Vocab Test #1 Flashcards
Allegory
The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. In some allegories, for example, and author may intend the characters to personify an abstraction lie hope or freedom. The allegorical meaning usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence. Ex “Animal Farm” George Orwell
Alliteration
The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonants in two or more neighboring words (as in “she sells sea shells”). The repetition can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of a passage.
Allusion
A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. Allusions can be historical, literary, religious, topical, or mythical. There are many more possibilities and a work may simultaneously use multiple layers of allusion. Ex. “Plan ahead: it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark”.
Ambiguity
The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.
Analogy
A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them. An analogy can explain something unfamiliar by associating it with or pointing out its similarity to something more familiar. Analogies can also make writing more vivid, imaginative, or intellectually engaging. Ex. He that voluntarily continues ignorance is guilty of all crimes which ignorance produces, as to him that should extinguish the tapers of a lighthouse might justly be imputed the calamities of shipwrecks.”
Anaphora
One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression (word or words) is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences. Ex. “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” “They are masters who instruct us without rod or ferule, without angry words, without clothes or money.”
Anecdote
A short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event. The term most frequently refers to an incident in the life of a person.
Antecedent
The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. The Ap Language exam occasionally asks for the antecedent of a given pronoun in a long, complex sentence or in a group of sentences.
Antithesis
Figure of balance in which two contrasting ideas are intentionally juxtaposed, usually through parallel structure; a contrasting of opposing ideas in adjacent phrases, clauses, or sentences. Antithesis creates a definite and systematic relationship between ideas. Ex. “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose”. “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Aphorism
A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle. (If the authorship is known, the statement is generally considered to be a folk proverb.) An aphorism can be a memorable summation of the author’s point.
Apostrophe
A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. It is an address to someone or something that cannot answer. The effect is to give vent to or display intense emotion, which can no longer be held back.
Asyndeton
Sentence where commas are used with no conjunctions to separate a series of words.
Gives equal weight to each part.
Speeds up the flow of the sentence.
Formula: X, Y, Z. As opposed to X, Y, and Z.
Atmosphere
The emotional mood created by an entirety of literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author’s choice of objects that are described. Even such elements as description of the weather can contribute to the atmosphere. Frequently atmosphere foreshadows events. Perhaps it can create a mood.
Chiasmus
Chiasmus is a figure of speech in which two sccessive phrases or clauses are parallel in syntax but reverse the order of the analogous words. Ex. “The land was ours before we were the land’s.” “Pleasure’s a sin, and sometimes sin’s a pleasure” “Sitting together at lunch, the kids talked incessantly: but they said nothing at all sitting in the dentist’s office.”
Clause
A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. An independent, or main, clause expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent, or subordinate clause cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent clause. The point that you want to consider is the question of what or why the author subordinates one element to the other.
