AP Vocab Practice

Analogy:

a comparison between two things for the purpose of explanation or illustration; the emphasis is on how the two things are alike, with an implication that they will be alike in other ways as well.

Antihero:

a main character who does not adhere to traditional ideas of a “hero” in terms of virtue, courage, or motivation.

Conflict:

the problem a character faces that drives the action of a story; an external conflict is between a character and some outside force (another person, nature, fate, society, etc.); an internal conflict is within a character (to overcome a weakness or fear, to make an important decision, etc.).

Connotation:

the feelings and ideas associated with a word based on its use over time; this can be either personal or societal.

Denotation:

the dictionary definition of a word; its literal meaning.

Dialect:

language specific to a particular group of people; may involve spelling, sounds, grammar, punctuation, or vocabulary; differentiates the group from those around them.

Diction:

a writer’s choice of words; when discussing diction, it is usually described with an adjective.

Figure of speech/Figurative language:

language that is not intended to be understood literally (or at least not literally only).

Imagery:

language that appeals to the senses; may be visual, auditory (sound), smell, taste, external touch, organic internal sensation, like nausea or thirst, and or movement.

Irony:

general term for a mismatch between appearance and reality, expectations and fulfillment, and/or what happens and what would seem appropriate in that situation.

Dramatic irony:

when the audience knows something that a character does not know.

Situational irony:

when what happens is the opposite of what is expected or what would seem appropriate.

Verbal irony:

when a character says the opposite of what he or she means; the reader is intended to understand that it is not a lie intended to deceive.

Mood:

the feelings evoked in readers through a poem’s diction and imagery; sometimes referred to as “atmosphere.”

Plot:

the sequence of events that makes up a story; begins with the basic situation or exposition, in which the characters, conflict, and setting are introduced; continues with complications, or problems and difficulties the protagonist encounters while trying to resolve the story’s conflict(s); peaks at the climax, the story’s highest point of suspense or tension where it is determined how the conflict will be resolved; ends with a resolution that brings all of the story’s threads to a close.

Point of view:

the perspective from which a story is told.

First person point of view:

the narrator is a character in the story, using pronouns like “I,” “me,” and “we.”

Second person point of view:

the story is told from the reader’s perspective, using pronouns like “you.”

Third person limited point of view:

the narrator is not a character in the story, using pronouns like

“he,” “she,” “it,” and “they” to tell the story; the perspective is limited to one character’s thoughts and feelings.