AP Lang Comp Vocab

Question 1

Exigence

Answer 1

Situation of the piece

Question 2

Rhetorical Structure

Answer 2

How a subject is presented

Question 3

Tone

Answer 3

The attitude towards the subject

Question 4

Simile

Answer 4

Comparison using “like” or “as”

Question 5

Metaphor

Answer 5

Implied comparison

Question 6

Extended Metaphor

Answer 6

Metaphor that continues through more than one sentence

Question 7

Personification

Answer 7

Inanimate objects are treated as if they had human attributes

Question 8

Synecdoche

Answer 8

A part of something represents the whole

Question 9

Metonymy

Answer 9

Name for something substituted with something closely associated with it

Question 10

Verbal Irony

Answer 10

Implying a meaning different from the one that is explicitly stated

Question 11

Situational Irony

Answer 11

An outcome different from the expected

Question 12

Dramatic Irony

Answer 12

When the audience knows something the characters don’t

Question 13

Hyperbole

Answer 13

An exaggerated statement

Question 14

Understatement

Answer 14

When a point is deliberately expressed as less than it actually is

Question 15

Paradox

Answer 15

A statement that appears to be contradictory, but actually expressed a truth

Question 16

Oxymoron

Answer 16

A compressed paradox

Question 17

Pun

Answer 17

A play on words that have the same sound or similar sounds but have sharply contrasted meanings

Question 18

Apostrophe

Answer 18

Addressing a dead or absent person or an inanimate object or abstract concept

Question 19

Rhetorical question

Answer 19

When a question is posed without expecting an answer, but instead expecting you to think

Question 20

Hypophora

Answer 20

When one or more question is asked and then answered by the speaker

Question 21

Anaphora

Answer 21

Intentional repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of lines, stanzas, sentences, or paragraphs

Question 22

Antithesis

Answer 22

Where the words or phrases that are parallel in order and syntax express opposite or contrasting meanings

Question 23

Chiasmus

Answer 23

When two successive phrases or clauses are parallel in syntax but reverse in order of the analogous words

Question 24

Syntax

Answer 24

Word order, punctuation, sentence length, and sentence structure

Question 25

Persona

Answer 25

A role or character adopted by an author or an actor

Question 26

Diction

Answer 26

The word choice and phrasing in a piece

Question 27

Colloquial

Answer 27

Regional ways of using language appropriate in informal speech and writing

Question 28

Jargon

Answer 28

Words and expressions of a particular trade, profession, or pursuit

Question 29

Dialect

Answer 29

Part of a language with its own vocabulary and grammar

Question 30

Abstract Diction

Answer 30

Describing intangible things

Question 31

Concrete Diction

Answer 31

Describing physical qualities or conditions

Question 32

Allegory

Answer 32

Using something to hint at an abstraction in addition to the symbols’ literal meaning

Question 33

Allusion

Answer 33

A reference in a piece to something that the author assumes the reader knows

Question 34

Epiphany

Answer 34

A sudden spiritual manifestation of the significance of something

Question 35

Diacope

Answer 35

Repetition of a word or phrase after an intervening word or phrase

Question 36

Natural Symbols

Answer 36

Things in nature used to represent ideas commonly associated with them

Question 37

Conventional Symbols

Answer 37

Symbols in a given culture that are widespread

Question 38

Literary Symbols

Answer 38

Found in a variety found works and are generally recognized

Question 39

Invective Adjective

Answer 39

An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong abusive language

Question 40

Euphonious Diction

Answer 40

Pleasant sounding language

Question 41

Cacophonous Diction

Answer 41

Harsh sounding language

Question 42

Aphorism

Answer 42

A statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth

Question 43

Euphemism

Answer 43

Substitutes for a generally unpleasant word or concept