AP Lang Vocab

abstract diction: Refers to language that denotes ideas, emotions, conditions, or concepts that are intangible.

archaic diction: Old-fashioned or outdated choice of words.

colloquial expressions: Nonstandard, often regional, ways of using language appropriate to informal or conversational speech and writing. (ex. the southern word "y'all")

concrete diction: Specific words that describe physical qualities or conditions.

connotation: The implicit rather than explicit meaning of a word; consists of the suggestions, associations, and emotional overtones attached to a word

denotation: The exact, literal definition of a word independent of any emotional association or secondary meaning.

dialect: A nonstandard subgroup of a language with its own vocabulary and grammatical features. Writers often use regional dialects or dialects that reveal a person's economic or social class.

formal diction: Contains language that creates an elevated tone. It is free of slang, idioms, colloquialisms, and contractions. It often contains polysyllabic words, sophisticated syntax, and elegant word choice.

jargon: Words and expressions characteristic of a particular trade, profession, or pursuit. (technical language)

slang: Refers to a group of recently coined words often used in informal situations. Slang words often come and go quickly, passing in and out of usage within months or years.

analogy: used to compare two things that share a similarity, to make one easier to understand

euphemism: The expression of an unpleasant or embarrassing notion by a more inoffensive substitute. (ex. “he passed away” instead of “he died”)

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"). Think nicknames.

paradox: A statement that seems untrue or impossible through contradiction.

synecdoche: when a part refers to the whole, or the whole refers to a part.

alliteration: the repetition of initial consonant sounds (ex. “curious class of cases in which close”).

assonance: The repetition of the same vowel

consonance: consonant sounds in nearby words

antithesis: establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them together or juxtaposing them, often in parallel structure.

simile: A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by “like” or “as.”

extended metaphor: Comparison of unlike things, drawn-out beyond the usual word or phrase to extend, usually by using multiple comparisons between the unlike objects or ideas.

anadiplosis: A syntactic strategy in which the last word of a phrase/clause/sentence is repeated at or near the beginning of the next.

anaphora: Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences

cumulative sentence: the main subject and verb come first, achieving closure, followed by additional parallel constructions (dependent phrases or clauses).

declarative sentence: makes a statement

epistrophe: the repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences

asyndeton: the omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence

exclamatory sentence: makes an exclamation

fragment: breaks grammar rules intentionally and artfully to emphasize and draw attention

imperative sentence: gives a command

parallelism: two+ phrases or clauses balance each other by virtue of their likeness of structure, meaning, or length.

periodic sentence: the main subject and verb are delayed until the final part of the sentence

polysyndeton: the use of a conjunction between each word, phrase, or clause; thus, structurally the opposite of asyndeton.

repetition: repeating words, sounds, and ideas more than once. Generates balance and emotional response for effect

rhetorical question: A question posed by the speaker or writer not to seek an answer but instead to affirm or deny a point simply by asking a question about it

telegraphic: concise message characterized by the use of three-word short phrases

tricolon: a group of three similar phrases, words, clauses, or sentences.

zeugma: exemplified through juxtaposition