Shelnut AP Lang Terms
Terms
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- apotheosis
- a larger-than-life presence; a godlike paragon worthy of respsect and reverence
- antagonist
- the character in a narrative or play who is in conflict with the main character; an antagonist may not even be a person---or may be the same person as the main character
- analogy
- the comparison of two things, which are alike in several respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or object is similar to some familiar one
- carpe diem
- a Latin phrase which translated means "Seize the day"
- anecdote
- short narrative (story) to prove a point in an argument, speech, or essay
- arguments
- assertions made based on facts, statistics, logical or objective reasoning, hard evidence, etc.
- appeals
- to popular opinion, authority figures or celebrities; everyone jump on the "bandwagon"
- anachronism
- someothing out of its place in time or history
- abstract
- unable to be touched; not concrete
- aphorism
- brief statement which expresses an observation on life, usually intended as a wise observation
- allusion
- figure of speech which makes brief reference to an historical or literary figure, event, or obect; a reference in one literary work to a character or theme found in anotherliterary work
- begging the question
- also called assuming the answer; circular reasoning
- bombast
- elevated language, often pompous and overdone
- anapahora
- the repitition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases for rhetorical or poetic effect
- ambiguity
- the expression of a idea in language which gives more than one meaning and leave uncertainty as to the meaning
- asyndeton
- the omission of conjunctions thaqt ordinarily join coordinate words and phrases, as in "see no evil, hear no evil, etc"
- autobiography
- author's own life story; first-person account
- antecedent
- a word that a noune or pronoun refers back to
- caesura
- a pause for effect in the middle of a line of poetry; (period, dash, semicolong, etc.) it may or may not affect the meter
- characterization
- the method a writer uses to reveal the personality of a character in a literary work
- aside
- a statement delivered by a actor in such a way that the other characters on stage are presumed not to have heard him
- cacophony
- a combination of harsh, unpleasant sounds which create an effect of dsicordance. Its opposite is euphony.
- auditory imagery
- word choices that appeal to the ear, that help you "hear" the words
- alliteration
- sound device; repetition of initial (beginning) consonant sounds
- apostrophe
- addressing someone or something, usually not present, as though present
- abstraction
- a concept or value that cannot be seen (love, courage, etc.)
- assonance
- similarity or repetition of a vowel sound in two or more words, especially in line of verse
- antithesis
- figure of speech in which a thought is balanced with a contrasting though in parallel arrangements of words and phrases
- catharsis
- Aristotle's word for the pity and fear an audience experiences upon viewing the downfall of a hero
- cause and effect relationships
- a dominant technique (or rhetorical device) in which the author analyzes reasons for a chain of events
- bathos
- an unintentional anticlimax; a shift from the sublime to the ridiculous which can result from the use of overly elevated language to descdribe trivial subject matter, or from an exaggerated attempt at pathos which misfires to the point of being ludicrous
- ad hominem
- Latin for "to the man"--attacking the person, not the argument; aslo known as mud-slinging