AP Lang Terminology

Alliteration: The repetition of the same sound or letter at the beginning of consecutive words or syllables

Friendly Frogs Found Food

Allusion: An indirect reference, often to another text or an historic event

She was a Good Samaritan when she helped the older lady

Analogy: An extended comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things

Her smile was like sunshine

Anaphora: The repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses

Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break

Anecdote: A short account of an interesting event

Last night, I accidentally locked myself out of the house and had to crawl through a window to get back in

Antecedent: The noun to which a later pronoun refers

The car was parked in the driveway, and it had a flat tire

Aphorism: A short, astute statement of a general truth

Actions speak louder than words

Archaic diction: The use of words common to an earlier time period; antiquated language

Thou art kind and wise

Asyndeton: Leaving out conjunctions between words, phrases, clauses

I came, I saw, I conquered

Attitude: The speaker’s position on a subject as revealed through his or her tone

Sarcastic Attitude: "Oh, fantastic! Another meeting that could have easily been a short email."

Audience: One’s listener or readership; those to whom a speech or piece of writing is addressed

To a friend: “That text made me LOL!”

Authority: A reliable, respected source—someone with knowledge

The CDC states that running regularly lowers resting heart blood pressure and reduces cardiovascular risk

Bias: Prejudice or predisposition toward one side of a subject or issue

The Democrats know how to run the economy much better

Colloquialism: An informal or conversational use of language

She’s gonna dump him over the phone

Common ground: Shared beliefs, values, or positions

While we may disagree on specific energy policies, everyone wants clean air and safe drinking water for the community

Complex sentence: A sentence that includes one independent clause and at least one dependent clause

Although she studied hard, she did not pass the test

Concession: A reluctant acknowledgment or yielding

Although tablets and smartphones can sometimes distract students in the classroom, they also provide instant access to thousands of educational resources and interactive learning tools

Connotation: That which is implied by a word, as opposed to the word’s literal meaning (see denotation)

After a long journey, he finally returned to his cozy home

Coordination: Grammatical equivalence between parts of a sentence, often through a coordinating conjunction such as and, or but

The sun came out and the snow melted

Context: The factors around the text at its inception, including the time, place, history, etc.

I need to visit the bank to deposit my paycheck

Counterargument: A challenge to a position; an opposing argument. 

Opponents argue that smartphones are valuable learning tools that give students instant access to educational apps and online research

Declarative sentence: A sentence that makes a statement

The sun rises in the east

Deduction: Reasoning from general to specific

All metals conduct electricity. Copper is a metal. Therefore, copper conducts electricity

Denotation: The literal meaning of a word; its dictionary definition

Hollywood is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, CA

Diction: Word choice

The medical team commenced the procedure immediately (serious tone)

Ethos: A Greek term referring to the character of a person; one of Aristotle’s three rhetorical appeals (see logos and pathos)

As a pediatrician with over twenty years of medical experience, I can confidently assure you that this vaccine is safe and highly effective for children

Exigence: The moment or event that motivates the speaker to write or speak about an issue, topic, or situation

The rapid, catastrophic rise in youth vaping and hospitalizations in 2019 was the event that forced the U.S. Surgeon General to issue a nationwide public health advisory warning parents about the dangers of e-cigarettes

Figurative language: The use of tropes or figures of speech; going beyond literal meaning to achieve literary effect

The classroom was a zoo

Figure of speech: An expression that strives for literary effect rather than conveying a literal meaning

After the marathon, his legs felt as heavy as bricks

Hyperbole: Exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis

I have a trillion things to do today

Imagery: Vivid use of language that evokes a reader’s senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing)

The sharp smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the cold kitchen, while the warm, flaky croissant crunched softly with every bite

Imperative sentence: A sentence that requests or commands

Please close the door behind you

Induction: Reasoning from specific to general

The first coin I pulled out of the bag was a penny. The second coin I pulled out of the bag was a penny. The third coin…. Therefore, all the coins in this bag are pennies.

Irony: A contradiction between what is said and what is meant; incongruity between action and result

A fire station burning down

Juxtaposition: Placement of two things side by side for emphasis

The billionaire’s sleek, shiny sports car was parked directly next to a rusted, cardboard homeless shelter on the sidewalk

Logos: A Greek term that means “word”; an appeal to logic; one of Aristotle’s three rhetorical appeals (see ethos and pathos)

If you do not study for the test, you will fail because you will not know the answers

Metaphor: A figure of speech or trope through which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else, thus making an implicit comparison

Metonymy: Use of an aspect of something to represent the whole

Oxymoron: A figure of speech that combines two contradictory terms

Paradox: A statement that seems contradictory but is actually true

Parallelism: The repetition of similar grammatical or syntactical patterns

Parody: A piece that imitates and exaggerates the prominent features of another; used for comic effect or ridicule

Pathos: A Greek term that refers to suffering but has come to be associated with broader appeals to emotion; one of Aristotle’s three rhetorical appeals (see ethos and logos)

Persona: The speaker, voice, or character assumed by the author of a piece of writing

Personification: Assigning lifelike characteristics to inanimate objects

Polysyndeton: The deliberate use of a series of conjunctions

Propaganda: A negative term for writing designed to sway opinion rather than present information

Purpose: One’s intention or objective in a speech or piece of writing

Refute: To discredit an argument, particularly a counterargument

Rhetoric: The study of effective, persuasive language use; according to Aristotle, use of the “available means of persuasion

Rhetorical modes: Patterns of organization developed to achieve a specific purpose; modes include but are not limited to narration, description, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, definition, exemplification, classification and division, process analysis, and argumentation

Rhetorical question: A question asked more to produce an effect than to summon an answer

Satire: An ironic, sarcastic, or witty composition that claims to argue for something, but actually argues against it

Scheme: A pattern of words or sentence construction used for rhetorical effect

Sentence patterns: The arrangement of independent and dependent clauses into known sentence constructions—such as simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex

Simile: A figure of speech that uses “like” or “as” to compare two things

Simple sentence: A statement containing a subject and predicate; an independent clause

Speaker: A term used for the author, speaker, or the person whose perspective (real or imagined) is being advanced in a speech or piece of writing

Straw man: A logical fallacy that involves the creation of an easily refutable position; misrepresenting, then attacking an opponent’s position

Style: The distinctive quality of speech or writing created by the selection and arrangement of words and figures of speech

Subordinate clause: Created by a subordinating conjunction, a clause that modifies an independent clause

Subordination: The dependence of one syntactic element on another in a sentence

Syntax: Sentence structure

Synthesize: Combining or bringing together two or more elements to produce something more complex

Thesis: The central idea in a work to which all parts of the work refer

Thesis statement: A statement of the central idea in a work, may be explicit or implicit

Tone: The speaker’s attitude toward the subject or audience

Topic sentence: A sentence, most often appearing at the beginning of a paragraph, that announces the paragraph’s idea and often unites it with the work’s thesis

Understatement: Lack of emphasis in a statement or point; restraint in language often used for ironic effect

Voice: In grammar, a term for the relationship between a verb and a noun (active or passive voice). In rhetoric, a distinctive quality in the style and tone of writing