AP Vocab

Abstract

refers to language that describes concepts rather than concrete images (ideas and qualities rather than observable or specific things, people, or places).

Allegory

an extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities and in which the writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface of the story; the underlying meaning may be moral, religious, political, social, or satiric.

Anecdote

a short, simple narrative of an incident; often used for humorous effect or to make a point.

Annotation

Explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources, or give bibliographical data.

Antithesis

the presentation of two contrasting images. The ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraphs.

Aphorism

a short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life: 'Early bird gets the worm.'

Apostrophe

usually in poetry but sometimes in prose; the device of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person or to a place, thing, or personified abstraction.

Connotation

implied or suggested meaning of a word because of its association in the reader's mind.

Argumentation

writing that attempts to prove the validity of a point of view or an idea by presenting reasoned arguments; persuasive writing is a form of argumentation.

Cacophony; Dissonance

harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose; opposite of euphony.

Deduction

the process of moving from a general rule to a specific example.

Caricature

descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a person's appearance or a facet of personality.

Colloquialism

a word or phrase (including slang) used in everyday conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing (y'all, ain't).

Coherence; Unity

quality of a piece of writing in which all the parts contribute to the development of the central idea, theme, or organizing principle.

Concrete Language

Language that describes specific, observable things, people, or places, rather than ideas or qualities.

Consonance

repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximity, as in boost/best; it can also be seen within several compound words, such as fulfill and ping-pong.

Conundrum

a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun; it may also be a paradox or difficult problem.

Denotation

literal meaning of a word as defined.

Description

the picturing in words of something or someone through detailed observation of color, motion, sound, taste, smell, and touch; one of the four modes of discourse.

Diction

word choice, an element of style; Diction creates tone, attitude, and style, as well as meaning.

Didactic

writing whose purpose is to instruct or to teach. A didactic work is usually formal and focuses on moral or ethical concerns.

Discourse

spoken or written language, including literary works; the four traditionally classified modes of discourse are description, exposition, narration, and persuasion.

Epigraph

the use of a quotation at the beginning of a work that hints at its theme.

Euphemism

a more acceptable and usually more pleasant way of saying something that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable.

Emotional Appeal; Pathos

When a writer appeals to readers' emotions (often through pathos) to excite and involve them in the argument.

Euphony

the quality of being pleasing to the ear, especially through a harmonious combination of words.

Example

a representative form or pattern used to illustrate a concept.

Explication

the process of analyzing and interpreting a text to uncover its meaning.

Ethical Appeal; Ethos

When a writer tries to persuade the audience to respect and believe him or her based on a presentation of image of self through the text.

Collateral damage

The military uses "collateral damage" to indicate civilian deaths in a military operation.

Generalization

When a writer bases a claim upon an isolated example or asserts that a claim is certain rather than probable.

Sweeping generalizations

Occur when a writer asserts that a claim applies to all instances instead of some.

Genre

A type of literary work, such as a novel or poem; there are also subgenres, such as science fiction or sonnet, within the larger genres.

Humor

Anything that causes laughter or amusement; up until the end of the Renaissance, humor meant a person's temperament.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration in order to create humor or emphasis (Example: He was so hungry he could have eaten a horse).

Image

A word or words, either figurative or literal, used to describe a sensory experience or an object perceived by the sense.

Imagery

Words or phrases that use a collection of images to appeal to one or more of the five senses in order to create a mental picture.

Induction

The process that moves from a given series of specifics to a generalization.

Inference

A conclusion one can draw from the presented details.

Invective

A verbally abusive attack.

Inversion

Reversing the customary (subject first, then verb, then complement) order of elements in a sentence or phrase.

Jargon

The special language of a profession or group, often seen as evasive, tedious, and unintelligible to outsiders.

Objectivity

An impersonal presentation of events and characters, attempting to remove personal involvement in a story.

Oversimplification

When a writer obscures or denies the complexity of the issues in an argument.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech composed of contradictory words or phrases, such as "wise fool," "bitter-sweet," "pretty ugly," "jumbo shrimp," "cold fire."

Pacing

The movement of a literary piece from one point or one section to another.

Parable

A short tale that teaches a moral; similar to but shorter than an allegory.

Lyrical

Songlike; characterized by emotions, subjectivity, and imagination.

Mode

The method or form of a literary work; the manner in which a work of literature is written.

Mood

The primary emotional attitude of a work; the feeling of the work; the atmosphere.

Narration

The telling of a story in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama; one of the four modes of discourse.

Pathetic Appeal; Pathos

When a writer tries to persuade the audience by appealing to their emotions.

Pedantic

Excessively concerned with minor details and rules; overly academic.

Persuasion

The act of convincing someone to do or believe something.

Regionalism

an element in literature that conveys a realistic portrayal of a specific geographical locale, using the locale and its influences as a major part of the plot

Sarcasm

harsh, caustic personal remarks to or about someone; less subtle than irony

Satire

A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way. Satire doesn't simply abuse (as in invective) or get personal (as in sarcasm). Satire targets groups or large concepts rather than individuals.

Speaker

the voice of a work; an author may speak as himself or herself or as a fictitious persona

Stereotype

a character who represents a trait that is usually attributed to a particular social or racial group and who lacks individuality; a conventional patter, expression or idea.

Style

an author's characteristic manner of expression - his or her diction, syntax, imagery, structure, and content all contribute to style

Subjectivity

a personal presentation of events and characters, influenced by the author's feelings and opinions

Syllogism

A form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them. A syllogism is the format of a formal argument that consists of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent a whole, such as using 'boards' to mean a stage or 'wheels' to mean a car - or 'All hands on deck.'

Syntax

the grammatical structure of a sentence; the arrangement of words in a sentence. Syntax includes length of sentence, kinds of sentences (questions, exclamations, declarative sentences, rhetorical questions, simple, complex, or compound).

Theme

the central idea or 'message' of a literary work

Syntactic Fluency

Ability to create a variety of sentence structures, appropriately complex and/or simple and varied in length.

Syntactic Permutation

Sentence structures that are extraordinarily complex and involved. They are often difficult for a reader to follow.

Thesis

the main idea of a piece of writing. It presents the author's assertion or claim. The effectiveness of a presentation is often based on how well the writer presents, develops, and supports the thesis.

Tone

the characteristic emotion or attitude of an author toward the characters, subject, and audience (anger, sarcastic, loving, didactic, emotional, etc.)

Transition

a word or phrase that links one idea to the next and carries the reader from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph.

Understatement

the opposite of exaggeration. It is a technique for developing irony and/or humor where one writes or says less than intended.

Rhetorical modes

exposition, description, narration, argumentation

Rhetorical Question

one that does not expect an explicit answer. It is used to pose an idea to be considered by the speaker or audience.

Repetition

Word or phrase used two or more times in close proximity.

Voice

refers to two different areas of writing. One refers to the relationship between a sentence's subject and verb (active and passive voice). The second refers to the total 'sound' of a writer's style.