IB Diploma: English A-Language and Literature Vocabulary

Abbreviation

Shortened version (e.g. LOL for laugh out loud)

Absurd

A form of humor that shows something in an inappropriate, illogical or strange way, aimed to arouse amusement or derision.

Academic

A register that mimics the form of an educational piece (often using jargon, formal tone).

Accusation

Charge or claim.

Advertisement

A text type that tries to sell a product.

Alliteration

Repetition of the first letter in a word (e.g. The cat crawled under the carpet - alliteration of 'c').

Allusion

Indirect or passing reference. Speaking of something without directly referencing it.

Ambiguity

Deliberately vagueness.

Analogy

Comparing something with something else (typically used for clarification).

Anaphora

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

Anecdotes

Short amusing/interesting story about a real incident or person (can be do entertain, act as a medium of familiarity, gain the writer credibility).

Antithesis

Balancing one term or clause with another of contrasting force (e.g. "How can the light that burned so brightly suddenly burn so pale?")

Aphorism

An observation that contains a general truth (e.g. Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth).

Apodioxis

The indignant rejection of an opponent's argument as so absurd that it is impertinent. (e.g. "I will not dignify that question with an answer.")

Archaism

Widely unused historical words.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds (e.g. naming, shaming, and blaming).

Assumed Collective Experience

Often when the author references popular culture, general childhood experiences or even the use of "we" can do this. It allows for an inclusive atmosphere.

Asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions (e.g. Silent, mournful, abandoned, broken, Czechoslovakia recedes into the darkness).

Atmosphere

The pervading tone or mood in the piece of writing.

Auxesis

Can be in the form of climax or inflated language (increasing tension). (e.g. "warrior" instead of "soldier", or "the fallen" instead of "the dead")

Bias

Inclination of opinion or prejudice for or against.

Blog

A text type that is written on the internet. It is often used to review or portray opinion (the fact that it is on the internet will mean that it will usually have the audience of everybody but a target audience as well).

Catchphrase/ Slogan

A well-known sentence or phrase often associated with popular culture.

Chiasmus

Consecutive clauses exhibiting a direct inverse parallelism in structure - i.e. the structure of the first clause is mirrored in the second to create a contrast.

Example:

"I submissively sat as she stood defiantly"

Broken down:

"I submissively (adverb) sat (verb) as she stood (verb) defiantly (adverb)"

Simplified:

> Adverb, Verb | Verb, Adverb

> A B | B A

Circumlocution

(Circumlocutio) A deliberate attempt to be vague and evasive. It is often when a writer writes around a subject.

Collective Pronoun

The use of "we".

Concessio

Conceding of a minor point in order to gain a more important one (the "yes, but").

Colloquial

Using ordinary or familiar conversation.

Colloquialism

Words that have been coined from conversational language.

Command/ Imperative

When the writer tells the audience to do something.

Connotation

The implied meaning.

Contemporary

A context in which a piece was written (often seen as after 1950s).

Contraction

When two words are placed together in a conversation way ("do" and "not" make "don't").

Context

The circumstances that form the setting, in which a piece of writing was written.

Conventional

In accordance with what is generally done or believed to be a social norm.

Conversational

Informal language, written to mimic the tone of a conversation.

Credibility/ Authenticity/ Verisimilitude

The quality of being trusted by the audience.

Declarative mood

Making statements.

Defamiliarization

Showing the audience their won culture in a different, unfamiliar light by changing the context, often used to alienate the issue.

Demographic

The structure of population that a piece of writing is intended for.

Demotic/Vernacular

Of or pertaining to the ordinary, everyday, current form of a language (i.e. the "common man/woman's" form of a language).

Denotation

The direct meaning.

Dialect

A form of a language that is particular to a specific region or social group.

Diazeugma

A single subject governs many verbs. (e.g. He abused my children, twisted the head off my cat, painted the wall with the blood of my family and still has not paid).

Ellipsis

The punctuation of "...".

Emboldened

When a word is accentuated by making its lettering thicker than surrounding words.

Emotive Language

Language used to appeal to or portray emotions (e.g. He was forced to sit down).

Epiplexis

Asking a pointed series of rhetorical questions in order to express indignation or grief (e.g. "How could you do this? What kind of monster are you?")

Epistrophe

Repetition of a word or phrase at the end of a clause instead of the beginning. (e.g. "He was unstable: socially unstable, mentally unstable, physically unstable.)

Epizeuxis

The repetition of a word or phrase over and over again with nothing in between (e.g. "No, no, no, no, no.")

Ethos

Appeal to the reader's sense of ethics.

Euphemism

An indirect expression substituting one that would be more harsh or blunt. They often refer to something unpleasant or embarrassing (e.g. "A roll in the hay").

Extended Metaphor

An analogy or metaphor sustained throughout the piece.

Formal

A form of register. Written in accordance to etiquette or convention.

Gerund

Also known as present continuous. It is the use of the "ing" phrase.

Global Village

A world considered its own community (many have been created through the use of the internet).

Graphology

The font and typographic formatting of a piece of writing, as well as arrangement of visual materials.

Hendiatris

A figure of speech used for emphasis, in which three words together represent one idea (e.g. "sex, drugs and rock n' roll")

Humor

Amusing/comical expressions.

Hyperbole

Using exaggerated language.

Hypophora

Asking a question then answering it (e.g. "You want to know why? I'll tell you why.")

Hypothetical

Supposed but not necessarily true.

Ideology

A system of beliefs, ideas and ideals.

Idiolect

Speech habits of a person.

Idiom

A form of expression with a figurative meaning, often used popularly in a culture or social group. (e.g. "she is pulling my leg").

Imagery

Using a word to paint a picture for the reader.

Implication

Conclusion drawn from something even if it is not explicitly stated.

Inclusive

Deliberately avoiding usages that could be seen as excluding any social group.

Informal

Using lexis, grammatical structure and idioms that are suitable to everyday language and conversation rather than to formal situations.

Intertextuality

Referencing other texts within a text.

Inverted Commas

The use of " ".

Irony/ Sarcasm

A form of humor marked by the use of language that normally signifies the opposite of the intended meaning.

Jargon

Use of terminology or technical language.

Juxtaposition

Placing two concepts, words, phrases next to each other (often, but not necessarily, contrasting).

Legalese

The use of legal terminology.

Lexical Cohesion

The textual linking dependent on a writer or speaker's choice of words.

Lexical choice

The word choice.

Lexical field

Range of lexis used.

Lingua Franca

A language that is adopted as a common language between two people who have completely different native languages.

Loaded

Weighted, biased language charged with an underlying implication or emotion.

Logos

Appealing to the reader's sense of reason.

Maxim

A short, pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct (e.g. "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" or "an apple a day keeps the doctor away").

Meiosis

Use of understatement to diminish the importance of something. (e.g. "Assaulted him!? I barely touched him!")

Metanoia

Saying something, retracting it, then qualifying it (e.g. "I hate you. No, I don't hate you. I pity you.")

Metaphor

A thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else (e.g. he is the spearhead of the campaign).

Militaristic Language

Lexis that is commonly used in the military (e.g. "0800 hours")

Mission Statement

A statement a company, department, organization or person publicizes to show its/his/her intentions.

Modern

Part of recent history (e.g. often considered as of the beginning of the 20th century)

Neologism

Newly coined word or expression.

Newspaper Article

Articles published in newspapers. These are often formal and review issues and events.

Norm

Standard pattern of social behavior.

Obsolete

Out of date and redundant.

Onomatopoeia

The use of words that represent sounds (e.g. Wham!)

Orthodox

Conforming to traditional or accepted rules or beliefs of a religion, philosophy or practice.

Parenthetical Dashes

Dashes, used to insert a clause into the middle of a sentence. (e.g. "Ted was - albeit a tad odorous - pleasant company")

Pathos

Appealing to a reader's sense of emotion.

Personification

Representing a human quality.

Plosive

T,k,b,g,d are all plosive consonants.

Polemic

A piece of writing that has a strong view, often attacking a concept, without considering the other side of the story. (e.g. Anything on Fox News)

Polysyndeton

Use of several conjunctions in close succession. (e.g. "He was tall and handsome and smart and kind and just all around great")