AP Vocabulary 1. Flashcards
Abstract
language that describes concepts rather than concrete images (ideas and qualities rather than observable or specific things, people or places). The observable or ‘physical’ is usually described in concrete language.
Allegory
Extended narrative 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.
Ancedote
A short, simple narrative of an incident; often used for humorous effect or to make a point.
Annotation
Explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources, or give bibliographical data.
Antithesis
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, ask what you can do for your country”…
Aphorism
A short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life: “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.