AP English Language and Composition Terms

1. AP English Language and Composition Terms ENG III AP & DC Ms. Gonzalez PSJA High School (part one)

2. ALLEGORY • Definition: the device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning; an extended metaphor. • The difference between an allegory and a symbol is that an allegory is a complete narrative that conveys abstract ideas to get a point across, while a symbol is a representation of an idea or concept that can have a different meaning throughout a literary work. • An Allegory is a narrative having a second meaning beneath the surface one - a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. Examples of allegories are the Fairie Queen by Edmund Spenser, Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan and  Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

3. ALLITERATION • The repetition of initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words. • Example: • Peter Piper Pizza • She sells sea shells • Flying flowers

4. ALLUSION • A direct or indirect reference to a person, book, place, event, literary work, myth, or work of art. • Not to be confused with “ILLUSIONS” • Example: • Sally had a smile that rivaled that of the Mona Lisa. • Explanation: Since everyone is familiar with the painting, they can imagine what Sally’s smile looks like. • For more examples look at the following link: http://staff.fcps.net/wturner/AllusionsPowerpoint%20Condensed.pdf

5. AMBIGUITY • Multiple meanings of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage. • For more examples look at the following link: • http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=ambiguity%20examples%20powerpoint&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CFMQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhandouts4msbsclass.pbworks.com%2Ff%2FIrony%2Band%2BAmbiguity.ppt&ei=t3JiT-nKJ6OQsQK5_ZWkDA&usg=AFQjCNHAW1vRnJihqPXKKMBW27Caxr3vzg&cad=rja • Example: • I'm going to sleep. • Explanation: "Going" can be a verb with destination "sleep" or an auxiliary indicating near future. So it can mean "I am (now) falling asleep", "I am (in the future) intending to sleep" or "I am leaving (this event) to (go and) sleep."

6. ANALOGY • The relationship between words. • The relationship can be: • Synonyms • Antonyms • Part to whole • Member to category • Matters of degree • Object to function • Cause and effect • Examples: • Infant : baby • Boy : girl • Wheel : car • Carrot : vegetable • Cool: Cold • oven : baking • tears : sadness • Want to see more examples? ch104.k12.sd.us/Analogies.ppt

7. ANTECEDENT • The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. • A pronoun takes the place of the noun. • Example: • My students study hard for the exam on Tuesday; it will consist of many difficult AP Terms. • Explanation: • "They" refers to “students" and is, therefore, the pronoun. “Students" is the antecedent because “students" is the noun to which "they" refers.

8. ANTITHESIS • The opposition or contrast of ideas; the direct opposite. • Examples: • “If a free society cannot help the manywhoare poor, it cannot save the fewwho are rich. –JFK • Students in high school shouldn’t desire to fail, but they should desire to succeed.

9. APHORISM • A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion. • Terse: brief and to the point. • Examples: • Benjamin Franklin: Early to bedand early to rise,makes a manhealthy, wealthy, and wise. • Hippocrates: Life is short, art is long, opportunity fleeting, experimenting dangerous, reasoning difficult.

10. APOSTROPHE • A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love, as if alive and present and could not answer. • Examples: • "Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are?" • William Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1: "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."

11. ATMOSPHERE • The emotion created by the entirety of a literary work. It is established by the setting and the author’s choice of objects description. • It might foreshadow events. • Example: • The author uses figurative language and imagery to create an atmosphere, for example, “Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe: the author creates a “horror” atmosphere by the way he describes the rooms (setting).

12. CARICATURE • A verbal description to exaggerate or distort, for comic effect, a person’s distinctive physical features or other characteristics. • Pay close attention to how Charles Dickens picture or describe Mr. Chadband. This is an example of caricature. • Example: • From Charles Dickens: Mr. Chadband is a large yellow man, with a fat smile, and a general appearance of having a good deal of train oil in his system. Mrs. Chadband is a stern, severe-looking, silent woman. Mr. Chadband moves softly and cumbrously, not unlike a bear who has been taught to walk upright. He is very much embarrassed about the arms, as if they were inconvenient to him, and he wanted to grovel; is very much in a perspiration about the head; and never speaks without first putting up his great hand, as delivering a token to his hearers that he is going to edify them.

13. CLAUSE • A grammatical unit that contains a subject and a predicate. • It is either independent or dependent. (Meaning it can either stand alone as a sentence or not). • Examples: • Margaret went home after she saw her boyfriend. • Clause: Margaret went home • Phrase: after she saw her boyfriend.

14. COLLOQUIAL/COLLOQUIALISM • Informal and conversational in tone. The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing. • Slang is not the same as colloquialism, but it is informal speech. • Example: • Colloquialism (words): "y'all" or "gonna" or "wanna” (phrases): "old as the hills" and "raining cats and dogs" "dead as a doornail“ Within a sentence: She was dumped by her boyfriend.

15. CONCEIT • A fancy way of expressing, usually in the form of a metaphor or simile. It displays intellectual cleverness as a result of the unusual comparison being made. • Example: • Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?byWilliam Shakespeare Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate.Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,And summer's lease hath all too short a date.

16. CONNOTATION • The implied or suggested meaning of a word. Not the dictionary meaning! • It may involve ideas, emotions, or attitudes. • Examples: • My husband is my partner for life. The word partner has an implied meaning of friend, lover, etc. • Pablo’s friend is a chicken for not talking to the cheerleader. The word chicken has an implied meaning of someone having no courage.

17. DENOTATION • Dictionary or literal meaning of a word. • Examples: • “chicken” Denotation meaning: a domestic fowl kept for its eggs or meat. Connotation meaning: being cowardly.

18. DICTION • The writer’s word choice. The style of speaking or writing. • *(For the AP Exam the author’s diction could be formal, informal, ornate, or plain). • Example: • In Abraham Lincoln’s Inaugural Address, he creates a feeling of unity and forgiveness through his positive diction.

19. DIDACTIC • It is design or intended to teach or instruct. • To teach or instruct moral or ethical principles. • Example: • Just think of a lesson being explain with facts from a teacher to a student.

20. EUPHEMISM • It is the substitution of an inoffensive word with another more offensive. • Examples: “Deceased” instead of “departed.” “Go to the bathroom” instead of “be excused.”

21. EXTENDED METAPHOR • A metaphor developed at great length. • Think of a metaphor and create an extension. “She is my love” (metaphor) “She is the love of my life”(extended metaphor) • Example: Let me count my loves of thee, my rose garden, my heart, my fixed mark, my beginning and my end.