AP Barron's Week 5

Lampoon

A mocking, satirical assault on a person or situation.

Litotes

A form of understatement in which the negative of the contrary is used to achieve emphasis or intensity. Example: He is not a bad dancer.

Logos

The logic used by a speaker or writer to support a claim or point of view. In an argument in favor of more healthful food in the school cafeteria, for example, statistics about teenage obesity can be persuasive.

Loose Sentence

A sentence that follows the customary word order of English sentences, i.e., subject-verb-object. The main idea of the sentence is presented first and is then followed by one or more subordinate clauses. See also periodic sentence.

Lyrical Prose

Personal, reflective prose that reveals the speaker’s thoughts and feelings about the subject.

Malapropism

A confused use of words in which the appropriate word is replaced by one with a similar sound but inappropriate meaning.

Maxim

A saying or proverb expressing common wisdom or truth. See also adage and aphorism.

Melodrama

A literary form in which events are exaggerated in order to create an extreme emotional response.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that compares unlike objects. When several characteristics of the same objects are compared, the device is called an extended metaphor. A metaphor referring to a particular person, place, or thing is called a metaphorical allusion; for example, referring to someone as “a Hercules.”

Metaphysical

A term describing poetry that uses elaborate conceits, expresses the complexities of love and life, and is highly intellectual. More generally, metaphysical refers to ideas that are neither analytical nor subject to empirical verification; that is, ideas that express an attitude about which rational argument is impossible.

Metonomy

A figure of speech that uses the name of one thing to represent something else with which it is associated. Example: “The White House says . . .”

Middle English

The language spoken in England roughly between 1150 and 1500 A.D.

Mock Epic

A parody of traditional epic form

Mock Serious

Characterized by feigned or deliberately artificial seriousness, often for satirical purposes.

Mode

The general form, pattern, and manner of expression of a piece of discourse.

Montage

A quick succession of images or impressions used to express an idea.

Mood

The emotional tone or prevailing atmosphere in a work of literature or other discourse. In grammar, mood refers to the intent of a particular sentence. The indicative mood is used for statements of fact; subjunctive mood is used to express doubt or a conditional attitude; sentences in the imperative mood give commands.

Moral

A brief and often simplistic lesson that a reader may infer from a work of literature.

Motif

A phrase, idea, or event that through repetition serves to unify or convey a theme in an essay or other discourse.

Muse

(n.) One of the ancient Greek goddesses presiding over the arts; the imaginary source of inspiration for an artist or writer. (v.) To reflect deeply; to ponder.