AP Lang Terms Flashcards

8646759908	ad hominem	an argument based on the failings of an adversary rather than on the merits of the case; a logical fallacy that involves a personal attack.	0
8646759909	adjective	the part of speech (or word class) that modifies a noun or a pronoun.	1
8646759910	adverb	the part of speech (or word class) that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb.	2
8646759911	allegory	extending a metaphor so that objects, persons, and actions in a text are equated with meanings that lie outside the text.	3
8646759912	alliteration	the repetition of a phonetic sound at the beginning of several words in a sentence	4
8646759913	allusion	a brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, or event—real or fictional	5
8646759914	ambiguity	the presence of two or more possible meanings in any passage.	6
8646759915	anachronism	something out of place in time or sequence	7
8646759916	analogy	reasoning or arguing from parallel cases	8
8646759917	anaphora	the deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a series of phrases or clauses	9
8646759918	anastrophe	the reversal of the natural order of words in a sentence or line of poetry	10
8646759919	antecedent	the noun or noun phrase referred to by a pronoun.	11
8646759920	anthropomorphism	the attribution of humanlike characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, or forces of nature	12
8646759921	antithesis	the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases	13
8646759922	aphorism	a brief statement of an opinion or elemental truth	14
8646759923	apostrophe	a rhetorical term for breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing.	15
8646759924	appeal to authority	a fallacy in which a speaker or writer seeks to persuade not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for a famous person or institution.	16
8646759925	appeal to ignorance	a fallacy that uses an opponent's inability to disprove a conclusion as proof of the conclusion's correctness.	17
8646759926	apposition	a grammatical construction in which a noun (or noun phrase) is placed with another as an explanation	18
8646759927	assonance	the identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.	19
8646759928	asyndeton	the omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses (compare to polysyndeton).	20
8646759929	chiasmus	an inversion in the second of two parallel phrases	21
8646759930	circular argument	an argument that commits the logical fallacy of assuming what it is attempting to prove.	22
8646759931	clause	a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate.	23
8646759932	climax	mounting by degrees through words or sentences of increasing weight and in parallel construction with an emphasis on the high point or culmination of a series of events.	24
8646759933	colloquial	characteristic of writing that seeks the effect of informal spoken language as distinct from formal or literary english.	25
8646759934	complement	a word or word group that completes the predicate in a sentence.	26
8646759935	concession	an argumentative strategy by which a speaker or writer acknowledges the validity of an opponent's point.	27
8646759936	conjunction	the part of speech (or word class) that serves to connect words, phrases, clauses, or sentences.	28
8646759937	connotation	the emotional implications and associations that a word may carry.	29
8646759938	context	circumstances of a situation; environment	30
8646759939	coordination	the grammatical connection of two or more ideas to give them equal emphasis and importance. contrast with subordination.	31
8646759940	deduction	a method of reasoning in which a conclusion follows necessarily from the stated premises.	32
8646759941	denotation	the dictionary meaning of a word, in contrast to its figurative or associated meanings.	33
8646759942	diction	(1) the choice and use of words in speech or writing. (2) a way of speaking, usually assessed in terms of prevailing standards of pronunciation and elocution.	34
8646759943	didactic	intended or inclined to teach or instruct, often excessively.	35
8646759944	encomium	a tribute or eulogy in prose or verse glorifying people, objects, ideas, or events.	36
8646759945	epistrophe	the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of several clauses.	37
8646759946	epitaph	(1) a short inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone or monument. (2) a statement or speech commemorating someone who has died: a funeral oration.	38
8646759947	eulogy	a formal expression of praise for someone who has recently died.	39
8646759948	euphemism	the substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.	40
8646759949	exposition	a statement or type of composition intended to give information about (or an explanation of) an issue, subject, method, or idea.	41
8646759950	extended metaphor	a comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem.	42
8646759951	fallacy	an error in reasoning that renders an argument invalid.	43
8646759952	false dilemma	a fallacy of oversimplification that offers a limited number of options (usually two) when in fact more options are available.	44
8646759953	genre	describing a category or artistic endeavor	45
8646759954	hasty generalization	a fallacy in which a conclusion is not logically justified by sufficient or unbiased evidence.	46
8646759955	hyperbole	a figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect; an extravagant statement.	47
8646759956	imagery	vivid descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the senses.	48
8646759957	induction	a method of reasoning by which a writer or speaker collects a number of instances and forms a generalization that is meant to apply to all instances.	49
8646759958	invective	denunciatory or abusive language; discourse that casts blame on somebody or something.	50
8646759959	irony	the use of words to convey something other than their literal meaning. a statement or situation where the meaning is directly contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.	51
8646759960	isocolon	a succession of phrases of approximately equal length and corresponding structure.	52
8646759961	jargon	the specialized language of a professional, occupational, or other group, often meaningless to outsiders.	53
8646759962	litotes	a figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.	54
8646759963	loose sentence	a sentence structure in which a main clause is followed by subordinate phrases and clauses. compare to periodic sentence.	55
8646759964	metaphor	a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something important in common.	56
8646759965	metonymy	a type of figurative language in which one term is substituted for another term with which it is closely associated	57
8646759966	mode of discourse	the way in which information is presented in a text. the four traditional modes are narration, description, exposition, and argument.	58
8646759967	mood	(1) the quality of a verb that conveys the writer's attitude toward a subject (e.g. declarative, imperative, interrogative, exclamatory). (2) the emotion evoked by a text.	59
8646759968	narrative	a rhetorical strategy that recounts a sequence of events, usually in chronological order.	60
8646759969	onomatopoeia	the formation or use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.	61
8646759970	oxymoron	a figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.	62
8646759971	paradigm	an example or model	63
8646759972	paradox	a statement that appears to contradict itself.	64
8646759973	parallelism	a grammatical construction in which two identical syntactic constructions are used	65
8646759974	parody	a literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule.	66
8646759975	periodic sentence	a long and frequently involved sentence, marked by suspended syntax, in which the sense is not completed until the final word—usually with an emphatic climax	67
8646759976	phenomenon	an unusual, observable event	68
8646759977	polysyndeton	the addition of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses (compare to asyndeton).	69
8646759978	predicate	one of the two main parts of a sentence or clause, modifying the subject and including the verb, objects, or phrases governed by the verb.	70
8646759979	prose	ordinary writing (both fiction and nonfiction) as distinguished from verse.	71
8646759980	refutation	the part of an argument wherein a speaker or writer anticipates and counters opposing points of view.	72
8646759981	repetition	an instance of using a word, phrase, or clause more than once in a short passage—dwelling on a point.	73
8646759982	sarcasm	a mocking and often ironic or satirical remark.	74
8646759983	satire	a text or performance that uses irony, derision, or wit to expose or attack human vice, foolishness, or stupidity.	75
8646759984	simile	a figure of speech in which two fundamentally unlike things are explicitly compared, usually in a phrase introduced by "like" or "as."	76
8646759985	style	narrowly interpreted as those figures that ornament speech or writing; broadly, as representing a manifestation of the person speaking or writing.	77
8646759986	subordination	words, phrases, and clauses that make one element of a sentence dependent on (or subordinate to) another. contrast with coordination.	78
8646759987	syllogism	a form of deductive reasoning; a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion	79
8646759988	symbol	a person, place, action, or thing that (by association, resemblance, or convention) represents something other than itself.	80
8646759989	synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole or the whole for a part.	81
8646759990	syntax	(1) the study of the rules that govern the way words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. (2) the arrangement of words in a sentence.	82
8646759991	tone	a writer's attitude toward the subject and audience, primarily conveyed through diction, point of view, syntax, and level of formality.	83
8646759992	understatement	a figure of speech in which a writer deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is.	84
8646759993	voice	(1) the quality of a verb that indicates whether its subject acts (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice). (2) the distinctive style or manner of expression of an author or narrator.	85