AP lang terms

ad hominem argument

an argument that appeals to emotion rather than reason

antecedent

noun pronoun phrase or clause referred to by a personal or relative pronoun (“the house that Jack built”: house is the word in question)

aphorism

concise, sometimes witty saying expressing a principle, truth, or observation about life “to err is human, to forgive is divine”

chiasmus

figure of speech based on inverted parallelism. rhetorical figure in which two clauses are related to each other through a reversal of terms. This structure often emphasizes a contrast or highlights a particular idea, as in the phrase "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."

descriptive devices

objective: purely factual and not influenced by author feelings; impressionistic: factual but influenced by author feelings and is from their perspective

didactic

tediously adhering to formal rules or literal meanings; to instruct effect

homily

literally means sermon. can include any serious talk, speech, lecture, etc. involving moral or spiritual advice

inductive

act of bringing on by artificial means. e.g. I see an orange cat, my friend sees an orange cat, all cats are orange. can be wrong

invective

strong verbal attack

loose sentence

main idea (indep clause) comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units. informal, relaxed, conversational.

metonomy

figure of speech substituting a noun with another to which it is closely related

narrative devices/technique

tools of the storyteller—order of events, selection of details, transitions, POV, dialogue

parallel structure

repetition of words phrases or sentences that have the same grammatical structures

anaphora: repetition of words or phrases is at the beginning of successive lines or sentences

pedantic

placing undo stress on rules or details; relying on book learning and rejecting common sense

periodic sentence

a sentence that presents it central meaning in a main clause at the end. this indep clause is preceded by a phrase or clause that cannot stand alone (dependent) the effect of a periodic sentence is to add emphasis and add structural variety

predicative adjectives

one type of subject complement—an adjective, group of adjectives, or adjective clause that follows a linking verb. t is in the predicate of the sentence, and modifies or describes the subject.

rhetorical modes

various methods for effectively communicating thoughts/information — exposition, argumentation, description, narration

rhetorical structure

sentences, paragraphs, questions which are used to communicate effectively

semantics

use of language to achieve a desired effect; deals with word meanings, origins and changes in meaning over time

stylistic devices

techniques employed by a writer to communicate thoughts, info, etc. Elements: diction, syntax (sentence type and variety), organization of material (paragraphs, transitions), literary elements (symbols, plot elements, flashbacks, tone)

subject complement

the word or clause that follows a linking verb and complements, or completes, the subject of the sentence by either renaming it or describing it.

the former is technically called a predicative nominative, the latter a predicate adjective.

subordinate clause

this word group contains both a subject and a verb (plus any accompanying phrases or modifiers), but unlike the indep clause, the subordinate clause cannot stand alone. also called dependent clause.

syllogism

a formal argument consisting of a major premise (a proposition) and a minor premise leading to a conclusion

synecdoche

figure of speech where you substitute part of an object for the whole or the whole used to represent a part (e.g. “All hands on deck” when requesting all crew members to report to deck)

understatement

figure of speech; saying something with less conviction or sincerity than what is meant; form of irony

litotes: when an affirmation if made indirectly by denying its opposite. uses understatement for emphasis, frequently with a negative assertion

meiosis: Greek term for understatement or belittling; rhetorical figure by which something is referred to in terms less important than it really deserves. describes something impressive with simplicity

malapropisms

form of wit where you mistakenly use one term for another (e.g. “For all intensive purposes” instead of “For all intents and purposes”)

trite

overused and commonplace; lacking interest or originality