AP language terms Flashcards
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| 2493608958 | Ad hominem argument | An argument that appeals to emotion rather than reason; attacking the man rather than the issue. | 0 | |
| 2493608959 | Allegory | The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. The allegorical meaning usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence. (Ex. Animal farm) | 1 | |
| 2493608960 | Allusion | A reference to something outside the text that is well known. | 2 | |
| 2493608961 | Ambiguity | The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage. | 3 | |
| 2493608962 | Analogy | A comparison between two different things. Can explain something unfamiliar by associating it with something more familiar. | 4 | |
| 2493608963 | Anaphora | Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, sentence, or lines of poetry. | 5 | |
| 2493608964 | Anecdote | A short account of something, usually funny or personal in nature. | 6 | |
| 2493608965 | Antecedent | A noun, noun phrase, or clause referred to by a subsequent word. | 7 | |
| 2493608966 | Antithesis | Juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases. (Ex."it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.") | 8 | |
| 2493608967 | Aphorism | A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle. | 9 | |
| 2493608968 | Apostrophe | Breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing, some abstract quality, or a nonexistent character. | 10 | |
| 2493608969 | Asyndeton | Omission of conjunctions (for,and,nor,but,yet,so) between words, phrases, or clauses. It tends to speed up the flow of the sentence. (Ex. Government of the people, by the people, for the people") | 11 | |
| 2493608970 | Chiasmus | A verbal pattern in which the second part is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed. (Ex. "Ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for the country"). | 12 | |
| 2493608971 | Clause | A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. There are independent clauses, which can stand alone as a sentence, and there are subordinate clauses, which must be accompanied by an independent clause. | 13 | |
| 2493608972 | Colloquial/colloquialism | An expression used in informal conversation but not accepted universally in formal speech or writing. (Ex. Calling a sofa "pop" if you are from the northern U.S. Or a "coke" if you are from the southern U.S.) | 14 | |
| 2493608973 | Conceit | A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor between seemingly dissimilar objects. The comparison will be used throughout an extended number of lines. (Ex. In love poems, poets may compare their love to some object, such as a rose, a ship, a garden.) | 15 | |
| 2493608974 | Connotation | The non literal meaning of a word. May involve ideas, emotion, or attitude. | 16 | |
| 2493608975 | Dehortatio | Dissuasive advice given with authority. (Ex. "Never give all your heart"-William butler yeats). | 17 | |
| 2493608976 | Diction | Refers to the speaker's word choices, especially with regard to their correctedness, clarity, or effectiveness. | 18 | |
| 2493608977 | Didactic | Works described in this way have the primary aim of teaching or instructing, especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles. | 19 | |
| 2493608978 | Ellipsis | Omission of one or more words, which must be supplied by the listener or reader. (Ex. Sharon was the first born; Phil the second. The word omitted from the second clause - was). | 20 | |
| 2493608979 | Enthymeme | An informally staged syllogism with an implied premise. (Ex. "Children should be seen and not heard. He quit, John." The minor premise - that john is a child - is left to the reader to add.) | 21 | |
| 2493608980 | Epigram | Any witty, ingenious, or pointed saying tersely expressed. (Ex. "I can resist everything except temptation"- Oscar Wilde.) | 22 | |
| 2493608981 | Extended metaphor | A metaphor developed at great length over several lines. | 23 | |
| 2493608982 | Epithet | An adjective of short descriptive phrase used to point out a characteristic of a person or thing, and used frequently enough to be automatically associated with that person or thing. (Ex. Odysseus, raider of cities. Raider of cities is the epithet.) | 24 | |
| 2493608983 | Euphemism | Using an inoffensive term for one that is offensive or unpleasant. (Ex. Calling someone a senior citizen rather than old.) | 25 | |
| 2493608984 | Genre | The major category in which a literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry, and drama. Other divisions within prose are autobiography, biography, diary, criticism, essay, political, scientific, and nature writing. | 26 | |
| 2493608985 | Homily | Any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice; a sermon. | 27 | |
| 2493608986 | Hyperbole | A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or over statement. (Ex. There were a million of people in the cafeteria!) | 28 | |
| 2493608987 | Hypophora | Raising questions and answering them. (Ex. "What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage!"). | 29 | |
| 2493608988 | Imagery | The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. | 30 | |
| 2493608989 | Inference/infer | To draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented | 31 | |
| 2493608990 | Invective | An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language. | 32 | |
| 2493608991 | Irony | The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant. There are three major types of irony; verbal irony, in which the words literally state the opposite of the speaker's true meaning, situational irony, in which the events turn out the opposite of what was expected, and dramatic irony, in which the audience knows more than the character does. | 33 | |
| 2493622866 | jargon | the specialized language of a profession or group, like lawyers or computer technicians. | 34 | |
| 2493626898 | Loose sentence | a sentence where the main clause is at the beginning of the sentence. (ex. THE WEATHER WAS HOT even though we had a little rain.) | 35 | |
| 2493633952 | metaphor | a figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things. | 36 | |
| 2493636831 | metonymy | a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name but by the name of something associated with it. (ex. THE WHITE HOUSE helped free the reporters held captive in north korea. THE SUITS make all the money these days!) | 37 | |
| 2493651171 | mood | the prevailing atmosphere or feeling of a work. | 38 | |
| 2493753599 | onomatopoeia | a figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words. (ex. "buzz" "whizz", or "hum") | 39 | |
| 2493762684 | omniscient point of view | the narrator of the story knows what is in the minds of all the characters. | 40 | |
| 2493764482 | oxymoron | a pair of self contradictory words (ex. bittersweet, jumbo shrimp, guest host.) | 41 | |
| 2493768168 | paradox | a statement that appears to be self contradictory or opposed to common sense, but upon closer inspection or thought contains some degree of truth or validity. (ex. "much madness is divinest sense.") | 42 | |
| 2493776764 | parallelism | where structures within sentences or parts of a sentence take the same form. This structure acts to attract the reader's attention, add emphasis and organization or simply to provide a rhythm. (Ex. "LET BOTH SIDES explore... LET BOTH SIDES, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals... LET BOTH SIDES seek to involve.") (ex. She likes cooking, singing, reading.) | 43 | |
| 2493790328 | parody | a work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect or ridicule. (ex. saturday night live.) | 44 | |
| 2493860159 | pedantic | an adjective that describes words, phrases or a general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish. | 45 | |
| 2493866348 | periodic (cumulative) sentence | a sentence with its main clause at the end of the sentence. (ex. from breakfast to lunch, from lunch to dinner, from dinner to midnight snack, HE IS THINKING OF ONE ONE THING-THE NEXT MEAL.) | 46 | |
| 2493876309 | persona | the character a writer or speaker in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions. | 47 | |
| 2493892492 | point of view | the perspective from which a story is told | 48 | |
| 2493895755 | polysyndeton | a style that employs many conjunctions. This usually slows down the flow of the sentence and creates a piling on effect. (ex. i love the trees and the birds, and the flowers, and the many, many aspects of nature.) | 49 | |
| 2493908109 | repitition | the duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as sounds, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern. | 50 | |
| 2493914362 | rhetorical question | a question asked for effect, not in expectation of a reply. | 51 | |
| 2493915910 | sarcasm | involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something. | 52 | |
| 2493925138 | satire | a work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform | 53 | |
| 2493927226 | simile | a comparison of two unlike things using "like" or "as" | 54 | |
| 2493928929 | style | the way an author uses language to convey his/her ideas; includes diction, syntax, imagery, figurative language, selection of detail, and tone. | 55 | |
| 2493934732 | subordinate clause | a group of words containing a subject and verb, but is unable to stand alone as a sentence | 56 | |
| 2493938273 | syllogism | a type of logical argument in which a conclusion is drawn from two or more premises. (ex. major premise; all men are mortal. minor premise; all greeks are men. conclusion; all greeks are mortal.) | 57 | |
| 2493946117 | synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part of a thing represents the whole thing. (ex. my parents gave me my own SET OF WHEELS when i turned sixteen) | 58 | |
| 2493952719 | syntax | the arrangement of words by a speaker or writer | 59 | |
| 2493957670 | transition | a word or phrase that links different ideas | 60 | |
| 2493958985 | tricolon | a sentence with three clearly defined parts of equal length, usually independent clauses and of increasing power. (ex. "I came. I saw. I conquered.") | 61 | |
| 2493964481 | understatement | figure of speech in which a writer deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is. (ex. "stings a bit"-> army officer after losing a leg) | 62 |