AP Vocab

Question 1

abstract

Answer 1

abstract refers to language that describes concepts rather than observable or specific things, people,
or places

Question 2

active voice

Answer 2

active voice the opposite of passive voice, essentially any sentence where the subject of the sentence
performs the action

Question 3

ad hominem

Answer 3

in an argument, this is an attack on the person rather than the opponent’s ideas

Question 4

allegory

Answer 4

a narrative that functions on a symbolic level

Question 5

alliteration

Answer 5

the repetition of initial consonant sounds at the beginning of several words in a phrase
or sentence

Question 6

allusion

Answer 6

a reference to the cultural canon such as the Bible, Shakespeare, classical mythology, etc.

Question 7

ambiguity

Answer 7

the presence of two or more possible meanings in a word or metaphor

Question 8

anachronism

Answer 8

something out of place in time or sequence

Question 9

anadiplosis

Answer 9

repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause

Question 10

analogy

Answer 10

a literary device employed to signify a relational comparison of or similarity between two
objects or ideas

Question 11

anaphora

Answer 11

deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of two or more poetic lines,
prose sentences, clauses, or paragraphs

Question 12

anastrophe

Answer 12

inversion of the natural or usual word order to achieve emphasis in a sentence or line of
poetry

Question 13

anecdote

Answer 13

a story or brief episode told by the writer or character to illustrate a point, introduce an
issue, etc

Question 14

annotation

Answer 14

explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources, or give bibliographical data

Question 15

antecedent

Answer 15

the word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun

Question 16

anthology

Answer 16

a collection of literary pieces

Question 17

anthropomorphism

Answer 17

the attribution of human-like characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, or
forces of nature

Question 18

anticipating audience reaction

Answer 18

a rhetorical technique often used to convince an audience of the
soundness of your argument by stating the arguments that one’s opponent is likely to give and then
answering these arguments even before that opponent has a chance to voice them

Question 19

anticlimax

Answer 19

using a sequence of ideas that abruptly diminish in importance at the end of a sentence

Question 20

antimetabole

Answer 20

repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order to reinforce
antithesis

Question 21

antithesis

Answer 21

the presentation of two contrasting words, phrases, clauses, or ideas emphasized by
parallel structure

Question 22

aphorism

Answer 22

a concise statement of a principle or precept given in pointed words

Question 23

apostrophe

Answer 23

a figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or personified
abstraction

Question 24

archetype

Answer 24

an original pattern or model after which all things like it are modeled

Question 25

argument from ignorance

Answer 25

an argument stating that something is true because it has never been proven false

Question 26

argument

Answer 26

the combination of reasons and evidence that an author uses to convince an audience of their position

Question 27

Aristotelian appeals

Answer 27

three different methods of appealing to an audience to convince them—ethos, logos, and pathos

Question 28

assertion

Answer 28

a declaration or statement

Question 29

assonance

Answer 29

a type of rhyme in which the vowels in the words are the same but the consonants aren’t

Question 30

asyndeton

Answer 30

deliberate omission of conjunctions between a series of words, phrases, or clauses

Question 31

atmosphere

Answer 31

the emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author’s choice of objects that are described

Question 32

attitude

Answer 32

the author’s personal views or feelings about the subject at hand

Question 33

audience

Answer 33

who the author is directing their message towards

Question 34

autobiography

Answer 34

a person’s story of their own life

Question 35

ballad

Answer 35

a story, often of love or adventure, told in song form

Question 36

bandwagon

Answer 36

also called vox populi, this argument is the “everyone’s doing it” fallacy

Question 37

bathos

Answer 37

the sudden appearance of the commonplace in otherwise elevated matter or style

Question 38

begging the question

Answer 38

this argument occurs when the speaker states a claim that includes a word or phrase that needs to be defined before the argument can proceed

Question 39

biography

Answer 39

a true story about a person’s life written by another person

Question 40

call to action

Answer 40

writing that urges people to action or promotes change

Question 41

cause and effect

Answer 41

a fallacy also known as post hoc ergo propter hoc

Question 42

characterization

Answer 42

techniques a writer uses to create and reveal fictional personalities in a work of literature by describing the character’s appearance, actions, thoughts, and feelings

Question 43

chiasmus

Answer 43

a rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures in order to produce an artistic effect

Question 44

cliché

Answer 44

an overused phrase which has lost its ability to convey meaning

Question 45

coherence

Answer 45

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

Question 46

colloquial expressions

Answer 46

ordinary or familiar type of conversation; often used in order to create local color and provide an informal tone

Question 47

comic relief

Answer 47

the inclusion of a humorous character or scene to contrast with the tragic elements of a work, thereby intensifying the next tragic event

Question 48

compare and contrast

Answer 48

a rhetorical technique for pointing out the similarities and differences between two things

Question 49

compound sentence

Answer 49

also known as a complex sentence, one that contains two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent or subordinate clause

Question 50

conceit

Answer 50

a long, complex metaphor which establishes a striking parallel between two apparently dissimilar things or situations

Question 51

concession

Answer 51

agreeing with the opposing viewpoint on a certain smaller point, but not in the larger argument

Question 52

concrete

Answer 52

language that describes specific, observable things, people, or places, rather than idea or qualities

Question 53

connotation

Answer 53

the implied meaning of a word; emotional shadings attached to a word beyond its literal definition

Question 54

consonance

Answer 54

repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity

Question 55

context

Answer 55

the extra-textual circumstances of a situation

Question 56

counterargument

Answer 56

the argument(s) against the author’s position

Question 57

couplet

Answer 57

two related lines of poetry that often rhyme

Question 58

deductive reasoning

Answer 58

a form of logical reasoning wherein a general principle is applied to a specific case; the process of moving from a general rule to a specific example

Question 59

denotation

Answer 59

the literal, dictionary definition of a meaning of a word

Question 60

description

Answer 60

to re-create, invent, or visually present a person, place, event, or action so that the reader can picture what’s being described

Question 61

devices

Answer 61

the figures of speech, syntax, diction, and other stylistic elements that collectively produce a particular artistic effect

Question 62

dialect

Answer 62

a regional speech pattern; the way people talk in different parts of the world

Question 63

diction

Answer 63

word choice; generally tailored to be appropriate to the audience and situation; helps create the tone, attitude, and style

Question 64

didactic

Answer 64

text with an instructive purpose, often moral

Question 65

discourse

Answer 65

verbal expression or exchange; conversation

Question 66

doggerel

Answer 66

verse made comic because irregular metrics are made regular by stressing normally unstressed syllables

Question 67

double entendre

Answer 67

a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways, with the first often being straightforward and the other often risqué or ironic

Question 68

double-bind

Answer 68

a situation of conflict from which there is no escape; an irresolvable dilemma

Question 69

doublespeak

Answer 69

in general, language used to distort and manipulate rather than communicate elegy a poem that deals solemnly with death

Question 70

ellipsis

Answer 70

three dots that indicate the omission of a word or words

Question 71

emotional appeal

Answer 71

exploits the readers’ feeling of pity or fear to make a case; a fallacy that draws solely on the readers’ pathos and not on logic

Question 72

epanalepsis

Answer 72

repetition at the end of a clause or sentence of the word or phrase with which it began (next time there won’t be a next time)

Question 73

epic

Answer 73

a long and serious narrative poem about a hero and his companions, often set in the past that is pictured as great than the present (Beowulf, Iliad, Paradise Lost)

Question 74

epigraph

Answer 74

the use of a quotation at the beginning of a work that hints at its theme