AP English Language & Composition Vocabulary Review Flashcards

9802245248	Allegory	a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another; a symbolic narrative	0
9802253035	Alliteration	repetition of the same sound at the beginning of several words in a sequence	1
9802257254	Allusion	a direct or indirect reference to something from history, the Bible, another literary work, mythology	2
9802261884	Anaphora	repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines	3
9802264664	Anecdote	a short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an interesting or amusing nature; a short, obscure historical or biographical account	4
9802267714	Antimetabole	repetition of words in reverse order	5
9802271091	Antithesis	contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction	6
9802275504	Assumption	a belief or statement taken for granted without proof	7
9802277697	Asyndeton	omission of conjunctions between phrases, clauses, or words in a series (red, white, blue)	8
9802277698	Bias	prejudice or predisposition toward one side of a subject or issue	9
9802280873	Cause/Effect	analyzing the causes that lead to a certain effect, or the effects that result from a cause	10
9802282956	Claim	an assertion, usually supported by evidence	11
9802289324	Classification/Division	sorting ideas within a text into categories	12
9802297123	Clause	a grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. An independent clause expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence; a dependent clause does not express a complete thought and must be accompanied by an independent clause	13
9802301158	Comparison/Contrast	juxtaposing two things to highlight similarities and differences	14
9802303500	Connotation	the implied or suggested meaning of a word	15
9802306306	Context	the occasion or the time and place a text was written or spoken	16
9802308755	Counterargument	a challenge to a position; an opposing argument	17
9802311675	Cumulative sentence/Loose sentence	a sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence, and then builds/adds on	18
9802316986	Definition	a text that provides a specific meaning to a term or idea	19
9802320051	Denotation	the dictionary definition of a word	20
9802320052	Diction	word choice	21
9802324684	Euphemism	a less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word	22
9802327717	Exemplification	writing that provides a series of examples	23
9802331438	Extended metaphor	a comparison that continues throughout the length of the piece of writing	24
9802334342	Figurative language	writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid	25
9802340239	Genre	the major category into which a literary work fits (a few examples: prose fiction, prose nonfiction, poetry, drama)	26
9802343246	Hortative sentence/Hortatory	a sentence used as a call to action	27
9802346008	Hyperbole	an exaggerated statement	28
9802349311	Imagery	detailed descriptions that involve one of the 5 senses of the reader/listener - sight, sound, touch, taste, smell	29
9802352833	Inversion/Inverted sentence	inverted order of words in a sentence	30
9802390518	Irony	the contrast between what is stated and what is really meant; the difference between what appears to be and what is actually true	31
9802394438	Juxtaposition	the placing of two or more opposite words in a sentence to provide contrast	32
9802396924	Metaphor	a direct comparison of two unlike things	33
9802399460	Metonymy	a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it	34
9802402329	Narration	telling a story or recounting a series of events	35
9802404840	Oxymoron	a figure of speech that groups two contradictory terms together to describe one thing	36
9802407319	Paradox	a statement that appears to be contradictory but is actually true	37
9802414089	Parallelism	a similar grammatical pattern/structure in items in a series	38
9802418672	Periodic sentence	a sentence that holds its meaning/main clause until the end	39
9802425919	Persona	the speaker, voice, or character assumed by the author of a piece of writing	40
9802428812	Personification	a figure of speech in which the author gives human characteristics to concepts, animals, or inanimate objects	41
9802431068	Polemic	an argument against an idea, usually regarding philosophy, politics, or religion	42
9802434405	Process analysis	a type of writing that explains how something works or how to do something	43
9802439899	Propaganda	a negative term for writing designed to sway opinion rather than present information	44
9802442249	Purpose	one's intention or objective in a speech or piece of writing	45
9802442250	Refute	to discredit an argument	46
9802448004	Repetition	a repeated pattern in a written work; it can be a word, phrase, sound, idea, type of sentence	47
9802451247	Rhetoric	the art of persuasion	48
9802455205	Rhetorical Modes	the different purposes of writing: expository, narrative, descriptive, persuasive	49
9802458037	Rhetorical question	a question asked, not for a genuine answer, but to create an expected effect	50
9802462161	Satire	a sarcastic, ironic, witty composition that mocks an institution for the purpose of creating change	51
9802469681	Schemes	the artful use of syntax or sentence structure	52
9802475148	Simile	a comparison of two or more things that uses the words like or as	53
9802478518	Style	the choices an author makes in blending diction, sentence structure, and figurative language to create his/her intended meaning	54
9802481364	Syntax	sentence structure	55
9802484230	Theme	the central idea or message in a written work	56
9802487147	Thesis	the statement that expresses the main idea of an essay	57
9802490940	Tone	the author's attitude	58
9802494158	Tropes	the artful use of diction	59
9802496904	Understatement	making something seem less important that it really is	60
9802496905	Parody	a work that mocks or closely imitates another work for the purposes of humor or criticism	61
9802508347	Zeugma	use of two words in a grammatically similar way but producing different meanings	62
9802512300	Logos	logical or rational appeal; appealing to the intelligence of the audience by using sound reasoning and strong evidence	63
9802514199	Pathos	emotional appeals; appealing to the emotions of the audience by focusing on the beliefs and feelings deeply embedded in their minds	64
9802514200	Ethos	ethical appeals; the credibility of the speaker, implied through his/her use of sound logic, moderate tone, and strong evidence	65
9802524453	Apostrophe	a figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, an object, or an abstract idea. An apostrophe addresses someone or something who cannot respond.	66
9802528062	Colloquialism/Colloquial language	the use of slang or informalities in speech or writing	67
9802533276	Didactic	to teach/instruct	68
9802539189	Homily	a sermon, serious speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice	69
9802542137	Inference	to draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented	70
9802542138	Invective	an emotionally violent, verbal attack that uses strong, abusive language	71
9802548330	Mood	the prevailing atmosphere or emotional feeling of a work	72
9802552166	Pedantic	an adjective that describes words, phrases, or the general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish	73
9802555096	Point of view	the perspective from which the story is told	74
9802558432	Prose	fiction or nonfiction writing that is NOT poetry	75
9802561989	Sarcasm	a type of writing or speaking that involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something	76
9802561990	Semantics	the study of the meaning, development, and connotations of words	77
9802565485	Symbol	anything that stands for something else	78
9802571735	ad hominem	Latin for "to the man": attacking the person instead of the issue	79
9802576695	ad populum	Latin for to the crowd; a misconception that because many others believe it, then it must be true (also known as bandwagon)	80
9802581341	Appeal to False Authority	using the testimony of a well-known person outside of his special field	81
9802624996	False cause/post hoc	arguing that one event was caused by another event merely because it occurred after that event	82
9802634356	Hasty generalization	drawing a conclusion on the basis of insufficient evidence or on the basis of a few examples	83
9802638258	Red herring	a statement that diverts attention from the issue	84
9802641124	Traditional wisdom	argues that the way things used to be is better than they are now, ignoring any problems in the past	85
9802645949	Begging the question/circular reasoning	repeating the point in different words	86
9802650796	Either-or reasoning/false dilemma	assuming there are only two choices	87
9802666219	Refute/refutation	to discredit an argument, particularly a counterargument	88
9802669983	Rebut/rebuttal	a refutation, or a contradiction	89
9802674741	Analogy	a comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification	90
9802678861	Deduction	the process of reasoning from one or more statements (or premises) to reach a logically certain conclusion	91
9802678863	Induction	reasoning in which the premises seek to supply strong evidence for (not absolute proof of) the truth of the conclusion. The conclusion is probably rather than certain.	92
9802692339	Premise	a proposition supporting or helping to support a conclusion; in logic, an argument requires at least two sets of these declarative statements along with a third, known as the conclusion	93
9802697842	Syllogism	(Greek for "conclusion, inference") A form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. Reasoning from the general to the specific; deduction	94
9802702350	Logical fallacy	common errors in reasoning that will undermine the logic of your argument	95
9802706302	Enthymeme	an argumentative statement in which the writer or the speaker omits one of the major or minor premises, does not clearly pronounce it, or keeps the premise implied; however, the omitted premise in the statement remains understandable even if not clearly expressed	96
9802710064	Equivocation	a half-truth, or a statement that is partially correct but that purposefully obscures the entire truth	97
9802710065	False analogy	an argument based on misleading, superficial, or implausible comparisons	98
9802717421	Non sequitur	arguments that do not follow a logical sequence. The conclusion doesn't logically follow the explanation. An important logical step may be missing in such a claim.	99
9802723095	Straw man	an argument based on the misrepresentation of the opponent's argument in order to defeat him/her	100
9802728256	Slippery slope	arguments that suggest that one step will inevitably lead to more, eventually negative steps	101