Ap Lang vocab 3

Mood

The atmosphere created by the literature and accomplished through word choice (diction).

Motif

a recurring idea in a piece of literature. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the idea that "you never really understand another person until you consider things from his or her point of view" is a motif, because the idea is brought up several times over the course of the novel.

Oxymoron

When apparently contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox - "wise fool," "eloquent silence," "jumbo shrimp."

Pacing

The speed or tempo of an author's writing. An author's pacing can be fast, sluggish, stabbing, vibrato, staccato, measured, etc.

Paradox

A seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true."You can't get a job without experience, and you can't get experience without getting a job."

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language. Often a creator of mood since word order, sentence length and strength and complexity also affect pacing and therefore mood.

Polysyndeton

The deliberate use of a series of conjunctions.

Meter

A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

Parallelism

Sentence construction which places equal grammatical constructions near each other, or repeats identical grammatical patterns. "Cinderella swept the floor, dusted the mantle, and beat the rugs."

Anaphora

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences or clauses in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer's point more coherent. "I came, I saw, I conquered."

Chiasmus

When the same words are used twice in succession, but the second time, the order of the words is reversed. "Fair is foul and foul is fair." "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." Also called antimetabole.

Antithesis

Two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, or even ideas, with parallel structure. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"

Zuegma

When a single word governs or modifies two or more other words, and the meaning of the first word must change for each of the other words it governs or modifies. "The butler killed the lights, and then the mistress." "I quickly dressed myself and the salad."

Parenthetical Idea

Parentheses are used to set off an idea from the rest of the sentence. It is almost considered an aside...a whisper, and should be used sparingly for effect, rather than repeatedly.

Parody

An exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes. It borrows words or phrases from an original, and pokes fun at it. This is also a form of allusion, since it is referencing a previous text, event, etc.

Persona

The fictional mask or narrator that tells a story. Do not confuse with alter-ego.