AP Vocab 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 a point of view or an idea by presenting “reasoned” arguments; persuasive writing is a 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 satric.

Question 4

annotation

Answer 4

explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources, or give bibliographic data. In AP language you will need to demonstrate detailed annotation on most of your readings.

Question 5

Antithesis

Answer 5

the presentation of two contrasting 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, but what you can do for your country”

Question 6

rhetoric

Answer 6

the art of effective or persuasive writing or speaking, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. this is the core of the AP language program

Question 7

colloquialism

Answer 7

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

Question 8

connotation

Answer 8

words suggesting implied meaning because of it’s association in a readers mind. this is the opposite of denotation

Question 9

consanance

Answer 9

repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximity. boot/beat/beat/brag, or even compound words, fulfill, or ping-pong.

Question 10

caricature

Answer 10

descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a persons 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 principal

Question 12

aphorism

Answer 12

a short, often witty, statement of a principal or truth about life. Benjamin Franklin was somewhat famous for these in Pour Richards 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 abstraction.

Question 14

cacophony

Answer 14

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

Question 15

connotation

Answer 15

an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

Question 16

denotation

Answer 16

the literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.

Question 17

enumeration

Answer 17

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 disturbed into components or parts. Writers use this to clarify and detail understanding

Question 18

analogy

Answer 18

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

Question 19

parallelism

Answer 19

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 conversations

Question 20

allusion

Answer 20

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 to which it refers. It is just a passing comment and the writer expects the reader to posses enough knowledge to spot the allusion and grasp its importance in the text.