AP English Language Vocabulary

  1. Abstract Language: exists in thought or idea without physical existence; does not refer to real life objects

    1. Things like senses: kindness, friendship

  2. Ad hominem: criticizing a person in an argument instead of their ideas

    1. Common in politics - Criticizing someone’s character therefore displaying the idea that their ideas are also bad.

  3. Allegory: used by author to showcase their commentary on a larger concept through characters, events or actions

    1. Book example: Animal Farm

  4. Allusion: indirect reference without mentioning something explicitly

  5. Analogy: comparison between two similar things often used to explain ideas

  6. Anaphora: repetition of words/phrases in the beginning of several sentences

    1. I have a dream speech

  7. Anecdote: short interesting/amusing story about a real incident/person

  8. Annotation: explanation

  9. Antecedent: thing/event that existed before

    1. Chelsey finished her presentation, "Chelsey" is the antecedent and "her" is the pronoun

  10. Antithesis: the exact opposite of something/someone

  11. Aphorism: observation that contains general truth

    1. A penny saved is a penny earned

  12. Apostrophe: a figure of speech that is about imaginary person or personified abstraction

    1. Romeo and Juliet

  13. Assonance: repetition of identical/similar phonemes in words/syllables that occur close together

  14. Cacophony: harsh sound

    1. Dishes breaking

  15. Citation: official documentation

  16. Claim: opinion, fact, right that persuades, proves or suggests something to a reader who may have not initially agreed

  17. Colloquialism: everyday language; informal, used mostly in speech rather than writing

  18. Common Knowledge: knowledge known to everyone which are not often made known officially

  19. Connotation: suggests a different association than it’s literal meaning

    1. She is feeling blue

  20. Consonance: repetition of similar sounds (consonants) in language

    1. Alliteration is a branch of consonance

    2. Example: Hickory Dickory Dock

  21. Cumulative Sentence: aka loose sentence, independent clause followed by one or more modifiers

    1. Words and phrases used to refine the main idea of the sentence

  22. Deductive Reasoning: general argument to a specific conclusion, always true

    1. All dogs have ears; golden retrievers are dogs, therefore they have ears.

  23. Denotation: the literal meaning of a word

    1. Literal meaning of a word in a dictionary

  24. Diction: specific vocab choices of the author

    1. Can change how it is portrayed - formal, informal, tone, complexity

  25. Either - Or Reasoning: when the author claims that here is only two possible options in an argument when there is more which causes others to believe the viewpoint of the author

  26. Ellipsis: punctuation mark of three dots (. . .)

    1. Represents pause or something that is not said

  27. Ethical Appeal (Ethos): to establish credibility the author uses their experiences, knowledge about the topic. Established themselves as open minded and honey in the eyes of the reader.

  28. Euphemism: substitution to an offensive expression

    1. Example: darn instead of damn

  29. Exigence (rhetorical def): prompts a person to speak or write (sense of urgency), motivating a response

    1. What causes an author to write?

  30. False/Faulty Analogy: something familiar is compared to something unfamiliar and a conclusion is formed by linking the two

  31. Figurative Language: writing or speech that does not carry the literal meaning and has an imaginary meaning

  32. Hyperbole: exaggeration

    1. I have told her a million times.

  33. Imagery: using words to create an image that appeals the senses and creates a mood/impression

  34. Inductive Reasoning: logically true but realistically might not be true

    1. Mango is a fruit and there is a box full of fruits - the box is full of mangos (might not be true if there are other fruits in the box)

  35. Line of Reasoning: logical claims that supports the author’s thesis and logical progression of ideas.

    1. I am sick and will not go to school because it will worsen my health and can make others sick.

  36. Logical Appeal (Logos): appeal to reason and logic, convinces you that it is a great argument

    1. Gives facts, evidence, rational arguments

  37. Logical Fallacy: an argument is portraying as true by convincing the reader but actually is flawed

    1. Example: Unicorns exists because there are no evidence that they don’t

  38. Metaphor: compared two unrelated things

    1. Is used to created imagery, exaggerate actions, or express complex idea

  39. Mood: atmosphere created

    1. Usually through word choice

  40. Narrative: written form that tells a story in an orderly logical sequence

    1. Example: Essay, fairy tales

  41. Non-Sequitur: a conclusion that does not follow the previously stated argument

    1. Example: My dog’s name is Max and he likes to eat dog food. Therefore everyone named Max likes to eat dog food.

  42. Oversimplification: simplifying things to the extent that it causes misunderstanding/error

    1. Example: I water the garden which is why the plants grow so well.

  43. Oxymoron: combining contradictory words with opposite meaning

    1. Example: silent scream

  44. Paradox: statement contradictory to common sense but yet it still makes sense

    1. Example: It was the beginning of the end

  45. Parallelism: words and phrases repeated that agree in grammer and meaning

    1. Example: I came, I saw, I conquered

  46. Parody: a style/work of author imitated for comedic purpose

  47. Pathos (Emotional Appeal): an appeal to emotion

    1. Using photographs of poeple in poverty in ads

  48. Personification: using heman characcteristics to describe other things

    1. You can hear the the trees whisper in the dark.

  49. Persiasion: the act of persuading the audience

  50. Point of view: position/perspective from which soemthing is considered

    1. First person: narrator is thellign their own story form their pov

    2. Third person: narrator exists outside the story, refers to the charaters by their names or by third person pronouns

    3. Third person omniscient: narrator knows all of the thoughts of the chracters and cna change form one character to another

  51. Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc: after this, therefore because of this

    1. One thing caused another because the first thing caused the other

  52. Red Herring: misleading clue; used to drag attention away from one thing

  53. Refutation: proving a theory, a person, opinion etc wrong

    1. Example: Many assume that bulls are attracted to red but they are colorblind so what many people assume is incorrect.

  54. Repetition: repeating words/phrases

    1. Used to create rhythum; emphasizes on a word

  55. Rhetoric: art of persuasion

    1. Politicians rallying and delivering speech to inspire people to act

  56. Rhetorical Modes: ways to effectivelycommunicate through language

    1. exposition: something is explained

      1. Example: In the begining of a story where the background information is given

    2. argumentation: the process of forming reasons and drawing conclusions

      1. convinces others of an opinion/belief

    3. description: sesory devices are used to portray a person, place or thing

    4. narration: tell a story or relate to an event

  57. Rhetorical triangle: how persuasive the author is with thier use of ethos, pathos and logos

  58. Satire: using irony, sarcasm to make somethign look ridiculus and to humilate, humble or embarrass a target

  59. Sarcasm: using wordds but really meaning the opposite of what you say

    1. To insult, irritate or to be funny

  60. Sentence Structure:

    1. simple: one independent clause

    2. compound: Two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.

    3. complex: Two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.

  61. Simile: things different in kind/quality that are compared using the word like or as

  62. Straw Man: someone distorts or exaggerates another person’s argument and attacks this argument instead of the real point

    1. Example: If a child wanted to meet their friend but the parents say no so tha child replies with “Why do you hate me?”

  63. Stream of Conciousness: acharacter’s thoughts, feeligns adn emotions decipted continious flow and is uninterrupted

  64. Syntax: arrangement of words in a sentence, study of the formation of sentences and thie relations

    1. Example: subject+verb+object

  65. Synthesis: mixing of different ideas, influences or things to make a whole that is different and new

    1. Reporting to a friend what all of you friends thought of a new song

  66. Thesis: a statement or theory

  67. Tone: an author’s attitude; a style the author uses to convey a message

  68. Transition: signals relationships between ideas

  69. Understatement: presenting something as being smaller than it actually is

  70. Voice: affects choices in writing

    1. active: the subject performs an action

      1. I want ice cream now

    2. passive: the action’s target is places at the beginning and is the focus of the sentence

      1. Ice cream is wanted by me now