AP Language Vocab Lists Flashcards
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| 8950437479 | Allegory | a story, fictional or nonfictional in which characters, things, and events can be interpreted to reveal hidden meaning; typically a moral or political meaning | 0 | |
| 8950437480 | Alliteration | a term that describes a literary stylistic of device; occurs when a cseries of words in a row (or close together) have the same first consonant sound | 1 | |
| 8950437481 | Allusion | an indirect reference to something; calling something to mind without mentioning it explicitly | 2 | |
| 8950437482 | Ambiguity | the quality of being more open to more than one interpretation; inexactness | 3 | |
| 8950437483 | Anadiplosis | beginning a sentence or clause by repeating the last word or words of the previous sentence or clause | 4 | |
| 8950437484 | Analogy | comparison to a directly parallel case; writer uses an analogy, she or he uses a claim reasonable for one case is reasonable for the analogous case | 5 | |
| 8950437485 | Anticlimax | an event, conclusion,statement, etc.; that is far less important, powerful or striking than expected | 6 | |
| 8950437486 | Anaphora | repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row; deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer's point more coherent | 7 | |
| 8950437487 | Antecedent | the word that a pronoun replaces ex. Even though the party was fun, it was crowded "It" is the antecedent, replaces the "party" | 8 | |
| 8950437489 | Antimetabole | figure of speech in which words from the first half of the sentence are repeated in the second half of the sentence in reverse order ex. Live to learn and learn to live. | 9 | |
| 8950501902 | Antithesis | two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses ex. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee | 10 | |
| 8950501904 | Aphorism | a short statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle | 11 | |
| 8950501905 | Apostrophe | a figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary parson or personified abstraction; adds emotional intensity | 12 | |
| 8950501906 | Archetype | an original that has been imitated | 13 | |
| 8950501907 | Assonance | when two or more words, close to each other repeat the same vowel sound but start with different consonant sounds ex. that, cat, sat, bat | 14 | |
| 8950501909 | Atmosphere | type of feeling that a reader gets from a narrative, based on details such as setting background, objects and foreshadowing | 15 | |
| 8950501910 | Asyndeton | omission or absence or a conjunction between parts of a sentence | 16 | |
| 8950501911 | Bathos | an effect of the author making something dramatic, often found humorous | 17 | |
| 8950501912 | Independent Clause | part of a sentence that has both a subject and a verb. Independent clauses form a complete thought and are able to stand alone as their own sentence | 18 | |
| 8950501913 | Dependent Clause | part of a sentence that contains both a subject and a verb; has to be joined with an independent to form a proper sentence | 19 | |
| 8950501914 | Chiasmus | made up of two clauses that balance each other out by rearranging their order. The second half of the quote is the first half inverted. ex. "Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country can do for you." | 20 | |
| 8950528494 | Colloquial | common saying influenced by the way people in a society tend to speak ex. the phrase "it's lit." | 21 | |
| 8950501918 | Connotation | what we think of when we hear a word, or its implied meaning | 22 | |
| 8950578029 | Cumulative or Loose Sentence | main idea is introduced and then more info is at the end | 23 | |
| 8950578030 | Compound Complex Sentence | sentence that contains two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause (The singer bowed while the audience applauded, but she sand no encores.) | 24 | |
| 8950578031 | Coherence | quality of a piece of writing which all the parts contribute to the development of a central idea, theme or organizing principle(The central idea is obtaining a good grade and the different parts are "the student must pass their project in on time.") | 25 | |
| 8950578033 | Denotation | dictionary meaning of a word(gay originally meant lighthearted and carefree but now it refers to homosexuality) | 26 | |
| 8950578034 | Diction | word choice, general style of a author | 27 | |
| 8950578035 | Didactic | a piece of writing used to teach a lesson | 28 | |
| 8950578036 | Discourse | spoken language or written language in a social context (dialogue) 4 modes: description, narration,exposition and argumentation | 29 | |
| 8950578037 | Description | when the author uses details to paint a picture | 30 | |
| 8950578038 | Narration | commentary to a story | 31 | |
| 8950578039 | Exposition | intro to a story in which characters and setting is introduced | 32 | |
| 8950578040 | Argumentation | process of reasoning in support of an idea, action or theory, usually uses examples, warrants reasons | 33 | |
| 8950578041 | Epanalepsis | when a figure of speech which is at the beginning of a sentence repeats at the end(ex. Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.) | 34 | |
| 8950578042 | Epistrophe | repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences (See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil) | 35 | |
| 8950578043 | Euphemism | replacing a word or phrase with a different one to seem less harsh(You're fired-->I'm going to have to let you go) | 36 | |
| 8950578044 | Metaphor | figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn't true | 37 | |
| 8950578045 | Hyperbole | exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally | 38 | |
| 8950578046 | Genre | category of literature | 39 | |
| 8950578047 | Figurative Language | personification, similes, metaphors, etc. | 40 | |
| 8950623593 | Parody | an imitation of the style of a particular, writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect | 41 | |
| 8950623594 | Periodic Sentence | a sentence in which the main idea comes last | 42 | |
| 8950623595 | Personification | a type of figurative language which attributes human qualities to non-human subjects | 43 | |
| 8950623596 | Point of View | the perspective from which a narrative is told | 44 | |
| 8950623597 | Polysyndeton | a rhetorical term for a sentence style that employs the repetition of coordinating conjunctions ex. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of the appointed rounds. (repetition of nor) | 45 | |
| 8950623598 | Pun | a play on words for humorous effects | 46 | |
| 8950623599 | Rhetoric | the art of effective communication/persuasion | 47 | |
| 8950623600 | Sarcasm | a generally bitter comment that is ironically worded (not all ironic statements are sarcastic) Sarcasm is usually a way to mock or ridicule something while irony isn't | 48 | |
| 8950623601 | Satire | a work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of life to a humorous effect; targets human vices and follies, or social institutions and conventions (usually uses wit, irony, parody, caricature, hyperbole, sarcasm) | 49 | |
| 8950623602 | Semantics | the nature, structure, development and changes of the meanings of speech forms or with contextual meaning | 50 | |
| 8950623603 | Simile | a figurative usage that compares using "like", "as" or "if" | 51 | |
| 8950623604 | Style | the choices in diction, tone, and syntax, that a writer makes; may be conscious or unconscious | 52 | |
| 8950623605 | Symbol/Symbolism | anything that represents or stands for something else; usually something concrete such as an object, actions, character that represents something more abstract | 53 | |
| 8950623606 | Synecdoche | the whole can represent a part; taking a part of something and making it represent a whole ex. Look at my new wheels! (wheels=car) | 54 | |
| 8950623607 | Synesthetic Imagery | detail that moves from the stimulation of one sense to a response by another sense, as a certain odor induces the visualization of certain color, or when visual stimulus produces a sound ex.Lenny thinks his album is heat.(heat=good) | 55 | |
| 8950623608 | Syntax | grammatical arrangement of words | 56 | |
| 8950623609 | Tone | a writer's attitude toward his subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language and organization | 57 | |
| 8950623610 | Attitude | a writer's intellectual position or emotion regarding the subject he or she is writing on | 58 | |
| 8950623611 | Understatement | the ironic minimizing of fact, understatement presents something as less significant than it is, the effect can be frequently be humorous | 59 | |
| 8950623612 | Vernacular | Language or dialect of a particular country, Language or dialect of a clan or group, Plain everyday speech | 60 | |
| 8951071859 | Homily | This term literally means "sermon," but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice. | 61 | |
| 8951071860 | Imagery | Word or words that create a picture in the reader's mind. Usually this involves the 5 senses; authors often use imagery in conjunction with metaphors, similes, figures of speech to convey information about characters. | 62 | |
| 8951071861 | Invective | An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language. | 63 | |
| 8951071862 | Imperative sentence | Issues a command (Example: Kick the ball now!) | 64 | |
| 8951071863 | Verbal irony | When you say something and mean the opposite/something different.(example, if your gym teacher wants you to run a mile in eight minutes or faster, but calls it a "walk in the park") If your voice tone is bitter, it's called sarcasm. | 65 | |
| 8951071865 | Dramatic irony | when the audience of a drama, play, movie, etc. knows something that the character doesn't and would be surprised to find out. (Example, in many horror movies, we (the audience) know who the killer is, while the victim to be has no idea who is doing the slaying)sometimes the character trusts the killer completely when (ironically) he/she shouldn't. | 66 | |
| 8951071868 | Situational irony | found in the plot (or storyline) of a book, story, or movie. Sometimes it makes you laugh because it's funny how things turn out. (example: Johnny spent two hours planning on sneaking into the movie theater and missed the movie. When he finally did manage to sneak inside he found out that kids were admitted free that day). | 67 | |
| 8951071872 | Juxtaposition | Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison. Comparison of things or ideas. authors often use juxtaposition of ideas or examples in order to make a point.(For example, an author may juxtapose the average day of a typical American with that of someone in the third world in order to make a point of social commentary). | 68 | |
| 8951071876 | Metonymy | substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it: e.g., "The pen is mightier than the sword," "I love Shakespeare." | 69 | |
| 8951071878 | Mood | The atmosphere created by the literature and accomplished through word choice (diction). Setting, tone, and events can all affect the mood. | 70 | |
| 8951071880 | Motif | a standard theme, element, or dramatic situation that recurs in various works. | 71 | |
| 8951071881 | Onomatopoeia | A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of the words. When the word sounds like the idea it communicates: "murmur", "gurgle", "roar", "buzz". If you identify this in a passage, make sure to explain WHY the author chose to use it...how does it impact the passage. | 72 | |
| 8951071884 | Oxymoron | A rhetorical antithesis "wise fool" " eloquent silence", "jumbo shrimp". Apparently contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox. | 73 | |
| 8951071886 | Paradox | A seemingly contradictory statement which is actually true. An idea which embeds a contradiction. (Example: "You can't get a job without experience, and you can't get experience without getting a job".) | 74 | |
| 8951071889 | Parallelism | Also known as parallel construction. Sentence construction which places equal grammatical constructions near each other or repeats patterns IT IS THE REPETITION OF STRUCTURE NOT THE REPETITION OF IDEAS IN DIFFERENT WORDS. It may involve two or three modifiers in a row or repeated beginnings of longer sentences. The author might repeat a preposition, or verbal two or more times. (ex.Julius Caesar "I came, I saw, I conquered".) | 75 | |
| 8951071894 | Natural Order of a Sentence | Sentences that we generally write with the subject before the predicate.(The dog ran down the street.) | 76 | |
| 8951071895 | Inverted Order of a Sentence | Sentences where part or all of the predicate comes before the subject. The subject is a little harder to find in this type of sentence. Find the verb and ask who or what did that verb.(Down the street ran the dog.) | 77 | |
| 8951071897 | Split Order of a Sentence | Divides the predicate into two parts with the subject coming in the middle,(Down the street the dog ran.) | 78 |