AP Language Terms Flashcards
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| 6151673749 | Ad Hominem argument | A fallacy of argument in which a writer's claim is answered by irrelevant attacks on his or her character. | 0 | |
| 6151678247 | Anaphora | A type of repetition that occurs when the first word or set of words in one sentence, clause, or phrase is/are repeated at or very near the beginning of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases; repetition of the initial word(s) over successive phrases or clauses. | 1 | |
| 6151689950 | Analogy | An extended comparison between something unfamiliar and something more familiar for the purpose of illuminating or dramatizing the unfamiliar. | 2 | |
| 6151702007 | Anecdote | A brief story used to make a point. | 3 | |
| 6151724504 | Antecedent | A noun, often a proper noun, that is replaced by a pronoun. | 4 | |
| 6151729985 | Antithesis | The opposition or contrast of ideas. | 5 | |
| 6151731963 | Aphorism | A short saying expressing a general truth. | 6 | |
| 6151734258 | Apostrophe | A digression in the form of an address to someone not present, or to a personified object or idea. | 7 | |
| 6151738379 | Appeals | patriotic, money, safety, bandwagon, tradition, honor, science, authority, God/ religion, statistics, history, values, novelty, worst fears. | 8 | |
| 6151745831 | Argument | The use of evidence and reason to discover some version of the truth. | 9 | |
| 6151750888 | Assertion | (See Claim) Claim: A controversial statement that asserts a belief or truth. | 10 | |
| 6151757112 | Audience | The person(s) to whom a written or spoken work is directed | 11 | |
| 6151761216 | Bandwagon Appeal | A fallacy of argument in which a course of action is recommended on the grounds that everyone else is following it. | 12 | |
| 6151765967 | Begging the question | A fallacy of argument in which a claim is based on the very grounds that are in doubt or dispute. | 13 | |
| 6151772253 | Characterize/ Characterization | To attribute or mark with a certain characteristic; to describe or portray the character of a person, idea, etc. in a certain light. | 14 | |
| 6151779681 | Claim | A controversial statement that asserts a belief or truth. | 15 | |
| 6151784297 | Cliche | A familiar word or phrase which has been used so much that it is no longer a good, effective way of saying something, as in "sharp as a tack" or "fresh as a daisy." | 16 | |
| 6151796918 | 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. | 17 | |
| 6151807781 | Connotation | The suggestions or associations that surround most words and extend beyond their literal meaning, creating effects of association. | 18 | |
| 6151813087 | Context | The entire situation in which a piece of writing takes place, including the writer's purpose for writing, intended audience, time, place, and influences. | 19 | |
| 6151819688 | Counterargument | An opposing argument. | 20 | |
| 6151821959 | Deductive Reasoning | A process of thought in which general principles are applied to particular cases. | 21 | |
| 6151828267 | Denotation | The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color. | 22 | |
| 6151832724 | Diction | The author's word choice. | 23 | |
| 6151835524 | Dogmatism | A fallacy of argument in which a claim is supported on the grounds that it's the only conclusion acceptable within a given community. | 24 | |
| 6151841207 | Either-or choice | A fallacy of argument in which a complicated issue is misrepresented as offering only two possible alternatives, one of which is often made to seem vastly preferable to the other. | 25 | |
| 6151849748 | Empirical | Empirical evidence or data is information acquired by observation or experimentation. | 26 | |
| 6151854131 | Equivocation | A fallacy of argument in which a lie is given the appearance of truth, or in which the truth is misrepresented in deceptive language. | 27 | |
| 6151862780 | Ethos, appeal based on | An attempt by the writer or speaker to prove themselves a credible authority on the subject to the reader or listener in order to convince an audience to accept a claim. | 28 | |
| 6151867453 | Euphemism | The substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt. | 29 | |
| 6151873206 | Exhortation | Language intended to incite and encourage. | 30 | |
| 6151876063 | Expose | A report of the facts about something, especially a journalistic report that reveals something scandalous. | 31 | |
| 6151881436 | Extended metaphor | A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work. | 32 | |
| 6151887007 | Fallacy of argument | A flaw in the structure of an argument that renders its conclusion invalid or suspect. | 33 | |
| 6151892964 | Faulty analogy | A fallacy of argument in which a comparison between two objects or concepts is inaccurate. | 34 | |
| 6151896115 | Faulty causality | A fallacy of argument making the unwarranted assumption that because one event follows another, the first event causes the other. | 35 | |
| 6151904574 | Figurative language | Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid. | 36 | |
| 6151907814 | Hasty generalization | A fallacy of argument in which an inference is drawn from insufficient data. | 37 | |
| 6151911533 | Hyperbole | Use of overstatement/ exaggeration for effect on the listener or reader. | 38 | |
| 6151915478 | Imagery | Descriptive writing appealing to one of the five senses, such as how something looks, smells, feels, sounds, or tastes. | 39 | |
| 6151920226 | Inductive reasoning | A process of thought in which particular cases lead to general principles. | 40 | |
| 6151924412 | Inference/ infer | To draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented. | 41 | |
| 6151930325 | Invective | Speech that may be directed toward an individual, cause, idea, or system that attacks or denounces it. | 42 | |
| 6151933592 | Inversion | A reversal in order or form. | 43 | |
| 6151935382 | Irony | Use of language that suggests a meaning opposite of the literal meaning of the words. | 44 | |
| 6151938168 | Jargon | 1) The language, especially the vocabulary, specific to a particular trade, profession, or group. 2) Language characterized by uncommon or pretentious vocabulary, often vague in meaning. | 45 | |
| 6151950793 | Juxtaposition/ Juxtapose | To place close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. | 46 | |
| 6151953576 | Logos, appeal to | Logical appeal. | 47 | |
| 6151955355 | Metaphor | A figure of speech that makes a comparison without using like or as. | 48 | |
| 6151958091 | Mood | The prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work. | 49 | |
| 6151961532 | Narrative | The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events. | 50 | |
| 6151964520 | Non sequitur | A fallacy of argument in which claims, reasons, or warrants fail to connect logically. | 51 | |
| 6151969179 | Objective | Not influenced by personal feelings or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased. | 52 | |
| 6151973917 | Oxymoron | A paradox made up of two seemingly contradictory words. | 53 | |
| 6151981236 | Parallelism | Figure of balance identified by a similarity in the syntactical structure of a set of words in successive phrases, clauses, sentences; successive words, phrases, clauses with the same or very similar grammatical structure. | 54 | |
| 6151989312 | Pathos, appeal to | Emotional appeal. | 55 | |
| 6151993825 | Personal Essay | A subcategory of the essay, characterized by intimacy, the "personal element," humor, graceful style, rambling structure, unconventionality or novelty of theme, and incomplete treatment of topic. | 56 | |
| 6152003726 | Personification | A form of figurative language in which an idea or object is given human characteristics. | 57 | |
| 6152006609 | Premise | A statement or position regarded as true and upon which other claims are based. | 58 | |
| 6152011720 | Propaganda | An argument advancing a point of view without regard to reason, fairness, or truth. | 59 | |
| 6152019022 | Purpose, Author's | The goal of an argument. | 60 | |
| 6152023386 | Qualitative argument | An argument of evaluation that relies on non numeric criteria supported by reason, tradition, precedent, or logic. | 61 | |
| 6152027389 | Quantitative argument | An argument of evaluation that relies on criteria that can be measured, counted, or demonstrated objectively. | 62 | |
| 6152032957 | Rebuttal | An answer that challenges or refutes a specific claim or charge. | 63 | |
| 6152038762 | Red herring | A fallacy of argument in which a writer abruptly changes the topic in order to distract readers from potentially objectionable claims. | 64 | |
| 6152044767 | Repetition | The repeating of a word or phrase to add rhythm or to emphasize an idea. | 65 | |
| 6152049001 | Rhetoric | The art of persuasion. | 66 | |
| 6152052594 | Rhetorical analysis | An examination of how well the components of an argument work together to persuade or move an audience. | 67 | |
| 6152058523 | Rhetorical question | A question posed to raise an issue or create an effect rather than to get a response. | 68 | |
| 6152062548 | Satire | A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule. | 69 | |
| 6152066457 | Scare tactic | A fallacy of argument presenting an issue in terms of exaggerated threats or dangers. | 70 | |
| 6152070588 | Sentimental appeal | A fallacy of argument in which an appeal is based on excessive emotion. | 71 | |
| 6152074193 | Simile | A comparison using like or as. | 72 | |
| 6152076167 | Slippery slope | A fallacy of argument exaggerating the possibility that a relatively inconsequential action or choice today will have serious negative consequences in the future. | 73 | |
| 6152083773 | Stacking the deck | A fallacy of argument in which the writer shows only one side of an argument. | 74 | |
| 6152087056 | Straw man | A fallacy of argument in which an opponent's position is misrepresented as being more extreme than it actually is, so that it's easier to refute. | 75 | |
| 6152092844 | Style | An evaluation of the sum of the choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary devices. | 76 | |
| 6152098465 | Subjective | Based on one's thoughts, opinions, feelings, moods. | 77 | |
| 6152101632 | Syntax | The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. | 78 | |
| 6152106970 | Thesis | A sentence that concisely states a writer's main point. | 79 | |
| 6152109454 | Tone | The narrator's attitude towards the material, the audience, or both. | 80 | |
| 6152112793 | Understatement | A figure of speech that makes a weaker statement than a situation seems to call for. | 81 | |
| 6152115882 | Values, appeal to | A strategy in which a writer invokes shared principles and traditions of a society as a reason for accepting a claim. | 82 | |
| 6152121458 | Warrant | A statement that links a claim to a supporting reason. | 83 |