AP English Language and Composition Exam: 101 Key Terms

Ad Hominem

An argument based on the failings of an adversary rather than on the merits of the case; a logical fallacy that involves a personal attack.

Adjective

The part of speech (or word class) that modifies a noun or a pronoun.

Adverb

The part of speech (or word class) that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb.

Allegory

Extending a metaphor so that objects, persons, and actions in a text are equated with meanings that lie outside the text.

Alliteration

The repetition of an initial consonant sound.

Allusion

A brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, or event--real or fictional.

Ambiguity

The presence of two or more possible meanings in any passage.

Analogy

Reasoning or arguing from parallel cases.

Anaphora

The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.

Antecedent

The noun or noun phrase referred to by a pronoun.

Antithesis

The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.

Aphorism

(1) A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion. (2) A brief statement of a principle.

Apostrophe

A rhetorical term for breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing.

Appeal to Authority

A fallacy in which a speaker or writer seeks to persuade not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for a famous person or institution.

Appeal to Ignorance

A fallacy that uses an opponent's inability to disprove a conclusion as proof of the conclusion's correctness.

Argument

A course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating truth or falsehood.

Assonance

The identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.

Asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses (opposite of polysyndeton).

Character

An individual (usually a person) in a narrative (usually a work of fiction or creative nonfiction).

Chiasmus

A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed.

Circular Argument

An argument that commits the logical fallacy of assuming what it is attempting to prove.

Claim

An arguable statement, which may be a claim of fact, value, or policy.

Clause

A group of words that contains a subject and a predicate.

Climax

Mounting by degrees through words or sentences of increasing weight and in parallel construction with an emphasis on the high point or culmination of a series of events.

Colloquial

Characteristic of writing that seeks the effect of informal spoken language as distinct from formal or literary English.

Comparison

A rhetorical strategy in which a writer examines similarities and/or differences between two people, places, ideas, or objects.

Complement

A word or word group that completes the predicate in a sentence.

Concession

An argumentative strategy by which a speaker or writer acknowledges the validity of an opponent's point.

Confirmation

The main part of a text in which logical arguments in support of a position are elaborated.

Conjunction

The part of speech (or word class) that serves to connect words, phrases, clauses, or sentences.

Connotation

The emotional implications and associations that a word may carry.

Coordination

The grammatical connection of two or more ideas to give them equal emphasis and importance. Contrast with subordination.

Deduction

A method of reasoning in which a conclusion follows necessarily from the stated premises.

Denotation

The direct or dictionary meaning of a word, in contrast to its figurative or associated meanings.

Dialect

A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, and/or vocabulary.

Diction

(1) The choice and use of words in speech or writing. (2) A way of speaking, usually assessed in terms of prevailing standards of pronunciation and elocution.

Didactic

Intended or inclined to teach or instruct, often excessively.

Encomium

A tribute or eulogy in prose or verse glorifying people, objects, ideas, or events.

Epiphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the end of several clauses. (Also known as epistrophe.)

Epitaph

(1) A short inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone or monument. (2) A statement or speech commemorating someone who has died: a funeral oration.

Ethos

A persuasive appeal based on the projected character of the speaker or narrator.

Eulogy

A formal expression of praise for someone who has recently died.

Euphemism

The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.

Exposition

A statement or type of composition intended to give information about (or an explanation of) an issue, subject, method, or idea.

Extended Metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem.

Fallacy

An error in reasoning that renders an argument invalid.

False Dilemma

A fallacy of oversimplification that offers a limited number of options (usually two) when in fact more options are available.

Figurative Language

Language in which figures of speech (such as metaphors, similes, and hyperbole) freely occur.

Figures of Speech

The various uses of language that depart from customary construction, order, or significance.

Flashback

A shift in a narrative to an earlier event that interrupts the normal chronological development of a story.

Genre

A category of artistic composition, as in film or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form, or content.

Hasty Generalization

A fallacy in which a conclusion is not logically justified by sufficient or unbiased evidence.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect; an extravagant statement.

Imagery

Vivid descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the senses.

Induction

A method of reasoning by which a rhetor collects a number of instances and forms a generalization that is meant to apply to all instances.

Invective

Denunciatory or abusive language; discourse that casts blame on somebody or something.

Irony

The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement or situation where the meaning is directly contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.

Isocolon

A succession of phrases of approximately equal length and corresponding structure.

Jargon

The specialized language of a professional, occupational, or other group, often meaningless to outsiders.

Litotes

A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.

Loose Sentence

A sentence structure in which a main clause is followed by subordinate phrases and clauses. Contrast with periodic sentence.

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something important in common.

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated (such as "crown" for "royalty").

Mode of Discourse

The way in which information is presented in a text. The four traditional modes are narration, description, exposition, and argument.

Mood

(1) The quality of a verb that conveys the writer's attitude toward a subject. (2) The emotion evoked by a text.

Narrative

A rhetorical strategy that recounts a sequence of events, usually in chronological order.

Noun

The part of speech (or word class) that is used to name a person, place, thing, quality, or action.

Onomatopoeia

The formation or use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.

Paradox

A statement that appears to contradict itself.

Parallelism

The similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.

Parody

A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule.

Pathos

The means of persuasion that appeals to the audience's emotions.

Periodic Sentence

A long and frequently involved sentence, marked by suspended syntax, in which the sense is not completed until the final word--usually with an emphatic climax.

Personification

A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.

Point of View

The perspective from which a speaker or writer tells a story or presents information.

Predicate

One of the two main parts of a sentence or clause, modifying the subject and including the verb, objects, or phrases governed by the verb.

Pronoun

A word (a part of speech or word class) that takes the place of a noun.

Prose

Ordinary writing (both fiction and nonfiction) as distinguished from verse.

Refutation

The part of an argument wherein a speaker or writer anticipates and counters opposing points of view.

Repetition

An instance of using a word, phrase, or clause more than once in a short passage--dwelling on a point.

Rhetoric

The study and practice of effective communication.

Rhetorical Question

A question asked merely for effect with no answer expected.

Running Style

Sentence style that appears to follow the mind as it worries a problem through, mimicking the "rambling, associative syntax of conversation"--the opposite of periodic sentence style.

Sarcasm

A mocking, often ironic or satirical remark.

Satire

A text or performance that uses irony, derision, or wit to expose or attack human vice, foolishness, or stupidity.

Simile

A figure of speech in which two fundamentally unlike things are explicitly compared, usually in a phrase introduced by "like" or "as."

Style

Narrowly interpreted as those figures that ornament speech or writing; broadly, as representing a manifestation of the person speaking or writing.

Subject

The part of a sentence or clause that indicates what it is about.

Syllogism

A form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.

Subordination

Words, phrases, and clauses that make one element of a sentence dependent on (or subordinate to) another. Contrast with coordination.

Symbol

A person, place, action, or thing that (by association, resemblance, or convention) represents something other than itself.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole or the whole for a part.

Syntax

(1) The study of the rules that govern the way words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. (2) The arrangement of words in a sentence.

Thesis

The main idea of an essay or report, often written as a single declarative sentence.

Tone

A writer's attitude toward the subject and audience. Tone is primarily conveyed through diction, point of view, syntax, and level of formality.

Transition

The connection between two parts of a piece of writing, contributing to coherence.

Understatement

A figure of speech in which a writer deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is.

Verb

The part of speech (or word class) that describes an action or occurrence or indicates a state of being.

Voice

(1) The quality of a verb that indicates whether its subject acts (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice). (2) The distinctive style or manner of expression of an author or narrator.