Lang Terms
AP Language Terms To Learn
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alliteration — The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables, as in "on scrolls of silver snowy sentences" (Hart Crane). Modern alliteration is predominantly consonantal; certain literary traditions, such as Old English verse, also alliterate using vowel sounds.
allusion — in art, when one text refers to another
ambiguity — giving rise to uncertainty with regard to interpretation
anadiplosis — rhetorical term for the repetition of the last word of one line or clause to begin the next. Anadiplosis often leads to climax. Note that a chiasmus includes anadiplosis, but not every anadiplosis reverses itself in the manner of a chiasmus. (grammar.about.com) Ex. "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you." (Frank Oz as Yoda in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace)
analogy — A form of logical inference or an instance of it, based on the assumption that if two things are known to be alike in some respects, then they must be alike in other respects.
anaphora — the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences
anecdote — a brief, often but not necessarily autobiographical story used to illustrate a point
antithesis — The direct or exact opposite: Hope is the antithesis of despair.
A figure of speech in which sharply contrasting ideas are juxtaposed in a balanced or parallel phrase or grammatical structure, as in "Hee for God only, shee for God in him" (John Milton).
The second and contrasting part of such a juxtaposition.
2. The second stage of the Hegelian dialectic process, representing the opposite of the thesis.
apostrophe (not the punctuation mark!)— The direct address of an absent or imaginary person or of a personified abstraction, especially as a digression in the course of a speech or composition.
assonance — Resemblance of sound, especially of the vowel sounds in words, as in: "that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea" (William Butler Yeats).
asyndeton [pronounced ‘uh-SIN-duh-tn’]— The omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used, as in "Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,/Shrunk to this little measure?" (Shakespeare). Contrasting term=polysyndeton [pronounced ‘PAH-lee-SIN-duh-tn’]
chiasmus [pronounced ‘kee–AZ-mus’]— a type of antithesis in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first with the parts reversed. Ex.: "I had a teacher I liked who used to say good fiction's job was to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable." (David Foster Wallace)
connotation — the emotional or associative value of a word, apart from its dictionary meaning vs. denotation—the literal, dictionary definition of a word.
euphemism — The act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive: "Euphemisms such as 'slumber room' . . . abound in the funeral business" (Jessica Mitford).
figurative language — any nonliteral turn in language, which can be classified into tropes and schemes.
hyperbole — a figure of speech employing exaggeration for tactical effect; the opposed term would be understatement
image — a vivid description, appealing to one or more of the senses
irony — a figure divisible into three types:
verbal irony: saying one thing, while meaning another (note; often associated with sarcasm, but not exactly the same thing as sarcasm, which I would characterize as a tone)
situational irony: when what is counter to expectation transpires
dramatic irony: The dramatic effect achieved by leading an audience to understand an incongruity between a situation and the accompanying speeches, while the characters in the play remain unaware of the incongruity.
jargon — technical language, specific to a particular field
juxtaposition — placing two unlike things side by side to highlight their differences. Writers use it for rhetorical effect.
metaphor — A figure of speech, specifically of substitution, in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in "a sea of troubles" or "All the world's a stage" (Shakespeare).
metonymy — Another figure of substitution in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated, as in the use of Washington for the United States government or of the sword for military power.
onomatopoeia — The formation or use of words such as buzz or murmur that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.
oxymoron — A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.
paradox — A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true: the paradox that standing is more tiring than walking.
2. One exhibiting inexplicable or contradictory aspects: "The silence of midnight, to speak truly, though apparently a paradox, rung in my ears" (Mary Shelley).
parallelism — in grammar, the use of identical or equivalent syntactic constructions in corresponding clauses or phrases.
parody — a literary or artistic form, usually satiric, that imitates the characteristic style of an author or work in order to ridicule it
personification — figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions are endowed with human qualities or are represented as possessing human form, as in Hunger sat shivering on the road or Flowers danced about the lawn. The opposite figure might be called objectification.
pun — A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.
“I was trying to remember how to use my boomerang, and then it came back to me.”
rhetoric — persuasive speech or language
rhetorical devices — figures of speech or language used for literary or persuasive effect
rhetorical question — a question asked for argumentative effect
rhetorical strategy — the strategy or plan selected to effectively deliver the intended message in a written piece of work. There is no set list of defined strategies, but use of rhetorical modes in any given combination, use of the classical appeals (to reason, ethos, and feeling), and use of style might all be components of a writer’s overall rhetorical strategy in a text.
satire — the use of irony, parody, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.; using humor to make a serious point
simile — a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.” Comparemetaphor.
symbol — something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible.
synecdoche [pronounced ‘suh-NEK-duh-kee’] — a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassin), the general for the specific (as thief for pickpocket), or the material for the thing made from it (as steel for sword).
syntax — the pattern of formation of phrases or sentences
[You should know the major types of sentences: simple, compound, complex, compound-complex, loose, periodic as well as errors: fragments and run-ons]
tone — 1.Music: a sound of distinct pitch, quality, and duration; a note. The quality or character of sound, or timbre of a particular instrument or voice. 2. Speaking: the pitch of a word used to determine its meaning or to distinguish differences in meaning. The particular or relative pitch of a word, phrase, or sentence. 3. Manner of expression in speech or writing: took an angry tone with the reporters. 4. A general quality, effect, or atmosphere: a room with an elegant tone. 5. Visual arts: a color, shade of color, or particular quality of color: light tones of blue. The general effect in painting of light, color, and shade. 6. Physiology: the normal state of elastic tension or partial contraction in resting muscles. Normal firmness of a tissue or an organ.
understatement — restraint or lack of emphasis used for rhetorical effect
AP Language Terms To Learn
•••
alliteration — The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables, as in "on scrolls of silver snowy sentences" (Hart Crane). Modern alliteration is predominantly consonantal; certain literary traditions, such as Old English verse, also alliterate using vowel sounds.
allusion — in art, when one text refers to another
ambiguity — giving rise to uncertainty with regard to interpretation
anadiplosis — rhetorical term for the repetition of the last word of one line or clause to begin the next. Anadiplosis often leads to climax. Note that a chiasmus includes anadiplosis, but not every anadiplosis reverses itself in the manner of a chiasmus. (grammar.about.com) Ex. "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you." (Frank Oz as Yoda in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace)
analogy — A form of logical inference or an instance of it, based on the assumption that if two things are known to be alike in some respects, then they must be alike in other respects.
anaphora — the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences
anecdote — a brief, often but not necessarily autobiographical story used to illustrate a point
antithesis — The direct or exact opposite: Hope is the antithesis of despair.
A figure of speech in which sharply contrasting ideas are juxtaposed in a balanced or parallel phrase or grammatical structure, as in "Hee for God only, shee for God in him" (John Milton).
The second and contrasting part of such a juxtaposition.
2. The second stage of the Hegelian dialectic process, representing the opposite of the thesis.
apostrophe (not the punctuation mark!)— The direct address of an absent or imaginary person or of a personified abstraction, especially as a digression in the course of a speech or composition.
assonance — Resemblance of sound, especially of the vowel sounds in words, as in: "that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea" (William Butler Yeats).
asyndeton [pronounced ‘uh-SIN-duh-tn’]— The omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used, as in "Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,/Shrunk to this little measure?" (Shakespeare). Contrasting term=polysyndeton [pronounced ‘PAH-lee-SIN-duh-tn’]
chiasmus [pronounced ‘kee–AZ-mus’]— a type of antithesis in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first with the parts reversed. Ex.: "I had a teacher I liked who used to say good fiction's job was to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable." (David Foster Wallace)
connotation — the emotional or associative value of a word, apart from its dictionary meaning vs. denotation—the literal, dictionary definition of a word.
euphemism — The act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive: "Euphemisms such as 'slumber room' . . . abound in the funeral business" (Jessica Mitford).
figurative language — any nonliteral turn in language, which can be classified into tropes and schemes.
hyperbole — a figure of speech employing exaggeration for tactical effect; the opposed term would be understatement
image — a vivid description, appealing to one or more of the senses
irony — a figure divisible into three types:
verbal irony: saying one thing, while meaning another (note; often associated with sarcasm, but not exactly the same thing as sarcasm, which I would characterize as a tone)
situational irony: when what is counter to expectation transpires
dramatic irony: The dramatic effect achieved by leading an audience to understand an incongruity between a situation and the accompanying speeches, while the characters in the play remain unaware of the incongruity.
jargon — technical language, specific to a particular field
juxtaposition — placing two unlike things side by side to highlight their differences. Writers use it for rhetorical effect.
metaphor — A figure of speech, specifically of substitution, in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in "a sea of troubles" or "All the world's a stage" (Shakespeare).
metonymy — Another figure of substitution in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated, as in the use of Washington for the United States government or of the sword for military power.
onomatopoeia — The formation or use of words such as buzz or murmur that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.
oxymoron — A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.
paradox — A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true: the paradox that standing is more tiring than walking.
2. One exhibiting inexplicable or contradictory aspects: "The silence of midnight, to speak truly, though apparently a paradox, rung in my ears" (Mary Shelley).
parallelism — in grammar, the use of identical or equivalent syntactic constructions in corresponding clauses or phrases.
parody — a literary or artistic form, usually satiric, that imitates the characteristic style of an author or work in order to ridicule it
personification — figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions are endowed with human qualities or are represented as possessing human form, as in Hunger sat shivering on the road or Flowers danced about the lawn. The opposite figure might be called objectification.
pun — A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.
“I was trying to remember how to use my boomerang, and then it came back to me.”
rhetoric — persuasive speech or language
rhetorical devices — figures of speech or language used for literary or persuasive effect
rhetorical question — a question asked for argumentative effect
rhetorical strategy — the strategy or plan selected to effectively deliver the intended message in a written piece of work. There is no set list of defined strategies, but use of rhetorical modes in any given combination, use of the classical appeals (to reason, ethos, and feeling), and use of style might all be components of a writer’s overall rhetorical strategy in a text.
satire — the use of irony, parody, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.; using humor to make a serious point
simile — a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.” Comparemetaphor.
symbol — something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible.
synecdoche [pronounced ‘suh-NEK-duh-kee’] — a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassin), the general for the specific (as thief for pickpocket), or the material for the thing made from it (as steel for sword).
syntax — the pattern of formation of phrases or sentences
[You should know the major types of sentences: simple, compound, complex, compound-complex, loose, periodic as well as errors: fragments and run-ons]
tone — 1.Music: a sound of distinct pitch, quality, and duration; a note. The quality or character of sound, or timbre of a particular instrument or voice. 2. Speaking: the pitch of a word used to determine its meaning or to distinguish differences in meaning. The particular or relative pitch of a word, phrase, or sentence. 3. Manner of expression in speech or writing: took an angry tone with the reporters. 4. A general quality, effect, or atmosphere: a room with an elegant tone. 5. Visual arts: a color, shade of color, or particular quality of color: light tones of blue. The general effect in painting of light, color, and shade. 6. Physiology: the normal state of elastic tension or partial contraction in resting muscles. Normal firmness of a tissue or an organ.
understatement — restraint or lack of emphasis used for rhetorical effect
