ap glossary flash cards
Active Voice
- The subject of the sentence performs the action.
Active Voice
“Anthony drove while Toni searched for the house.”
Active Voice
It helps make the text more life like.
Allusion
An indirect reference to something with which the reader is supposed to be familiar.
Allusion
literary text
Allusion
give a deeper meaning to a story by referring to another piece of work that most are familiar with.
Alter-ego
A character that is used by the author to speak the author’s own thoughts; when an author
speaks directly to the audience through a character.
Alter-ego
In Shakespeare’s last play, The Tempest, Shakespeare
talks to his audience about his own upcoming retirement, through the main character in the play, Prospero.
Alter-ego
it brings personality to the text.
Anecdote
A brief recounting of a relevant episode.
Anecdote
Anecdotes are often inserted into fictional or non
fictional texts
Anecdote
a way of developing a point or injecting humor.
Antecedent
The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.
Antecedent
“If I
could command the wealth of all the world by lifting my finger, I would not pay such a price for it.”
Antecedent
it helps when the pronouns are getting repetitive.
Classicism
Art or literature characterized by a realistic view of people and the world; sticks to traditional
themes and structures
Classicism
Examples of this appeal to classicism included Dante, Petrarch, and Shakespeare in poetry and theatre.
Classicism
it opens up a perspective to different worlds and historical perspectives.
Comic relief
when a humorous scene is inserted into a serious story,
Comic relief
The “gatekeeper scene” in Macbeth is an example of comic relief.
Comic relief
in order to lighten the mood
somewhat.
Diction
Word choice, particularly as an element of style. Different types of words have significant effects
on meaning.
Diction
An essay written in academic diction would be much less colorful, but perhaps more precise
than street slang.
Diction
This shows significance on specific parts of the text and can show how important things are.
Colloquial
Ordinary or familiar type of conversation. A “colloquialism” is a common or
familiar type of saying, similar to an adage or an aphorism.
Colloquial
ya’ll is an example of colloquial
Colloquial
it helps people understand what is being said in a more modern way.
Connotation
the associations suggested by a
word. Implied meaning rather than literal meaning.
Connotation
“policeman,” “cop,” and “The
Man”
Connotation
connotation helps people know what youre talking about if you do not know the literal meaning of a word but you know the connotation.
Denotation
The literal, explicit meaning of a word, without its connotations.
Denotation
The girl was blue. You mean the girl was quite literally the color blue.
Denotation
This shows the straight to the point words with no down play.
Jargon
The diction used by a group which practices a similar profession or activity.
Jargon
Lawyers
speak using particular jargon, as do soccer players.
Jargon
This helps the readers with the same interest understand what is being said
Vernacular
- Language or dialect of a particular country. 2. Language or dialect of a regional
clan or group. 3. Plain everyday speech
Vernacular
The way you sound talking
Vernacular
This shows were the author is from in a sort.
Didactic
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.
Didactic
Pilgrim’s Progress (By John Bunyan)
Didactic
the idea that different forms of art and literature ought to convey information and instructions, along with pleasure and entertainment.
Adage
A folk saying with a lesson.
Adage
“A penny saved is a penny earned.”
Adage
this is important to text because it’s a sweet and short lesson that isn’t hard to understand, its more likely to be used
Allegory
A story, fictional or non fictional, in which characters, things, and events represent
qualities or concepts.
Allegory
Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is an allegory.
Allegory
The interaction of these characters, things, and events is meant to reveal an
abstraction or a truth.
Aphorism
A terse statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle.
Aphorism
“God helps them that help themselves,”
Aphorism
principle. An aphorism
can be a memorable summation of the author’s point.
Ellipsis
The deliberate omission of a word or phrase from prose done for effect by the author. “The
Ellipsis
“The whole
day, rain, torrents of rain.”
Ellipsis
used to show
omitted text in a quotation.
Euphemism
A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts.
Euphemism
“Physically challenged,” in place of “crippled.”
Euphemism
this places more emphasis on the word/situation
Figurative Language
the opposite:
writing that is not meant to be taken literally.
Figurative Language
Simile.
Metaphor.
Personification.
Onomatopoeia.
Figurative Language
They bring more actions to the text or speech
Analogy
An analogy is a comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set of variables.
Analogy
“America is to the world as the
hippo is to the jungle.”
Analogy
it brings in a way of saying things and comparing them.
Hyperbole
exxageration
Hyperbole
“My mother will kill me if I am late.”
Hyperbole
this brings focus to a part if the text and makes the situation seem bigger.
Idiom
A common, often used expression that doesn’t make sense if you take it literally.
Idiom
“I got
chewed out by my coach.”
Idiom
this brings a funniness to the text
Metaphor
Making an implied comparison, not using “like,” as,” or other such words.
Metaphor
“My feet
are popsicles.”
Metaphor
help the reader understand something they otherwise might not have
Metonymy
Replacing an actual word or idea, with a related word or concept.
Metonymy
“Relations
between London and Washington have been strained,”
Metonymy
Metonymy allows us to make a closely related substitute to add interest.
Synecdoche
A kind of metonymy when a whole is represented by naming one of its parts, or vice versa.
Synecdoche
“The cattle rancher owned 500 head.”
Synecdoche
Synecdoches allow speakers to emphasize certain parts of a whole, highlighting their importance by substituting them for the whole
Simile
Using words such as “like” or “as” to make a direct comparison between two very different things.
Simile
“My feet are so cold they feel like popsicles.”
Simile
Similes make descriptions vivid by comparing their subjects with known events or things.
Synesthesia
a description involving a “crossing of the senses.”
Synesthesia
“A purplish scent
filled the room.”
Synesthesia
is a neat way to study differences in perception
Personification
Giving human-like qualities to something that is not human.
Personification
“The tired old truck
groaned as it inched up the hill.”
Personification
This brings a light to the text
Foreshadowing
When an author gives hints about what will occur later in a story.
Foreshadowing
Dialogue, such as “I have a bad feeling about this”
Foreshadowing
is a key tool for writers to build dramatic tension and suspense throughout their stories
Genre
The major category into which a literary work fits.
Genre
biography
Genre
This helps you tell what type of text you are reading
Gothic
Writing characterized by gloom, mystery, fear and/or death.
Gothic
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)
Gothic
This is a type of writing it can help show serious sadness
Imagery
Word or words that create a picture in the reader’s mind.
Imagery
The old man took the handful of dust, and sifted it through his fingers.
Imagery
Shows a mental picture for the reader to understand
Invective
A long, emotionally violent, attack using strong, abusive language.
Invective
King Lear (By William Shakespeare)
Invective
arouse negative emotion in the audience as well as the target of the insult.
Irony
When the opposite of what you expect to happen does.
Irony
A fire station burns down
Irony
Authors can use irony to make their audience stop and think about what has just been said, or to emphasize a central idea.
Verbal irony
When you say something and mean the opposite/something different.
Verbal irony
if your gym teacher wants you to run a mile in eight minutes or faster, but calls it a “walk in the
park”
Verbal irony
it brings sarcasm to the text
Dramatic irony
When the audience of a drama, play, movie, etc. knows something that the
character doesn’t and would be surprised to find out. For
Dramatic irony
For 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.
Dramatic irony
It helps carry the story when you know thats gonna happen and you can see the story play out how you think or something completely different
Situational irony
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.
Situational irony
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).
Situational irony
this can make you rethink how you see things at first because of the complete change.
Juxtaposition
Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison.
Juxtaposition
Authors often use juxtaposition
of ideas or examples in order to make a point.
Juxtaposition
For 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
Mood
The atmosphere created by the literature and accomplished through word choice (diction).
Mood
This light-hearted, happy mood is shown with descriptions of laughter, upbeat song, delicious smells, and bright colors.
Mood
moods show how the author is feeling towards situations
Motif
a recurring idea in a piece of literature.
Motif
literature. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the idea that “you never really
understand another person until you consider things from his or her point of view”
Motif
This helps set the theme for the passage in my thinking
Oxymoron
When apparently contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox
Oxymoron
jumbo shrimp
Oxymoron
can add color, humor, and meaning to language in all sorts of ways.
Pacing
The speed or tempo of an author’s writing.
Pacing
words. An author’s pacing can be fast,
sluggish, stabbing, vibrato, staccato, measured, etc.
Pacing
pacing brings along how the writing feels so this adds effects to the writing.
Paradox
A seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true.
Paradox
“You can’t get a job without
experience, and you can’t get experience without getting a job.”
Paradox
used to engage a reader to discover an underlying logic in a seemingly self-contradictory statement or phrase
Parallelism
Sentence construction which
places equal grammatical constructions near each other, or repeats identical grammatical patterns.
Parallelism
“Cinderella swept the
floor, dusted the mantle, and beat the rugs.”
Parallelism
it allows a writer to achieve a sense of rhythm and order
Anaphora
- Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences or
clauses in a row.
Anaphora
This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer’s point more
coherent.
Anaphora
“I came, I saw, I conquered.”
Chiasmus
When the same words are used twice in succession, but the second time, the order of
the words is reversed.
Chiasmus
“Fair is foul and foul is fair.”
Chiasmus
creates a highly symmetrical structure, and gives the impression of completeness
Antithesis
Two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, or even ideas, with parallel
structure.
Antithesis
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”
Antithesis
The purpose of using an antithesis in literature is to create a balance between opposite qualities and lend a greater insight into the subject
Zuegma (Syllepsis)
- 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.
