AP Lang. Vocab. Flashcards
Anecdote
a short, simple narrative of an incident, often used for humorous effect or to make a point
Argumentation
writing that attempts to prove the validity point of a view or an idea by presenting “reasoned” arguments; Persuasive is a form of it
Allegory
an extended narrative of an incident prose or verse in which characters, events, or settings represent abstract qualities and in which the writer intends a second meaning maybe a moral, religious, political, social, or satiric
Annotation
Explanatory notes added to a text to explain lexical structure to add understanding to the authors purpose, cite sources, or give bibliographic data. In AP language, you will need to demonstrate detailed annotation on most of your readings as a developmental goal
Antithesis
concentration of 2 consisting images. The ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraphs. ‘ To be or not to be.’ ‘ Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country’
Rhetoric
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 the AP Language Program.
Colloquialism
word or phrase used in everyday conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing (y’all, ain’t, somethin’)
Connotation
an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.
Consonance
Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.
caricature
descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a person’s appearance or a facet of personality.
Coherence
quality of a piece of writing in which all the parts contribute to the development of the central idea, theme, or organizing principle
Aphorism
a short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life
Apostrophe
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 abstraction
cacophony
also referred to dissonance… hard, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or pose; the opposite of euphony
Denotation
The dictionary definition of a word
Enumeration
rhetorical device used for listing the details or a process of mentioning words or phrases step by step. Type of amplification or division in which a subject is distributed into components or parts. Writers use this to clarify and detail understanding
Analogy
comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared to another thing that is quite different from it. Aims at exclaiming idea or thing by comparing it to something that is familiar.
Parallelism
the use of successive verbal constructions in poetry or prose that correspond in grammatical structure, sound, meter, meaning, etc.
Allusion
Brief and indirect reference to a person, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, literacy, or political significance. Does not describe in detail the person or thing to which it refers
Metonymy
replaces name of person, place, thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated; not a metaphor, not creating comparison.
Anaphora
In writing or speech, the deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect
