AP Lang Notes 1-20

Question 1

anecdote

Answer 1

a short, simple narrative of an incident, often used for humorous effect or to make a point.

Question 2

argumentation

Answer 2

writing that attempts to prove the validity of view or an idea by presenting “reasoned” arguments; persuasive writing is s form of argumentation and is the focus of the AP Language and Composition Program

Question 3

allegory

Answer 3

an EXTENDED NARRATIVE of an incident in PROSE or VERSE in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities and in which the writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface of the story; the underlying meaning may be moral, religious, political, social or satiric

Question 4

annotations

Answer 4

explanatory notes added to a text to explain, site sources, or give bibliographic data. in AP Language you will need to DEMOSTRATE DETAILED ANNOTATION on most of your readings

Question 5

antithesis

Answer 5

the presentation of 2 contrasting images. the ideas are balanced by words, phrase, clause, or paragraphs. “to be or not to be…”, “ask not what can your country do for you, ask what can you do for your country.”

Question 6

rhetoric

Answer 6

the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. this is the CORE of AP Language Program

Question 7

colloquialism

Answer 7

a word or phrase (including slang) use in everyday conversations and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing. (y’all, ain’t, can’t, somethin’)

Question 8

connotation

Answer 8

words suggestion implied meaning because of its association in a reader’s mind. Opposite of “denotation”

Question 9

consonance

Answer 9

repetition of identical consonant sounds within 2 or more words in close proximity: boot/beat/best/brag, or even composed words, fulfill, ping-pong

Question 10

caricature

Answer 10

descriptive writing that exaggerates a specific feature of a person’s appearance or a facet of personality

Question 11

coherence

Answer 11

the “quality” of a piece of writing in which all the parts contribute to the development of the central idea/theme or organizing principle

Question 12

aphorism

Answer 12

a short, often witty, statement of a principle or truth about life. Benjamin Franklin was somewhat famous for these in Poor Richard’s Almanac, e.g. “ the early bird gets the worm.”

Question 13

apostrophe

Answer 13

usually in poetry, but sometimes in prose: the device of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person or to a place, thing, or personified abstract

Question 14

cacophony

Answer 14

also referred to as DISSONANCE… hard, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose; the opposite of EUPHONY

Question 15

connotation/denotation

Answer 15

connotation is NOT the literal or primary meaning of a word; denotation IS the literal or primary meaning of a word

Question 16

enumeration

Answer 16

a rhetorical device used for listing the details or a process of mentioning words or phrases step by step, In fact, it is a type of amplification or division in which a subject is further distributed into components or parts. writers use this to clarify and detail understanding

Question 17

analogy

Answer 17

a comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared to another things that is quite different from it. it aims at the explaining that an idea or thing by comparing it to something that is familiar

Question 18

parallelism

Answer 18

the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning, or meter. parallelism examples are found in literary works as well as in ordinary conversation
-like father, like son

Question 19

allusion

Answer 19

a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. it does not describe in detail the person or thing in which it refers. it is just a passing comment & the writers expects

Question 20

metomymy

Answer 20

a figure of speech that replaces the name of something else with which it is closely associated. we can come across examples both from literature & everyday life