All Ap Lang Sem 1 words Flashcards
Apostrophe
Words that are spoken to a person who is absent or imaginary, or to an object or abstract idea
Allusion
A reference to a work of literatur, film, etc.
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part is used to designate the whole or the whole is used to designate a part
Litotes
A figure of speech in which a positive is stated by negating its opposite
Allegory
A work of literature in which characters, events, and items are directly symbolic of specific social figures, themes, ideas, etc.
Hyperbole
A figure of speech in which deliberate exaggeration is used
Imagery
Writing that uses strong sensory detail
Conceit
A fanciful poetic image or metaphor that likens one thing to something else that is seemingly very different
Anaphora
The repetition of specific phrases/ parallel syntax used for dramatic or emphatic effect
Onomatopoeia
A figure of speech in which words imitate sounds
Alliteration
The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words
Antithesis
A figure of speech in which words and phrases with opposite meanings are balanced against each other (paradox)
Connotation
Associations and implications beyond the literal definition of a word (ex. “thrifty” vs. “cheap”)
Metonymy
A type of metaphor in which something closely associated with a subject is substituted for it (ex. “the Crown”)
Personification
Giving a non-living thing human/active qualities
Archetype
A recurring, universal character quality/motif in literature
Anachronistic
A person or object out of date
Understatement
Fielding’s description of a grossly fat and repulsively ugly Mrs. Slipslop: “She was not remarkably handsome.”
Mock Encomium
Praise which is only apparent and which suggests blame instead
Grotesque
Creating a tension between laughter and horror or revulsion; the essence of all “sick humor: or “black humor”
Comic Juxtaposition
Linking together with no commentary items which normally do not go together; Pope’s line in Rape of the Lock: “Puffs, patches, bibles, and billet-doux”
Mock Epic/Mock Heroic
Using elevated diction and devices from the epic or the heroic to deal with low or trivial subjects
Parody
Mimicking the style and/or techniques of something or someone else
Strawman Fallacy
Substituting a person’s actual position or argument with a distorted, exaggerated, or misrepresented version of the position of the argument.
Begging the Question
Any form of argument where the conclusion is assumed in one of the premises
Ad Hominem
Attacking the person making the argument, rather than the argument itself, when the attack on the person is completely irrelevant to the argument the person is making.
No True Scotsman
When a universal (“all”, “every”, etc.) claim is refuted, rather than conceding the point or meaningfully revising the claim, the claim is altered by going from universal to specific, and failing to give any objective criteria for the specificity.
Bandwagon
When the claim that most or many people in general or of a particular group accept a belief as true is presented as evidence for the claim. Accepting another person’s belief, or many people’s beliefs, without demanding evidence as to why that person accepts the belief, is lazy thinking and a dangerous way to accept information.
Zeugma
grammatically, correct linkage of one subject with two or more further or environment, or more direct objects
