Ap Lang Terms

Front 1

Ad hominem

Back 1

Attacking the person's character rather than his ideas

Front 2

non-sequitor

Back 2

a phrase that isn't logically connected to a previous or following phrase

Front 3

Either-or

Back 3

Reducing conclusion to only two options--oversimplifying

Front 4

Invalid syllogism

Back 4

Conclusion is based on two premises but logic doesn't work

Front 5

Begging the Question/Circular Reasoning

Back 5

Using the conclusion as evidence of the argument; clear-cutting trees is destructive because it destroys trees

Front 6

Post-hoc

Back 6

Assumes that preceding event was necessarily the cause of the succeeding event

Front 7

Slippery Slope

Back 7

Arguing that one event will necessarily lead to another event

Front 8

Hasty Generalization

Back 8

Making an assumption about a certain population without ample evidence

ex: the top students in class don't smoke; kids with good grades don't smoke

Front 9

False Analogy

Back 9

Comparing one instance to another, not sufficiently parallel, instance

Front 10

Strawperson (fallacy of extension)

Back 10

Misstate opponent's argument, then attack it

Front 11

Appeal to false authority

Back 11

Holding up someone with no experience or knowledge of the issue as an authority on the subject

ex: Britney Spears guaranteeing that classes at Harvard are excellent

Front 12

Ad populum

Back 12

Appealing to sentiments of the audience in an effort to persuade them to accept argument, as opposed to reason

Front 13

Red Herring

Back 13

Bringing up a different topic to distract from the main issue

Front 14

Reductive Fallacy/Oversimplication

Back 14

Making the issue seem simpler than it really is

Front 15

Argument by emotive language

Back 15

Using words that convey particular emotions in order to persuade audience; sentimental appeals

Front 16

Stacking the Deck/Special Pleasing

Back 16

Applying rules to others but not to oneself, with no apparent excuse

Front 17

Argument form Adverse Consequences/Appeal to Fear

Back 17

Scaring the audience into supporting your argument; exaggeration emotions appeals-->nightmare scenarios

Front 18

Needling

Back 18

Saying things that are not necessarily relevant in an effort to get people angry

Front 19

Moral equivalence

Back 19

Making it seem like neither side is morally superior

Front 20

Dogmatism

Back 20

Appealing to someone's rooted beliefs; make audience feel that only one truth exists

Front 21

Expository Writing

Back 21

Intended to explain, inform, describe

Front 22

Description

Back 22

Providing a verbal depiction of a person, place, event, or action

Front 23

Narration

Back 23

Telling over of a sequence of events

Front 24

Process

Back 24

A systematic series directed towards some end

Front 25

Cause-effect

Back 25

Noting the relationship between one event and the next

Front 26

Point of View

Back 26

Omniscient: Narrator can understand all character
Stream of Consciousness: Writer reproduces random flow of thoughts in human mind
Second Person: You
First Person: I/We

Front 27

Local Color/Colloquialism/Regional Dialect

Back 27

Using slang/inform tone

Front 28

Deductive Reasoning

Back 28

Going from a general principle to a specific example

Front 29

Inductive Reasoning

Back 29

Going from a specific idea to a general principle

Front 30

Caricature

Back 30

Exaggeration of a particular characteristic

Front 31

Incongruity

Back 31

When some object/idea/person is out of place with its surroundings

Front 32

Reversal

Back 32

The natural order of events is opposite

Front 33

Reduction

Back 33

Degradation of an individual by reducing his dignity

Front 34

Invective

Back 34

Open insult, often used for shock factor; emotional violence

Front 35

Double-entendre

Back 35

When a word has double meaning

Front 36

Understatement

Back 36

Opposite of exaggeration; sometimes used when something is so great that it can't be exaggerated

Front 37

Litotes

Back 37

Negate word to make it opposite

ex: no small problem

Front 38

Freudian slip

Back 38

a mistake one makes that seems unconscious but may reflect subconscious

Front 39

Annotation

Back 39

Explanatory notes added to text to explain further

Front 40

Asyndeton

Back 40

No conjuctions

Front 41

Polysyndeton

Back 41

Use of multiple and often unnecessary conjunctions

Front 42

Conundrum

Back 42

A difficult problem; a riddle whose answer involves a pun

Front 43

Consonance

Back 43

When the same consonant sound is repeated in close proximity

Front 44

Assonance

Back 44

When the same vowel sound is repeated in close proximity

Front 45

Dramatic Irony

Back 45

When audience is aware of difference between character's perception of situation and the reality of the situation

Front 46

Situational Irony

Back 46

Events turn out the opposite of what was expected

Front 47

Connotation

Back 47

Implied meaning

Front 48

Denotation

Back 48

literal meaning

Front 49

Epigram

Back 49

a witty saying

Front 50

Epitaph

Back 50

What's written on a tombstone

Front 51

Epigraph

Back 51

Phrase or quote before a work that hints at its theme

Front 52

Epithet

Back 52

A short phrase that adds a characteristic to a person's name

ex: Henry Clay="The Great Compromiser"

Front 53

Euphemism

Back 53

A more pleasant way of saying something that might be uncomfortable

Front 54

Euphony

Back 54

Harmonious sounds

Front 55

Cacophony

Back 55

Harsh, dissonant sounds

Front 56

Exposition

Back 56

Immediate revelation to audience of setting and other background info

Front 57

Concrete Language

Back 57

Clear and vivid language describing specific things

Front 58

Periodic Sentence

Back 58

Sentence in which main clause does not come until the end; subject is at the end

Front 59

Loose sentence

Back 59

Regular sentence with a string of details added to it

Front 60

Lyrical writing

Back 60

Writing that is song-like; characterized by emotions, subjectivity, and imagination

Front 61

Prose

Back 61

Fiction/non-fiction; written in ordinary language

Front 62

Hyperbole

Back 62

Exaggeration to create humor or place emphasis

Front 63

Simile

Back 63

Comparing two things using 'like' or 'as'

Front 64

Metaphor

Back 64

Directly comparing one thing to another

Front 65

Parallelism

Back 65

Making words/clauses structurally similar

Front 66

Metonymy

Back 66

Use name of object to refer to whole person

ex: the crown=the king

Front 67

Synechdode

Back 67

Using a part of a whole to refer to something

ex: all hands on deck

Front 68

Anaphora

Back 68

Repetition at beginning of sentences

Front 69

Antithesis

Back 69

Presentation of contrasting images

Front 70

Oxymoron

Back 70

Grouping two apparently contradictory terms

Front 71

Discursive writing

Back 71

rambling

Front 72

Causal argument

Back 72

Analyzing what caused a trend/event

Front 73

Inverted sentence

Back 73

Verb before subject
ex: never have i been this full

Front 74

Personification

Back 74

Assigning human qualities to inanimate objects

Front 75

Syllogism

Back 75

Two premises that logically lead to a conclusion

Front 76

Claim/Warrant

Back 76

The point, backed up by support, of an argument