AP Lang+Comp pt.2

Denotation: The literal meaning of a word; its dictionary definition. 

Diction: Word choice. 

Documentation: Bibliographic information about the sources used in a piece of writing. 

Elegiac: Mournful over what has passed or been lost; often used to describe tone. Epigram: A brief, witty statement. 

Ethos: A Greek term referring to the character of a person; one of Aristotle’s three *Exigence: the need, demand or requirement intrinsic to a the circumstance or situation

Figurative language: The use of tropes or figures of speech; going beyond literal meaning to achieve literary effect. 

Figure of speech: An expression that strives for literary effect rather than conveying a literal meaning. 

Hyperbole: Exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis. 

Imagery: Vivid use of language that evokes a reader’s senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing). 

Imperative sentence: A sentence that requests or commands. 

Induction: Reasoning from specific to general. 

Inversion: A sentence in which the verb precedes the subject. 

Irony: A contradiction between what is said and what is meant; incongruity between action and result.

Juxtaposition: Placement of two things side by side for emphasis. 

Logos: A Greek term that means “word”; an appeal to logic; one of Aristotle’s three rhetorical appeals (see ethos and pathos). 

*Metaphor: A figure of speech or trope through which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else, thus making an implicit comparison. 

Metonymy: Use of an aspect of something to represent the whole.

Oxymoron: A figure of speech that combines two contradictory terms. 

Paradox: A statement that seems contradictory but is actually true. 

*Parallelism: The repetition of similar grammatical or syntactical patterns. 

Parody: A piece that imitates and exaggerates the prominent features of another; used for comic effect or ridicule. 

Pathos: A Greek term that refers to suffering but has come to be associated with broader appeals to emotion; one of Aristotle’s three rhetorical appeals (see ethos and logos).

Persona: The speaker, voice, or character assumed by the author of a piece of writing.

Personification: Assigning lifelike characteristics to inanimate objects. 

Polemic: An argument against an idea, usually regarding philosophy, politics, or religion.

*Polysyndeton: The deliberate use of a series of conjunctions. 

Premise  (major, minor): two parts of a syllogism. The concluding sentence of a syllogism takes its predicate from the major premise and its subject from the minor premise. 

Major premise: All mammals are warm-blooded. 

Minor premise: All horses are mammals. 

Conclusion: All horses are warm-blooded (see syllogism). 

Propaganda: A negative term for writing designed to sway opinion rather than present information.