AP Vocabulary 1-20 Flashcards
Anecdote
a short,simple narrative of an incident, often used for humorous effect to make a point.
Argumentation
Writing that attempts to prove the validity of a point of view or an idea by presenting “reasoned” arguments
Allegory
An extended narrative of an incident in a phrase 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
Explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources, or give bibliographic data. In AP Lang. you will need to demonstrate DETAILED annotation on most of your readings.
Antithesis
The presentation of two contrasting images. The ideas balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraph.
Rhetoric
The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other com positional techniques.
Colloquialism
A word or phrase (including slang) used in everyday conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing.
Connotation
Words suggesting implied meaning because of its association in a readers mind. The opposite of denotation.
Consonance
Repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximity (boot/beat/best/brag) or even compound words, fulfill, ping pong
Caricature
Descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a person’s appearance or a facet 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. Benjamin Franklin was somewhat famous for these in Poor Richard’s Almanac e.g. “The 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 distributed into components or parts. Used for clarification and detailed understanding.
