ap lang terms

terms

Allegory

Allegory

Story or poem in which characters, settings, or events stand for other people, events, or qualities

Alliteration

repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together.

Allusion

An indirect reference to something (usually literature)

Ambiguity

Deliberately suggesting two or more different, or contradictory, meanings of a work

Anadiplosis

When the last word of a sentence or phrase is repeated in the start of the next sentence.

Analogy

Explaining something complex by comparing it to something more simple

Anaphora

Repetition of the same word or phrase/clause, at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row.

Anecdote

A brief recounting of a relevant episode

Antecedent

The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.

Antithesis

Balancing words, phrases or ideas that are strongly contrasted

Aphorism

A cleverly worded statement that is a wise observation about life, principle, or general accepted truth

Apostrophe

Calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person (It is called an invocation when calling out to gods)

Asyndeton

Commas used without conjunction to separate a series of words (emphasizes all words equally) Ex. X, Y, Z (not x, y, and z)

Atmosphere

he way an author uses setting, objects, or internal thoughts of characters to create emotion, mood, or experiences for the reader.

Chiasmus

Second part is syntactically connected to the first, but reversed.

Clause

A complete phrase with a subject and predicate (includes a verb)

Conduplicatio

Repetition of a key word at the beginning of a sentence and the start of a successive sentence

Colloquialism

A word or phrase used in everyday conversation but inappropriate for formal use (slang basically LMAO)

Coherence

logical relations between sentences or phrases

Conceit

a metaphor that usually compares things that have startling differences

Connotation

emotional overtones of a word or phrase

Denotation

the literal, primary definition of a word

Diction

a writer’s choice of words

Didactic

a fiction or nonfiction that teaches a life lesson, moral, correct behavior or thinking

Enumeratio

Figure of amplification in which a subject is divided into constituent parts or details, and may include a listing of causes, effects, problem, solutions, conditions, and consequences; the listing or detailing of the parts of something. Ex: I love her eyes, her hair, her nose, her cheeks, her lips.

Expletive

A single word interrupts a syntax, usually to put emphasis on the word directly before or after it.

Euphemism

A euphemism is a word or phrase that softens an uncomfortable topic. It uses figurative language to refer to a situation without having to confront it.

Exposition

When something is explained or “set forth”

Extended metaphor

A metaphor that comes up multiple times and is developed throughout the work

Figurative language

A language that contains figures of speech

Figure of speech

specific techniques that doesn’t use a word’s literal meaning

Generic conventions

Features shown by texts used to classify which type of genre they are

Genre

A category of literary work

Homily

A type of religious speech that offers correction: A synonym for sermon

Hyperbole

An exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally

Hypophora

When the author provides a question and answers it immediately after

Imagery

The use of language to create a picture or evoke a sensation of something described.

Inference

To draw a reasonable conclusion from the information provided

Invective

An emotionally violent, verb denunciation or attack using strong and abusive language

Irony

An expression of one’s meaning that normally signifies the opposite

Juxtaposition

putting two different things close together to demonstrate contrast

Litotes

A form of understatement where a positive form is emphasized through negating a negative form.

Loose sentence

Main clause comes first, then the dependent grammatical units. Hawthorne: “Hester gazed after him a little while, looking with a half-fantastic curiosity

to see whether the tender grass of early spring would not be blighted beneath him, and show the wavering track of this footsteps, sere and brown, across its cheerful verdure.”

Metaphor

comparison without the use of “like” or “as”

Metonymy

A figure of speech where a person, place, or thing is referred to by something close to it (t. “We requested from the crown support for our petition.” The crown is used to represent the monarch. )

Mood

An atmosphere created by the author’s diction

Narrative

The telling of a story in a series of events

Onomatopoeia

Sounds

Oxymoron

paradoxical juxtaposition of words that seem to contradict each other

Paradox

A statement that appears self contradictory, but reveals a kind of truth Ex. It was the beginning of the end

Parallelism

similarity in structure in a series of words, phrases, or clauses

Parody

A work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspects

Pedantic

An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish

Periodic sentence

A sentence that ends with the main idea

Personification

attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or idea

Polysyndeton sentence which uses a conjunction with NO commas to separate the items in a series. Instead of X, Y, and Z... Polysyndeton results in X and Y and Z.

Point of view

the narrator's position in relation to a story being told.

Predicate adjective

Adjectives that describe the subject of a sentence and are linked to a subject by a linking verb

Predicate nominative

a grammar term that describes a noun clause in the predicate of certain sentences. The predicate nominative appears as a group of words following a linking verb like "to be" or "to become."

Prose

Prose is a style of writing that does not follow a strict structure of rhyming and/or meter. Prose uses normal grammatical structures.

Repetition

a literary device that involves using the same word or phrase over and over again in a piece of writing or speech.

Rhetoric

what Aristotle described as the art of persuasion

Rhetorical question

A question spoken for rhetorical effect

Sarcasm

Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony that mocks, ridicules, or expresses contempt

Satire

A type of writing that ridicules shortcomings of people or institutions to bring about change

Semantics

refers to the interpretation of language, including words, sentences, phrasing, and symbols

Style

the way in which an author uses language to convey their ideas and create a unique voice and tone.

Subject complement

a word or phrase that appears after a linking verb in a sentence and modifies the subject of the sentence. (ex. Ben is a policeman, The box is a present)

Subordinate clause

a clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence (Ex. "I went home because I felt ill," "because I felt ill" is a subordinate clause.)

Syllogism

a form of deductive argument where the conclusion follows from the truth of two (or more) premises. (Example:All mammals are animals. All elephants are mammals. Therefore, all elephants are animals. )

Symbolism

Using words/symbols to represent anything that is not the literal meaning of the word

Synecdoche

use of a part to describe the whole ( ex. Referring to a car as “wheels”)

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases in a sentence

Theme

the inferred stance taken on the central topic or message of a story.

Thesis

the sentence that introduces the main argument or point of view of a composition

Tone

to the author's attitude toward a certain topic

Transition

words or phrases that tell readers that a new thought, paragraph, or section is coming

Understatement

the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.

Undertone

Undertones typically refer to messages that are covertly carried or hidden beneath a conversation or literary work

Wit

a form of intelligent humour—the ability to say or write things that are clever and typically funny.