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AP English > AP Test Vocabulary > Flashcards

AP Test Vocabulary Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

Alliteration

A

Sound device; repetition of beginning consonant sounds

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2
Q

Allusion

A

Figure of speech that makes a brief reference to an historical or literary figure, event, or object

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3
Q

Anachronism

A

Something out of its place in time or history (ex: Julius Caesar riding a motorcycle)

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4
Q

Anapest

A

Meter having two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable

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5
Q

Anaphora

A

The repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases for rhetorical or poetic effect

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6
Q

Anticlimax

A

The intentional use of elevated language to describe the trivial or common place

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7
Q

Anti-Hero

A

A protagonist who is the antithesis of the hero

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8
Q

Aphorism

A

Brief statement that expresses an observation on life, usually intended as a wise observation

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9
Q

Apostrophe

A

Addressing someone or something, usually not present, as though present (speaking directly to something non-human)

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10
Q

Apotheosis

A

A larger than life presence

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11
Q

Aside

A

A statement delivered by an actor in such a way that the other characters onstage are presumed not to have heard him

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12
Q

Assonance

A

Similarity or repetition of a vowel sound in two or more words, especially in a line or verse

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13
Q

Asyndeton

A

The omission of conjunctions that ordinarily join coordinate words and phrases

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14
Q

Bathos

A

An unintentional anticlimax through a shift from the sublime to the ridiculous which can result from the use of overly elevated language to describe trivial subject matter

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15
Q

Blank Verse

A

Unrhymed iambic pentameter metrical verse with no ending rhyme (Shakespeare)

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16
Q

Cacophony

A

A combination of harsh, unpleasant sounds which creates an effect of discordance

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17
Q

Caesura

A

A pause for effect in the middle of a line of poetry

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18
Q

Chiasmus

A

Repetition in successive clauses which are usually parallel in syntax (ex: “to stop too fearful, and to faint to go”)

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19
Q

Conceit

A

An extended metaphor, two unlike things that are compared in several different ways

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20
Q

Concrete Poetry

A

Where the actual typeset layout of the poem suggests the topic (ex: a poem about trees with words shaped like a tree)

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21
Q

Consonance

A

The repetition of consonant sounds with differing vowel sounds in words near each other in a line or lines of poetry

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22
Q

Couplet

A

A pair of rhyming lines written in the same meter; may be a separate stanza

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23
Q

Dactyl

A

Three syllable thing consisting of an accent syllable followed by the unaccented syllable

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24
Q

Deus Ex Machina

A

An unexpected, artificial, or improbably character, device, or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction or dram to resolve a situation or untangle a plot

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25
Q

Diction

A

An author’s choice of words

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26
Q

Didactic Verse

A

A term for a poem that teach, almost preaches

27
Q

Dramatic Irony

A

Irony in which the character use words which mean one thing to them but another to those who understand the situation better

28
Q

Elegy

A

Lyrical poem about death

29
Q

End Rhyme

A

Schematic rhyme that comes at the ends of lines of verse

30
Q

End Stop Line

A

Line in poetry that ends with a complete pause created by punctuation

31
Q

Enjambment

A

line of verse that carries over into the next line without a pause of any kind

32
Q

Epigram

A

a witty saying, usually at the end of a poem

33
Q

Epithet

A

A nickname or appellation

34
Q

Euphony

A

a quality of style marked by pleasing, harmonious sounds

35
Q

Eye Rhyme

A

a form of rhyme wherein the look rather than the sound is important “cough” and “tough”

36
Q

False Dictionary

A

two extremes in a continuum of intermediate possibilities

37
Q

Free Verse

A

unrhymed poetry with lines of varying lengths containing no specific metrical pattern

38
Q

Hamartia

A

A tragic flaw or error in judgment

39
Q

Homily

A

A long speech denouncing someone or something

40
Q

Hyperbole

A

Overstatement

41
Q

Gustatory Imagery

A

Imagery appealing to the sense of taste

42
Q

In Medias Res

A

The story starts in the middle

43
Q

Internal Rhyme

A

Rhyming within lines of verse instead of at the ends of lines

44
Q

Inversion

A

Reversal of the normal order of words and phrases in a sentence (ex: adjective after a noun)

45
Q

Inverted Sentence

A

Reversing the normal subject-verb compliment order

46
Q

Lampoon

A

A biting satire that makes its subject appear ludicrous

47
Q

Litotes

A

A type of understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative contrary

48
Q

Metaphor

A

A figure of speech wherein a comparison is made between two unlikely quatities without using “like” or “as”

49
Q

Metonymy

A

Substituting a word naming an object for another word closely associated with it (ex: pay tribute to the crown)

50
Q

Motif (Leitmotiv)

A

A recurring concept or story element in literature

51
Q

Paralipsis

A

Withholding to the end some piece of information crucial to the reader’s understanding

52
Q

Pathos

A

Greek term for deep emotion, passion, or suffering

53
Q

Paradox

A

Statement that is self contradictory but makes sense; irony is often built into a paradox

54
Q

Personification

A

Figure of speech in which inanimate objects are given qualities of humans

55
Q

Polysyndeton

A

The repetition of a number of conjunctions in close succession

56
Q

Pun

A

A play on words wherein a word is used to convey two meanings at the same time

57
Q

Satire

A

Ridicule the subject of the work

58
Q

Simile

A

A figure of speech which takes the form of a comparison between two things using “like” or “as”

59
Q

Syllepsis

A

Expression used to perform two syntactic functions (ex: the soldier emerged in dust and glory)

60
Q

Synecdoche

A

A figure of speech in which a part of something stands for the whole or the whole part (ex: wheels for an automobile)

61
Q

Tone

A

Expresses the author’s attitude toward his or her subject

62
Q

Verbal Irony

A

A kind of irony in which words are used to suggest the opposite of their actual meaning

63
Q

Villanelle

A

A poem with five triplets and a final quatrain

64
Q

Zeugma

A

A figure of speech in which a word applies to two others in different sense (ex: John and his license expired last week) or to two other of which it semantically suits only one (ex: with weeping eyes and hearts)

AP English (1 decks)

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