All AP Lit vocab and lit terms

Impugn

(v) to assail by words or arguments: oppose or attack as false or lacking integrity

Parapet

(n) a wall, rampart, or elevation of earth or stone to protect soldiers

Temperance

(n) moderation in action, thought or feeling; restraint

Caustic

(adj) marked by incisive sarcasm

Gout

(n) a disease marked by painful inflammation of the joints. NO ANTONYM

Ponderous

(adj); of very great weight (physically or emotionally)

Scrupulous

(adj) having moral integrity: acting in strict regard for what is considered right or proper.

Sundry

(adj) including many things of different kinds (ex. sundry items, sundry possessions)

Timorous

(adj) of a timid disposition, fearful

Transcendent

(adj) exceeding usual limits; surpassing. Extending beyond the limits of ordinary experience.

Sentence Type: Polysyndeton

Gratis

(adj or adv) without charge or recompense

Intercession

(n) prayer, petition, or entreaty in favor of another NO ANTONYM

Presage

(n) something that foreshadows or portends a future event

Prodigal

(adj) characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure

Prolixity

(n) tedious wordiness; verbosity-may use prolix (adj) for sentences

Sinecure

(n) an office or position that requires little or no work and that usually provides an income

Visage

(n) the face, countenance, or appearance of a person or sometimes an animal NO ANTONYM

Accoutrements

(n) an accessory item of clothing or equipment —usually used in plural NO ANTONYM

Deportment

(n) the manner in which one conducts oneself NO ANTONYM

Tedium

(n) dullness; monotony; boredom

Sentence Type: Complex- Compound

You've done this before...

OXYMORON

a figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. "Jumbo shrimp." "Pretty ugly." "Bitter-sweet"

PARADOX

a statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth. KOAN is a paradox used in Zen Buddhism to gain intuitive knowledge: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

MOTIVATION

the reasons for a character's behavior.

Ultimatum

(n) a final proposition, condition, or demand

Astute

(adj) having or showing shrewdness and an ability to notice and understand things clearly

Beseech

(v) to beg for urgently or anxiously

Capitulate

(v) to cease resisting

Glean

(v) to gather information or material bit by bit

Obfuscate

(v) to be evasive, unclear, or confusing

Primeval

(adj) of or relating to the earliest ages (as of the world or human history)

Salubrious

(adj) favorable to or promoting health or well-being

Solicitous

(adj) full of concern or fears

Bereft

(adj) lacking something needed, wanted, or expected —used with "of." EX: The book is ... completely bereft of an index.

Sentence Type: Compound-Complex

You've done this before, look at info from beginning of the year.

ANTITHESIS

Balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by

means of grammatical structure.

COLLOQUIALISM

a word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing but is inappropriate for formal situations. Example: "He's out of his head if he thinks I'm gonna go for such a stupid idea."

JUXTAPOSITION

poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit. Ezra Pound: "The apparition of these faces in the crowd;/ Petals on a wet, black bough." Juxtaposition is also a form of contrast by which writers call attention to dissimilar ideas or images or metaphors. Martin Luther King: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

DIDACTIC

form of fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.

LOCAL COLOR

a term applied to fiction or poetry which tends to place special emphasis on a particular setting, including its customs, clothing, dialect and landscape.

Mutability

(adj) prone to change; inconstant

Nascent

(adj) coming or having recently come into existence

Nonplussed

(adj) unsure about what to say, think, or do : Perplexed

Pedantic

(adj) narrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned

Quail

(v) to recoil in dread or terror : COWER

Fatuous

(adj) complacently or inanely foolish : SILLY

Febrile

(adj) marked or caused by fever : FEVERISH

Oblique

(adj) not straightforward : INDIRECT

Pernicious

(adj) highly injurious or destructive : DEADLY

Sardonic

(adj) disdainfully or skeptically humorous : derisively mocking

Sentence Type: Compound

You've done this one before!

AMBIGUITY

deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting,

meanings in a work. An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way-

- this is done on purpose by the author, when it is not done on purpose, it is vagueness, and detracts from the work.

ANTIHERO

Central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with heroes. may lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples.

DIALECT

a way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area.

NARRATIVE

the form of discourse that tells about a series of events.

INVERSION

the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase.

Capricious

(adj) impulsive and unpredictable

Feign

(v) to give a false appearance of : induce as a false impression

Laconic

(adj) concise, using few words

Mien

(n.) air, manner; appearance; expression

Veracity

(n) truthfulness, honesty

Wry

(adj) humorously sarcastic or mocking

Confound

(v)To confuse and frustrate

Curate

(n) a member of the clergy engaged as assistant to a vicar, rector, or parish priest.

Ethereal

(adj.) light, airy, delicate; highly refined; suggesting what is heavenly (rather than earthbound)

Gambol

(v)to frolic; to romp about playfully

Sentence Type: Compound

You've done this one before-check earlier notes!

Cliche

is a word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless because of overuse. Avoid clichés like the plague. (That cliché is intended.)

Parody

a work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer's style.

Satire

a type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change.

Analogy

Comparison made between two things to show how they are alike

Anecdote

Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something, often shows character of an individual

Analogous

(adj) similar or comparable to something else either in general or in some specific detail

Emissary

(n) a person sent on a special mission, usually as a diplomatic representative.

Felicity

(n) the quality or state of being happy

Magnanimous

(adj) having, characterized by, or arising from a dignified and generous nature

Incendiary

(n) a person who stirs up public feelings especially of discontent

Morose

(adj) having a sullen and gloomy disposition

Repartee

(n) a succession or interchange of clever retorts : amusing and usually light sparring with words. NO ANTONYM

Venerable

(adj) deserving honor and respect especially by reason of age

Countenance

(n) the look or expression of the face

Discursive

(adj) moving from topic to topic without order

Sentence Type: Epistrophe

When a certain phrase or word is repeated at the end of sentences or clauses that follow each other. This repetition creates a rhythm while emphasizing the repeated phrase.

LYRIC POEM

a poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker. A ballad tells a story.

ONOMATOPOEIA

the use of words whose sounds echo their sense. "Pop." "Zap."

REFRAIN

a word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated, for effect, several times in a poem (like in a song).

ELEGY

a poem of mourning, usually about someone who has died. A Eulogy is great praise or commendation, a laudatory speech, often about someone who has died.

PUN

a "play on words" based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things.

Perspicuity

(n) clearness or lucidity, as of a statement

Voluble

(adj) Talkative; given to rapid, abundant speech

Aplomb

(n.) poise, assurance, great self-confidence

Barrage

(n) a rapid, large-scale outpouring of something

Cognizant

(adj) having knowledge or being aware of

Deleterious

(adj) harmful, injurious

Hegemony

(n) the domination of one state or group over its allies

Unctuous

(adj.) Excessively smooth or smug

Urbane

(adj) refined in manner or style, suave

Impudent

(adj) marked by contemptuous or cocky boldness or disregard of others

Sentence Type: Polysyndeton

Polysyndeton is the use of repeated conjunctions between words or clauses in a sentence to emphasize what's being said.

*SEE your vocab packet for the year for examples and more info!