AP Language and Composition Vocabulary

allegory

The rhetorical strategy of extending a metaphor through an entire narrative so that objects, persons, and actions in the text are equated with meanings that lie outside the text.

"There is an obvious allegory in Avatar, the Navi stand for Native Americans."

alliteration

The repetition of an initial consonant sound, as in "a peck of pickled peppers."

allusion

A brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, or event--real or fictional.

analogy

A type of composition (or, more commonly, a part of a composition or speech) in which one idea, process, or thing is explained by comparing it to something else.

anaphora (also called epanaphora)

A scheme in which the same word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. Example: "I will fight for you. I will fight to save Social Security. I will fight to raise the minimum wage."

anastrophe

A scheme in which normal word order is changed for emphasis. Example: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.

anecdote

A short account (or narrative) of an interesting or amusing incident, often intended to illustrate or support some point.

annotation

A concise statement of the key idea(s) in a text or a portion of a text. Annotations are commonly used in reading instruction and in research.

antagonist

Character in a story or poem who opposes the main character (protagonist). Sometimes the antagonist is an animal, an idea, or a thing. Examples of such antagonists might include illness, oppression, or the serpent in the biblical story of Adam and Eve.

antecedent

The noun or noun phrase that a pronoun refers to. "When giving treats to ~friends~ or ~children~, give them what they like, emphatically not what is good for them."

antimetabole

Half of expression is balanced, other half is backwards. ABC-CBA. It's a type of chiasmus.

"I know what I like, and I like what I know"

antithesis

Placement of contrasting or opposing words, phrases, clauses, or sentences side by side. Following are examples:"The more acute the experience, the less articulate its expression."

(Harold Pinter, "Writing for the Theatre," 1962)

anthropomorphism

Attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena

antithesis

A rhetorical term for the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases or clauses. "You're easy on the eyes

Hard on the heart." - (Terri Clark)

aphorism

A brief statement of a principle that makes a wise observation about life.

"Haste makes waste."

"The first rule of Fight Club is--you do not talk about Fight Club." (Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden, Fight Club)

aporia

intentionally express unsureness

apostrophe

A scheme in which a person or an abstract quality is directly addressed, whether present or not. Example: "Freedom! You are a beguiling mistress."

apposition

The placement side-by-side of two coordinate elements (noun phrases), the second of which serves to identify or rename the first. "Miniver Cheevy, ~child of scorn~,

grew lean while he assailed the seasons."

"Gussie, ~a glutton for punishment~, stared at himself in the mirror."

archaic diction

the use of words that are old-fashioned or no longer commonly used.

Aristotelian triangle

Relation between audience, subject, and writer/speaker

arrangement

The parts of a speech or, more broadly, the structure of a text. Arrangement is one of the five traditional canons or subdivisions of classical rhetorical training.

aside

In conversation or drama, a short passage spoken in an undertone or addressed to an audience.

In writing, an aside may be set off by parentheses.

assertion

a positive statement or declaration, often without support or reason

assumption

a statement that is assumed to be true and from which a conclusion can be drawn. Little proof is given.

asyndeton

Omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses

"Anyway, like I was saying, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo."

attitude

Created by a speaker or writer in order to invent materials, the manner in which an action is carried out.

audience

the receiving end. Always important to write and speak with the audience in mind. Clarity, brevity, interest, reaction, etc...

bias

Prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.

blank verse

is any verse comprised of unrhymed lines all in the same meter, usually iambic pentameter. An iambic pair is pronounced as da-DUM, accentuating the stress on the second syllable. Hence, an iambic pentameter would have the form,da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM

bombast

A pejorative term for pompous and inflated speech or writing that sounds important but is generally nonsense. "empty rhetoric". Padding to something without meaning.

cacophony

A mix of harsh, displeasing, or clashing sounds. It is commonly used to describe poetry, but can also be found in musical composition. Sometimes it is accidental, and sometimes it is used intentionally for artistic effect.

catharsis

In literature and art, a purification of emotions. The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) used the term to describe the effect on the audience of a tragedy acted out on a theater stage. This effect consists in cleansing the audience of disturbing emotions, such as fear and pity, thereby releasing tension. In modern usage, ____ may refer to any experience, real or imagined, that purges a person of negative emotions.

character

The distinctive nature of something.

chiasmus

Inversion in the second of two parallel phrases

Example: "It's not the men in my life, it's the life in my men."

circumlocution (or periphrasis)

The use of unnecessarily wordy and indirect language to avoid getting to the point. Contrast with conciseness. Adjective: circumlocutory. (such as "a tool used for cutting things such as paper and hair") as opposed to scissors.

claim

An assertion of the truth of something, typically one that is disputed or in doubt.

classical model

introduction, introduces the subject and piques the reader's interest

narration, provides factual information and background material

confirmation, major part of text, includes the development of the proof needed to make the writer's case

refutation, addresses counterargument, bridge between proof and conclusion

conclusion, brings essay to a close, "So what does it all mean?"

climax

The most intense, exciting, or important point of something; a culmination or apex.

close reading

When you ______, you observe facts and details about the text. You may focus on a particular passage, or on the text as a whole. Your aim may be to notice all striking features of the text, including rhetorical features, structural elements, cultural references; or, your aim may be to notice only selected features of the text—for instance, oppositions and correspondences, or particular historical references.

colloquialism

An informal expression that is more often used in casual conversation than in formal speech or writing.

"Latinas are in oppressive structures. We can fool ourselves, but we'd still be getting ~dumped on.~"

comic relief

Comic episodes in a dramatic or literary work that offset more serious sections.

A character or characters providing this.

concede

Admit that something is true or valid after first denying or resisting it.

conclusion

brings essay to a close, "So what does it all mean"

or

a reasoned deduction or inference.

confirmation

major part of text, includes the development of the proof needed to make the writer's case

confirmation bias

Tendency of people to favor information that confirms their beliefs or hypotheses.

conflict

The conflict of a story is a problem in the story. It can be internal or external.

connotation

The emotional implications and associations that a word may carry, in contrast to its denotative (literal) meanings. An idea that is implied or suggested

"The name reservation has a negative connotation among Native Americans--an intern camp of sorts." (John Russell)

context

The words and sentences that surround any part of a discourse and that help to determine its meaning.

convention

a rule, method, or practice established by usage; custom

counterargument

a contrasting, opposing, or refuting argument.

cumulative sentence

sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on

deductive reasoning

A method of reasoning from the general to the specific.

In a deductive argument, a conclusion follows necessarily from the stated premises. (Contrast with induction.)

In logic, a deductive argument is called a syllogism. In rhetoric, the equivalent of the syllogism is the enthymeme.

denotation

The direct or dictionary meaning of a word, in contrast to its figurative or associated meanings

denouement

In a narrative (within an essay, short story, novel, play, or film), the event or events following the climax; the resolution or clarification of the plot.

deus ex machina

____:(god from the machine) is a term describing the sudden appearance of an unexpected way out of a difficult situation.

diction

Choice and use of words in speech or writing

discursive

1.passing aimlessly from one subject to another; digressive; rambling.

2. proceeding by reasoning or argument rather than intuition.

dramatic irony

drama, audience knows something that the characters don't know. ex.Lincoln

dynamic character

a literary or dramatic character who undergoes an important inner change, as a change in personality or attitude: Ebeneezer Scrooge is a dynamic character.

effect

something that is produced by an agency or cause; result; consequence

elegy

a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.

epanadiplosis

A figure by which the same word is used both at the beginning and at the end of a sentence; as, "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice." --Phil. iv. 4.

epic

Long poem in a lofty style about the exploits of heroic figures. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, as well as the Old English poem Beowulf, are examples of epics.

epigram

any witty, ingenious, or pointed saying tersely expressed;

a short, often satirical poem dealing concisely with a single subject and usually ending with a witty or ingenious turn of thought.

epistrophe (also called epiphora)

A scheme in which the same word is repeated at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. Example: "I believe we should fight for justice. You believe we should fight for justice. How can we not, then, fight for justice?"

ethos

Credibility. We tend to believe people whom we respect.

euphemism

The substitution of an inoffensive term (such as "passed away") for one considered offensively explicit ("died"). Contrast with dysphemism. Adjective: euphemistic.

euphony

agreeableness of sound; pleasing effect to the ear, especially a pleasant sounding or harmonious combination or succession of words

explication

the act of making clear or removing obscurity from the meaning of a word or symbol or expression etc..

exposition

writing or speech primarily intended to convey information or to explain; a detailed statement or explanation; explanatory treatise

fable

a short tale to teach a moral lesson, often with animals or inanimate objects as characters; apologue

figurative language

refers to words, and groups of words, that exaggerate or alter the usual meanings of the component words.

figure of speech

is the use of a word or words diverging from its usual meaning. It can also be a special repetition, arrangement or omission of words with literal meaning, as in idiom, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, or personification.

flashback

a device in the narrative of a motion picture, novel, etc., by which an event or scene taking place before the present time in the narrative is inserted into the chronological structure of the work.

foreshadowing

to show or indicate beforehand; prefigure of events that are to come

form

types of writing