AP Language and Composition Glossary of Literary and Rhetorical Terms

Active Voice

The subject performs the action.
More direct and preferred writing style.
Example: "Anthony drove while Toni searched for the house."

Passive Voice

Subject receives the action.
Often overused, resulting in lifeless writing.
Example: "The car was driven by Anthony."

Allusion

An indirect reference to a commonly known literary text, play, song, or historical event.

Alter-ego

A character used by the author to express their own thoughts directly to the audience.
Example: Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
Distinction: Not a persona.

Anecdote

A brief, relevant episode recounted to develop a point or inject humor in fictional or non-fictional texts.

Antecedent

The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.
Example: "If I could command the wealth of all the world by lifting my finger, I would not pay such a price for it." Here, "it" refers to "the command of the wealth of all the world".

Classicism

Art or literature with a realistic view of people and the world.
Adheres to traditional themes and structures.
Contrast with Romanticism.

Comic Relief

Humorous scene inserted into a serious story to lighten the mood.
Example: The “gatekeeper scene” in Macbeth.

Diction

Word choice as an element of style.
Different words affect meaning.
Avoid stating "The author uses diction…" in theses.
Instead, describe the type of diction (e.g., formal, informal, ornate, plain).

Colloquial

Ordinary, familiar conversation.
A colloquialism is a common saying, like an adage or aphorism.

Connotation

Associations suggested by a word, implied meaning rather than literal meaning.
Example: "policeman," "cop," and "The Man" have the same denotation but different connotations.

Denotation

Literal, explicit meaning of a word, without connotations.

Jargon

Diction used by a specific profession or activity group (e.g., lawyers, soccer players).

Vernacular

Language or dialect of a country, region, or group.
Plain everyday speech.

Didactic

Fiction, nonfiction, or poetry that teaches a lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.

Adage

A folk saying with a lesson.
Example: “A rolling stone gathers no moss.”
Similar to aphorism and colloquialism.

Allegory

A story where characters, things, and events represent qualities or concepts.
Interaction reveals an abstraction or truth.
Example: Animal Farm by George Orwell.

Aphorism

A terse statement expressing a general truth or moral principle.
A memorable summation of the author's point.
Example: Ben Franklin’s sayings like “God helps them that help themselves.”

Ellipsis

Deliberate omission of a word or phrase for effect.
Example: “The whole day, rain, torrents of rain.”
Related to the ellipse (". . .") used to show omitted text in a quotation.

Euphemism

A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for unpleasant words or concepts.
Example: "Physically challenged" for "crippled" or “Vertically challenged” for “short.”

Figurative Language

Language not meant to be taken literally.
Opposite of literal language.

Analogy

Comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set; argues relationships are the same.
Example: “America is to the world as the hippo is to the jungle.”
Similes and metaphors can be analogies.

Hyperbole

Exaggeration.
Example: “My mother will kill me if I am late.”

Idiom

Common expression that doesn’t make sense literally.
Example: “I got chewed out by my coach.”

Metaphor

Implied comparison without using "like" or "as."
Example: “My feet are popsicles.”

Extended Metaphor

A metaphor continued later in the written work.

Conceit

A particularly elaborate extended metaphor.

Metonymy

Replacing a word or idea with a related word or concept.
Example: "Relations between London and Washington have been strained" refers to the leaders of the US and England.
Often used with body parts (e.g., “I could not understand his tongue” means his language or speech).

Synecdoche

A metonymy where a whole is represented by naming a part, or vice versa.
Examples: “The cattle rancher owned 500 head” or “Check out my new wheels.”

Simile

Direct comparison using "like" or "as."
Example: “My feet are so cold they feel like popsicles.”

Synesthesia

Description involving a “crossing of the senses.”
Examples: “A purplish scent filled the room” or “I was deafened by his brightly-colored clothing.”

Personification

Giving human-like qualities to something non-human.
Example: “The tired old truck groaned as it inched up the hill.”

Foreshadowing

Hints about what will occur later in a story.

Genre

Category into which a literary work fits (prose, poetry, drama).
Subdivisions exist within genres (lyric, dramatic, narrative poetry).
AP Language exam focuses on autobiography, biography, diaries, criticism, essays, journalistic, political, scientific, and nature writing.

Gothic

Writing characterized by gloom, mystery, fear, and/or death.
Also refers to an architectural style of the Middle Ages.

Imagery

Words creating a picture in the reader's mind, involving the five senses.
Often used with metaphors, similes, or figures of speech.

Invective

A long, emotionally violent attack using strong, abusive language.

Irony

When the opposite of what you expect to happen does.

Verbal Irony

Saying something and meaning the opposite.
Sarcasm is verbal irony with a bitter tone.
Example: Gym teacher calling a mile run a "walk in the park".

Dramatic Irony

Audience knows something the character doesn't.
Example: Horror movies where the audience knows who the killer is.

Situational Irony

Found in the plot of a story.
Example: Johnny missing the movie he snuck into because kids were admitted free that day.

Juxtaposition

Placing things side by side for comparison.
Often used to make a point.
Example: Comparing a typical American day to one in the third world.

Mood

Atmosphere created through word choice (diction).
Syntax, setting, tone, and events affect mood.

Motif

A recurring idea in a piece of literature.
Example: “Understanding another person’s point of view” in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Oxymoron

Contradictory terms grouped together suggesting a paradox.
Examples: “wise fool,” “eloquent silence,” “jumbo shrimp.”

Pacing

Speed or tempo of writing.
Manipulated through syntax, polysyndeton, anaphora, meter, etc.
Can be fast, sluggish, stabbing, etc.

Paradox

Seemingly contradictory situation that is actually true.
Example: “You can't get a job without experience, and you can't get experience without getting a job.”

Parallelism

Sentence construction with equal grammatical constructions near each other.
Adds emphasis, organization, or pacing.
Example: “Cinderella swept the floor, dusted the mantle, and beat the rugs.”

Anaphora

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of sentences or clauses in a row.
Deliberate repetition for coherence.
Example: “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

Chiasmus

Words used twice in succession, but in reverse order the second time.
Examples: “Fair is foul and foul is fair” or “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
Also called antimetabole.

Antithesis

Opposite or contrasting words, phrases, clauses, or ideas with parallel structure.
Example: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Zuegma (Syllepsis)

A word governs or modifies multiple words, changing meaning for each.
Examples: “The butler killed the lights, and then the mistress” or “I quickly dressed myself and the salad.”

Parenthetical Idea

Parentheses set off an idea as an aside or whisper, used sparingly.
Also used for dates and numbers.
Example: “In a short time (and the time is getting shorter by the gallon) America will be out of oil.”

Parody

Exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humor.
Borrowing words or phrases from an original.
A form of allusion.
Examples: The Simpsons parodying Shakespeare.

Persona

Fictional mask or narrator telling a story.
Distinction: Not an alter-ego.

Poetic Device

Device manipulating the sound of words, sentences, or lines in poetry.

Alliteration

Repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words.
Example: “Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore.”

Assonance

Repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds.
Example: “From the molten-golden notes.”

Consonance

Repetition of the same consonant sound at the end or within words.
Example: “Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door.”

Onomatopoeia

A word imitating or suggesting the sound it represents.
Examples: Snap, rustle, boom, murmur.

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme within a single line of poetry.
Example: “To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!”

Slant Rhyme

Imperfect or similar rhyme.
Example: “I sat upon a stone, / And found my life has gone.”

End Rhyme

Rhyme at the end of different lines of poetry.
Example: “Roses are red, violets are blue, / Sugar is sweet, and so are you.”

Rhyme Scheme

Pattern of a poem’s end rhymes.
Example: A poem with an ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme.

Stressed and Unstressed Syllables

In multi-syllable words, one syllable is stressed more than others.

Meter

Regular pattern to syllables in lines of poetry.

Free Verse

Poetry lacking meter or rhyme.

Iambic Pentameter

Lines of 10 syllables, alternating unstressed and stressed.
Example: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

Sonnet

14-line poem in iambic pentameter, usually with three quatrains and a couplet.

Polysyndeton

Listing items separated by conjunctions.
Conjunction normally used only before the last item.
Often slows pace/adds authoritative tone.

Pun

Humorous use of a word with multiple meanings.
Examples: “My dog has a fur coat and pants!” or “I was stirred by his cooking lesson.”

Rhetoric

The art of effective communication.

Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle

Relationships between writer, audience, and subject.
Analysis of writing is analysis of these relationships.

Rhetorical Question

Question asked for effect, not information.
Example: “Are you finished interrupting me?”

Romanticism

Art/literature with idealistic view; emphasis on nature.
Doesn't rely on traditional themes/structures.
Contrast with classicism.

Sarcasm

Bitter comment worded ironically or satirically.
Bitter, mocking tone distinguishes from verbal irony/satire.

Satire

Work revealing a critical attitude humorously.
Targets vices/follies or social institutions/conventions.
Layers: serious surface, humorous discovery, serious underlying point.

Sentence

Group of words (subject/verb) expressing complete thought.

Appositive

Word/group of words supplementing a noun’s meaning.
Example: “Bob, the lumber yard worker, spoke with Judy, an accountant from the city.”

Clause

Grammatical unit with subject and verb.
Independent clause: complete thought, can stand alone.
Dependent/subordinate clause: can’t stand alone.
Example: “Other than baseball, football is my favorite sport.”

Sentence Structures

Balanced Sentence: Parallel elements set off against each other.
Also called parallelism.

Compound Sentence

At least two independent clauses, no dependent clauses.

Complex Sentence

One independent clause, at least one dependent clause.

Cumulative Sentence

Independent clause followed by subordinate elements.
The opposite construction is called a periodic sentence.

Periodic Sentence

Main idea completed at the end of the sentence.
Begin with subordinate elements, postpone main clause.
The opposite construction is called a cumulative sentence.

Simple Sentence

One independent clause.

Sentence Types

Declarative Sentence

States an idea.

Imperative Sentence

Issues a command.

Interrogative Sentence

Incorporates interrogative pronouns (what, which, who, whom, whose).

Style

Choices in diction, tone, and syntax.
May be conscious or unconscious.

Symbol

Anything representing something else.
Concrete objects, actions, characters representing abstract ideas.

Syntax/Sentence Variety

Grammatical arrangement of words.
Examine sentence length, structure, relation to tone/meaning.
Simple, compound, compound-complex sentences?
Syntax = word grouping; diction = word selection.

Theme

Central idea or message of a work.
Directly stated in nonfiction, rarely in fiction.

Thesis

Expresses the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or proposition.
Should be short and clear.

Tone

Writer's attitude revealed through diction, figurative language, organization.
Identify by considering how piece sounds read aloud.
Examples: playful, serious, sarcastic, humorous, formal, somber.

Understatement

Ironic minimizing of fact.
Presents something as less significant than it is.
*The effect can frequently be humorous.
Example: “Our defense played valiantly, and held the other team to merely eight touchdowns in the first quarter.”

Litotes

Form of understatement; denies the opposite of a statement.
Can be understatement or intensifying expression.
Example: “Hitting that telephone pole certainly didn't do your car any good” or (The flavors of the mushrooms, herbs, and spices combine to make the dish not at all disagreeable).

Argument

Reasoning with premises and a conclusion.
Every essay is an argument with the thesis as the conclusion.
Also called a claim, position, or stance.

Premise

Statement offered as reasons to support a conclusion.

Conclusion

End result of the argument.
Should be supported by true premises.

Aristotle’s Appeals

Means of persuasion divided into ethos, pathos, and logos.

Ethos (Credibility)

Being convinced by the author's credibility.
Convincing the audience that the writer is worth listening to or an authority, likable and worthy of respect.

Pathos (Emotional)

Persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions.

Logos (Logical)

Persuading by reasoning, using true premises and valid arguments.
Strongest form of persuasion.

Concession

Accepting part or all of an opposing viewpoint.
Strengthens the argument by demonstrating reasonableness.
Sometimes followed by a rebuttal.

Conditional Statement

If-then statement with antecedent and consequent.
Example: “If you studied hard, then you will pass the test.”

Contradiction

Asserting two mutually exclusive propositions.
Example: “Abortion is wrong and abortion is not wrong.”

Counterexample

Example opposing a generalization, falsifying it.

Deductive Argument

Premises guarantee the truth of the conclusion.
If premises are true, conclusion cannot be false.

Fallacy

Attractive but unreliable reasoning.

Ad Hominem

Attacking the person instead of the argument.

Appeal to Authority

Claiming an idea is right because a famous person supports it.

Appeal to the Bandwagon

Claiming an idea is right because many people believe it.

Appeal to Emotion

Replacing logical argument with emotional appeals.

Bad Analogy

Claiming two dissimilar situations are highly similar.

Cliche Thinking

Using a well-known saying as proven evidence.

False Cause

Assuming sequence equals causation.

Hasty Generalization

Generalization based on too little or unrepresentative data.

Non Sequitur

Conclusion not following from premises; invalid argument.

Slippery Slope

Assuming a situation will continue to its most extreme outcome.

Inductive Argument

Premises support the probable truth of the conclusion.
Premises make the conclusion unlikely to be false if they are true.

Sound Argument

Deductive argument with valid reasoning and true premises.

Unstated Premises

Arguments with unexpressed premises or conclusions.

Valid Argument

Conclusion logically follows from premises.