AP Midterm Terms

Question 1

alliteration

Answer 1

the repetition of a similar consonant sound in words in sentence; usually the sound at the beginning of the sentence

Question 2

allusion

Answer 2

an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference

Question 3

amorous

Answer 3

showing, feeling, or relating to sexual desire

Question 4

anaphora

Answer 4

A rhetorical device where a word, or group of words, is repeated in consecutive clauses

Question 5

apostrophe

Answer 5

a writer or a speaker detaches himself from the reality and addresses an imaginary character in his speech; ex; the dagger speech

Question 6

argumentative

Answer 6

a tone that argues a point, like persuasive but more combattive

Question 7

assonance

Answer 7

the close repetition of middle vowel sounds between different consonant sounds; ex. fAde/pAle; pEt/wEst

Question 8

atmosphere

Answer 8

the setting, people in the setting, everything that sets the scene for the story to be told in

Question 9

bathos

Answer 9

When a writer who is intending to be pathetic, exceeds a limit and descends into the ridiculous. An exaggerated form of PATHOS

Question 10

caricature

Answer 10

a ludicrous or grotesque version of ones self, almost like a visual parody of that person

Question 11

carnal

Answer 11

relating to physical, especially sexual, needs and desires

Question 12

colloquial

Answer 12

language used in familiar and casual conversation as opposed to more elaborate words most frequently found in literature

Question 13

concrete diction/abstract diction

Answer 13

the concrete way it is written vs the writing that speaks on things other than the five senses

Question 14

couplet

Answer 14

a pair of lines in meter, used to separate the stanza of poetry, they each have an end that implies only a grammatical pause, but not the end of the sentence

Question 15

coy

Answer 15

playfully shy

Question 16

craven

Answer 16

lacking in courage, cowardly

Question 17

denotation/connotation

Answer 17

the concrete definition of a word
vs
the loose, more casual or more often associated definition of that word

Question 18

dialogue

Answer 18

words spoken between two characters

Question 19

diction

Answer 19

style of speaking or writing as dependent upon choice of words

Question 20

digressive

Answer 20

something that wanders away from the main topic, distracts from the development of the main point and the plot
ex; Updike’s excessive writing

Question 21

dramatic monologue

Answer 21

a type of poetry where a single character is overheard, revealing a dramatic situation

Question 22

elegy

Answer 22

a poem of serious reflection, usually for the lamenting of the dead

Question 23

euphemism

Answer 23

a mild or indirect word often substituting another, in order to make something look less harsh

Question 24

evocation

Answer 24

the action of bringing forth something through writing, like an idea or a memory

Question 25

extended metaphor

Answer 25

a metaphor sustained over several lines or that becomes the controlling image of the entire poem or passage

Question 26

hyperbole

Answer 26

Overstatement, deliberate over exaggeration for effect; “Let’s eat, I’m starving”

Question 27

iconoclast

Answer 27

a person who attacks cherished beliefs and institutions; a skeptic

Question 28

imminence

Answer 28

the state of being imminent or impending

Question 29

impotent

Answer 29

not powerful, unable to attain or sustain an erection

Question 30

incorrigible

Answer 30

unable to be corrected, improved or reformed

Question 31

interrogative sentence

Answer 31

a sentence thats a question

Question 32

juxtaposition

Answer 32

a literary technique in which two or more ideas, places, characters and their actions are placed side by side in a narrative or a poem for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts

Question 33

litotes

Answer 33

is a more specific form of ironical understatement that affirms something by stating its opposite;“She’s no fool.” “He’s not hard to look at.”

Question 34

magnanimity

Answer 34

generosity

Question 35

metonymy

Answer 35

A figure of speech where one word is substituted for another, often times because of the association the word has.
ex; “The pen is mightier than the sword”

Question 36

modes of discourse

Answer 36

the four basic types of writing; narration, description, exposition, and argumentation.

Question 37

parallelism

Answer 37

the use of successive verbal constructions in poetry or prose that correspond in grammatical structure, sound, meter, meaning, etc.

Question 38

logos

Answer 38

an appeal to logic

Question 39

pathos

Answer 39

an appeal to emotion

Question 40

ethos

Answer 40

an appeal to ethics (moral principles)

Question 41

quaint

Answer 41

nice and pleasureful, also reference to the C word in older rhetoric, so used a lot when describing a woman

Question 42

reiteration

Answer 42

a repetition or rephrasing of a point or phrase

Question 43

ruminate

Answer 43

to think deeply about something

Question 44

speculative

Answer 44

based on conjecture rather than knowledge

Question 45

strife

Answer 45

angry or bitter disagreement over fundamental issues

Question 46

subordinate clause

Answer 46

a clause, typically introduced by a conjunction, that forms part of and is dependent on a main clause

Question 47

synecdoche

Answer 47

A figure of speech in which a part of something stands for a whole thing; “I’ve got wheels. Want a ride?”

Question 48

synesthesia

Answer 48

a technique used to present ideas, characters or places in such a manner that they appeal to more than one senses like hearing, seeing, smell, etc; A person seeing alphabets and also smelling them; one sense triggers another; “back to the region where the sun is silent…”

Question 49

syntax

Answer 49

the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language

Question 50

didactic

Answer 50

excessively instructive in writing

Question 51

discursive

Answer 51

digressing from subject to subject

Question 52

oratory

Answer 52

exaggerated, eloquent, or highly colored language

Question 53

oxymoron

Answer 53

a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction (e.g., faith unfaithful kept him falsely true ).

Question 54

paradox

Answer 54

a statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory.