AP English Language and Composition

Generic Conventions

Common traditions or characteristics of a genre that help distinguish different types of writing.

Genre

A category of literature that groups works based on their style and content.

Homily

A serious talk or speech that gives moral or spiritual advice, often like a sermon.

Hyperbole

An exaggeration used for effect, making something sound bigger or more dramatic than it is.

Inference/Infer

To make a reasonable guess or conclusion based on what is said, rather than what is directly stated.

Loose Sentence

A sentence where the main idea comes first, followed by additional information, feeling informal and conversational.

Parallelism

Using the same structure in phrases or sentences to create rhythm or emphasize a point.

Anaphora

A type of parallelism where the same word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of successive lines or sentences.

Parody

A humorous imitation of another work that highlights its style or content, often to ridicule it.

Pedantic

A style that is overly scholarly or focused on showing off knowledge, using big words unnecessarily.

Periodic Sentence

A sentence that places the main idea at the end, creating more emphasis and strength.

Prose

Written language that is not poetry, covering both fiction and nonfiction forms.

Repetition

Repeating a word, phrase, or idea to create emphasis or clarity.

Rhetoric

The art of effective and persuasive writing and speaking.

Rhetorical Modes

Different ways of writing that serve specific purposes like exposition, argumentation, description, and narration.

Semantics

The study of meanings of words, how they change, and their relationships.

Style

The unique way an author writes, including choices in words and structure.

Subject Complement

A word or phrase that follows a linking verb and completes or describes the subject.

Subordinate Clause

A clause that cannot stand alone and depends on a main clause, often starting with 'although' or 'because'.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech where a part of something represents the whole.

Synesthesia

A literary technique where one sense is described using terms typically associated with another sense.

Transition

Words or phrases that connect different ideas and smooth shifts in writing.

Wit

Clever and humorous language that surprises and entertains, showing intellectual skill.