Ap English Language Literary Terms

Front 1

analogy

Back 1

a comparison of two unlike things; in argumentation, it is frequently used to justify contentions

Front 2

antithesis

Back 2

a figure of speech in which one term/phrase/idea is balanced against another for emphasis; the balancing/opposition is usually signaled by similar grammatical structure

Front 3

anecdote

Back 3

a short narrative detailing the particulars of an episode

Front 4

either/or fallacy

Back 4

assuming there are only two options available for discussion in an argument

Front 5

ad hominem

Back 5

attacking a person's personal attributes/qualities/flaws rather than addressing the points of his/her argument

Front 6

slippery slope

Back 6

arguing that because one premise is valid that the other premises follow until an almost worst case conclusion is reached

Front 7

allusion

Back 7

indirect reference to literary works or historic figures, settings, events

Front 8

rhetorical question

Back 8

asking a question that seems to answer itself or asking a question that has an obvious answer

Front 9

anaphora

Back 9

an initial word or phrase is repeated in a structure or a series of structures

Front 10

parallel structure

Back 10

the repeating of phrases or sentence structures that are similar/parallel in meaing and structure

Front 11

synechdoche

Back 11

the substituting of a person, place or thing with some part of it

Front 12

dramatic irony

Back 12

the reader or the audience sees a character's mistakes or misunderstandings, but the character himself does not

Front 13

Metonymy

Back 13

the substituting of one word for another that is closely related to it

Front 14

verbal irony

Back 14

the writer says one thing and means another: "The best substitute for experience is being sixteen"

Front 15

Situational irony

Back 15

there is a great difference between the purpose of a particular action and the result

Front 16

Periodic Sentence

Back 16

A structure in which an independent clause is preceded by a series of two or more dependent clauses; in other words a structure that postpones the crucial or most significant idea until the end of the structure

Hint 16

E.g.: "Following my mother's repeated threats of being grounded for life, I decided it was time to propose a compromise"

Front 17

Cumulative Sentence

Back 17

A sentence that places the general idea in the main clause and gives it greater precision with modifying words, phrases, or clauses placed before it, after it, or in the middle of it.

Hint 17

E.g. "Eyes squinting, puffy, always on alert, he showed the effects of a week in the forest."

Front 18

Balanced Sentence

Back 18

A sentence constructed so that it emphasizes a similarity or contrast between two or more main parts

Hint 18

E.g. "Joe's unusual security system invited burglars and scared off friends."

Front 19

Loose Sentence

Back 19

A sentence which expressed the main thought near the beginning and adds explanatory material as needed

Hint 19

E.g. "We bashed the pinata for 15 minutes without denting it, although we at least avoided denting one another's craniums and, with masks raised, finally pried the candy out with screwdrivers.

Front 20

Compound Sentence

Back 20

Consists of two independent clauses which must be joined by a coordinating conjunction, by punctuation, or by both.

Hint 20

E.g. "Energy is part of youth, but both are quickly spent."

Front 21

Complex Sentence

Back 21

Contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.

Hint 21

E.g. "People often say wise things, such as age is a state of mind."

Front 22

Compound-complex Sentence

Back 22

Contains two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.

Hint 22

E.g. "My body is rather old, and age is not a state of mind, unless my bald head is an illusion.

Front 23

Ambiguity

Back 23

Syntactic ambiguity arises when a sentence can be phrased in more than one way.

Hint 23

“He ate the cookies on the couch”

Front 24

Antihero

Back 24

a protagonist or notable figure who is conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities

Front 25

Anadiplosis

Back 25

The repetition of the last word (or phrase) from the previous line, clause, or sentence at the beginning of the next. Often combined with climax

Hint 25

The love of wicked men converts to fear,
That fear to hate, and hate turns one or both
To worthy danger and deserved death.

Front 26

Antecedent

Back 26

a substantive word, phrase, or clause whose denotation is referred to by a pronoun

Hint 26

as John in "Mary saw John and called to him"

Front 27

Anticlimax

Back 27

1 : the usually sudden transition in discourse from a significant idea to a trivial or ludicrous idea; also : an instance of this transition
2 : an event, period, or outcome that is strikingly less important or dramatic than expected

Front 28

Antimetabole/Chiasmus

Back 28

Repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order.

Hint 28

When the going gets tough, the tough get going

Front 29

Antithesis

Back 29

In rhetoric, it is a figure of speech involving the bringing out of a contrast in the ideas by an obvious contrast in the words, clauses, or sentences, within a parallel grammatical structure

Hint 29

"When there is need of silence, you speak, and when there is need of speech, you are dumb..."

Front 30

Apostrophe

Back 30

Turning one's speech from one audience to another. Most often, apostrophe occurs when one addresses oneself to an abstraction, to an inanimate object, or to the absent.

Hint 30

O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times.

Front 31

Antiphrasis

Back 31

Irony of one word, often derisively through patent contradiction. Also, a synonym for paralipsis

Hint 31

"Now there's a midget for you"

Front 32

Deism

Back 32

a movement or system of thought advocating natural religion, emphasizing morality, and in the 18th century denying the interference of the Creator with the laws of the universe

Front 33

Deus Ex Machina

Back 33

a person or thing (as in fiction or drama) that appears or is introduced suddenly and unexpectedly and provides a contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty

Front 34

Dystopia

Back 34

an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives

Hint 34

Anti-utopia

Front 35

Ellipsis

Back 35

Omission of a word or short phrase easily understood in context.

Hint 35

"The average person thinks he isn't." –Father Larry Lorenzoni
The term "average" is omitted but understood after "isn't."

Front 36

Epistrophe

Back 36

Ending a series of lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences with the same word or words.

Hint 36

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us." —Emerson

Front 37

Epistolary

Back 37

written in the form of a series of letters

Front 38

Epigraph

Back 38

a quotation set at the beginning of a literary work or one of its divisions to suggest its theme

Front 39

Epitaph

Back 39

1 : an inscription on or at a tomb or a grave in memory of the one buried there
2 : a brief statement commemorating or epitomizing a deceased person or something past

Front 40

Euphony

Back 40

a harmonious succession of words having a pleasing sound

Front 41

Existentialism

Back 41

a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad

Front 42

Expletive

Back 42

a syllable, word, or phrase inserted to fill a vacancy (as in a sentence or a metrical line) without adding to the sense

Hint 42

it in "make it clear which you prefer"

Front 43

Fallacy: Bandwagon

Back 43

Another way to avoid using logic in an argument is to appeal to everyone's sense of wanting to belong or be accepted. By suggesting that everyone is doing this or wearing that or going there, you can avoid the real question--"is this idea or claim a good one or not?"

Hint 43

Everyone on the team wears high-tops. It's the only way to go.

Front 44

Fallacy: Circular reasoning or thinking

Back 44

This fallacy consists of assuming, in a definition or an argument, the very point you are trying to prove.

Hint 44

I hate Mr. Baldwin's class because I'm never happy there.

Front 45

Fallacy: False analogy

Back 45

An analogy is an extended comparison. It can be valuable in clarifying a difficult point or dramatizing an abstract idea. But no matter how many suggestive similarities there may be, they can never be more than suggestive since there must also be a difference.
Some analogies assume that a few similarities mean that the two actions are alike in all other respects. The writer attempts to prove that because one action is justified, the other must be justified too. All differences are ignored.

Hint 45

The chairman has been unjustly criticized in this country for executing his political opponents in order to create a better soicety. surely one of the oldest truths is that you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

Front 46

Fallacy: Hasty generalization

Back 46

takes in everything and everyone at once, allowing no exceptions. For example, a braod generalization about voters might be, "all voters spend too little time reading about about a candidate and too much time being swayed by 30-second sound bites." but it is unfair to suggest that this is true of all voters.

Hint 46

All teenagers spend too much time watching TV

Front 47

Fallacy: Red Herring

Back 47

In argumentation, a red herring means that the writer has brought in a point that has little or nothing to do with the issue being discussed.

Hint 47

Brian should not enroll in State College because it doesn't offer a major in environmental studies.
Anyway, State college places too much emphasis on sports.

Front 48

Fallacy: Slanted language

Back 48

By choosing words that carry strong positive or negative feelings, a person can distract the audience, leading them away from the valid arguments being made.

Hint 48

No one in his right mind would do something that dumb.

Front 49

Figurative language

Back 49

Figurative language uses "figures of speech" - a way of saying something other than the literal meaning of the words

Hint 49

"All the world's a stage."

Front 50

Flashback/analepsis

Back 50

an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached

Front 51

Foil

Back 51

A foil character is either one who is opposite to the main character or nearly the same as the main character. The purpose of the foil character is to emphasize the traits of the main character by contrast, and perhaps by setting up situations in which the protagonist can show his or her character traits. A foil is a secondary character who contrasts with a major character but, in so doing, highlights various facets of the main character's personality.

Hint 51

Watson to Sherlock Holmes

Front 52

Formal vs. Informal

Back 52

The ways of speech and writing. We speak informally, but generally should write formally.

Hint 52

Dad vs. Father

Front 53

Appeal to Ignorance

Back 53

One commits this logical fallacy by claiming that since no one has ever proved a claim, it must therefore be false. Appeals to ignorance unfairly shift teh burden of proof onto someone else

Hint 53

Show me one study that proves seatbelts save lives

Front 54

Appeal to Pity

Back 54

This fallacy may be heard in the courts of law when an attorney begs for leniency because his clients mother is ill, his brother is out of work, etc. This is a strong tug on the heartstrings.

Hint 54

Imagine what it must have been like. If anyone deserves a break, he does.

Front 55

Half-Truths

Back 55

Arguments that contain parts of the truth, but not the whole truth. They are especially misleading because they leave out the "rest of the story."

Hint 55

The new recycling law is bad because it will cost more money than it saves.
(Maybe so, but it will also save the environment.)

Front 56

Oversimplification

Back 56

Phrases like "it all boils down to...," etc. Almost no dispute among reasonably intelligent people is a "simple question of..."

Hint 56

Capital punishment is a simple question of protecting society

Front 57

Testimonial

Back 57

If the statement comes from a recognized authority in teh field, great. If it comes from a person famous in another field it can be misleading.

Hint 57

Sports hero:"I've tried every cold medicine on the market, and--believe me--nothing works like Comptrol."

Front 58

Litotes

Back 58

Deliberate understatement, especially when expressing a thought by denying its opposite.

Hint 58

It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain. —J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

Front 59

Parallelism

Back 59

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.

Hint 59

parallelism of words:
She tried to make her pastry fluffy, sweet, and delicate.

parallelism of phrases:
Singing a song or writing a poem is joyous.

parallelism of clauses:
Perch are inexpensive; cod are cheap; trout are abundant; but salmon are best.

Front 60

Inference

Back 60

A judgement based on reasoning rather than on direct or explicit statement. A conclusion based on facts or circumstances.

Hint 60

advised not to travel alone in temperatures exceeding fifty degrees below zero, the man in Jack London's "To Build a Fire" sets out anyway. One may infer arrogance from such an action.

Front 61

Mood

Back 61

The atmosphere or feeling created by a literary work, partly by a description of the objects or by the style of the descriptions. A work may contain a mood of horror, mystery, holiness, or childlike simplicity, to name a few, depending on the author's treatment of the work.

Front 62

Satire

Back 62

A piece of literature designed to ridicule the subject of the work. While satire can be funny, its aim is not to amuse, but to arouse contempt.

Hint 62

Jonathan swift's "Gulliver's Travels" satirizes the English people, making them seem dwarfish in their ability to deal with large thoughts, issues, or deeds.

Front 63

Hubris

Back 63

hubris denotes overconfident pride and arrogance; it is often associated with a lack of knowledge, interest in, and exploration of history, combined with a lack of humility.

Front 64

Juxtaposition

Back 64

A placing or being placed in nearness or contiguity, or side by side, often done in order to compare/contrast the two, to show similarities or differences

Front 65

Stream of Consciousness

Back 65

a literary device that seeks to describe the continuous flow of thoughts that makes up an individual's conscious experience by means of a long, unstructured soliloquy

Front 66

Syllogism

Back 66

Every syllogism is a sequence of three propositions such that the first two imply the third, the conclusion

Front 67

Puritanism

Back 67

Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was any person seeking "purity" of worship and doctrine, especially the parties that rejected the Laudian reform of the Church of England.

Front 68

Romanticism

Back 68

Romanticism is an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in 18th century Western Europe during the industrial revolution. In part a revolt against aristocratic, social, and political norms of the Enlightenment period and a reaction against the rationalization of nature, in art and literature. It stressed strong emotion as a source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as trepidation, horror, and the awe experienced in confronting the sublimity of nature.

Front 69

Victorian

Back 69

The Victorian era of the United Kingdom marked the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire. Although commonly used to refer to the period of Queen Victoria's rule between 1837 and 1901, scholars debate whether the Victorian period—as defined by a variety of sensibilities and political concerns that have come to be associated with the Victorians

Front 70

Realism

Back 70

a theory of writing in which the ordinary, familiar, or mundane aspects of life are represented in a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner that is presumed to reflect life as it actually is.

Front 71

Syntax

Back 71

the study of the patterns of formation of sentences and phrases from words.

Front 72

transcendentalism

Back 72

Also called transcendental philosophy. any philosophy based upon the doctrine that the principles of reality are to be discovered by the study of the processes of thought, or a philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical

Front 73

verisimilitude

Back 73

the appearance or semblance of truth; likelihood; probability

Front 74

vignette

Back 74

a decorative design or small illustration used on the title page of a book or at the beginning or end of a chapter.

Front 75

Asyndenton

Back 75

repetition of the same word/group of words at the beginning of succeeding clauses

Front 76

caesura

Back 76

pause in a line of verse dictated by sense or natural speech rhythm rather than by metrics

Front 77

zeugma/syllepsis

Back 77

a yoking of opposites

Hint 77

wage war and peace

Front 78

chiasma

Back 78

parallelism; a crossover effect

Front 79

Bathos

Back 79

Writing is bathetic when it strives to be serious but only achieves a comical effect because it is anti-climactic

Front 80

Bildungsroman

Back 80

a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character

Front 81

Cacophony

Back 81

harsh sound; opposite of euphony

Front 82

Colloquialism

Back 82

speaking in the local or regional dialect, generally inappropriately informal

Front 83

Conceit

Back 83

An extended metaphor.