Speece's Ap Language Terms

Front 1

Alliteration

Back 1

Repetition of accented consonant sounds at the beginning of wards

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Allusion

Back 2

Reference to previous literature, history, mythology, Bible...

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Ambiguity

Back 3

Quality of being intentionally unclear

Front 4

Analogy

Back 4

clarifies or explain unfamiliar concept or object which cannot be put into words by comparing it with something that is familiar

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Analysis

Back 5

process of examining the components of literary work

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Anecdote

Back 6

short personal story used to emphasize a point, develop theme or character, or inject humor

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Antagonist

Back 7

character who functions as a resisting force to the goals of protagonist

Front 8

Alliteration

Back 8

Repetition of accented consonant sounds at the beginning of words

Front 9

Allusion

Back 9

Reference to previous literature, history, mythology, Bible...

Front 10

Analogy

Back 10

clarifies or explains unfamiliar concept or object which cannot be put into words by comparing it with something that is familiar

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Antithesis

Back 11

concept that is directly opposed to a previously presented idea

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archetype

Back 12

character, situation, or symbol that is familiar to people from all cultures because it occurs frequently in literature, myth, religion, or folklore

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aside

Back 13

speech or remark made by actor to audience rather than to the characters who do not hear

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assonance

Back 14

repeated use of a vowel sound

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cacophony

Back 15

harsh, discordant sounds, unpleasant to ear

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colloquial

Back 16

slang or regional dialect, used in familiar everyday conversation

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connotation

Back 17

associations a word calls to mind

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denotation

Back 18

dictionary or literal meaning of a word or phrase

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Diction

Back 19

the deliberate choice of a style of language for a desired effect or tone

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didactic

Back 20

primary purpose is to instruct, teach, or moralize

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euphony

Back 21

pleasant or harmonious sound of a word or group of words

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figurative language

Back 22

uses figures of speech such as metaphor, simile, metonymy, personification, hyperbole...

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flashback

Back 23

interruption by introduction of an earlier event or image of a past experience

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genre

Back 24

category into which a piece of writing can be classified

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hubris

Back 25

excessive pride

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hyperbole

Back 26

an extreme exaggeration for literary effect that is not meant to be interpreted literally

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imagery

Back 27

anything that affects or appeals to the reader's senses

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metaphor

Back 28

figure of speech which compares two dissimilar things, asserting that one this is another thing

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onomatopoeia

Back 29

words that imitate sound

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oxymoron

Back 30

figure of speech that combines two contradictory words

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paradox

Back 31

statement or situation that at first seems impossible or oxymoronic, but which solves itself and reveals meaning

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parallelism

Back 32

repeated use of the same grammatical structure in a sentence or series of sentences.

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parody

Back 33

comical imitation of a serious piece with the intent of ridiculing the author or work

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pathos

Back 34

the quality of a literary work or passage which appeals to the reader's or viewer's emotions – especially pity, compassion and sympathy

Front 35

personification

Back 35

human qualities put onto animals or objects

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point of view

Back 36

perspective of the speaker or narrator

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protagonist

Back 37

main character

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pun

Back 38

play on words, humorous

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repetition

Back 39

word or phrase used more than once to emphasize an idea

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rhetorical question

Back 40

question with an obvious answer and isn't expected to be answered

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satire

Back 41

use of humor to ridicule and expose the shortcomings and failings of society, individuals, and institutions, often in the hope that change are possible

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simile

Back 42

comparison of unlike things using like or as

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symbol

Back 43

concrete object, scene, or action which has deeper significance because it is associated with something else

Front 44

synecdoche

Back 44

one part represents the entire object

Front 45

syntax

Back 45

the way in which words, phrases, and sentences are ordered and connected

Front 46

theme

Back 46

the central idea of a literary work

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tone

Back 47

author's attitude toward subject, sets mood of piece

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tragic flaw

Back 48

defect in a hero that leads to downfall

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moral

Back 49

a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event.

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irony

Back 50

(1) saying the opposite of what is meant (2) result or ending that is the opposite (3) situation in which the audience attending a dramatic presentation grasps the incongruity of a situation before the actors do

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external conflict

Back 51

in literature, a struggle between the protagonist and another character against nature or some outside force

Front 52

allegory

Back 52

a story or narrative that teaches a moral or truth by using people, animals, events, etc. as symbols of that moral or truth

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climax

Back 53

(in a dramatic or literary work) a decisive moment that is of maximum intensity or is a major turning point in a plot

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internal conflict

Back 54

in literature and drama, a struggle which takes place in the protagonist’s mind and through which the character reaches a new understanding or dynamic change

Front 55

elegy

Back 55

a somber poem or song that praises or laments the dead

Front 56

dramatic irony

Back 56

when the audience of a play knows more than the characters within the play, making the plot suspenseful and dramatic

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Archaism

Back 57

The use of deliberately old–fashioned language

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antecedent

Back 58

the word to which a pronoun refers

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aphorism

Back 59

a brief, clever saying that expresses a principle, truth, or observation about life

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appositive

Back 60

a noun which restates the noun preceding it (Mary, the doctor, went to the store.)

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description

Back 61

using vivid words to create a dominant impression of what the five senses are experiencing

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dialogue

Back 62

conversation between two or more characters.

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diction

Back 63

word choice.

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euphemism

Back 64

describing something distasteful in a positive way.

Front 65

zeugma

Back 65

He stole my lunch and my heart.

Front 66

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Back 66

Mark Twain

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The Old Man and the Sea

Back 67

Ernest Hemingway

Front 68

Of Mice and Men

Back 68

John Steinbeck

Front 69

The Great Gatsby

Back 69

F. Scott Fitzgerald

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"Civil Disobedience"

Back 70

Henry David Thoreau, poll taxes, slavery, annexation of Texas

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Back 71

Bob

Front 72

Back 72

Stuart

Front 73

Back 73

Kevin

Front 74

Ethos

Back 74

establishing credibility; morals and ethics

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Pathos

Back 75

appealing to the emotions

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Logos

Back 76

facts, statistics; appealing to logic