AP English Language Terms

Ad hominem
An argumentative "technique" where the person is attacked directly, rather than for the strengths and merits of his logic. This is generally considered crude and childish, and amongst the higher echelons of formal arguing, it is looked down upon in contempt. Nevertheless it is still evidenced in use by major institutions, such as the Catholic Church, which in addition to denouncing scientific facts such as evolution, also calls the associated scientists "evil Satanists who are surely going to the Lowest Circle of Hell." An example is: "While I find your logic sound, I do not find your face to be appealing, pretty, or in any way, shape, or form attracting of human attention upon it, and thus your whole theory is invalidated because it is proposed by such an ugly person." Another example would be refusing to acknowledge an argument by simply saying, "That's so stupid I'm not even going to consider it, and through guilt by association, you are stupid too. Nobody wastes time with imbeciles and morons."
Ben McIlwain

Allegory
A "deep" story technique where things are much deeper than they appear on the surface. It uses symbols and references to discuss society as a whole. For example, The Wizard of Oz is an allegoric story where each of the story concepts represent a larger satire of society as a whole. Some examples include the Cowardly Lion, who represents William Jennings Bryan, who lost many presidential elections due to his lack of courage. The flying monkeys (later dropped from the film adaptation) represent the Native Americans, who are trapped and have nowhere to go. The Wizard of Oz is one huge allegory chock full of concepts deeper than they seem to a typical child who might read it; follow the link above for a whole listing of allegories and symbols in the Wizard of Oz.
Ben McIlwain

Alliteration
Taken right from Dictionary.com: "The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or instressed syllables, as in Òon scrolls of silver snowy sentencesÓ (Hart Crane). Modern alliteration ispredominantly consonantal; certain literary traditions, such as Old English verse, also alliterate usingvowel sounds." Nowadays, alliteration with vowel sounds is called assonance, so alliteration involves only repetitive same-sounding consonant sounds. An example: "She sheilds Shira's show shirkingly." Another example: "The thesis theorized that theories of theology thank the thinkers thoughtfully."
Ben McIlwain

Allusion
Allusuion: an indirect reference to any other work or event.

Thisbe: O Sisters Three,
Come, come to me,
With hands as pale as milk;
Lay them in gore,
Since you have shore
With shears his thread of silk.

In this passage, an allusion is made to the three fates of Greek mythology, the "sisters three...with hands as pale as milk."
Eric Schaffer

Analogy
Analogy: a comparison between two otherwise dissimilar objects.

CASSIUS Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear:
And since you know you cannot see yourself
So well as by reflection, I, your glass,
Will modestly discover to yourself
That of yourself which you yet know not of.

In this example, Cassius creates an analogy between himself and a glass, despite the fact that in reality, Cassius is not very much like a mirror at all-he scatters most light that hits him, he is not nearly flat, and he is probably softer than a glass. But by being able to describe Brutus better than he can himself, Cassius effectively compares himself to a mirror.
Eric Schaffer

Antecedent
Definition: The subject that is referred to by a pronoun.
Example: "test" in "I took the AP test and failed it."
William Lai

Aphorism
Definition: A witty, concise statement of a principle.
Example: "If you can't beat them, join them."
William Lai

Apostrophe
Definition: A rhetorical strategy in which the speaker addresses an absent person or a personified essence while in the presence of a much larger audience.
Example: Mark Antony in Julius Caesar:
"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.
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!"
William Lai

Atmosphere
Atmosphere is the emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work established by the setting and by the author's choice of objects that are described. Such elements as a description of the weather can contribute to the atmosphere. Frequently, atmosphere foreshadows events.
The following excerpt sets an atmosphere that continues throughout the story:
"DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it wasÑbut, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible. I looked upon the scene before meÑupon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domainÑupon the bleak wallsÑupon the vacant eye-like windowsÑupon a few rank sedgesÑand upon a few white trunks of decayed treesÑwith an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveller upon opiumÑthe bitter lapse into everyday lifeÑthe hideous dropping off of the veil."
-- "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe
Matt Baron

Clause
A clause is a grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. An independent or main, clause expresses thought and can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent, or subordinate, clause cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent clause.
Example:
"After I came home from school, I started my homework." In this sentence, the independent clause is "I started my homework," and the dependent clause is "After I came home from school."
Matt Baron

Colloquialism
Colloquialism is the use of slang or informalities in speech or writing. It is not generally acceptable in formal writing, but colloquialisms give a work a conversational, familiar tone. Colloquial expressions in writing include local or regional dialects.
Example:
"It never did him no harm what I could see... When he was out of work, my mother used to give him fourpence and tell him to go out and not come back until he'd drunk himself cheerful and loving-like. Theres lots of women has to make their husbands drunk to make them fit to live with. You see, it's like this. If a man has a bit of a conscience, it always takes him when he's sober; and then it makes him low-spirited. A drop of booze just takes that off and makes him happy."
-- Eliza Doolittle from Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Matt Baron

Conceit
A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects. A conceit displays intellectual cleverness due to the unusual comparison being made.
or more easily understood as ...
an ingenious or witty turn of phrase or thought that contains an elaborate or exaggerated comparison
Example of conceit: The lover is a ship on a stormy sea, and his mistress "a cloud of dark disdain"; or else the lady is a sun whose beauty and virtue shine on her lover from a distance.
Joshua Chang

Connotation
Nonliteral, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning. Connotations may involve ideas, emotions, or attitudes.
Joshua Chang

Denotation
The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color.
Joshua Change

Diction
The choice and use of words in speech or writing.
Ex: His diction blazes up into a sudden explosion of prophetic grandeur. ~De Quincey
Josh Packman

Didactic
Intended to instruct, morally instructive, inclined to teach or moralize excessively
Ex: The speech "Sinnners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Rev. Johnathan Edwards (no relation to the magnet student that I know of) is didactic, in that it tells the people of the town exactly what they should and should not do.
Josh Packman

Euphemism
An inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive
Example: "The N-Word" or "B.S." are examples of euphemisms.
Josh Packman

Extended metaphor
Extended Metaphor: A metaphor that you carry on or refer to for more than one sentence.
Ex: The Child Raising Road
The road we take while raising our children is a hard one, complete with switchbacks, hairpin turns, and sudden detours. When my children were young, the switchbacks were fairly frequent. I remember toilet training was like going backwards at times. One day, I would think that my son (or daughter) had it all figured out and I would never see another diaper again. But no, that would turn into the day he or she had an "accident" while I was in the middle of grocery shopping. The twists and turns, like the mountain highway and its hairpins, never seem to end. It's like a curve ball in baseball in a wayÑthe children will surprise you with a personal question about the human body, usually when you least expect it, or suddenly use a bad word you had no idea they even knew. The detours children take you on are interesting as well. My son struggles with his mathematics and I think he is nearly at the end of his road. Perhaps it is time he took a detour to the easier math course, something I've tried to help him avoid. At least I will be there to keep him company! Although the child raising road has many interesting and unexpected qualities, I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Definition from: U Of Life
Example from: Palc.sd40
Sean Bryant

Figurative language
Figurative Language: Language that uses figures of speech, such as hyperbole, simile, metaphor, personification, and symbolism or other forms of imagery. It is used to gain impact, freshness of expression, or pictorial effect.
a) "A town is a thing, like a colonial animal."
b) "A town has a nervous system, and a head, shoulders and feet."
c) "Our son must go to school. He must break out of the pot that holds us in."
d) "This is not a pearl. It is a monstrosity."
Sean Bryant

Metaphor
Metaphor - a comparison between two objects
ex: Your eyes are stars!"
Simile - a comparison between two objects using "like" or "as
ex: Your eyes are like stars!
Hyperbole - a large exaggeration
ex: Your eyes are as bright as stars!
Personification - giving an inhuman thing human qualities
ex: The stars are envious of your eyes!
Onomatopoeia - words that sound like their meaning
ex: Wooosh! The stars penetrated the earth's atmosphere.
From: Netcore
Sean Bryant

Genre
a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content
Examples: romantic, realistic, escapist, religious, science fiction, ethical, etc.
Griffith Rees

Homily
1 : a usually short sermon
2 : a lecture or discourse on or of a moral theme
3 : an inspirational catchphrase; also : PLATITUDE
Examples:
" 'Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.' This figure Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

"So Jesus again said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.' "
Griffith Rees

Hyperbole
Definition of Hyperbole: extravagant exaggeration (as "mile-high ice-cream cones")
Griffith Rees

Imagery
Imagery is the use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas.
T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,"
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table.
uses images of pain and sickness to describe the evening, which as an image itself represents society and the psychology of Prufrock, himself.
Lisa Leung

Inference
Inference is the act or process of deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be true.
For example, 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.
Lisa Leung

Invective
Invective is a direct verbal assault on a person, cause, idea, or system: an insult or denunciation, whether witty or not. Norally uses much negative emotional language. Examples: "I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth." - Jonathan Swift
Lisa Leung

Irony
Rhetorical irony is the use of language to express a surface meaning and a different, usually intended, underlying meaning. Rhetorical irony is the usual classification for irony that is used simply to express oneself, usually to a single audience. It could apply to any usage that is essentially rhetorical in nature, such as Socratic irony, but the term is not usually so broadly applied.
Normal: "It was a stupid thing to do."
Ironic: "Oh, brilliant."
"Aren't you the clever one, then?"
"It was the stupidest act in human history."
Sei-Wook Kim

Loose Sentence
If you put your main point at the beginning of a long sentence, you are writing a loose sentence:
I am willing to pay slightly higher taxes for the privilege of living in Canada, considering the free health care, the cheap tuition fees, the low crime rate, the comprehensive social programs, and the wonderful winters.
THE LOOSE SENTENCE: This sentence is a basic statement with a string of details added to it.
Basic statement: Bells rang.
Loose sentence: Bells rang, filling the air with their clangor, startling pigeons into flight from every belfry, bringing people into the streets to hear the news.
Basic statement: The teacher considered him a good student.
Loose sentence: The teacher considered him a good student, steady if not inspired, willing if not eager, responsive to instruction and conscientious about his work.
Sei-Wook Kim

Metonomy
metonomy - a literary device where a part is used to describe a whole eg "a sail" meaning a ship.
* Wisconsin won its tenth game of the season.
* The White House announced a press conference for four o'clock Sunday.
* The Crown had absolute power in the Middle Ages.
Sei-Wook Kim

Onomatopoeia
A word which resembles the sound it refers to: Buzz, Boom.
Arman Mizani

Oxymoron
A phrase which is flatly contradictory to itself.
Jumbo Shrimp or Visisble Darkness
Arman Mizani

Periodic Sentence
If your main point is at the end of a long sentence, you are writing a periodic sentence:
Considering the free health care, the cheap tuition fees, the low crime rate, the comprehensive social programs, and the wonderful winters, I am willing to pay slightly higher taxes for the privilege of living in Canada.
THE PERIODIC SENTENCE: In this sentence, additional details are placed before the basic statement. Delay, of course, is the secret weapon of the periodic sentence.
Basic statement: John gave his mother flowers.
Periodic sentence: John, the tough one, the sullen kid who scoffed at any show of sentiment, gave his mother flowers.
Basic statement: The cat scratched Sally.
Periodic sentence: Suddenly, for no apparent reason, the loveable cat scratched Sally.
Sei-Wook Kim