AP Lang Combined Vocab Terms

Allegory

The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning.

Alliteration

The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonants in two or more neighboring words.

Allusion

A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art.

Ambiguity

The expression of an idea in such a way that more than one meaning is suggested.

Analogy

A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them.

Anaphora

One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression (word or words) is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences.

Anecdote

A short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event.

Antecedent

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

Antithesis

A syntactic strategy in which two contrasting ideas are intentionally juxtaposed in the structure of a sentence through parallel structure; a contrasting of opposing ideas in adjacent phrases, clauses, or sentences.

Aphorism

A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.

Asyndeton

Consists of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses.

Chiasmus

A figure of speech in which two successive phrases or clauses are parallel in syntax, but reverse the order of the analogous words.

Clause

A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb.

Colloquialism

The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing.

Coherence

A principle demanding that the parts of any composition be arranged so that the meaning whole may be immediately clear and intelligible.

Connotation

The nonliteral, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning. Connotations may involve ideas, emotions, or attitudes.

Denotation

The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color.

Diction

Related to style, diction refers to the writer’s word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness.

Didactic

Used to describe the tone of purpose of a text.

Ethos

Greek for “character.” Speakers appeal to this to demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy to speak on a given topic.

Euphemism

From the Greek for “good speech,” euphemisms are a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept.

Exposition

In essays, one of the four chief types of composition, the others being argumentation, description, and narration. The purpose of the exposition is to explain something.

Extended Metaphor

A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout the work.

Figurative Language

Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid.

Genre

The major category into which a literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry, and drama.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.

Hypophora

Figure of reasoning in which one or more questions is/are asked and then answered, often at length, by one and the same speaker.

Imagery

The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. On a physical level, it uses terms related to the five senses.

Inference

To draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented.

Irony

The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant. The difference between what appears to be and what actually is true.

Verbal Irony

The words literally state the opposite of the writer’s true meaning.

Situational Irony

Events turn out the opposite of what was expected, what the characters and readers think ought to happen.

Dramatic Irony

Facts or events are unknown to a character in a play or piece of fiction, but known to the reader, audience, or other characters in the work.

Prose

Ordinary writing that uses paragraphs and sentences. One of the major divisions of genre, this refers to fiction and non-fiction, including all its forms.

Repetition

The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern.

Rhetorical Modes

This flexible term describes the variety, conventions, and purposes of the major kinds of writing.

Rhetorical Question

Differs from hypophora in that it is not answered by the writer because its answer is obvious or obviously desired.

Sarcasm

From the Greek meaning “to tear flesh,” it involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something.

Satire

A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule.

Simile

A type of metaphor that compares two different things in order to create a new meaning. In this case, we are made explicitly aware that a comparison is being made due to the use of “like” or “as.”

Subordinate Clause

A word group containing a subject and a verb (plus any accompanying phrases or modifiers), but unlike the independent clause, this cannot stand alone; it does not express a complete thought.

Syllogism

From the Greek for “reckoning together,” this is a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises (the first one called “major” and the second, “minor”) that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion.

Symbolism

Generally, anything that represents itself and stands for something else. Usually it is something concrete—such as an object, action, character, or scene—that expresses something more abstract.

Synecdoche

A type of metaphor in which the part stands for the whole, the whole for a part, the genus for the species, the species for the genus, the material for the thing made, or in short, any portion, section, or main quality for the whole or the thing itself (or vice versa).

Syntax

The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences.

Theme

The central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers into life. Usually it is unstated in fictional works, but in nonfiction, it may be directly stated, especially in expository or argumentative writing.

Thesis

In expository writing, this is the sentence or a group of sentences that directly expresses the author’s opinion, purpose, meaning, or position.

Tone

Similar to mood, this describes the author’s attitude towards his material, the audience, or both.

Transition

A word or phrase that links different ideas. Used especially, although not exclusively, in expository and argumentative writing, they effectively signal a shift from one idea to another.

Understatement

A satirical device involving the ironic minimizing of fact, or presenting something as less significant than it is. The effect can frequently be humorous and emphatic.

Undertone

An attitude that may lie under the ostensible tone of the piece.

Wit

In modern language, intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights. A statement using this is humorous, while suggesting the speaker’s verbal power in creating ingenious and perceptive remarks. It usually uses terse language that makes a pointed statement.