AICE English Language midterm study guide

desecrate

to show disrespect to or deface something sacred

euphonious

melodious; pleasant sounding

cacophonous

harsh sounding

guile

cunning; deceitfulness

immutable

unchanging; permanent

incessant

non-stop

static

unchanging; not moving

bastion

a stronghold; a fort

benign

kindly; good-natured

credulous

gullible; ready to believe without proof

MLA format

(authors last name page number).

helping verb

Helping verbs are used in front of other verbs to express different tenses, moods, and more

linking verb

Linking verbs are verbs that don't show an action but rather describe the subject

irregular verb

An irregular verb is a verb whose past tense and past participle are not formed by adding "-ed" or “-d”

action verb

An action verb is a type of verb that describes the action that the subject of a sentence is performing.

defenite article

The definite article (the) is used before a noun to indicate that the identity of the noun is known to the reader.

indefenite articles

a determiner ( a and an in English) that introduces a noun phrase and implies that the thing referred to is nonspecific

subject

The subject of a sentence is the noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that the sentence is about. Usually, the subject performs the action.

indirect object

a noun phrase referring to someone or something that is affected by the action of a transitive verb (typically as a recipient), but is not the primary object (e.g. him in give him the book.)

direct object

a noun phrase denoting a person or thing that is the recipient of the action of a transitive verb, for example the dog in Jimmy fed the dog.

prepositional phrase

A prepositional phrase is a group of words consisting of a preposition, its object, and any words that modify the object.

demonstrative pronoun

(of a determiner or pronoun) indicating the person or thing referred to (e.g. this, that, those ).

possessive pronoun

a pronoun indicating possession, for example mine, yours, hers, theirs.

reflexive pronoun

denoting a pronoun that refers back to the subject of the clause in which it is used, e.g. myself, themselves.

personal pronoun

A personal pronoun is a word like I, you, he, she, it, we, they that replaces a noun

metonymy

the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant, for example suit for business executive, or the track for horse racing.

subjective

uses personal feelings, opinions, and biases to shape the narrative

paradox

A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel of truth or reason.

objective

points to a concrete thing (object, image, situation)

asyndenton

omits conjunctions (like "and," "or," and "but") from a series of words, phrases, or clauses to create a sense of speed, emphasis, and rhythm

allusion

an author makes a brief, indirect reference to a well-known person, place, thing, idea, or work of art

anaphora

characterized by the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences

connotation

the emotional association a word has, beyond its dictionary definition, and can be positive or negative, and is a suggestion made by the word.

denotation

the literal meaning, or "dictionary definition," of a word

antithesis

a figure of speech that juxtaposes two contrasting or opposing ideas, usually within parallel grammatical structures.

synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a specific part of something is used to refer to the whole thing.

polysyndeton

uses the repetition of conjunctions (e.g. and, but, or) in quick succession, often with no commas, even when the conjunctions could be removed

hyperbole

a figure of speech, involving exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis.

metaphor

makes a non-literal comparison between two unlike things.

imagery

uses vivid description that appeals to a readers' senses to create an image or idea in their head.

symbolism

uses symbols, be they words, people, marks, locations, or abstract ideas to represent something beyond the literal meaning.

tone

conveys the author's attitude toward the subject, speaker, or audience of a poem

personification

emphasizes a non-human's characteristics by describing them with human attributes.

foreshadowing

alludes to a later point in the story.

register

the level of formality in language that's determined by the context in which it is spoken or written.

colloquialism

the use of informal and/or conversational language that is commonplace in a particular region or era.

anecdote

a short true story that illustrates a point or adds color to writing or conversation.

repetition

a word or phrase is repeated two or more times.