AP Lang Big Ideas Term 1

Protestantism

A Christian tradition emphasizing the authority of Scripture, individual faith, and a direct relationship between the believer and God.

Imperialism

Powerful nations expand their influence and authority over other peoples or territories for political, economic, military, or cultural purposes.

Calvinism

A Protestant tradition emphasizing God’s absolute sovereignty, human sinfulness, predestination, and the belief that salvation depends upon God’s grace.

The Sublime

A feeling of awe produced by encounters with overwhelming beauty, power, vastness, terror, or mystery.

Animism

Everything in nature possesses a living spirit or soul. Animals, plants, rivers, mountains, and even objects may be spiritually alive.

Polytheism

Reality includes many gods, each possessing different powers, responsibilities, or domains.

Collectivism

The needs of the group or society take priority over the desires and interests of the individual.

Holism

Reality is best understood as an interconnected whole. Individual parts gain meaning through their relationship to the larger system.

Theism

One or more gods actively exist and participate in the universe and human affairs.

Monotheism

There is one God who is the ultimate source and ruler of reality.

Christianity

A monotheistic religion centered on the life and the teachings of Jesus Christ, emphasizing faith, love, redemption, forgiveness, and the relationship between God and humanity.

Humanism

Human dignity, reason, compassion, and the pursuit of human flourishing are the foundations of an ethical life.

Mercantilism

National wealth and power grow through controlled trade, accumulation of resources, and the use of colonies.

Colonialism

Powerful nations extend control over other people and territories for political, economic, religious, or cultural purposes.

Ethnocentrism

One's own culture is treated as the standard for judging other cultures, often leading them to be viewed as inferior.

Empiricism

Knowledge comes primarily through sensory experience, observation, and experimentation.

Providentialism/Providence

God directs human events and history according to a divine purpose or plan.

Rationalism

Reason is the primary source of knowledge. Careful thinking and logical deduction reveal truth more reliably than experience alone.

Deism

God created the universe but does not intervene in its ongoing operation. Nature functions according to discoverable laws.

Skepticism

Knowledge claims should be questioned carefully. Certainty is difficult to achieve, so beliefs should be held with caution until supported by sufficient evidence.

Republicanism

Government should be based on civic participation, representative institutions, and the common good rather than hereditary monarchy.

Liberalism

Individual rights, personal freedom, equality before the law, and limited government are essential to a just society.

Capitalism

Individuals should be free to own property, invest, compete, and participate in open markets with minimal government interference.

Individualism

The individual is the primary focus of moral concern, and each person should be free to pursue his or her own flourishing.

Intuitionism

People possess an inner moral sense that allows them to recognize right and wrong without relying solely on logic.

Irrationalism

Reason alone cannot explain reality. Emotion, instinct, faith, or subjective experience may provide deeper knowledge than logic.

Idealism

Ultimate reality is mental, spiritual, or based on ideas rather than physical matter. The material world is secondary to higher realities.

Interconnectedness

All beings exist through relationships with one another and as parts of larger natural, social, or spiritual systems.