AP Lang vocabulary

ad hominem arguement

from the Latin meaning “to or against the man,” thus is an argument that appeals to emotion rather than reason, to feeling rather than intellect

alliteration

the repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close to one another; alliteration occurs mostly at the beginning of words.

allusion

a reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing that is known from literature, religion, myth, politics, sport, science, or pop culture.

antecedent

noun, pronoun, phrase, or clause referred to by a personal or relative pronoun. “the house that jack built” house is an antecedent of that

antithesis

the opposition or contrast of a particular idea

aphorism

a concise, sometimes witty saying that expresses a principle, truth, or observation about life.

apostrophe

a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something nonhuman as if it were present and capable of responding

chiasmus

a figure of speech based on inverted parallelism. It is a rhetorical figure in which two clauses are related to eachother through a reversal of terms. The purpose is usually to make a larger point or to provide balance or order.

colloquialism

slang or informality in speech or writing. Not generally acceptable for formal writing, colloquialisms give work a controversial, familiar tone. Colloquial expressions in writing include local or regional dialects.

conceit

a fanciful and elaborate figure of speech that makes a surprising connection between two seemingly dissimilar things.