AP Lang Vocabulary Unit 8

A collection of vocabulary terms from Unit 8 of AP Lang, covering philosophical, political, and literary concepts.

nihilism

The rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless; or the doctrine of an extreme Russian revolutionary party c. $1900$, which found nothing to approve of in the established social order.

oligarchy

A small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution; also, a state governed by or government by such a group, such as the English aristocratic oligarchy of the $19\text{th century}$.

reparation

The making of amends for a wrong one has done, by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been wronged (such as compensation for war damage paid by a defeated state); or (archaic) the action of repairing something.

demagogue

A political leader who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument.

suffrage

The right to vote in political elections.

soliloquy

An act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.

vacuous

Having or showing a lack of thought or intelligence; mindless; or (archaic) empty.

paradigm

A typical example or pattern of something; a model; or a worldview underlying the theories and methodology of a particular scientific subject, such as universal gravitation.

irony

The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect; or a state of affairs that seems deliberately contrary to expectation.

totalitarian

Of or relating to a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state; also, a person advocating such a system.