Terms ap lang

Ad Hominem

attacking the person instead of the argument

Allegory

a story with a deeper symbolic meaning

Alliteration

repetition of beginning sounds

Allusion

reference to a well-known person/place/event

Anaphora

repetition at the start of clauses

Anecdote

short story used to make a point

Antithesis

contrast of opposite ideas

Apollonian

logical, controlled, rational qualities

Apostrophe

addressing something not present

Archetype

original model or typical example

Assonance

repetition of vowel sounds

Audience

intended readers/listeners

Bombast

overly fancy, inflated language

Cacophony

harsh, unpleasant sounds

Colloquialism

informal, everyday language

Connotation

implied meaning of a word

Consonance

repetition of consonant sounds

Deductive Reasoning

general → specific logic

Denotation

literal dictionary meaning

Diction

word choice

Dionysian

emotional, pleasure-seeking qualities

Elegy

writing that mourns a death

Epic

long poem about a hero

Epiphany

sudden realization

Euphemism

mild term for something harsh

Euphony

pleasant, smooth sounds

Fallacy

faulty or incorrect reasoning

Farce

exaggerated, ridiculous comedy

Hubris

excessive pride

Hyperbole

extreme exaggeration

Inductive Reasoning

specific → general logic

Inversion

reversed word order

Irony

meaning opposite of what is expected

Dramatic Irony

audience knows more than characters

Situational Irony

outcome is opposite of expectation

Verbal Irony

saying the opposite of what you mean

Juxtaposition

placing ideas side by side for contrast

Litotes

understatement using negatives

Malapropism

wrong word that sounds similar

Maxim

short statement of truth

Metaphor

direct comparison of unlike things

Simile

comparison using “like” or “as”

Metonymy

something represented by a related term

Mood

overall feeling of a text

Motif

repeated idea or element

Objective

based on facts, not feelings

Onomatopoeia

words that imitate sounds

Paradox

statement that seems contradictory but is true

Parallel Structure

same grammatical pattern

Pathetic Fallacy

giving human emotions to nature

Persona

role or mask of a speaker

Personification

giving human traits to nonhuman things

Plot

sequence of events

POV 1st

narrator uses “I” or “we”

POV 2nd

narrator uses “you”

POV 3rd Limited

narrator knows one character’s thoughts

POV 3rd Omniscient

narrator knows all thoughts

Prose

writing that is not poetry

Purpose

reason for writing

Realism

showing life as it really is

Repetition

repeating words/ideas for emphasis

Rhetoric

language used to persuade

Rhetorical Question

question with no answer expected

Rhyme

repetition of end sounds

Rhythm

pattern of beats/syllables

Sarcasm

harsh or mocking tone

Satire

using humor/irony to criticize

Sensory Detail

details using the five senses

Setting

time and place

Subjective

based on personal feelings

Symbolism

object represents deeper meaning

Synecdoche

part represents whole (or vice versa)

Syntax

sentence structure

Theme

main idea/message

Thesis

main argument

Claim

statement that asserts something

Evidence

support for a claim

Concession

acknowledging the other side

Tone

author’s attitude

Understatement

making something seem less important

Voice

writer’s unique style