Terms – AP English Language and Composition

Allegory

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

usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence.

Alliteration

The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds, in neighboring words. The repetition can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of the passage.

Allusion

A direct or indirect reference to something commonly known, such as a book, myth, or work of art.

can be historical, literary, religious, topical, or mythical. There are many more possibilities, and a work may simultaneously use multiple layers of allusion.

Ambiguity

The multiple meanings, intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.

Analogy

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

can explain something unfamiliar by associating it with or pointing out its similarity to something more familiar. can also make writing more vivid, imaginative, or intellectually engaging.

Antecedent

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

The antecedent of Gerorgy is he: Gerorgy went to the mall, he bought nothing.

Antithesis

The opposition or contrast of ideas; the direct opposite.

ex. to be or not to be is the question

Aphorism

A concise statement expressing a general truth or moral principle. An aphorism can be a memorable summation of the author’s point.

ex. actions speak louder than words

Apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or object.

Atmosphere

created by the setting and author's choice of objects in a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author’s choice of objects that are described. Even such elements as a description of the weather can contribute to the ____________. Frequently foreshadows events and can create a mood.

Caricature

A verbal description that exaggerates or distorts a person's physical features for comedic effect.

Clause

A grammatical unit that contains a subject and a verb.

An independent, or main, ______ expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence.

A dependent, or subordinate ______, cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent clause.

Colloquial/Colloquialism

The use of slang or informal language in speech or writing.

Conceit

A fanciful expression or extended metaphor that compares seemingly dissimilar objects.

Connotation

The implied or suggested meaning of a word, beyond its literal definition. May involve ideas, emotions, or attitudes.

Ex. knife = fear, violence, anger, forboding

Denotation

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

Ex. Knife = untensil used to cut

Diction

The writer's word choices, including correctness, clearness, and effectiveness.

Didactic

Intended to teach or instruct, often conveying moral or ethical principles.

Euphemism

A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a harsh or unpleasant word or concept.

Greek for good speech

“earthly remains” rather than “corpse”

Extended metaphor

A metaphor that is developed at length and occurs frequently throughout a work.

Figurative language

Writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally, often using imaginative and vivid language.

Figure of speech

A device used to produce figurative language. Many compare dissimilar things. Figures of speech include apostrophe, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, oxymoron, paradox, personification, simile, synecdoche, and understatement.

Generic conventions

Conventions that help define each each genre (traditions for a genre).

Genre

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

Homily

Means “sermon,” literally, but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral of spiritual advice.

Hyperbole

Figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement (in Green = overshoot)

Oposite is understatement

Imagery

The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. On a physical level, _____ uses terms related to the five senses: visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, and olfactory. On a broader and deeper level, however, one image can represent more than one thing.

Inference/Infer

to draw a resonable conculsion from the information present.

Invective

an emoitionally violent, verbal denuciation or attack using strong, abusive language.

Irony/Ironic

Contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant, or the difference between what appears to be and what is actually true.

Verbal Irony

when the words literally state the opposite of the writer’s (or speaker’s) menaing

Situational irony

when events turn out the opposite of what was expected; when what the charecters and readers think ought to happen is not what does happen

Dramatic irony

when facts or events are unkown to a charecter in a play or piece of fiction but known to the reader, adudience, or other characters in the work.

Litotes

a form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite.

is the opposite of hyperbole.

Examples: “Not a bad idea,” “Not many,” “It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain”

Loose Sentence/ Non-periodic Sentence

A type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses. If a period were placed at the end of the independent clause, the clause would be a complete sentence. A work containing many loose sentences often seems informal, relaxed, or conversational.

The opposite of a is the periodic sentence.

Metaphor

a figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similartity

Metonymy

Means “changed label” or “subsitute name” in Greek.

a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it.

Ex. “the White House declared” rather than “the President declared”

Mood

The prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work. Setting, tone, and events can affect the mood. Mood is similar to tone and atmosphere.

Narrative

The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events.

Onomatopoeia

A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words. Simple examples include such words as buzz, hiss, hum, crack, whinny, and murmur.

Oxymoron

From the Grrek for “pointedly foolish”

a figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox.

ex. cruel kindness

Paradox

A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity.

Ex.it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”

Parallelism

Also reffered to as parallel construction or parallel strcture, this term comes from Greek roots meaning “beside one another” It refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity. This can involve, but is not limited to, repetition of a grammatical element such as a preposition or verbal phrase.

Anaphora

A sub-type of parallelism, when the exact repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive lines or sentences. MLK used anaphora in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech (1963).

Parody

A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule. It exploits peculiarities of an author’s expression (propensity to use too many parentheses, certain favorite words, etc.)

Pedantic

An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish (language that might be described as “show-offy”; using big words for the sake of using big words).

Periodic Sentence

The opposite of loose sentence, a sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end. This independent clause is preceded by a phrase or clause that cannot stand alone. The effect of a periodic sentence is to add emphasis and structural variety. It is also a much stronger sentence than the loose sentence. Ex. After a long, bumpy flight and multiple delays, I arrived at the San Diego airport.

Personification

A figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions. Is used to make these abstractions, animals, or objects appear more vivid to the reader.

First Person Narrator

narrator tells the story with the first person pronoun, “I,” and is a character in the story. This narrator can be the protagonist, a secondary character, or an observing character.

Third Person Narrator

narrator relates the events with the third person pronouns, “he,” “she,” and “it.” There are two main subdivisions to be aware of:

a. third person omniscient, in which the narrator, with godlike knowledge, presents the thoughts and actions of any or all characters

b. third person limited omniscient, in which the narrator presents the feelings and thoughts of only one character, presenting only the actions of all the remaining characters.

Prose

one of the major divisions of genre, _____ refers to fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms. In ______ the printer determines the length of the line; in poetry, the poet determines the length of the line.

Repetition

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

Rhetoric

From the Greek for “orator,” this term describes the principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively.

Rhetorical Modes

This flexible term describes the variety, the conventions, and the purposes of the major kinds of writing. The four most common rhetorical modes (often referred to as “modes of discourse”) are as follows:

(1) The purpose of exposition (or expository writing) is to explain and analyze information by presenting an idea, relevant evidence, and appropriate discussion.

(2) The purpose of argumentation is to prove the validity of an idea, or point of view, by presenting sound reasoning, discussion, and argument that thoroughly convince the reader. Persuasive writing is a type of argumentation having an additional aim of urging some form of action.

(3) The purpose of description is to recreate, invent, or visually present a person, place, event or action so that the reader can picture that being described. Sometimes an author engages all five senses in description; good descriptive writing can be sensuous and picturesque. Descriptive writing may be straightforward and objective or highly emotional an subjective. (

4) The purpose of narration is to tell a story or narrate an event or series of events. This writing mode frequently uses the tools of descriptive writing.

Sarcasm

From the Greek meaning “to tear flesh,”

involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something. It may use irony as a device, but not all ironic statements are _______ (that is, intended to ridicule). When well done, ________ can be witty and insightful; when poorly done, it is simply cruel.

Satire

A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule. Regardless of whether or not the work aims to reform human behavior, ______ is best seen as a style of writing rather than a purpose for writing.

Semantics

The branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, their historical and psychological development, their connotations, and their relation to one another.

Style

The consideration of style has two purposes:


1. to evaluate the sum of choices am author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary devices.
2. Classification of authors to a group and comparison of an author to similar authors.

Subject Complement

the word (with any accompanying pharse) or clause that follows a linking verb and complements, or completes, the subject of the sentece by either


1. renaming it (the predicate nominative)
2. describing it (the predicate adjective)

predicate nominative

a noun, group of nouns, or noun clause that renames the subject. It, like the predicate adjective, follows a linking verb and is located in the predicate of the sentence.

Ex: Julia Roberts is a movie star.

Movie star = ____________, as it renames the subject, Julia Roberts

predicate adjective

an adjective, a group of adjectives, or adjective clause that follows a linking verb. It is in the predicate of the sentence, and modifies, or describes, the subject.

Ex: Warren remained optimistic.

optimistic = _____________, as it modifies the subject, Warren

Subordinate Clause

Like all clauses, this word group contains both a subject and a verb (plus any accompanying phrases or modifiers), but unlike the independent clause, the subordinate clause cannot stand alone; it does not express a complete thought. Also called a dependent clause, the subordinate clause depends on a main clause (or independent clause) to complete its meaning. Easily recognized key words and phrases usually begin these clauses.

For example: although, because, unless, if, even though, since, as soon as, while, who, when, where, how and that.

Example: Yellowstone is a national park in the West that is known for its geysers. underlined phrase = subordinate clause

Syllogism

From the Greek for “reckoning together,” a ________ (or syllogistic reasoning or syllogistic logic) is a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises (the first one called “major” and the second called “minor”) that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion. A frequently cited example proceeds as follows:

major premise: All men are mortal.

minor premise: Socrates is a man.

conclusion: Therefore, Socrates is a mortal.

A _________ conclusion is valid only if each of the two premises is valid.

_____________ may also present the specific idea first (“Socrates”) and the general second (“all men”).

symbol/symbolism

Generally, anything that represents itself and stands for something else. Usually a symbol is something concrete -- such as an object, action, character, or scene – that represents something more abstract.

One system classifies symbols into three categories:

(1) natural symbols are objects and occurrences from nature to symbolize ideas commonly associated with them (dawn symbolizing hope or a new beginning, a rose symbolizing love, a tree symbolizing knowledge).

(2) conventional symbols are those that have been invested with meaning by a group (religious symbols such as a cross or Star of David; national symbols, such as a flag or an eagle; or group symbols, such as a skull and crossbones for pirates or the scale of justice for lawyers).

(3) literary symbols are sometimes also conventional in the sense that they are found in a variety of works and are more generally recognized.

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole or, occasionally, the whole is used to represent a part.

Synesthesia

when one kind of sensory stimulus evokes the subjective experience of another.

Ex: The sight of red ants makes you itchy.

Syntax

The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. ________ is similar to diction, but you can differentiate them by thinking of _________ as groups of words, while diction refers to the individual words.

Theme

The central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers into life.

Thesis

thesis statement is the sentence or group of sentences that directly expresses the author’s opinion, purpose, meaning, or position.

Tone

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

Some words describing _____ are playful, serious, businesslike, sarcastic, humorous, formal, ornate, sardonic, somber, etc.

Transition

A word or phrase that links different ideas.

ex. furthermore, consequently, nevertheless, for example, in addition, likewise, similarly, on the contrary, etc.

Understatement

the ironic minimalizing of fact, ______________ presents something as less significant than it is. The effect can frequently be humorous and emphatic.

is the opposite of hyperbole.

wit

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