Westland AP Language Devices Flashcards

13524188598	Allegory	an extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities and in which the writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface of the story. Often times concepts like death and love are represented by people.	0
13524188599	Analogy	Comparison of two similar but different things, usually to clarify an action or a relationship	1
13524188600	Anaphora	Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row	2
13524188601	Anecdote	a short, simple narrative of an incident; often used for humorous effect or to make a point	3
13524188602	Antithesis	the presentation of two contrasting images. The ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraphs. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times (Dickens).	4
13524188603	Aphorism	a short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life	5
13524188604	Apostrophe	usually in poetry but sometimes in prose; the device of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person or to a place, thing, or personified abstraction	6
13524188605	Asyndeton	Commas used (with no conjunction) to separate a series of words. The parts are emphasized equally when the conjunction is omitted; in addition, the use of commas with no intervening conjunction speeds up the flow of the sentence	7
13524188606	Caricature	Used in satire. Descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a person's appearance or a facet of personality.	8
13524188607	Colloquialism	a word or phrase (including slang) used in everyday conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing	9
13524188608	Concrete Language	Language that describes specific, observable things, people, or places, rather than ideas or qualities	10
13524188609	Deduction	the process of moving from a general rule to a specific example	11
13524188610	Diction	word choice	12
13524188611	Didactic	writing whose purpose is to instruct or to teach	13
13524188612	Epigraph	the use of a quotation at the beginning of a work that hints at its theme	14
13524188613	Epistrophe	repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect	15
13524188614	Euphemism	a more acceptable and usually more pleasant way of saying something that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable	16
13524188615	Extended Metaphor	a sustained comparison throughout a text	17
13524188616	Generalization	When a writer bases a claim upon an isolated example or asserts that a claim is certain rather than probable. Sweeping generalizations occur when a writer asserts that a claim applies to all instances instead of some	18
13524188617	Hubris	the excessive pride of ambition that leads a tragic hero to disregard warnings of impending doom, eventually causing his or her downfall.	19
13524188618	Induction	the process that moves from a given series of specifics to a generalization	20
13524188619	Inference	a conclusion one can draw from the presented details	21
13524188620	Invective	a verbally abusive attack	22
13524188621	Inversion	reversing the customary (subject first, then verb, then complement) order of elements in a sentence or phrase; it is used effectively in many cases, such as posing a question	23
13524188622	Irony	a situation or statement in which the actual outcome or meaning is opposite to what was expected	24
13524188623	Jargon	The special language of a profession or group.	25
13524188624	Logical Fallacy	a mistake in reasoning	26
13524188625	Metonymy	a figure of speech that uses the name of an object, person, or idea to represent something with which it is associated	27
13524188626	Motif	reoccurring theme or idea in a piece of writing.	28
13524188627	Objectivity	an impersonal presentation of events and characters. It is a writer's attempt to remove himself or herself from any subjective, personal involvement in a story.	29
13524188628	Oversimplification	When a writer obscures or denies the complexity of the issues in an argument	30
13524188629	Parable	a short tale that teaches a moral; similar to but shorter than an allegory	31
13524188630	Paradox	a statement that seems to contradict itself but that turns out to have a rational meaning	32
13524188631	Parallelism	the technique of arranging words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures by placing them side by side and making them similar in form	33
13524188632	Parody	a work that ridicules the style of another work by imitating and exaggerating its elements.	34
13524188633	Pedantic	a term used to describe writing that borders on lecturing. It is scholarly and academic and often overly difficult and distant	35
13524188634	First person narrator	a narrator, referred to as "I," who is a character in the story and relates the actions through his or her own perspective, also revealing his or her own thoughts	36
13524188635	Stream of Consciousness	like a first person narrator, but instead placing the reader inside the character's head, making the reader privy to the continuous, chaotic flow of disconnected, half-formed thoughts and impressions in the character's mind	37
13524188636	Omniscient	third person narrator, who is able to see into each character's mind and understands all the action's of the character	38
13524188637	Limited Omniscient	a third person narrator who reports the thoughts of only one character and generally only what that one character sees	39
13524188638	Objective narration	a third person narrator who only reports what would be visible to a camera; thoughts and feelings are only revealed if a character speaks of them	40
13524188639	Polysyndeton	Sentence which uses and or another conjunction (with no commas) to separate the items in a series	41
13524188640	Rhetoric	the art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse	42
13524188641	Rhetorical Question	one that does not expect an explicit answer. It is used to pose an idea to be considered by the speaker or audience.	43
13524188642	Satire	A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way. Makes fun of problems in society.	44
13524188643	Syllogism	A form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them. It is the format of a formal argument that consists of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion	45
13524188644	Symbolism	anything that is meant to be taken both literally and as representative of a higher and more complex significance. A rose represents love.	46
13524188645	Synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent a whole. "Today Washington announced new gun reform laws."	47
13524188646	Syntax	the grammatical structure of a sentence	48
13524188647	Tone	attitude of writing	49
13524188648	Understatement/ Meiosis	the opposite of exaggeration. It is a technique for developing irony and/or humor where one writes or says less than intended.	50
13524188649	Semantics	the meaning behind a word or sentence	51
13524188650	Ethos	using ethics to persuade	52
13524188651	Pathos	persuasion by emotional appeals, an element in experience or in artistic representation evoking pity or compassion.	53
13524188652	Logos	using logic to persuade	54
13524188653	Double Entendre	A word or phrase that may have more than one interpretation, usually sexual	55
13524188654	Litotes	understatement for rhetorical effect, using a negative to say the positive	56
13524188655	Sarcasm	a form of humor that is marked by mocking with irony	57
13524188656	Caricature	A form of satire. Exaggerating characteristics of a person, event, etc that creates an easily identifiable visual	58
13524188657	Pun	a play on words	59
13524188658	Abstract	language that describes concepts rather than images	60
13524188659	Ad Hominem	in an argument, this is an attack on the person rather than one the person's ideas.	61
13524188660	Argumentation	writing that attempts to prove the validity of a point.	62
13524188661	Coherance	Quality of a piece of writing in which all the parts contribute to the development of the central idea	63
13524188662	Consonance	repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximity	64
13524188663	Conundrum	a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun	65
13524188664	Discourse	spoken or written language, there are four modes: description, exposition, narration, and persuasion	66
13524188665	Dissonance	harsh or grating sounds that do not go together	67
13524188666	Dramatic Irony	When the reader is aware of an inconsistency in a character's perception of a situation and the truth of that situation. The reader knows more than the characters.	68
13524188667	Euphony	a succession of harmonious sounds used in poetry or prose	69
13524188668	Explication	The art of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text	70
13524188669	Exposition	the immediate revelation to the audience of the setting and other background information necessary for understanding the plot	71
13524188670	Figurative Language	saying something other than what is literally meant for effect using devices such as similes and metaphors.	72
13524188671	Logic	the process of reasoning	73
13524188672	Lyrical	Songlike. Often used to express emotion in poetry.	74
13524188673	Mood	Similar to tone, primary emotional attitude of a work	75
13524188674	Non-sequitor	Latin for "does not follow". When one statement doesn't logically follow another	76
13524188675	Pacing	the movement of a literary piece	77
13524188676	Persuasion	A form of argumentation	78
13524188677	Red Herring	When a writer raises an irrelevant issue to draw attention away from the real issue	79
13524188678	Reductio ad Absurdum	Latin for "to reduce to the absurd"	80
13524188679	Rhetorical modes	exposition, description, narration, argumentation	81
13524188680	Straw Man	when a writer argues against a claim that is universally considered weak	82
13524188681	Style	an author's diction, syntax, imagery, structure, and content all contribute to style	83
13524188682	Thesis	the main idea of a piece of writing	84
13524188683	Transition	a word or phrase that links one idea to the next	85
13524188684	Voice	the sound of a writer's style	86
13524188685	Scare Tactic	Using fear to persuade	87
13524188686	Either-Or Choice	a fallacy that reduced a choice down to just two	88
13524188687	Slippery Slope	describing an argument where the author exaggerates the future consequences of an action. If you fail this test, you will fail high school and not go to college..."	89
13524188688	Sentimental Appeals	arguments that appeal to emotions	90
13524188689	Bandwagon appeals	arguments that urge people to follow the same path as everyone else	91
13524188690	Appeals to false authority	argument that draws on the authority of a widely respected person	92
13524188691	Gerund	A noun formed from a verb (such as the '-ing' form of an English verb when used as a noun)	93
13524188692	simple sentence	A sentence consisting of one independent clause and no dependent clause	94
13524188693	Compound Sentence	Two independent clauses joined by a conjunction (I went to the store, and I bought candy.)	95
13524188694	Complex Sentence	A sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause	96
13524188695	Verb	A word that expresses action, a state of being or feeling, or a relation between two things	97
13524188696	Antecedent	A word, phrase, or clause to which a following pronoun refers. "The glass fell on the floor. It broke.	98
13524188697	Linking Verb	A state-of-being verb, "is", "are" Connects the noun to the verb.	99
13524188698	Moral Equivilance	argument that suggests that serious wrong doings don't differ from minor offenses	100
13524188699	Hasty generalization	making an inference drawn from insufficient evidence, using stereotypes to argue a point	101
13524188700	Faulty Causality. Also: Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc	the fallacious assumption that because two events happened in sequence that the first event caused the second.	102
13524188701	Begging the Question	circular reasoning	103
13524188702	Equivocation	half-truth Arguing both sides of an argument.	104
13524188703	Faulty Analogy	form of argument where inaccurate comparisons are being made	105
13524188704	Soliloquy	Seen in Shakespeare's plays. A longer speech that indicates the speaker's thoughts and emotions.	106
13524188705	Aside	Seen in Shakespeare's plays. A short speech directed to the audience to provide insight or direction.	107
13524188706	Shakespearean Sonnet	A type of lyrical poem that uses a specific rhyme scheme and form.	108
13524188707	Quatrain	Four lines of poetry	109
13524188708	Rhyming Couplet	Two lines of rhyming poetry found at the end of a Shakespearean sonnet	110
13524188709	Iambic Pentameter	Two feet of poetry with five syllables per foot	111