AP English cards Flashcards
Active voice
Definition
The subject of the sentence performs the action. This is a more direct and preferred style of writing in most cases.
Example
“Anthony drove while Toni searched for the house.”
Effect
active voice tends to reveal or emphasize the actor of the sentence.
Passive voice
Definition
When the subject of the sentence receives the action.
Example
“The car was driven by Anthony.”
Effect
Passive voice tends to obscure or de-emphasize the actor.
Allusion
Definition
An indirect reference to something with which the reader is supposed to be familiar.
Example
“Chocolate cake is my Achilles heel.”
Effect
Enhance a text by providing further meaning.
Anecdote
Definition
A brief recounting of a relevant episode.
Example
“A mother tells her son a story about a family vacation when she was growing up. “
Effect
A mother tells her son a story about a family vacation when she was growing up.
Antecedent
Definition
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.”
Effect
Gives its meaning to a proform (pronoun, pro-verb, pro-adverb, etc.).
Diction
Definition
Word choice, particularly as an element of style.
Example
“A story set in New York City will have a different style of language compared to a story that takes place in London.”
Effect
To evoke specific emotions in his/her audience.
Colloquial
Definition
Ordinary or familiar type of conversation. A “colloquialism” is a common or familiar type of saying, similar to an adage or an aphorism.
Example
“y’all”, “gonna” or “wanna”, “old as the hills”, “graveyard dead”
Effect
It creates a conversational tone.
Connotation
Definition
Rather than the dictionary definition (denotation), the associations suggested by a word. Implied meaning rather than literal meaning.
Example
“policeman,” “cop,” and “The Man”
Effect
Connotation impacts how readers perceive the overall meaning of what a writer or speaker is trying to communicate.
Denotation
Definition
The literal, explicit meaning of a word, without its connotations.
Examples
The woman was frugal.
Effect
Denotation is used when an author wants the reader to understand a word, phrase, or sentence in its literal form, without other implied, associated, or suggested meanings.
Jargon
Definition
The diction used by a group which practices a similar profession or activity.
Example
“due diligence”
Effect
If everyone understands the jargon, then it can be a very efficient way of communicating.
Vernacular
Definition
1. Language or dialect of a particular country.
2. Language or dialect of a regional clan or group.
3. Plain everyday speech
Example
“Dat nuh sound right enuh man.”
Effect
Normally spoken informally rather than written.
Didactic
Definition
A term used to describe fiction, nonfiction or poetry that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.
Example
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
Effect
Allows the teacher to perform all the steps to conduct a class.
Adage
Definition A folk saying with a lesson. Example “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” Effect To give awareness to the readers about some facts of life.
Allegory
Definition
A story, fictional or non fictional, in which characters, things, and events represent qualities or concepts.
Example
“Animal Farm, by George Orwell”
Effect
The interaction of these characters, things, and events is meant to reveal an
abstraction or a truth.
Aphorism
Definition A terse statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle. Example “God helps them that help themselves,” “A watched pot never boils.” Effect An aphorism can be a memorable summation of the author's point.
Ellipsis
Definition The deliberate omission of a word or phrase from prose done for effect by the author. Example “The whole day, rain, torrents of rain.” Effect A pause for effect to increase tension.
Euphemism
Definition
A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts. Sometimes they are used for political correctness.
Example
“Physically challenged,” in place of “crippled.”
“Vertically challenged” in place of “short.”
Effect
Sometimes a euphemism is used to exaggerate correctness to add humor.
Figurative Language
Definition
This is writing that is not meant to be taken literally.
Example
If an athlete is doing well, you might say they’re “on fire” figuratively.
Effect
It can transform ordinary descriptions into evocative events, enhance the emotional significance of passages, and turn prose into a form of poetry.
Analogy
Definition
An analogy is a comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set of variables.
Example
“America is to the world as the hippo is to the jungle.”
Effect
It is useful to explain an unfamiliar concept or idea.
Hyperbole
Definition Exaggeration Example “My mother will kill me if I am late.” Effect Such exaggeration or distortion can help express strong emotion, emphasize a point, or even evoke humor.
Idiom
Definition
A common, often used expression that doesn’t make sense if you take it literally.
Example
“I got chewed out by my coach.”
Effect
To force the reader to shift from thinking literally to abstractly.
Metaphor
Definition
Making an implied comparison, not using “like,” as,” or other such words.
Example
“My feet are popsicles.”
Effect
It creates images that are easier to understand and respond to than literal language.
Metonymy
Definition
Replacing an actual word or idea, with a related word or concept.
Example
“Relations between London and Washington have been strained,”
Effect
Creating concrete and vivid images in place of generalities.
Synecdoche
Definition
A kind of metonymy when a whole is represented by naming one of its parts, or vice versa.
Example
“The cattle rancher owned 500 head.” “Check out my new wheels.”
Effect
They allow speakers to emphasize certain parts of a whole, highlighting their importance by substituting them for the whole.
Simile
Definition
Using words such as “like” or “as” to make a direct comparison between two very different things.
Example
“My feet are so cold they feel like popsicles.”
Effect
They spark the imagination.
Synesthesia
Definition
The production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body.
Example
“A purplish scent filled the room.” “I was deafened by his brightly-colored clothing.”
Effect
This is when one sense is used to describe another.
Personification
Definition
Giving human-like qualities to something that is not human.
Example
“The tired old truck groaned as it inched up the hill.”
Effect
Personification connects readers with the object that is personified.
Foreshadowing
Definition
When an author gives hints about what will occur later in a story.
Example
“I have a bad feeling about this”
Effect
For creating suspense, a feeling of unease, a sense of curiosity, or a mark that things may not be as they seem.
Imagery
Definition
Word or words that create a picture in the reader’s mind. Usually this involves the five senses.
Example
His words felt like a dagger in my heart.
Effect
Imagery allows the reader to clearly see, touch, taste, smell, and hear what is happening
Invective
Definition
A long, emotionally violent, attack using strong, abusive language.
Example
“She spewed invective,” “She hurled invective,” “She burst forth into invective.”
Effect
It can arouse negative emotion in the audience as well as the target of the insult.
Irony
Definition
When the opposite of what you expect to happen does.
Example
Telling a rude customer to “have a nice day”.
Effect
This can spark strong feelings in the reader and serve as a way to teach practical or moral lessons.
Verbal Irony
Definition
When you say something and mean the opposite/something different.
Example
If your gym teacher wants you to run a mile in eight minutes or faster, but calls it a “walk in the park”
Effect
It is used to bring humor to a situation, foreshadow events to come or introduce a sense of foreboding.
Dramatic irony
Definition
When the audience of a drama, play, movie, etc. knows something that the character doesn’t and would be surprised to find out.
Example
In many horror movies, we (the audience) know who the killer is, which the victim-to-be has no idea who is doing the slaying.
Effect
To create and sustain the audience’s interest.
Situational irony
Definition
Found in the plot (or story line) of a book, story, or movie. Sometimes it makes you laugh because it’s funny how things turn out.
Example
“Johnny spent two hours planning on sneaking into the movie theater and missed the movie. When he finally did manage to sneak inside he found out that kids were admitted free that day.”
Effect
It allows writers to show the characters’ intentions versus the outcomes, appearance versus reality.
Juxtaposition
Definition
Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison.
Example
“An author my juxtapose the average day of a typical American with that of someone in the third world in order to make a point of social commentary.”
Effect
Authors often use juxtaposition of ideas or examples in order to make a point.
Mood
Definition
The atmosphere created by the literature and accomplished through word choice (diction).
Example
‘light-hearted’, ‘nervous’, ‘foreboding’, optimistic’, and ‘peaceful’.
Effect
Setting, tone, and events can all affect the mood.
Oxymoron
Definition
When apparently contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox.
Example
“wise fool,” “eloquent silence,” “jumbo shrimp.”
Effect
An oxymoron amplifies the meaning of the second word.
Pacing
Definition
The speed or tempo of an author’s writing.
Example
A story might start out quickly with a hook to draw the reader in and then slow down to provide details during the rising action.
Effect
Writers can use a variety of devices (syntax,
polysyndeton, anaphora, meter) to change the pacing of their words.
Paradox
Definition
A seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true.
Example
“You can’t get a job without experience, and you can’t get experience without getting a job.”
Effect
Paradoxes can elicit humor, illustrate themes, and provoke readers to think critically.
Parallelism
Definition
Sentence construction which places equal grammatical constructions near each other, or repeats identical grammatical patterns.
Example
“Cinderella swept the floor, dusted the mantle, and beat the rugs.”
Effect
Parallelism is often used to create a better flow to whatever sentence it is applied to.
Anaphora
Definition
Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences or clauses in a row.
Example
“I came, I saw, I conquered.”
Effect
This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer’s point more
coherent.
Chiasmus
Definition
Two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, or even ideas, with parallel structure.
Example
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”
Effect
Chiasmus helps in adding emphasis.
Zuegma (Syllepsis)
Definition
When a single word governs or modifies two or more other words, and the meaning of the first word must change for each of the other words it governs or modifies.
Example
“The butler killed the lights, and then the mistress.”
“I quickly dressed myself and the salad.”
Effect
Syllepsis makes the reader astonished and go back to check what the word was and how it’s working now.
Parenthetical Idea
Definition
Parentheses are used to set off an idea from the rest of the sentence.
Example
“In a short time (and the time is getting shorter by the gallon) America will be out of oil.”
Effect
Parenthesis makes the statements more convincing.
Polysyndeton
Definition
When a writer creates a list of items which are all separated by conjunctions. Normally, a conjunction is used only before the last item in a list.
Example
“I walked the dog, and fed the cat, and milked the cows.”
“Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcass of an unclean beast, or a carcass of unclean cattle, or the carcass of unclean creeping things…he also shall be unclean.”
Effect
Polysyndeton is often used to slow down the pace of the writing and/or add an authoritative tone.
Pun
Definition
When a word that has two or more meanings is used in a humorous way.
Example
“My dog has a fur coat and pants!”
“I was stirred by his cooking lesson.”
Effect
Puns reveal an enhanced ability of the mind’s associative process to ‘multi-task’, so to speak.
Rhetoric
Definition
The art of effective communication.
Example
Billboard ads, television commercials, newspaper ads, political speeches, even news stories.
Effect
It is language designed to motivate, persuade, or inform.
Rhetorical Question
Definition
Question not asked for information but for effect.
Example
“The angry parent asked the child, ‘Are you finished interrupting me?’”
Effect
A rhetorical question is a device used to persuade or subtly influence the audience.
Sarcasm
Definition
A generally bitter comment that is ironically or satirically worded.
Example
“they’re really on top of things”.
Effect
It is the bitter, mocking tone that separates sarcasm from mere verbal irony or satire.
Satire
Definition
A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of life to a humorous effect.
Example
George Orwell’s famous 1945 novel Animal Farm is a good example of Juvenalian satire.
Effect
Good satire usually has three layers: serious
on the surface; humorous when you discover that it is satire instead of reality; and serious when you discern
the underlying point of the author.
Sentence
Definition A sentence is group of words (including subject and verb) that expresses a complete thought. Example "Mary and Samantha took the bus." Effect It can create tension, haste or urgency.
Appositive
Definition
A word or group of words placed beside a noun or noun substitute to supplement its meaning.
Example
“Bob, the lumber yard worker, spoke with Judy, an accountant from the city.”
Effect
The function of appositive in literary works is to provide information, which is either essential or additional.
Clause
Definition
A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb.
Example
I eat bananas.
Effect
A clause can often but not always function as an independent sentence.
Independent clause
Definition
It expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence.
Example
It expresses a complete thought, and it can stand alone as a sentence.
Effect
“Waiting to have my car’s oil changed is boring.”
Dependent
Subordinate clause
Definition
It cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent clause.
Example
“Other than baseball, football is my favorite sport.”
Effect
They act as modifiers to the subject of the independent clause.
Balanced sentence
Definition
A sentence in which two parallel elements are set off against each other like equal weights on a scale. Both parts are parallel grammatically.
Example
“If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”
Effect
A balanced sentence gives rhythmical flow to the text.
Compound sentence
Definition
Contains at least two independent clauses but no dependent
clauses.
Example
“The pirate captain lost her treasure map, but she still found the buried treasure.”
Effect
Compound sentences give your writing a faster pace and unite related ideas together.
Complex sentence
Definition
Contains only one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.
Example
‘Salihah didn’t get a treat after dinner, because she didn’t do her homework on time’.
Effect
The complex sentence is an effective way to show that one idea takes precedence over another.
Cumulative sentence
Definition
When the writer begins with an independent clause, then adds subordinate elements.
Example
“We reached Edmonton that morning after a turbulent flight and some exciting.”
Effect
The effect can be natural as it parallels what often happens in speech.
Periodic sentence
Definition
When the main idea is not completed until the end of the sentence.
Example
“His confidence broken, his limbs shaking, his collar wet with perspiration, he doubted whether he could ever again appear before an audience.”
Effect
It produces a dramatic tension and suspense to the main point at the end of the sentence.
Simple sentence
Definition Contains only one independent clause. Example "I was very tired." Effect It can create tension, haste or urgency.
Declarative sentence
Definition
States an idea. It does not give a command or request, nor does it ask a question.
Example
“The ball is round.”
Effect
Declarative sentences make a statement that simply gives the facts or an opinion and end in a period
Imperative sentence
Definition Issues a command. Example “Kick the ball.” Effect To make requests, apologies and complaints more emphatic but also more polite
Interrogative sentence
Definition
Sentences incorporating interrogative pronouns (what, which,
who, whom, and whose).
Example
“Why did you do that to the teacher?”
Effect
To perform speech acts of directly asking a question or making a request.
Style
Definition
The choices in diction, tone, and syntax that a writer makes.
Example
Say an author needs to describe a situation where he witnessed a girl picking a flower: She picked a red rose from the ground. Scarlet was the rose that she plucked from the earth.
Effect
Style may be conscious or unconscious.
Symbol
Definition
Anything that represents or stands for something else.
Example
Whale in Moby Dick, the river and the jungle in Heart of Darkness, and the Raven in “The Raven.”
Effect
Representing an idea, object, or relationship.
Syntax/sentence variety
Definition
Grammatical arrangement of words. This is perhaps one of the most difficult concepts to master.
Example
The boy jumped happily.
Effect
It greatly affects the tone, atmosphere, and meaning of your sentence.
Theme
Definition
The central idea or message of a work.
Example
“love,” “war,” “revenge,” “betrayal,” “patriotism,” “grace,”
Effect
The theme may be directly stated in nonfiction works,
although not necessarily.
Thesis
Definition
The sentence or groups of sentences that directly expresses the author’s opinion, purpose, meaning, or proposition.
Example
World hunger has many causes and effects.
Effect
The thesis states what the writer sees as the main cause, main effect, or various causes and effects of a condition or event.
Tone
Definition A writer's attitude toward his subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language and organization. Example scared. anxious. excited. worried. foolish. smart. depressing. Effect Tone gives shape and life to a story.
Understatement
Definition
The ironic minimizing of fact, understatement presents something as less significant than it is.
Example
“Our defense played valiantly, and held the other team to
merely eight touchdowns in the first quarter.”
Effect
The effect can frequently be humorous.
Litotes
Definition
A particular form of understatement, generated by denying the opposite of the statement which otherwise would be used.
Example
(The flavors of the mushrooms, herbs, and spices combine to make the dish not at all disagreeable).
Effect
Depending on the tone and context of the usage, litotes either
retains the effect of understatement.
Argument
Definition
An argument is a piece of reasoning with one or more premises and a conclusion.
Example
Premise: All Spam is pink
Premise: I am eating Spam
Conclusion: I am eating something that is pink
Effect
An argument (or the thesis to an argument) is also sometimes called a claim, a position, or a stance.
Premises
Definition
Statements offered as reasons to support a conclusion are premises.
Example
Green apples are sour.
Effect
In logical argument, a premise is a statement or assumption on which an argument is based.
Conclusion
Definition
A conclusion is the end result of the argument the main point being made.
Example
Thesis: “Dogs are better pets than cats.”
Paraphrased: “Dogs make the best pets in the world.”
Effect
In an argument one expects that the conclusion will be supported with reasons or premises.
Aristotle’s appeals
Definition
The goal of argumentative writing is to persuade an audience that one’s ideas are valid, or more valid than someone else’s.
Example
(humor, sarcasm, disappointment, excitement, etc.)
Effect
Aristotle taught that a speaker’s ability to persuade an audience is based on how well the speaker appeals to that audience in three different areas: logos, ethos, and pathos.
Ethos (credibility)
Definition
It means being convinced by the credibility of the author. We tend to believe people whom we respect.
Example
As a doctor, I am qualified to tell you that this course of treatment will likely generate the best results.
Effect
In an appeal to ethos, a writer tries to convince the
audience the he or she someone worth listening to, in other words an authority on the subject, as well as someone who is likable and worthy of respect.
Pathos (emotional)
Definition
It means persuading by appealing to the reader’s emotions.
Example
A teenager tries to convince his parents to buy him a new car by saying if they cared about their child’s safety they’d upgrade him.
Effect
An argument that relies too much on emotion, without any corroborating logos, can become a fallacy.
Logos (logical)
Definition
It means persuading by the use of reasoning, using true premises and valid arguments.
Example
All men are mortal. Socrates is a man.
Effect
This is generally considered the strongest form of persuasion.
Concession
Definition
Accepting at least part or all of an opposing viewpoint.
Example
I know that you think I will just use the phone to text during class and call friends instead of doing homework.
Effect
Often used to make one’s own argument
stronger by demonstrating that one is willing to accept what is obviously true and reasonable, even if it is presented by the opposition.
Conditional Statement
Definition
A conditional statement is an if-then statement and consists of two parts, an antecedent and a consequent.
Example
“If you studied hard, then you will pass the test.”
Effect
Premise: If I eat Spam, then I will throw up. (conditional)
Premise: I have eaten Spam.
Conclusion: Ergo, I will throw up.
Contradiction
Definition
A contradiction occurs when one asserts two mutually exclusive propositions.
Example
“Abortion is wrong and abortion is not wrong.”
Effect
I love you and I don’t love you.
Counterexample
Definition
A counterexample is an example that runs counter to (opposes) a generalization, thus falsifying it.
Example
“all prime numbers are odd numbers”
Effect
Premise: Jane argued that all whales are endangered.
Premise: Belugas are a type of whale.
Premise: Belugas are not endangered.
Conclusion: Therefore, Jane’s argument is unsound.
Deductive argument
Definition
An argument in which it is thought that the premises provide a guarantee of the truth of the conclusion.
Example
“All spiders have eight legs. A tarantula is a spider. Therefore, tarantulas have eight legs.”
Effect
In a deductive argument, the premises are intended to provide support for the conclusion that is so strong that, if the premises are true, it would be impossible for the conclusion
to be false.
Fallacy
Definition
A fallacy is an attractive but unreliable piece of reasoning.
Example
“People have been trying for centuries to prove that God exists. But no one has yet been able to prove it. Therefore, God does not exist.”
Effect
Writers do not want to make obvious fallacies in their reasoning, but they are often used unintentionally, or when the writer thinks they can get away with faulty logic.
Ad hominem
Definition
It is an argument that appeals to emotion rather than reason, feeling rather than intellect.
Example
All murderers are criminals, but a thief isn’t a murderer, and so can’t be a criminal.”
Effect
Personally attacking your opponents instead of their
arguments.
Appeal to authority
Definition
The claim that because somebody famous supports an idea, the idea must be right.
Example
A commercial claims that a specific brand of cereal is the best way to start the day because athlete Michael Jordan says that it is what he eats every day for breakfast.
Effect
This fallacy is often used in advertising.
Appeal to the bandwagon
Definition
The claim, as evidence for an idea, that many people believe it, or used to believe it, or do it.
Example
In the 1800’s there was a widespread belief that bloodletting cured sickness.
Effect
Believing something is true or acceptable only because it is popular.
Appeal to emotion
Definition
An attempt to replace a logical argument with an appeal to the audience’s emotions.
Example
A real estate ad that shows a happy young family with children moving into the home of their dreams.
Effect
Common emotional appeals are an appeal to sympathy, an appeal to revenge, an appeal to patriotism basically any emotion can be used as an appeal.
Bad analogy
Definition
Claiming that two situations are highly similar, when they aren’t.
Example
“We have pure
food and drug laws regulating what we put in our bodies; why can’t we have laws to keep musicians from giving us filth for the mind?”
Effect
A weak analogy occurs when a person draws a comparison between two concepts, situations, or things to link them together in an argument.
Cliche thinking
Definition
Using as evidence a well-known saying, as if it is proven, or as if it has no exceptions.
Example
“I say: ‘America: love it or leave it.’ Anyone who disagrees with anything our country does must hate America. So maybe they should just move somewhere else.”
Effect
It can show a lack of original thought, and can make a writer appear unimaginative and lazy.
False cause
Definition
Assuming that because two things happened, the first one caused the second one.
Example
“Before women got the vote, there were no nuclear weapons.
Therefore women’s suffrage must have led to nuclear weapons.”
Effect
The fallacy committed when an argument mistakenly attempts to establish some state of affairs produces the effect of another state of affairs.
Hasty generalization
Definition
A generalization based on too little or unrepresentative data.
Example
“My uncle didn’t go to college, and he makes a lot of money. So, people who don’t go to college do just as well as those who do.”
Effect
They often lead to misinformation and stereotypes.
Non Sequitur
Definition
A conclusion that does not follow from its premises; an invalid argument.
Example
“Hinduism is one of the world’s largest religious groups. It is also one of the world’s oldest religions. Hinduism helps millions of people lead happier, more productive lives. Therefore the
principles of Hinduism must be true.”
Effect
It’s a way to provide comedic effect.
Slippery slope
Definition
The assumption that once started, a situation will continue to its most extreme possible outcome.
Example
“If you drink a glass of wine, then you’ll soon be drinking all the time, and then you’ll become a homeless alcoholic.”
Effect
It can cause moral disengagement.
Inductive argument
Definition
An argument in which it is thought that the premises provide reasons supporting the probable truth of the conclusion.
Example
In the past, ducks have always come to our pond. Therefore, the ducks will come to our pond this summer.
Effect
In an inductive argument, the premises are intended only to be so strong that, if they are true, then it is unlikely that the conclusion is false.
Sound argument
Definition
A deductive argument is said to be sound if it meets two conditions.
Example
Toasters is valid, but not sound.
Effect
First, that the line of
reasoning from the premises to the conclusion is valid. Second, that the premises are true.
Unstated premises
Definition
Not every argument is fully expressed. Sometimes premises or even conclusions are left unexpressed.
Example
Socrates is a human.
Effect
If one argues that Rover is smart because all dogs are smart, he is leaving unstated that Rover is a dog.
Valid argument
Definition
An argument is valid if the conclusion logically follows from the premises.
Example
Premise: Either Elizabeth owns a Honda or she owns a Saturn.
Premise: Elizabeth does not own a Honda.
Premise: Therefore, Elizabeth owns a Saturn.
Effect
In effect, an argument is valid if the truth of the premises logically guarantees the truth of the conclusion.
