AP Lang Unit 3 Multiple Choice Vocab Words

Ad hominem fallacy

"against a person" part of argumentation and it does not address the soundness of another side's argument, instead it attacks the character of a person who conveys that other side of the argument.

Bandwagon appeal/fallacy

appeal to everyone's sense of wanting to belong or be accepted.

Pathos

appeal to the emotions or interests of the audience

Argumentum Ad Baculum

appeals to false or perceived the threat of force to bring about the acceptance of a conclusion

Slippery slope fallacy

assumes that one action will lead to another similar action that in turn will lead to another and to another, ultimately resulting in something quite undesirable

Tone

attitude or posture of a writer/speaker's expression. Subtext, expression has an understatement

Cumulative sentence

begin with the independent clause and then finishes with a series of modifying constructions

Epanalepsis

beginning of a clause or sentence is repeated at the end of that same clause or sentence, with words intervening.

Subordinate clauses

cannot stand on its own as a sentence

Similes

comparison, showing similarities between two different things. Unlike a metaphor, a simile draws resemblance with the help of the words "like" or "as." Therefore, it is a direct comparison.

perplexed

completely baffled; very puzzled.

Warrant/Toulmin Warrant

creates a common ground with the audience so that they see the support. Acts as a bridge

imagery

description that appeals to our five senses.

Imperative sentence

direct command to someone

Hyperbole

exaggeration or embellishment for effect or the make a point

Favorable

expressing approval.

connotatively charged diction

feelings and emotions that accompany a word.

supplicant

fervently religious person who prays to God for help with a problem, and it can also be someone who begs earnestly for something he or she wants.

Exemplum

figure of amplification using an example, brief or extended real of fictitious, to illustrate a point

oxymoronic/paradoxical language

figure of speech in which two seemingly opposing and contradictory elements are juxtaposed.

Apostrophe

figure of speech sometimes represented by an exclamation, such as "Oh." A writer or speaker, using apostrophe, speaks directly to someone who is not present or is dead, or speaks to an inanimate object.

Complex sentence

focuses on a question of truth or fact, introduced by if or its equivalent

Personification

form of figurative language in which something that is not human is given human characteristics.

sanctioning

give official permission or approval for (an action).

Indifferent

having no particular interest or sympathy; unconcerned.

Narrative place

how quickly it moves from on event or action to another. Create mood, tone, attitude, and significance of information

mock-heroic

imitating the style of heroic literature in order to satirize an unheroic subject.

Parody

imitation of a particular writer, artist, or genre, exaggerating it deliberately to produce a comic effect

Metaphor

implied comparison between 2 unlike things

false analogy

informal fallacy. It applies to inductive arguments. It is an informal fallacy because the error is about what the argument is about, and not the argument itself

Didactic

intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive.

Officious

intrusively enthusiastic in offering help or advice; interfering.

Immunity

lack of susceptibility, especially to something unwelcome or harmful.

Ethos

language employed in a text to establish that a writer/speaker is credible

inflated language

language that isn't straightforward but often loaded with doublespeak and confusing terms without much apparent reason for having them

Exclusive Language

language that seeks to alienate, ostracize, and/or exclude others from a group and often create a sense of us vs them

Juxtaposition

literary technique in which two or more ideas, places, characters, and their actions are placed side by side in a narrative or a poem, for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts

Declarative sentence

makes a statement. Communicate or emphasize that the speaker/writer is confident

Conceit

metaphor that compares two very unlike things in a surprising and clever way.

mock-objective

might assert the order in which its methods are called, or assert consistency of data across method calls.

Objective

not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts.

Flippant

not showing a serious or respectful attitude.

Ellipsis

omit some parts of a sentence or event, which gives the reader a chance to fill the gaps while acting or reading it out

Zeugma

one preposition or verb, yokes together 2 other elements that are unrelated

Amenable

open and responsive to suggestion; easily persuaded or controlled.

Antithesis

opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites of, or strongly contrasted with, each other

Antiphrasis

phrase or word is employed in a way that is opposite to its literal meaning, in order to create an ironic or comic effect.

Argumentum ad Misericordiam

pity or related emotion such as sympathy or compassion is appealed to for the sake of getting a conclusion accepted

Red herring argumentative fallacy

point that has little or nothing to do with the issue being discussed. It serves to distract the audience form the real issue or problem

Rhetorical questions

posed by the speaker or writer not to seek an answer but instead to affirm or deny a point simply by asking a question about it.

supportive

providing encouragement or emotional help.

Inclusive language

reach out to include others in a group. Using pronouns like we, us, everyone

Acquiescent

ready to accept something without protest, or to do what someone else wants.

Motif

recurring symbol which takes on a figurative meaning.

reductio ad absurdum

reduce an argument to absurdity, by drawing conclusions with logical limits, or by showing ridiculous consequences. Reductio ad absurdum in satires breaks down an idea to the point of absurdity.

indefinite pronoun

refers to an unspecified or unidentified person or thing

Syntax

refers to the way in which words and sentences are placed together. Usually in the English language the syntax should follow a pattern of subject-verb-object agreement but sometimes authors play around with this to achieve a lyrical, rhythmic, rhetoric or questioning effect.

reflective

relating to or characterized by deep thought; thoughtful.

Anaphora

repeating a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences for emphasis and rhythm. As a rhetorical device, it is often used to place an emphasis on or draw attention to what is said.

Anadiplosis

repetition in which the last word of one clause or sentence is repeated as the first word of the following clause or sentence.

Epistrophe

repetition of a group of words at the end of successive clauses

Periodic Sentence

sentence beginning with a series of subordinate modifying phrases and clauses, often creating a crescendo effect and then ending with a forceful independent clause.

Syllogism

series of statements in which a logical conclusion is drawn from inarguable premises

Parallelism

set of similarly structured words, phrases, or clauses that appears in a sentence or paragraph

Disdainful

showing contempt or lack of respect.

Contemptuous

showing contempt; scornful.

Colloquial Language

slang or in-formalities in speech or writing

Independent clause

subject and predicate that can stand alone as a sentence

Superlative form adjective

takes a comparison to the highest degree

Generalization

takes in everything and everyone at once, allowing no exceptions.

Logos

text appears well reasoned

status quo

the existing state of affairs, especially regarding social or political issues.

Asyndeton

the omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence.

Circumlocution

the use of many words where fewer would do, especially in a deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive.

Polysyndeton

use of many conjunctions to separate clauses and phrases

mystified

utterly bewilder or perplex (someone).

Oversimplification

when a writer offers neat and easy solutions for large, complicated problems

either-or fallacy

writer builds an argument upon the assumption that there are only two choices or possible outcomes when actually there are several.

felix culpa (fortunate fall)

A series of miserable events will eventually lead to a happier outcome.

utopic/utopia

an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.

Correctio

The amending of a term or phrase just employed

Antimetabole

The repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order. Often used to place an emphasis on or draw attention to what is said.

Enantiosis

Using opposing or contrary descriptions together, typically in a somewhat paradoxical manner.

Absolute language

When the author uses language that leaves no doubt about a situation or event that exaggerates or overstates a case.

understatement/litotes

a common digure of speech in which the literal sense of what is said falls detectably short of the magnitude of what is being talked about

Analogy

a comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification.

Aphorism

a concise statement, not unlike a maxim of a principle of precept.

Synechdoche

a part of something represents the whole, or it may use a whole to represent a part. Synecdoche may also use larger groups to refer to smaller groups, or vice versa.

Caesura

a pause near the middle of a line.

Caricature

a picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect.

Pun

a play on words that produces a humorous effect by using a word that suggests two or more meanings, or by exploiting similar sounding words that have different meanings.

Chiasmus

a rhetorical or literary figure in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order, in the same or a modified form

Anecdote

a short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person.

Metonymy

a thing associated with a person, place, or thing stands in for it

Qualifier

a word or phrase (such as very) that precedes an adjective or adverb, increasing or decreasing the quality signified by the word it modifies.

Concession

act of acknowledging or admitting the validity and or verity of a point made by an opposing viewpoint, even if unwillingly or grudgingly

Bathos

an effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous.

Allusion

an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.