AP Lang Terms Flashcards

18971578	Absolute	a word free from limitations or qualifications	0
18971579	Adage	a familiar proverb or wise saying	1
22547989	Ad hominem argument	argument attacking an individual's character rather than his position	2
22547990	Allegory	literary works in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions	3
22547991	Alliteration	the repetition of consonant sounds in successive or neighboring words	4
22547992	Allusion	an indirect reference to something literary, mythological, or historical	5
22547993	Analogy	a comparison of two different things that are similar in some way	6
22547994	Anaphora	the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences	7
22547995	Anecdote	a brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event	8
22547996	Antecedent	the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers	9
22547997	Antithesis	the opposite of	10
22547998	Aphorism	a concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea. Typically rhymes.	11
22547999	Apostrophe	speaking to an absent or imaginary person or an inanimate object	12
22548000	Archetype	a detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and appeals in a universal way	13
22548001	Argument	a statement of meaning or main point of a literary work	14
22548002	Asyndeton	a construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions	15
22548004	Bathos	overly sentimental quality intended to evoke pity	16
22548005	Chiasmus	a statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed	17
22548006	Cliche	an expression that has been overused to the extent that its freshness has worn off	18
22548007	Climax	the point of highest interest in a literary work	19
22548008	Colloquialism	informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing	20
22548009	Complex sentence	a sentence with one independent and one dependent clause	21
22548010	Compound sentence	two independent clauses combined with a conjunction	22
22548011	Conceit	a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor	23
22548012	Concrete detail	details that relate to or describe actual, specific things or events	24
22548013	Connotation	the implied or associative meaning of a word	25
22548014	Cumulative sentence	a sentence in which the main independent clause is elaborated by the successive addition of modifying clauses or phrases	26
22548015	Declarative sentence	a sentence that makes a statement or declaration	27
22548016	Deductive reasoning	reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case	28
22548017	Denotation	the literal meaning of a word	29
22548018	Dialect	a variety of speech characterized by its own particular grammar or pronunciation	30
22548019	Dialogue	conversation between two or more people	31
22548020	Diction	the word choices made by a writer	32
22548021	Didactic	having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing	33
22548022	Dilemma	situation that requires a decision between equally attractive or unattractive alternatives	34
22548023	Dissonance	two or more things or ideas that just don't belong together	35
22548024	Elegy	a formal poem presenting mediation on death	36
22548025	Ellipses	the omission of a word or phrase that is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context	37
22548029	Epiphany	a moment of sudden revelation or insight	38
22548030	Epitaph	an inscription on a tombstone or burial place	39
22548031	Epithet	a compound adjective used to point out a characteristic of a person	40
420923736	Ethos	An appeal to credibility	41
22548032	Eulogy	a formal speech praising a person who has died	42
22548033	Euphemism	an indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant	43
22548034	Exclamatory sentence	a sentence expressing strong feeling	44
22548035	Expletive	an interjection to lend emphasis, sometimes a profanity	45
22548036	Fable	a brief story that leads to a moral, often using animals as characters	46
22548038	Figurative language	language employing one or more figures of speech	47
420923737	First Person	A point of view that includes the speaker, i.e. I, me, my, we, us, our, etc	48
22548043	Genre	a major category or type of literature	49
22548044	Homily	a sermon, or a moralistic lecture	50
22548045	Hubris	excessive pride or arrogance	51
22548046	Hyperbole	intentional exaggeration to create an effect	52
22548047	Hypothetical question	a question that raises a conjecture, or supposition	53
22548048	Idiom	an expression in a given language that cannot be understood from the literal meaning of the words	54
22548049	Imagery	the use of figures of speech to create vivid images that appeal to one of the senses	55
22548050	Implication	a suggestion an author or speaker makes without stating it directly	56
22548051	Inductive order	the main point appears at the end	57
22548052	Inference	a conclusion one draws based on premises or evidence	58
22548053	Invective	an intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attack	59
22548054	Irony	an unexpected and unlikely outcome	60
22548055	Jargon	the specialized language or vocabulary of a particular group or profession	61
22548056	Juxtaposition	placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast	62
22548061	Litotes	a type of understatement in which an idea is expressed by negating its opposite like saying something's "not bad" rather than saying it's good or OK.	63
420924986	Logos	An appeal to logic	64
22548062	Malapropism	the mistaken substitution of one word for another word that sounds similar	65
22548063	Maxim	a concise statement, often offering advice; an adage	66
22548064	Metaphor	a direct comparison of two different things	67
22548065	Metonymy	part for the whole, but not literally	68
22548066	Mood	the emotional atmosphere of a work	69
22548069	Myth	a traditional story presenting supernatural characters and episodes that help explain natural events	70
22548070	Narrative	a story or narrated account	71
22548071	Narrator	the one who tells the story	72
22548072	Non sequitur	an inference that does not follow logically from the premises	73
22548074	Onomatopoeia	a word formed from the imitation of natural sounds	74
22548075	Oxymoron	an expression in which two words that contradict each other are joined	75
22548076	Parable	a simple story that illustrates a moral or religious lesson	76
22548077	Paradox	an apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth	77
22548078	Parallelism	the use of corresponding grammatical or syntactical forms	78
22548079	Paraphrase	a restatement of a text in a different form or in different words	79
22548080	Parody	a humorous imitation of a serious work	80
22548081	Parenthetical	a comment that interrupts the immediate subject, often to qualify or explain	81
22548082	Pathos	an appeal to emotion	82
22548083	Pedantic	characterized by an excessive display of learning or scholarship	83
22548084	Personification	endowing non-human objects or creatures with human qualities	84
22548085	Philippic	a strong verbal denunciation	85
22548087	Point of view	the vantage point from which a story is told	86
22548088	Polysyndeton	the use, for rhetorical effect of more conjunctions than is necessary or natural	87
22548089	Pun	a play on words achieved through words with similar sounds but different meanings	88
22548090	Resolution	the falling action of a narrative	89
22548091	Rhetoric	the art of presenting ideas in a clear, effective, and persuasive manner	90
22548092	Rhetorical Question	a question asked merely for effect and not requiring an answer	91
22548093	Rhetorical Devices	literary techniques used to heighten the effectiveness of expression	92
22548097	Sarcasm	harsh, cutting language or tone intended to ridicule	93
22548098	Satire	the use of humor to emphasize human weaknesses or imperfections	94
22548099	Scapegoat	a person or group that bears the blame for another	95
420924987	Second Person	A point of view that directly references the reader, i.e. you	96
22548101	Setting	the time, place, and environment in which action takes place	97
22548102	Simile	a comparison of two things using "like" or "as"	98
22548103	Simple sentence	a sentence consisting of one independent clause	99
22548104	Solecism	nonstandard grammatical usage	100
22548108	Syllepsis	a construction in which one word is used in two different senses	101
22548109	Syllogism	a three-part deductive argument	102
22548110	Symbol	an object that is used to represent something else	103
22548111	Synecdoche	part for the whole, literally "Nice threads"--threads stands in for clothing, and thread is literally part of clothing, so part for the whole, literally.	104
22548112	Synesthesia	describing one kind of sensation in terms of another	105
22548113	Syntax	the manner in which words are arranged into sentences	106
22548114	Tautology	providing useless clarification--dead corpse, male boy, wet water, etc.	107
420927242	Telegraphic Sentence	A very short sentence, usually no more than four words long	108
22548115	Theme	a central idea of a work	109
420923735	Third Person	Point of view not involving the speaker. He, She, her, him, they, etc.	110
22548117	Tone	the attitude of a writer toward the subject or audience	111
22548121	Trite	overused and hackneyed, meaning it's become an annoying cliche	112
22548123	Understatement	a deliberate under-emphasis	113
22548126	Volta	an abrupt or sudden shift in tone or perspective	114
1521190894	Epiphora	the repetition of words or phrases in a series of successive sentences. Or, the opposite of anaphora	115