AP Vocab Flashcards
antanaclasis
The repetition of a word or phrase whose meaning changes in the second instance
Ex: If we do not hang together, we will hang separately
Ex: Your argument is sound… all sound.
antagonist
The character who opposes the interests of the protagonist.
Ex: In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien creates Lord Sauron as the antagonist to Frodo.
antimetabole
The repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order.
Ex: One should eat to live, not live to eat.
anticipated objection
The technique a writer or speaker uses in an argumentative text to address and answer objections, even though the audience has not had the opportunity to voice these objections.
Ex: “You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea, and air…You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory.” (Winston Churchill)
apologist
Ex: In Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, Romeo makes a case for marrying Juliet, despite the controversy over the issue.
apology
An elaborate statement justifying some controversial, even contentious, position.
Ex: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” (Martin Luther King Jr.)
apostrophe
The direct address of an absent person or personified object as if he/she/it is able to reply.
Ex: “O’ Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” (William Shakespeare)
appeal to authority
In a text, the reference to words, action, or beliefs of a person in authority as a means of supporting a claim, generalization, or conclusion.
Ex: Isaac Newton was a genius and he believed in God. Therefore, God must exist.
appeal to emotion
The appeal of a text to the feelings or interests of the audience.
Ex: If you don’t graduate from high school, you will always be poor.
argument by analysis
An argument developed by breaking the subject matter into its component parts.
Ex: The Virginians failed miserably at initial colonization and suffered through disease, war, and famine because of their high expectations and greed, which also molded their colony socially and economically.
asyndeton
The omission of conjunctions between related clauses.
basic topic
One of the four perspectives that Aristotle explained could be used to generate material about any subject matter: greater or less, possible and impossible, past fact, and future fact.
Ex: Topics include justice, peace, rights, and movie theaters.
brain-storming
Within the planning act of the writing process, a technique used by a writer or speaker to generate many ideas, some of which he or she will later eliminate.
Ex: I brainstorm before history essays by writing down as many specific Exs as I can think of for the prompt.
cloze test
A test of reading ability that requires a person to fill in missing words in a text.
Ex: The SAT’s language portion contains questions modeled in this way.
common topic
One of the perspectives, derived from Aristotle’s topics, used to generate material. The six common topics are definition, division, comparison, relation, circumstances, and testimony.
Ex: Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson’s political opinions can be the subject of a common topic, such as division.