AP Terms (1)
A short amusing or interesting story about an incident or person. Intended to illustrate a point or example.
Anecdote
Comedic commentary; a work that pokes fun at another work by imitating an aspect of the writer's style: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
Parody
True or False
It is appropriate to use numbers, contractions, and colloquial vernacular in academic writing.
FALSE. Spell out numbers (One, not 1), spell out words (cannot, not can't), and use a formal tone ("The upbeat music contributed to the joyful ambiance." not "It was lit".)
The novel The Handmaid's Tale was written by
Margaret Atwood
Three four-line sections followed by a two-line section resulting in fourteen total lines. Typically follows an ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG rhyme scheme.
Sonnet
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang...
The struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story.
Conflict
A central character who does not have conventional heroic attributes: Severus Snape
Antihero
A name used for an individual person, place, or organization should always be spelled with initial capital letters because they are
Proper Nouns
This English playwright, poet and actor is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language.
William Shakespeare
A poem where the first letter of each line spells out a word, name, or phrase when read vertically.
Acrostic
Light cascades through the open window,
Overcoming the shadows of doubt.
Voices of the morning whisper secrets,
Each word a soft kiss upon the heart.
Two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit.
Couplet
The central message or idea explored in a work of art, literature, or other creative expression.
Theme
True or False
I should do my best to use large and impressive vocabulary in academic writing.
FALSE. It is always better to be clear and use simple language rather than showing off flashy words you aren't sure about and potentially misusing them. This is not to say, however, that you should settle for very weak vocabulary choices (like "bad" or "big" or "mad").
This author of the novel Beloved won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993 for her body of work.
Toni Morrison
Five lines or poetry that follows an AABBA rhyme scheme. The first two lines contain seven to ten syllables. The third and fourth lines contain five to seven syllables. The final line contains seven to ten syllables.
Limerick
There once was a man from Nantucket
Who kept all his cash in a bucket.
But his daughter, named Nan,
Ran away with a man
And as for the bucket, Nantucket.
Rhythmic structure of a line of verse determined by the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
Meter
Contrasting ideas, often in a balanced or parallel structure, to emphasize the difference or opposition between them: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."
Antithesis
True or False
When defending my claim, I should choose 1-2 points that support my claim and fully address each one, with supporting text evidence, in its own paragraph.
TRUE. Streamline your writing so that each paragraph addresses a specific point. This organizes your writing and helps the reader follow your line of reasoning.
This classic novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald has had four film adaptations, with two especially big-budget, well-known movies: the 1974 version starring Robert Redford and the 2013 film with Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Great Gatsby
A poem without a consistent rhyme scheme and meter. It can be long or short, and it can cover any subject matter.
Free Verse
A touch of cold in the Autumn night— I walked abroad, And saw the ruddy moon lean over a hedge Like a red-faced farmer. I did not stop to speak, but nodded, And round about were the wistful stars With white faces like town children.
A figure of speech in which a part represents the whole.
Synechdoche
How many stressed syllables are in a line of iambic pentameter?
Five
Where is the punctuation mark missing in this sentence?
"Before her stepmother awoke Cinderella had three chores to complete: feeding the chickens, cooking breakfast, and doing the wash."
"Before her stepmother awoke,
The comma (,) indicates a pause between parts of a sentence. Commas are also used to separate items in a list.
Ray Bradbury is the author of this novel that was adapted into a 2018 film starring Michael B. Jordan.
Fahrenheit 451
A poem with no specific length or form rules except that it is about death.
Elegy
I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground. So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind: Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned...