AP Lang Vocab Lessons 1-10

Euphonious

pleasing to the ear

Cacophonic

having a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds, unpleasant to hear

pedantic

overly concerned with formal rules, very acedemic

simple

easy to understand

syntax

the arrangement of words and phrases (word order, NOT word choice)

abbreviate

to shorten

adulation

excessive praise

adversity

difficulties or misfortune

abstinence

the practice of refraining from something

diction

word choice

claim

a statement or assertion | argument

ethos

appealing through character/credibility

pathos

appealing through emotion

logos

appealing through logic

what is the rule about ethos, pathos and logos

they are not used, only achieved

active voice

subject, verb - eg. I kick the ball

passive voice

verb, subject - eg. The ball was kicked by mye

overstated

said too much / exaggerated

understated

not said enough / underexaggerated

aesthetic

pertatining to beauty

amicable

friendly/agreeable

anachronistic

out of time - eg. IPhone in a picture from the 1850’s

alliteration

repeating constanent - eg. Bubbling brook boiled.

assonance

repeating vowels - eg. I like ice spice

onomatopoeia

comic book sounds eg. Boom, bang, boosh

allusion

a reference to something else

declarative

a statement

imperative

a command

exclamatory

an exclamation !

interrogative

a question ?

ellipsis

(…) use if something is an incomplete thought or to separate pieces of a quote

anecdote

short personal recounting

anonymous

speaker is unknown/unnamed

antagonist

the person who goes against

Nouns: Concrete

tangible (you can touch it) - eg. The table

Nouns: Abstract

ideas (not tangible) - eg. Happiness, freedom

Nouns: Common

not a specific noun - eg. Dog, House

Nouns: Proper

specfic noun - eg. Mr. Gordon, Christ School

simile

a comparison USING like or as - eg. I was cold AS ice. (helps make abstract nouns tangible)

metaphor

a comparison NOT USING like or as - eg. Christ School is death

independent clause

complete sentence/thought; can stand on its own

dependent clause

not a complete sentence or thought; cannot stand on its own

semi-colon

(;) connects to independent clauses - functions like a period

anadiplosis

last words of a sentence is the first of the next - eg. Monica is nice. Nice is the trait of a good person. Person is a noun.

anaphora

repitition at the start of sentences - eg. I love…. I love…. I love….

arid

dry

assiduous

hard working

asylum

shelter or safe place

benevolent

good

ambiguity

lots of interpretations or meanings

nuance

complexity - eg. I like it sometimes and other times not.

malopropism

saying a word on accident, miss-using grammar - eg. I sailed along the specific ocean

mood

the way the author makes the reader feel

tone

how the author feels

clairvoyant

can see the future

condescending

talking down to someone

convergence

multiple things that come together

juxtaposition

two opposites, to show contrast - eg. hot and cold

explicit

clearly stated

implicit

not clearly stated, vague, implied

antithesis

opposite of your thesis

hyperbole

extreme exaggeration - eg. I’m so hungry I could eat a horse

chiasmus

ABBA - eg. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

deleterious

harmful

digression

to stray from the main point

demagogue

a leader who invokes emotion in people (usually bad) - eg. mustache man

disdain

heavy dislike

imagery

language to paint a picture

aphorism

fancy word for a common phrase

connotation

implied meaning

denotation

literal meaning

personification

give inanimate object human characteristics

prose

any writing that isn’t poetry

colon

(:) beginning of a list

ephemeral

something that doesn’t last

exemplery

outstanding

fortuitous

lucky

haughty

arrogant; cocky

fallacy

flaw in reasoning that weakens claim

begging the question

logical fallacy with circular reasoning - eg. Wool sweaters are the best because they have lots of wool.

hasty generalization

logical fallacy where a conclusion is drawn from a small sample size - eg. Asheville School sucks because the 1 student I met was rude.

false binary

logical fallacy that presents only two possibilities when are it is more nuanced than that- eg. If you’re not a soccer player, then you’re a football player.

circular argument

argument that supports itself with its conclusion - eg. God exists because god says he exists.

slippery slope

a small first step will lead to a extreme conclusion - eg. The snowfall will lead to the Earth freezing.

non-sequitur

a statement that doesn’t logically follow the previous statement - eg. Flowers are pretty, so I should murder my neighbor.

verbal irony

speaker conveys a meaning opposite of the literal meaning - eg. sarcasm

dramatic irony

audience knows information that the character does not

hedonist

someone who believes pleasure is the ultimate goal in life

hypothesis

educated guess predicting a experimental outcome

impetuous

someone or something that moves suddenly without much thought

inconsequential

not significant

etymology

history of a word

op-ed

opinion editorial

euphemism

a nice way to say something not nice “not the sharpest tool in the shed,”

parallelism

syntax of two sentences in a row are the same

symbolism

something that represents something else

premise

fancy word for claim

theme

the lesson (generally related to fiction)

enumerate

to list

intrepid

brave or fearless