AP Vocabulary 1-20 Flashcards
Anecdote
a short, simple narrative of an incident, often used for humorous effect or to make a point.
Argumentation
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.
Allegory
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 satiric.
Annotation
Explaining 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.
Antithesis
presentation of two contrasting images
Rhetoric
art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. Core of the AP program
Colloquialism
word or phrase used in everyday conversation and informal writing, but that is often inappropriate in formal writing
Connotation
idea or feeling that a word invokes
Consonance
repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximity. Ex. boot/beat/best/brag or compound words, fulfill/ping-pong
Caricature
descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a person’s appearance or a facet of personality
Coherence
the “quality” of a piece of writing in which all the parts contribute to the development of the central idea/theme or organizing principle
Aphorism
a short, often witty, statement of a principle or truth about life. Ex. “early bird gets the worm”
Apostrophe
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
Cacophony
also referred to as dissonance… hard, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose; the opposite of euphony
Enumeration
a rhetorical device used for listing the details or a process of mentioning words or phrases step by step. It is a type of amplification or division in which a subject is further distribute into components or parts. Writers use to clarify and detail understanding
Analogy
a comparison in which and ides or a thing is compared to another thing that is quite different from it. Aims at explaining that idea or thing by comparing it to something that is familiar.
Parallelism
the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning or meter. found in literary works and in normal conversation.
Allusion
a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. Doesn’t describe in detail the person or thing to which it refers. It is just a passing comment and expects the reader to possess enough knowledge to spot the allusion and grasp its importance in a text.
Metonymy
A figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated. We can come across examples of metonymy both from literature and in everyday life. Metonymy is not creating a comparison, not a metaphor
Anaphora
Writing or speech, the deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect us known as Anaphora. Anaphora, possibly the oldest literary device, has its roots in Biblical Psalms used to emphasize certain words of phrases. Gradually, Elizabethan and Romantic writers brought this device into practice.
