Ap lang

1. ambiguity -

A vagueness of meaning; a conscious lack of clarity meant to evoke multiple meanings or interpretations.

2. anaphora -

The repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences.

3. antecedent -

A word to which a pronoun refers.

4. antithesis -

A rhetorical opposition or contrast of ideas by means of a grammatical arrangement of words, clauses, or sentences.

Example: “They promised us freedom but provided slavery.”

5. apostrophe -

An address or invocation to something inanimate or absent.

Example: “Oh, you cruel streets of Manhattan, how I abhor you!”

6. conceit -

A witty or ingenious thought; a diverting or highly fanciful idea, often stated in figurative language.

7. connotation -

The suggested or implied meaning of a word or phrase.

8. deductive reasoning -

A method of reasoning by which specific definitions, conclusions, and theorems are drawn from general principles. Its opposite is inductive reasoning.

9. diction -

The choice of words in oral and written discourse.

10. euphemism -

A mild or less negative usage for a harsh or blunt term.

11. exposition -

The background and events that lead to the presentation of the main idea or purpose of an essay or other work; setting forth the meaning or purpose of a piece of writing or discourse.

12. explication -

The interpretation or analysis of a text.

13. fallacious reasoning -

An incorrect belief or supposition based on faulty data, defective evidence.

14. inductive reasoning -

A method of reasoning in which a number of specific facts or examples are used to make a generalization.

15. metonymy -

A figure of speech that uses the name of one thing to represent something else with which it is associated.

Example: “The White House declares…”

16. oxymoron -

A term consisting of contradictory elements juxtaposed to create a paradoxical effect.

Example: loud silence, jumbo shrimp

17. paradox -

A statement that seems self-contradictory but is nevertheless true.

18. parallel structure -

The structure required for expressing two or more grammatical elements of equal rank: coordinate ideas, compared and contrasted ideas, and correlative construction.

Example: “Colleges favor applicants with strong academics, varied interests, and high standardized test scores.”

19. parody -

An imitation of a work meant to ridicule its style and subject.

20. persona -

The role or façade that a character assumes or depicts to a reader.

21. refutation -

The part of discourse wherein opposing arguments are anticipated and refuted.

22. rhetoric -

The language of a work and its style; words, often highly emotional, used to convince or sway an audience.

23. rhetorical mode -

General term that identifies discourse according to its chief purpose. Modes include exposition (to explain, analyze, or discuss an idea), argumentation (to prove a point or persuade), description (to recreate or present with details), and narration (to relate by way of anecdote or story).

24. syllogism -

A form of deductive reasoning in which given certain ideas or facts, other ideas or facts must follow.

Example: “All men are mortal. Mike is a man; therefore Mike is mortal.”

25. synecdoche -

Figure of speech in which a part signifies the whole (fifty masts instead of fifty ships) or the whole signifies the part (days for life as in “He had lived his days under the African sun”): when the name of a material stands for the thing itself, as in pigskin for football.

26. syntax -

The arrangement or organization of language into meaningful structure; every sentence has a particular syntax, or pattern of words.

27. tone -

The author’s attitude toward the subject being written about. The tone is the characteristic emotion that pervades a work or part of a work- the spirit or quality that is the work’s emotional essence.

28. verisimilitude -

Similar to the truth; the quality of realism that persuades readers that they are getting a vision of life as it is.

29. voice -

The real or assumed personality used by a writer or speaker. In grammar, active voice and passive voice refer to the use of verbs. A verb is in the active voice when it expresses action performed by its subject. A verb is in the passive voice when it expresses an action performed upon its subject or when the subject is the result of the action.

ACTIVE: The crew raked the leaves. PASSIVE: The leaves were raked by the crew.

Stylistically, the active voice leads to more economical and vigorous writing.