Ap English Vocab 2

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Archetype

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the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies

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Attitude

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a writer’s intellectual position or emotion regarding the subject of the writing. On the AP exam, note the writer’s attitude and how it is conveyed. —An analysis of attitude requires an examination of devices such as diction, imagery, descriptive detail, figurative language, syntax, etc

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Connotation

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the range of secondary or associated meanings and emotions that a word suggests or implies (compare to denotation)

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Denotation

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a word’s primary meaning and significance; its dictionary definition (compare to connotation)

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Descriptive Detail

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refers to the author’s use of sensory detail. Descriptive detail that appeals to the visual sense is the most predominate in literature, but don’t ignore sensory detail appealing to the other senses (hearing, smell, taste, touch). Extensive descriptive detail coalesces to form what we call imagery, something that usually has great connotative value in a text

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Diction

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refers to the author’s word choice, esp. regarding correctness, clearness, or effectiveness

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Figurative language

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language that is not intended to be taken literally but is usually meant to achieve a special meaning or effect. Figurative language is comprised of figures of speech, words or phrases that describes one thing in terms of another and is not meant to be understood on a literal level. Examples: apostrophe, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron, paradox, personification, simile, synecdoche, understatement

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Genre

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a class or category of artistic endeavor. More specifically, in literature this term refers to the
category into which the literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry, and
drama. However, each of these have many subdivisions. (the phrase generic conventions describes
traditions for each genre)

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Imagery

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the use of language (usually sensory details and figurative language) to evoke a picture or
concrete sensation of a person, thing, place, or an experience. Imagery differs from some of our other
similar devices in the volume of its detail—usually many details (metaphoric, sensory) combine to
form an extended, full image. On the AP exam, pay attention to how the author creates imagery and to
the importance of the effect of that imagery on the author’s purpose

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Juxtaposition

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an act or instance of placing two or more things side by side. Literary analysis often
involves the examination of how images, ideas, or objects are juxtaposed within the text

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Mood

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refers to the prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work. Setting, tone, and events can
effect the mood (the term atmosphere is sometimes used). —An analysis of mood requires an
examination of other devices, such as diction, imagery, descriptive detail, figurative language, syntax,
etc.

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Motif

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an element—such as a type of incident, reference, idea, phrase, or image—which is repeated frequently in a single work of literature or throughout literature in general (sometimes called by the German term, leitmotif, a guiding motif

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Pace (narrative)

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refers to how writers represent the passage of narrative time. You can pace narratives by emphasizing more important actions and de-emphasizing less important ones

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Point of view

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vantage point from which a writer tells a story. There are three major
perspectives—two in 3third-person, one in 1first-person.

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Omniscient(“all knowing")

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narrator knows everything there is to know about all of the
characters and their problems; knows their past, present, and future; even knows what
characters are thinking (a type of third-person narrative)

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Limited(“Limited Omniscient")

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narrator “knows all” of the thoughts and feelings of just one
character; we observe the action through the eyes and with the feelings of this one character (a
type of third-person narrative).

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First-person

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one of the characters is actually narrating the story, using the pronoun “I”; this
perspective is of course limited by what that individual character knows

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Realism

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the attempt to depict people and things as the really are, without idealization

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Repetition

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a literary device that repeats words, phrases, or images for means of emphasis

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Rhetoric

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the principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively

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Rhetorical question

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A question asked, not for the purpose of eliciting an answer but for the purpose of asserting or denying something indirectly. A rhetorical question can challenge your reader, make them active, more alert. It is an effective persuasive device which subtly influences the response that you get from your reader but in such a way that they may feel that, rather than being preached at, they are making decisions for themselves.

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Syntax

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refers to the way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences

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Tone

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describes the author’s attitude toward the material, the audience, or both as revealed in the language of the text. Some words used to describe tone: playful, serious, businesslike, sarcastic, humorous, formal, ornate, somber, etc. (when referring to an author’s tone, always describe it with an adjective). —Tone is easy to identify when a person is speaking. In identifying the tone of a written work, however, one must examine the elements of an author’s style, such as diction, imagery, descriptive detail, figurative language, syntax, etc. It may be easier to discern and describe the tone of a work if you imagine how it would be read aloud.

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Voice

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a presence, intelligence, or moral sensibility that pervades a work and that has selected and expressed the literary material in its unique and particular way; this is a voice—the voice of the author—that is beyond all of the fictitious voices that speak in a work. As with many of the broad terms in this list, an analysis of voice requires examining various elements of the author’s style

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Verisimilitude

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the achievement of an illusion of reality in a work