AP English Language Vocabulary

Ad Hominem Argument

Attacks the opposing speaker or another person rather than addressing the issues at hand

Allegory

Fictional work in which the characters represent ideas or concepts

Alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words

Allusion

A reference, usually oblique or faint, to another thing, idea, or person

Ambiguity

Uncertain or indefinite; subject to more than one interpretation

Analogy

The correspondence or resemblance between two things that are essentially different

Anecdote

A short story used to illustrate a point the author is making

Antecedent

Every pronoun refers back to a previous noun or pronoun

Antithesis

An opposition or contrast of ideas that is often expressed in balanced phrases or clauses

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which an absent person or personified object is addressed by a speaker

Appositive

A word or phrase that follow a noun or pronoun for emphasis or clarity

Assonance

A type of internal rhyming in which vowel souds are repeated

Asyndeton

When the conjunctions (such as "and" or "but") that would normally connect a string of words, phrases, or clauses are omitted from a sentence

Atmosphere

The emotional feeling -or mood- of a place, scene, or event

Attitude

The feelings of a particular speaker or piece of writing toward a subject, person, or idea

Contrast

Oppositions

Colloquial Language

Slang or common language that is informal

Connotative

The interpretive level of a word based on associated images rather than the literal meaning

Deductive Argument

The process of moving from a general rule to a specific example

Diction

An author's choice of words

Didactic

Writing which has the purpose of teaching or instructing

Elegy

A work that expresses sorrow

Ellipsis

Indicated by a series of three periods; shows that words have been omitted

Ethos

Refers to generally ethics, or values

Euphemism

A mild or pleasant sounding expression that substitutes for a harsh, indelicate, or simply less pleasant idea

Exposition

Writing or speech that is organized to explain

Figurative Language

All uses of language that imply an imaginative comparison

Foreshadowing

A purposeful hint placed in a work of literature to suggest what may occur later in the narrative

Hyperbole

A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used to achieve emphasis

Imagery

Word or words that create a picture in the reader’s mind. Used in conjunction with metaphors, similes, and other figurative language.

Inductive Argument

Creating a case by providing specific examples and drawing a conclusion based on the evidence they provide

Irony

When a situation produces an outcome that is the opposite of what is expected OR When words are not used with their original meaning in mind

Juxtaposition

When two contrasting things are placed next to each other for comparison

Logos

The use of reason as a controlling principle in an argument

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared directly

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it

Mood

The prevailing or dominant feeling of a work, scene, or event

Onomatopoeia

An effect created by words that have sounds that reinforce their meaning

Oxymoron

Two contradictory words in one expression

Paradox

A seeming contradiction that in fact reveals some truth

Parallelism

A literary technique that relies on the use of the same syntactical structures

Parody

An effort to ridicule or make fun of a literary work or an author by writing a comic imitation of the work

Pathos

A sympathetic feeling of pity or compassion evoked by an artistic work

Periodic Sentence

Presents the main clause at the end of the sentence, for emphasis

Persona

The character created by the voice and narration of the speaker of a text

Personification

A figure of speech in which ideas or objects are described as having human qualities or personalities

Point of View

The particular perspective from which a story is told

Pun

A play on words

Repetition

The reiteration of a word or phrase for emphasis

Rhetoric

The art and logic of a written or spoken argument to persuade, to analyze, or to expose

Rhetorical Strategy

The way an author organizes words, sentences, and overall argument in order to achieve a particular purpose

Rhetorical Devices

The specific language tools that an author uses to carry out a rhetorical strategy (diction, imagery, or syntax)

Rhetorical Question

A question that is asked for the sake of argument

Satire

To ridicule or mock ideas, persons, events, or doctrines

Selection of Detail

The specific words, incidents, images, or events the author uses to create a scene or narrative

Simile

A commonly used figure of speech that compares one thing with another using the words "like" or "as"

Speaker

The narrator of a story, poem, or drama

Syllogism

A form of deductive reasoning in which pieces of evidence are used to create a new conclusion

Symbol

Something that stands for something else

Synonym

A word that has the same, or nearly the same, meaning as another word

Syntax

The way words are arranged in a sentence

Tension

A feeling of excitement and expectation the reader or audience feels because of the conflict, mood, or atmosphere of the work

Theme

The central idea

Tone

Attitude

Understatement

When an author assigns less significance to an event or thing than it deserves

Zeugma

When a word is used with two adjacent words in the same construction, but only makes literal sense with one of them

Anaphora

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences

Epistrophe

The repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences

Anadiplosis

Writer or speaker uses a word near the end of the clause and then repeats that word to begin the next clause

Aphorism

An opinion or truth expressed in a witty manner. A terse statement which expresses a general truth

Argumentum ad ignorantiam

A fallacy in informal logic. It says something is true because it has not yet been proven false.

Chiasmus

When the same words are used twice in succession, but the second time the words are reversed

Complex

Contains only one independent clause and at least one dependent clause

Compound

Contains at least two independent clauses but no dependent clauses

Declarative sentence

States an idea. It does not give a command or request, nor does it ask a question: “The sky is vast.”

Denotation

The literal definition of a word. “House, Home, Residence, and dwelling” all mean the same, but share a different connotative meaning

Dialect

The language used by the people of a specific area, class, district, or any other group of people. The term dialect involves the spelling, sounds, grammar, and pronunciation used by a particular group of people and it distinguishes them from other people around them.

Dissonance

The use of impolite, harsh-sounding, and unusual words in writing. In other words, it is a deliberate use of inharmonious words, phrases, or syllables intended to create harsh sounding effects

Epanalepsis

Figure of emphasis in which the same word or words both begin(s) and end(s) a phrase, clause, or sentence

Expletive

Empty words. Expletives play a syntactic role, but is not necessary to understand the meaning of the sentence or phrase. Examples are the words: it and there. Can used as an interruption place emphasis on other words.

False Analogy

This fallacy consists in assuming that because two things are alike in one or more respects, they are necessarily alike in some other respect.

Juxtaposition

Placing two ideas, people, etc side by side for the purpose of comparison

Litotes

A form of understatement generated by denying the opposite of the statement which otherwise would be used. Uses negation or sometimes double negative

Cumulative

When the writer begins with an independent clause, then adds subordinate elements.

Malapropism

The mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect. Saying “electrical votes instead of electoral votes.” Often used in political cartoons.

Metaphor (Direct)

Making an implied comparison not using like or as

Implied metaphor

An implied metaphor is a type of metaphor that compares two unlike things without mentioning one of them. For example, “Elise finally lured Adam into her web.”

Extended Metaphor

A metaphor introduced and then further developed throughout all or part of a literary work, especially a poem

Mixed metaphor

A combination of two or more incompatible metaphors, which produces a ridiculous effect

Motif

A recurrent image, idea, or symbol that develops or explains a theme

Non sequitur

A conclusion that does not follow logically from preceding statements or that is based on irrelevant data

Parenthetical Idea

Sets off an idea from the rest of the sentence. Interrupts the progression of a sentence

Poisoning the well

A type of logical fallacy where irrelevant adverse information about a target is preemptively presented to an audience, with the intention of discrediting or ridiculing something that the target person is about to say

Polysyndeton

Coordinating conjunctions are used in succession

Red Herring

An argument that focuses on an irrelevant issue to detract attention from the real issue

Vernacular

Blanket term for dialect and colloquialisms

Synecdoche

A kind of metonymy when a whole is represented by naming one of its parts, or vice verse

Straw man

At its core a straw man is someone that tries to refute an opposing side that was never brought up in the first place. This fallacy will usually always misrepresent what their opponent is saying. The saying is that you are “attacking a straw man”

Tricolon

consists of three parallel clauses, phrases, or words, which happen to come in quick succession without any interruption

Anastrophe

inversion of the usual syntactical order of words for rhetorical effect