AP English Language and Composition Analysis Vocabulary
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Abstract
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Designating qualities or characteristics apart from specific objects or events; opposite of concrete
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Allegory
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A narrative in which character, action, and setting represent abstract concepts apart from the literal meaning of the story. Underlying meaning usually has a moral, social, religious, or political significance, and the characters are often personifications of abstract ideas such as charity, hope, greed, etc.
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Alliteration
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Repetition of initial identical consonant sounds or any vowel sounds in successive or closely associated syllables, especially stressed syllables
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Allusion
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A brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or fictitious, or to a work of art
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Analogy
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A process of reasoning that assumes if two subjects share a number of specific observable qualities then they may be expected to share qualities that have not been observed
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Anaphora
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A device of repetition; the same expression is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences
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Anastrophe
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The inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence; deliberate rather than accidental; used to set a rhythm or emphasize something
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Antecedent
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The word to which a pronoun refers
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Antithesis
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A figure of speech characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas; balances one term against another for emphasis; typically has similar grammatical structure
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Aphorism
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A concise statement of a principle or precept given in pointed words
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Apostrophe
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A figure of speech in which someone (typically absent), some abstract quality, or a nonexistent personage is directly addressed as though present
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Attitude
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The underlying feeling behind a tone
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Call to action
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Writing that urges people to action or promotes change
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Characterizatio
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The techniques a writer uses to create and reveal fictional personalities in a work of literature, by describing multiple aspects of a character
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Chiasmus
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A type of balance in which the second part is balanced against the first but with the part reversed; ex/ \"Flowers are lovely, love is flowerlike\"
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Classification
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A method of sorting, grouping, collecting, and analyzing things by categories based on features shared by all members of a class or group
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Division
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A method of breaking down an entire whole into separate parts or sorting a group of items into nonoverlapping categories
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Cliche
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A timeworn expression that through overuse has lost its power to evoke concrete images
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Coinage
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A word or phrase made, invented, or fabricated
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Colloquial Expressions
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Words or phrases characteristic or appropriate to ordinary or familiar conversion rather than formal speech or writing
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Comparison/Contrast
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A rhetorical technique for pointing out similarities or differences
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Compound/Complex Sentence
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A sentence that contains two or more independent clauses and at least one subordinate clause
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Conceit
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An elaborate and surprising figure of speech comparing two dissimilar things; involves intellectual cleverness and ingenuitiy
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Concrete
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Pertains to actual things, instances, or experiences; opposite of abstract
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Defensive, Offensive
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A method of argumentation in which the speaker or writer defends her own views and/or attacks the views of others
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Definition
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A method for specifying the basic nature of any phenomenon, idea, or thing
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Denotation
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The specific, exact meaning of a word, independent of its emotional coloration or associations
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Connotation
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The emotional implications that words may carry, as distinguished from their denotative meanings
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Diction
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The choice of words in a work of literature and an element of style important to the work's effectiveness
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Doublespeak
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Language used to distort and manipulate rather than to communicate
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Downplaying/Intensifying
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Methods of drawing attention and iverting attention
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Ellipsis
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The omission of a word or words necessary for complete construction, but understood in the context
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Emotional Appeal
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Exploiting readers' feelings of pity or fear to make a case; draws solely on the readers' pathos
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Enthymeme
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An argument or truncated syllogism in which one of the propositions, usually a premise, is understood nut not stated
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Ethical Appeal
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The most subtle and often most powerful because it comes from character and reputation rather than words; stems from the ability to convince readers that the author is reliable and intelligent
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Ethnocentricity
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The belief in the inherent superiority of one's own group and culture
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Euphemism
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The substitutions of an inoffensive, indirect, or agreeable expression for a word or phrase perceived as socially unacceptable or unnecessarily harsh
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Exposition
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Writing that seeks to clarify, explain, or inform using one or several methods such as definition, classification/division, comparison/division, etc.
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Figurative language
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The use of words outside their literal or usual meanings, used to add freshness and suggest associations and comparisons that create effective images: includes elements of speech such as hyperbole, irony, etc.
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Hyperbole
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A figure of speech in which conscious exaggeration is used without the intent of literal persuasion; used to heighten effect or create a comic effect
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Imagery
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The use of language to convey sensory experience, most often through the creation of pictorial images through figurative language
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Idiom
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A use of words, a grammatic construction peculiar to a given language, or an expression that cannot be translated literally into a second language (ex/ \"to carry out\")
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Irony
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A mode of speech in which words express a meaning opposite to the intended meaning
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Jargon
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Twittering or jibberish; refers to a specialized language providing a shorthand method of quick communication between people in the same field
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Juxtapose
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Placing two ideas side by side or close together; ideas are sometimes completely different
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Lending Credence
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Lending the opponent some credit for his/her ideas; used to persuade the audience that you are fair and have done your homework
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Litotes
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A form of understatement in which a thing is affirmed by stating the negative of its opposite (ex/ she was not unmindful)
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Logical reasoning
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The idea that there are principles governing correct or reliable inferences
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Loose Sentence
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A sentence grammatically complete at some point before the end; opposite of a periodic sentence; consists of an independent clause followed by a dependent clause
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Lyrical Drama
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A dramatic poem in which the form of drama is used to express lyric themes instead of relying on a story as the basis of the action
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Metaphor
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A figure of speech involving an implied comparison (a simile without \"like\" or \"as\")
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Metonymy
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A figure of speech characterized by the substitution of a term naming an object closely associated with the word in mind for the word itself (ex/ referring to the king as \"the crown\")
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Mood
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The overall atmosphere of a work; unlike tone, it will not change
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Motif
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Recurrent images, words, objects, phrases, or actions that tend to unify the work
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Narration
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The story of events and/or experiences that tells what happened
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Onomatopoeia
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The use of words that by their sound suggest their meaning (hiss, buzz, whir, etc)
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Oxymoron
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A self-contradictory combination of words or smaller verbal units
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Paradox
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A phrase or statement that while seemingly contradictory or absurd may actually be well-founded or true; a rhetorical devise used to attract attention
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Parallelism
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The arrangement of parts of a sentence, sentences, or paragraphs that one element of equal importance with another is similarly developed and phrased
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Periodic Sentence
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A sentence not grammatically complete before its end; opposite of a loose sentence
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Personification
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Attributing human characteristics to nonhuman things
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Point of View
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Describes the way in which the reader is presented with the materials of the story or the vantage point from which the author presents the actions of the story
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Polysyndeton
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The repetition of conjunctions in close succession for rhetorical effect
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Process Analysis
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A method of clarifying the nature of something by explaining how it works in separate, easy-to-understand steps (directions)
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Repetition
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A rhetorical device repeating a word or phrase, or rewording the same idea
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Rhetorical Question
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A question asked solely to produce an effect and not to elicit a reply
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Satire
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A technique that ridicules both people and societal institutions, using iron wit, and exaggeration
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Simile
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A figure of speech involving a comparison using like or as
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Simple Sentence
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A complex sentence that is neither compound nor complex
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Spin
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Harmful situations played in the media as philanthropic endeavors
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Syllogism
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A formula for presenting an argument logically; demonstrates the logic of an argument through analysis; consists of a major premise, minor premise, and a conclusion
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Symbol
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Something concrete that stands for or represents something abstract
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Synecdoche
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A type of figurative language in which the whole is used for the part or the part is used for the whole (specific for general or general for specific)
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Syntax
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The pattern or structure of the word order in a sentence or phrase; the study of grammatical structure
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Tone
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The voice the writer has chosen to project to relate to readers (serious, lighthearted, etc); produced by the combined effect of word choice, sentence structure, and purpose; reflects the writer's attitude toward the subject
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Voice
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The implied personality the author chooses to adopt
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Pun
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A play on the meaning of words
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Climax
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Writer arranges ideas in order of importance
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Epanalepsis
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Repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning
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Epistrophe
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Repetition of the same word or group of words at the ends of successive clauses
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Zuegma
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A term used in several ways, all involving a sort of \"yoking\" 1. When an object-taking word has two or more objects on different levels 2. When two different words that sound exactly alike are yoked together
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Apposition
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Placing a noun next to another noun or phrase that explains it
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Asyndenton
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Conjunctions are omitted, producing a fast-paced and rapid prose
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Polysyndenton
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The use of many conjunctions, slowing the pace
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Assonance
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Involves the repetition of sounds within words
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Consonance
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Words at the ends of verses in which the final consonants in the stressed syllables agree but the words that precede them differ; \"half rhyme\"
