AP Language Terms Flashcards

11334334550	Cumulative (Loose) Sentence	begins with a main clause that is followed by phrases and/or clauses that modify the main clause. These phrases or clauses add information to the main or independent clause.	0
11334334551	Periodic Sentence	a sentence that, by leaving the completion of its main clause to the end, produces an effect of suspense.	1
11334334552	Litotes/Understatement	a figure of speech in which a negative statement is used to affirm a positive statement.	2
11334334553	Syllogism	A logical structure that uses the major premise and minor premise to reach a necessary conclusion.	3
11334334554	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.	4
11334334555	Refutation	a denial of the validity of an opposing argument.	5
11334334556	Diction	a speaker's choice of words. Analysis of diction looks at these choices and what they add to the speaker's message.	6
11334334557	Simile	a figure of speech used to explain or clarify an idea by comparing it explicitly to something else, using words like, as, or as though.	7
11334334558	Metaphor	figure of speech that compares two unlike things without using like or as.	8
11334334559	Rhetoric	it is the art of finding ways of persuading an audience.	9
11334334560	Allusion	brief reference to a person, event, or place (real or fictitious) to to a work of art.	10
11334334561	Hyperbole	deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic or ironic effect; an overstatement to make a point.	11
11334334562	Personification	attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea.	12
11334334563	Parallelism	similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.	13
11334334564	Antithesis	opposition, or contrast or ideas or words in a parallel construction.	14
11334334565	Non sequitor	a fallacy of argument in which claims, reasons, or warrants fail to connect logically; one point doesn't follow from another.	15
11334334609	Allegory	The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself.	16
11334334610	Alliteration	The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words (as in "she sells sea shells").	17
11334334611	Ambiguity	The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.	18
11334334612	Analogy	A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them.	19
11334334613	Antecedent	The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.	20
11334334614	Aphorism	A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle. (If the authorship is unknown, the statement is generally considered to be a folk proverb.)	21
11334334615	Apostrophe	A prayer like figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. It is an address to someone or something that cannot answer.	22
11334334616	Atmosphere	The emotional nod created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author's choice of objects that are described.	23
11334334617	Clause	A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb.	24
11334334618	Colloquial/Colloquialism	The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing.	25
11334334619	Literary Conceit	A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects; displays intellectual cleverness through unusual comparisons that make good sense	26
11334334620	Connotation	The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning.	27
11334334621	Denotation	The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color.	28
11334334622	Didactic	in the manner of a teacher, particularly so as to treat someone in a patronizing way.	29
11334334623	Euphemism	From the Greek for "good speech," euphemisms are a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept - POLITICALLY CORRECT	30
11334334624	Extended Metaphor	A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.	31
11334334625	Figurative Language	Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid	32
11334334626	Genre	The major category into which a literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry, and drama.	33
11334334627	Homily	This term literally means "sermon," but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice.	34
11334334628	Imagery	The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions.	35
11334334629	Inference/infer	To draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented.	36
11334334630	Invective	an emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language.	37
11334334631	Irony/ironic	The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant, or the difference between what appears to be and what is actually true.	38
11334334632	Mood	The prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work.	39
11334334633	Narrative	The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events.	40
11334334634	onomatopoeia	A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words.	41
11334334635	Oxymoron	is a figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox.	42
11334334636	Paradox	A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity.	43
11334334637	Parody	A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.	44
11334334638	Pedantic	An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish (language that might be described as "show-offy"; using big words for the sake of using big words).	45
11334334639	Prose	written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.	46
11334334640	Repetition	The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern.	47
11334334641	Sarcasm	Involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something.	48
11334334642	Satire	A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule.	49
11334334643	Subordinate clause	Like all clauses, this word group contains both a subject and a verb (plus any accompanying phrases or modifiers), but unlike the independent clause, this clause cannot stand alone; it does not express a complete thought.	50
11334334644	Symbol/symbolism	Generally, anything that represents itself and stands for something else.	51
11334334645	Syntax	The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences.	52
11334334646	Theme	The central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers into life.	53
11334334647	Thesis	The sentence or group of sentences that directly expresses the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or position.	54
11334334648	Tone	Describes the author's attitude toward his material, the audience, or both.	55
11334334649	Transition	A word or phrase that links different ideas. Used especially, although not exclusively, in expository and argumentative writing, effectively signal a shift from one idea to another.	56
11334334650	Wit	in modern usage, intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights.	57
11334334651	Anecdote	A brief story that illustrates or makes a point	58
11334334566	Style	The choices in diction, tone, and syntax that a writer makes.	59
11334334567	stream of consciousness	A technique in which the writer records thoughts and emotions as they come to mind, without giving order or structure	60
11334334568	Semantics	Studies the meaning of words, their historical and psychological development (etymology), their connotations, and their relation to one another.	61
11334334569	Motif	a dominant theme, subject, or idea which runs through a piece of literature	62
11334334570	voice	"Sound" of the writer's style relationship between a sentence's subject and verb (active and passive).	63
11334334571	Predicate	the part of a sentence or clause containing a verb and stating something about the subject	64
11334334572	point of view	the perspective from which a story is told	65
11334334573	Inversion	inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the subject-verb-object order)	66
11334334574	Abstract Language	Language describing ideas and qualities rather than observable or specific things, people, or places.	67
11334334575	annotation	A brief explanation, summary, or evaluation of a text or work of literature.	68
11334334576	Appositive	A noun or noun phrase that follows another noun immediately or defines or amplifies its meaning	69
11334334577	attitude	The feelings of a particular speaker or piece of writing toward a subject, person, or idea	70
11334334578	Cliché	a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.	71
11334334579	concrete detail/ concrete language	A highly specific, particular, often real, actual, or tangible detail	72
11334334580	dependent clause	A clause in a complex sentence that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence and that functions within the sentence as a noun or adjective or adverb	73
11334334581	Gerund	A verb form ending in -ing that is used as a noun	74
11334334582	digression	a temporary departure from the main subject in speech or writing	75
11334334583	Explication	act of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text, usually involves close reading and special attention to figurative language.	76
11334334584	Red Herring	When a writer raises an irrelevant issue to draw attention away from the real issue	77
11334334585	Synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa	78
11334334586	Trope	A figure of speech in which the use of a word or phrase other than in its literal meaning changes the meaning of a sentence. That is turning the meaning of a sentence another way by the use of a word(s).	79
11334334587	verbal irony	A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant	80
11334334588	Straw Man	A fallacy that occurs when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an idea.	81
11334334589	Soliloquy	A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage	82
11334334590	situational irony	irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected.	83
11334334591	Persona	an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting	84
11334334592	Parable	A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson	85
11334334593	Oversimplification	Reducing an idea too much so it loses the point trying to be made	86
11334334594	Objectivity	treating facts without influence from personal feelings or prejudices	87
11334334595	Jargon	special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand.	88
11334334596	grotesque	comically or repulsively ugly or distorted	89
11334334597	freight train	Sentence consisting of three or more very short independent clauses joined by conjunctions.	90
11334334598	Exposition	Background information presented in a literary work.	91
11334334599	Ethos	Method of persuasion that argues to seek common ground of shares morals or values in the audience	92
11334334600	Epigraph	a quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of the theme.	93
11334334601	epigram	a rhetorical device that is a memorable, brief, interesting and surprising satirical statement	94
11334334602	Pathos	a method of convincing people with an argument drawn out through an emotional response	95
11334334603	dramatic irony	when a reader is aware of something that a character isn't	96
11334334604	common knowledge	Shared beliefs or assumptions between the reader and the audience.	97
11334334605	causal relationship	In __, a writer asserts that one thing results from another. To show how one thing produces or brings about another is often relevant in establishing a logical argument.	98
11334334606	begging the question	a fallacy of logical argument that assumes as true the very thing that one is trying to prove	99
11334334607	Anaphora	the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses	100
11334334608	ad hominem	a fallacy that attacks the person rather than dealing with the real issue in dispute	101