AP English Lit Terms
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| 234619175 | Allegory (S) | symbolism that represents a greater concept on a smaller scale | |
| 234619176 | Alliteration (S) | the repetition of the same sound or letter at the beginning of consecutive words or syllables | |
| 234619177 | Allusion (S) | a reference to an element of popular culture, common knowledge, etc. | |
| 234619178 | Ambiguity (S) | purposeful use of words to promote different meanings, interpretations, connotations | |
| 234619179 | Anecdote (S) | a short account of an interesting event | |
| 234619180 | Assonance (S) | a repetition of vowel sounds within a sentence or phrase | |
| 234619181 | Colloquialism (S) | the use of ordinary, everyday speech rather than formal language | |
| 234619182 | Conceit (S) | an elaborate or unusual comparison, especially one using metaphors, simile, hyperbole, and contradiction | |
| 234619183 | Connotation (S) | the thoughts and feelings associated with a word that may be different from its denotation | |
| 234619184 | Consonance (S) | a special type of alliteration in which the repeated pattern of consonants is marked by changes in intervening vowels | |
| 234619185 | Denotation (S) | the dictionary definition, literal meaning of a word | |
| 234619186 | Ellipsis (S) | the artful omission of a word implied by a previous clause, also three periods used as a punctuation mark | |
| 234619187 | Epiphany (S) | sudden flare into revelation of an ordinary object or scene, alter the entire world view | |
| 234619188 | Euphemism (S) | using a comparatively milder description instead of its original, unsympathetic form | |
| 234619189 | Hyperbole (S) | an obvious and intentional exaggeration | |
| 234619190 | Imagery (S) | strongly descriptive language used to describe something and create a picture in the audience's mind | |
| 234619191 | Irony (S) | a contradiction between what is said and what is meant, incongruity between action and result | |
| 234619192 | Juxtaposition (S) | close placement of literary phrases to stress similarities and differences | |
| 234619193 | Litotes (S) | a form of understatement in which negative statements create effect | |
| 234619194 | Loose Sentence (S) | (cumulative sentence) the main idea is elaborated on by the addition of modifying clauses/phrases | |
| 234619195 | Metaphor (S) | a comparison without the use of like or as | |
| 234619196 | Metonymy (S) | the substitution of one word or phrase for one that it is closely associated with | |
| 234619197 | Mood (S) | the reader's perception of the literature | |
| 234619198 | Motif (S) | any element, subject, idea that is consistently present through the entire body of literature | |
| 234619199 | Onomatopoeia (S) | words whose sound is very close to the sound they are meant to depict | |
| 234619200 | Overstatement (S) | exaggeration used for an intended effect | |
| 234619201 | Oxymoron (S) | juxtaposition of two words with opposition meanings | |
| 234619202 | Paradox (S) | a statements that seems contradictory but is actually true | |
| 234619203 | Parenthesis (S) | any use of punctuation that changes the pacing the sentence | |
| 234619204 | Periodic Sentence (S) | moves towards something important at the end | |
| 234619205 | Persona (S) | the character the speaker creates when he or she writes or speaks | |
| 234619206 | Personification (S) | the attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects | |
| 234619207 | Satire (S) | use of sarcasm, irony, or ridicule in criticism | |
| 234619208 | Simile (S) | a comparison using the words like or as | |
| 234619209 | Symbolism (S) | frequent use of words, places, characters, or objects that mean something beyond what they are on a literal level | |
| 234619210 | Synecdoche (S) | uses a part of something to refer to the whole, the whole of something to refer to just a part, something specific to refer to a more general topic, something general applied to a more specific case | |
| 234619211 | Tone (S) | the author's attitude towards the topic | |
| 234619212 | Understatement (S) | lack of emphasis in a statement or point; restraint in language often used for ironic effect | |
| 234619213 | Zeugma (S) | connection of two different things with the same grammatical construction, usually the same verb with two different meanings | |
| 234619214 | Anachronism (R) | an error in chronology, placing an event, person, item, or language expression in the wrong period | |
| 234619215 | Anadiplosis (R) | repeating the last word of a clause at the beginning of the next clause | |
| 234619216 | Antimetabole (R) | the repition of words in an inverted order to sharpen a contrast | |
| 234619217 | Antithesis (R) | a direct opposite, stark contrast | |
| 234619218 | Aphorism (R) | a short, astute statement of general truth | |
| 234619219 | Apposition (R) | the renaming of a nearby noun or pronoun by a word or phrase | |
| 234619220 | Asyndeton (R) | leaving out conjunctions between words, phrases, clauses | |
| 234619221 | Chiasmus (R) | author introduces words/concepts in a particular order, then later repeats those terms or similar ones in reversed or backwards order. doesn't have to be the same exact wording | |
| 234619222 | Climax (R) | artistic arrangement of a list of items so that they appear in a sequence of increasing importance | |
| 234619223 | Concession (R) | agreement and acknowledgement that an opposing argument might be true | |
| 234619224 | Counterargument (R) | an argument that denies the validity of an opposing argument | |
| 234619225 | Deductive Reasoning (R) | using a general concept to determine smaller examples | |
| 234619226 | Epanalepsis (R) | repeating a word from the beginning of a clause or phrase at the end of the same clause or phrase | |
| 234619227 | Epistrophe (R) | a repetition of words or phrases at the end of successive clauses | |
| 234619228 | Ethos (R) | demonstration of authority, trustworthiness, credibility, and good character | |
| 234619229 | Inductive Reasoning (R) | a series of specific examples leads to a general conclusion | |
| 234619230 | Logos (R) | demonstrating logic with facts, statistics, and clear, rational ideas | |
| 234619231 | Parallelism (R) | an agreement in the language used in particular pieces of writing | |
| 234619232 | Pathos (R) | engages an emotional response by using strong language | |
| 234619233 | Polysyndeton (R) | the deliberate use of a series of conjunctions | |
| 234619234 | Rhetorical Question (R) | a question asked more to produce an effect than to summon an answer, the author knows the answer | |
| 234619235 | Tricolon Crescendo (R) | three parallel clauses placed side by side in order to create a dramatic effect, with the most powerful at the end | |
| 240379156 | Anaphora (R) | the repetition of the same word or groups of words at the beginnings of successive clauses | |
| 240379157 | Anastrophe (R) | an inversion of the traditional word order | |
| 240379158 | Logical Fallacy | errors in reasoning that render an argument invalid, can be used on purpose by the author | |
| 240379159 | Ad Hominem | the target person's characteristics are attacked, instead of the argument | |
| 240379160 | Ad Populum | misconception that a widespread occurrence of something is assumed to make an idea true or right | |
| 240379161 | Appeal to Tradition | justification for not changing it rather than the correctness of an argument itself | |
| 240379162 | Begging the Question | taking for granted something that really needs proving | |
| 240379163 | Circular Reasoning | tying to prove one idea with another idea that is too similar to the first idea; in such an error, logic moves backwards in its attempt to move forward | |
| 240379164 | Either/Or Reasoning | tendency to see an issue as having only two sides | |
| 240379165 | False Analogy | gaps in the similarities between two things, depends on what parts you are including in the analogy | |
| 240379166 | Faulty Authority | the person who is supposed to be an authority has no credentials in that area-quoting someone who has no authority in a field | |
| 240379167 | Hasty Generalization | drawing a general and premature conclusion on the basis of only one or two cases | |
| 240379168 | Ignoring the Question | refusing to answer a question | |
| 240379169 | Non Sequitor | an inference or conclusion that does no follow established premises or evidence | |
| 240379170 | Oversimplification | take a very complex issue and try to make it simpler | |
| 240379171 | Pedantry | a display of narrow-minded and trivial scholarship; an arbitrary adherence to rules and forms | |
| 240379172 | Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc | assuming that an incident that precedes another is the cause of the second incident | |
| 240379173 | Propaganda | writing or images that seek to persuade through emotional appeal rather than through logical proof; written or visual texts that describe or depict using highly connotative words or images-favorable or unfavorable- without justification | |
| 240379174 | Slippery Slope | employing effects that are the worst case scenario | |
| 240379175 | Straw Man | attacking someone else's argument that is similar but not the some to the person who you are really trying to criticize | |
| 240379176 | Two Wrongs Do Not Make a Right | using another person's wrong doings to justify your own |