AP Vocabulary 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 ; 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 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 satire.
Annotation
Explanatory 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
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. This is the core of the AP Language
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.
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 Benjamin Franklin was somewhat famous for these. Poor Richard’s Almanac. “ The early bird gets the worm”
Apostrophe
Usually I poetry, but sometimes in prose. The device of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, 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.
Connotation+Denotation
C- How you feel D-The definition of it
Enumeration
A rhetorical device used for listing the details or a process of mentioning, words or phrases step by step. In fact it is a type of amplification or division in which a subject is further distributed into components or parts. Used to clarify and give detail
Analogy
A comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared to another thing that is quite different from it, 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. Ex- “Like father, like son”
Allusion
A brief an indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, literacy, or political significance. It is just a passing comment.
Metonymy
A figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely related associated. We can come across examples of it both from literature and every day conversations. This is NOT a Metaphor.
Anaphora
The deliberate repetition of the first part of a sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect is known as Anaphora. Possibly the oldest literary device, has roots in Biblical Psalms used to emphasize certain words.
Epistrophe
The repetition of phrases or words at the end of the sentence.
Asyndeton
Used to intentionally eliminate conjunctions between the phrases and in the sentence, yet maintain the grammatical accuracy. This helps to reduce the indirect meaning of the phrase and presents it in a concise form.
Polysyndeton
Makes use of coordinating conjunctions like “and”, “or”, and “but” or “nor”.
