | Slanting | The use of certain words of information that results in a biased viewpoint. | 98 | |
| 4735136575 | Speaker | The narrator of a story, poem, or drama. NOT THE AUTHOR, A FICTIONAL PERSONA. | 99 | |
| 4735136819 | Strategy | The means by which a writer achieves his or her purpose, including the many rhetorical decisions that the writer makes about the organization, paragraph structure, syntax and diction. In the terms of an essay, this refers to the specific rhetorical mode the writer uses such as process analysis or cause and effect. | 100 | |
| 4735138046 | Style | The individual manner in which a writer expresses his or her ideas, often created by the author's selection of words, construction of sentences and arrangements of ideas. | 101 | |
| 4735138594 | Subject | What the essay is about. | 102 | |
| 4735138850 | Syllogism | An argument that utilizes deductive reasoning and consists of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. All cats are mammals. Louie is a cat. Therefore, Louie is a mammal. |  | 103 |
| 4735139609 | Symbol | A person, place or a thing that represents something beyond itself. | 104 | |
| 4735139905 | Synonym | A word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word. | 105 | |
| 4735140142 | Syntax | The way words are arranged in a sentence. | 106 | |
| 4735140830 | Technical Language | Jargon, the special vocabulary of a trade or profession. | 107 | |
| 4735141118 | Theme | The main thought expressed by a work. A truth about human nature. Go ask Miss Ready, I've already written too many terms in this quizlet. | 108 | |
| 4735141496 | Thesis | The statement of the main ideas of the essay, the controlling idea. May be implied rather than explicit. | 109 | |
| 4735142285 | Title | A word or phrase set off at the beginning of an essay to identify the subject, to capture the main idea of the essay, or to attract the reader's attention. | 110 | |
| 4735142914 | Tone | Attitude, the author's feeling towards a subject and how he presents them in the writing. | 111 | |
| 4735143153 | Topic sentence | The sentence which expresses the core idea of a paragraph and therefore limits and control its subject. Generally appears near the beginning of the sentence but it may appear later for special effect. | 112 | |
| 4735143604 | Transition | Words or phrases that link sentences, paragraphs, and larger units of a composition to achieve coherence. | 113 | |
| 4735144013 | Understatement | The effect when an author assigns less significance to an event or thing that in deserves. Examples include Litotes and meiosis. | 114 | |
| 4735144352 | Voice | How the speaker of a the literary work (not necessarily the author) presents themselves to the reader and can be often characterized by an adjective such as strong, firm, sad, gentle, argumentative, etc. | 115 | |
| 4735145028 | Oversimplification | The tendency to provide simple solutions to complex problems. "America's debt is entirely the result of Federal Reserve's recent policies" | 116 | |
| 4735145368 | Non sequitir | "It does not follow": an inference or conclusion that does not follow from the established premise or evidence. " I am rich, therefore I can do karate." | 117 | |
| 4735146799 | Post Hoc, ergo propter hoc | "After this, therefore because of this": Confusing chance or coincidence with causation. "All I'm saying is that I understood math before Miss Rochon's class and now I don't." | 118 | |
| 4735148171 | Begging the question | Assuming a premise which needs to be proven. "If we all just spoke french, than America's approval rating will go up" | 119 | |
| 4735148807 | False Analogy | Making a misleading analogy between logically unconnected ideas: "Since he's such a great speaker, I'm sure he'll be an excellent President," | 120 | |
| 4735149342 | Either/or thinking (False Dichotomy) | The tendency to see the issue as having only two sides. "There are only two kinds of people in this world: kind and evil." | 121 |
