AP Language and Composition - Essential Vocabulary

Ad hominem

ttacking a person instead of an issue or an idea

Allusion

A literary, historical, religious, or mythological reference

Ambiguity

An unclear meaning

Anaphora

Repetition of clauses at the beginning of successive clauses

Anecdote

A brief account of a relevant incident

Asyndeton

Omitted conjunctions in a series

Atmosphere

Emotional mood of a work

Begging the question

Circular reasoning instead of answering the question (Does not mean brings up a question)

Bias

Prejudice toward one side

Bombast

Inflated, Extravagant language

Call to Action

The desired response or action

Cite

Identifying material used from a source

Colloquialism

Using slang or informalities

Concession with Refutation or counter claim

Acknowledging the validity of the opponent’s point

Diction

Word choice (you must include an adjective for this to be a device)

Either/or fallacy or False Dichotomy

Limiting an argument to two options and ignoring the rest

Ellipsis

Omission of words needed to be complete; the . . . punctuation mark is called an ellipsis since it stands in place of the omitted words

Epistrophe

Repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses

Equivocation

Using vague meanings in order to deceive

Ethos

An appeal to character of credibility

Euphemism

Kinder way of saying something bad

Extended Metaphor

a comparison developed at length

False analogy

A misleading or implausible comparison

Hyperbole

A deliberate exaggeration or overstatement

Hypophora

A speaker poses a questiona nd immediately answers it

Juxtaposition

Placing two things close together for contrast

Logos

An appeal to logic and reasoning

Meiosis

an understatement

Parallelism

Grammatically framing parts to give structural similarity

Parody

Imitating another for comic effect