AP Test Vocabulary
noun
something that furnishes proof.
Evidence
"Who gave Newt and Scooter the blue tuna? It was too soon!"
This line contains examples of...
Assonance
The same vowel sound (ooo) repeats within this group of words.
A figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox.
Oxymoron
Memories are bullets. Some whiz by and only spook you. Others tear you open and leave you in pieces.” ―Kill the Dead, Richard Kadrey
Metaphor
A writer’s attitude or feeling about a subject, conveyed through diction and writing style.
Tone
transitive verb
to study or determine the nature and relationship of the parts of (something).
Analyze
"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;"
These two lines contain two examples of...
Alliteration
The Prologue of Romeo and Juliet has two sets of alliteration, one with “f” sounds and one with “l” sounds.
The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the applied, suggested meaning.
Connotation
A writer, like an acrobat, must occasionally try a stunt that is too much for him.—E.B. White
Simile
Generally, anything that represents, stands for, something else.
Symbol
noun
a position or proposition that a person (such as a candidate for scholastic honors) advances and offers to maintain by argument.
Thesis
Will accept claim...but learn the word!
"So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—"
The first, second, and forth line contain an example of...
Anaphora
The speaker repeats a variation of a phrase beginning with the words "don't you."
The use of informal or everyday language in literature.
Colloquial/Colloquialism
The grass is green and neatly cut, and the buildings cast a watchful eye over the clean, quiet campus.
Personification
Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.
Couplet
verb
to explain or tell the meaning of : present in understandable terms.
Interpret
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
The third line contains an example of...
Epizeuxis
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” The repetition of the word “rage” underscores the intensity that the speaker hopes to cultivate against death.
The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color.
Denotation
Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.—Napoleon Bonaparte
Hyperbole
A generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.
Meter
transitive verb
to impart or communicate by statement, suggestion, gesture, or appearance.
Convey
Will accept express, impart, or communicate.
"But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place."
The second line contains an example of...
Diacope.
The repetition of "face" emphasizes the physical proximity between the two men on the battle-field.
A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept.
Euphemism
The new scholarship fund is a quiet Robin Hood—redirecting resources to where they’re needed most.
Allusion
The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation.
Enjambment