Vocab unit 2 APLANG

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines.

“I won’t give up, I won’t stop fighting, and I won’t stop trying.”

Antithesis

An opposition, or contrasting ideas placed next to each other in a parallel structure.

“I will fight with my enemies and make peace with my friends.”

Archaic Diction

Use of old-fashioned or outdated words.

“I am tired, henceforth I will go to bed early.

Asyndeton

Omitting conjunctions (like 'and,' 'or') from a list of words or phrases to create a concise or rapid effect.

“I hiked, I biked, I swam.”

Diction

An author's specific choice of words to set the tone or mood.

“Howdy Y’all, welcome to the wild west.”

Inversion

Inverted order of words in a sentence (unusual syntax).

“Gracefully she skated across the ice.”

Juxtaposition

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences.

“He was the best dog, she was the worst cat.”

Oxymoron

A paradox made up of two seemingly contradictory words.

Living death

Parallelism

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.

“I played scrabble, I played monopoly, and I played checkers.”

Personification

Giving human qualities to non-living things or ideas.

“The wave grabbed me and pulled me under water.”

Polysyndeton

The deliberate use of multiple conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

“I hiked up the mountain, and down the trail, and back around the river.”

Rhetorical Question

A question posed for rhetorical effect rather than to get an answer.

“Why don’t we all just get along?”

Synecdoche

A figure of speech that uses a part to represent the whole.

“The hands put in so much work.”

Syntax

The arrangement of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences.

“I talked to him.” “He talked to me.”

Zeugma

Use of one word to govern two or more other words in a grammatically similar way, but producing different, often incongruous, meanings.

“He ruined his new shirt and also our relationship.”

Compound Sentence

Consists of two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (like 'and,' 'but,' 'or') or a semicolon.

“I was surfing and I fell off my board.”

Complex Sentence

Contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

“I am tired, so I should go to bed earlier.”

Periodic Sentence

A complex sentence that builds suspense by delaying the main (independent) clause until the very end.

“Working hard and doing your homework will get you good grades.”

Cumulative Sentence (Loose Sentence)

An independent clause followed by one or more subordinate clauses or phrases that add details.

“The waves were so blue, they glimmered in the sunlight.”

Imperative Sentence

Gives a command, request, or instruction to an implied subject, typically 'you.'

“Do not be afraid”