AP Language and Composition Vocabulary (General)
Anecdote — Short tale narrating an interesting or amusing biographical incident
Diction — Word choice (a single word)
Denotation — The straightforward meaning (dictionary definition) of a word
Euphemism — A more agreeable word substituted for an unpleasant on (‘passed away’ instead of ‘died’)
Colloquialism — Slang and use of familiar expressions
Connotation — Emotional overtones of a word (negative: victim, seized; positive: softly, gently)
Figurative Language —Language not meant to be taken literally
Analogy - Illustration of an idea by means of a more familiar idea that is similar or parallel
Apostrophe - Addressing an absent figure or abstraction ("Oh pardon me thou bleeding piece of flesh, that I am meek and gentle with your butchers." Shakespeare, Julius Caesar)
Extended Metaphor - A metaphor defined with several examples (Emily Dickinson, "Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune-without the words, And never stops at all." It can be in the form of a simile! Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. "It was a male; long, his brown-furred segmented abdomen. His multijointed legs, pale and powerful, were shaggy as a bear's.")
Hyperbole - Extreme exaggeration (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, "Caesar hath cried so many tears, the Tiber hath o'erflowed its banks.")
Image - Any description that appeals to one of the five senses: visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, or olfactory
Juxtaposition - The placing of two unlike things close to each other (T. S. Eliot, "The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock: "Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized upon a table;")
Oxymoron - Conjoining contradictory terms (two words: Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, "hideous luxuriance")
Paradox - Statement that seems impossible or not true but that proves true (a statement: you can be alone in a crowd)
Understatement - Minimizes a fact (Gwendolyn Brooks, "The Bean Eaters," "They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair.")
Mode - in writing the categories of delivery: narration, description, exposition, and persuasion
Argumentation - one of the four chief "forms of discourse" with a purpose Description - pictures a place or object or setting (details and imagery)
Exposition - explains events; can include classification, comparison/contrast, definition, or analysis
Narration - account of an event
Persuasion - one of the major types of composition whose purpose is to convince others of the wisdom of a certain line of action
Rhetoric - the deliberate exploitation of eloquence for the most persuasive effect in public speaking or writing; the art of persuasion that includes elements of anything else on this document
Message - main idea of a text based on details and examples
Purpose - what the speaker wants the audience to do or think about; the persuasive element The goal of the outner Speaker - establishes credibility; connects with values of audience
Audience - a specific person or group that can be characterized as having values and beliefs
Context - the situation that gives rise to the text
Shift - change in position; movement (as in tone shift, shift in point of view)
Satire - writing that exposec the failines (vice or follv) of individuals. institutions, or societies to ridicule and scorn in order to change it
Inference - information derived by reasoning
Invective - the harsh denunciation of some person or thing in abusive speech or writing
Parody - imitation of serious work or style in a ridiculous manner (Saturday Night Live)
Lampoon - imitation in writing (humorous) harsh satire directed toward an individual or thing
Sarcasm - technique that ridicules through caustic language
Style - blend of choices about diction, syntax, and figurative language unique to individuals (compare paragraphs from Hemingway and Dickens)
Syntax - the way in which words or phrases are ordered and connected to form sentences; or the set of grammatical rules governing such order
Antecedent - word referred to by a pronoun
Antithesis - a balance of opposites
Clause - group of words with a subject and a verb; can be independent or subordinate
Loose Sentence - type of sentence in which main idea comes first (We went over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house."
Periodic Sentence - main idea comes last ("Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go.")
Pacing - rate at which a text develops (fast, slow, steady, hurried) based on length and arrangement of sentences
Parallelism - the arrangement of similarly constructed clauses or sentences suggesting some correspondence between them (Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.")
Repetition - repeating a word or phrase for emphasis
Tone - writer's attitude toward the subject and audience, created by diction, details, images, language, syntax
Levels of Diction
There are basically three levels of diction:
Formal-Used when addressing a highly educated audience. This includes sermons, scholarly journals, etc.
Standard-Used when addressing a well-educated audience. Commonly this is the level used for college
papers, mass publications, and business communication
Informal-used when addressing a familiar or specific audience. This includes personal letters, emails, and documents with conversational or entertaining purposes. This level also includes "slang" language.