AP Lang "bible" Definitions

Question 1

Ad hominem

Answer 1

In an argument an attack on the person rather than on the opponents ideas. It comes from the Latin meaning “against the man.”

Question 2

Allegory

Answer 2

A work that functions on a symbolic level

Question 3

Anecdote

Answer 3

A story or brief episode told by the writer or character to illustrate a point

Question 4

Antecedent

Answer 4

The word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers. The AP English Language and composition exam often expects you to identify the antecedent in a passage

Question 5

Antithesis

Answer 5

The presentation of two contrasting images. The ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraph. “To be or not to be…” “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Question 6

Cacophony

Answer 6

Harsh and discordant sounds in a line or passage in a literary work.

Question 7

Colloquial

Answer 7

The use of slang in writing, often to create local color and to provide an informal tone

Question 8

Connective tissue

Answer 8

Those elements that help create coherence in a written piece

Question 9

Deduction

Answer 9

The process of moving from a general rule to a specific example

Question 10

Didactic

Answer 10

Writing whose purpose is to instruct or to teach. A didactic work is usually formal, and focuses on moral or ethnic concerns

Question 11

Discourse

Answer 11

Discussion of a specific topic

Question 12

Epigraph

Answer 12

The use of a quotation at the beginning of a work that hints at its theme.

Question 13

Euphony

Answer 13

The pleasant, mellifluous presentation of sounds in a literary work

Question 14

Abstract

Answer 14

Refers to language that describes concepts rather than concrete images

Question 15

Exposition

Answer 15

Background information presented in a literary work

Question 16

Extended metaphor

Answer 16

A sustained comparison often referred to as conceit. The extended metaphor is developed throughout a piece of writing

Question 17

Hyperbole

Answer 17

Extreme exaggeration, often humorous, it can also be ironic; the opposite of an understatement

Question 18

Induction

Answer 18

The process that moves from a given series of specifics to a generalization

Question 19

Inference

Answer 19

A conclusion one can draw from the presented details

Question 20

Invective

Answer 20

A verbally abusive attack

Question 21

Logical fallacy

Answer 21

A mistake in reasoning

Question 22

Metonymy

Answer 22

A figure of speech in which a representative term is used for a larger idea

Question 23

Motif

Answer 23

The repetition or variations of an image or idea in a work used to develop theme or characters

Question 24

Literary pacing

Answer 24

How fast the piece is moving from one point to another

Question 25

Parable

Answer 25

A story that operates on more than one level and usually teaches a moral lesson

Question 26

Pedantic

Answer 26

Term used to describe writing that borders on lecturing. It is scholarly and academic and often overly difficult and distant

Question 27

Periodic sentence

Answer 27

Presents it’s main clause at the end of the sentence for emphasis and sentence variety. Phrases and/or dependent clauses precede the main clause

Question 28

Reductio ad absurdum

Answer 28

The Latin for “to reduce to the absurd.” This is a technique useful in creating a comic effect and is also an argumentative technique. It is considered rhetorical fallacy, because it reduces an argument to an either/or choice.

Question 29

Syllogism

Answer 29

The format of a formal argument that consists or a major premise, minor premise, and conclusion

Question 30

Synecdoche

Answer 30

A figure of speech that utilizes a part as representative of the whole.

Question 31

Synthesis

Answer 31

Locating a number of sources and integrating them into the development and support of a writer’s thesis/claim