AP Language & CompositionMrs. Nix

Effective speaking and writing

The art of persuasion

The art of getting people to do or believe whatever you want

Narration Presents a coherent story

Description Re-creates a person, place, event, or action

in the reader’s mind

Exposition Explains and analyzes ideas and evidence

through appropriate discussion

Persuasion Proves the validity of an idea or point of

view through sound reasoning

Definition Personal, extended construction of the meaning

of an abstract word or concept by comparing the term to previous definitions and/or illustrating how the term should be applied

Classification/division Categorizes concepts by collecting into larger

idea blocks or dividing into smaller idea blocks

Cause/effect Explains why things happen (causes) and what

happens as a result (effects)

Compare/contrast Emphasizes the similarities between two or

more things or delineates the differences between two or more things

Process analysis Describes “how to” do something or tell how

something happens

Order of importance (chronological, climactic, spatial)

Discusses the details of a topic in some logical order, i.e., from most important to least or the other way around

Anecdote Digression/Aside Apostrophe Concession Analogy Conceit Aphorism Metaphor Simile Personification

Synecdoche Metonymy Euphemism Pun Zeugma Allusion Imagery Symbol Motif Archetype Satire

A digression in the form of an address to someone not present, or to a personified object or idea

Example: “O Death, where is thy sting?”

An acknowledgment or admission to an opposing point of view

Example: Although (I admit) this class is

difficult, it is worth it.

A comparison of apparently dissimilar things in order to show similarities

Example: The relationship between them began to thaw.

Example: You are as annoying as nails on a chalkboard.

Example: I am going to be toast when I get home.

Comparison of two unlikely things that is drawn out (or extended) through a piece of literature

A concise statement designed to make a point or illustrate a commonly held belief

Example: Spare the rod and spoil the child.

A part is used to represent the whole

Example: referring to one’s car as “wheels”

Example: All hands on deck.

Example: In the 2010 Winter Olympics, Canada won 14 gold medals.

Reference to something or someone by naming one of its attributes

Example: The pen is mightier than the swordThe pen is an attribute of thoughts that are written with a pen; the sword is an attribute of military action Referring to the President as the “White House”

Example: The suits on Wall Street walked off with most of our savings.

Substituting a more favorable for a pejorative or socially delicate term

Example: He passed away (instead of he died)

Example: Wardrobe malfunction (instead of clothing falling off)

Example: They are going out (instead of dating in a monogamous relationship)

The use of words that are alike or nearly alike in sound but different in meaning; a play on words

Example: What did the tire salesman do when he got a flat tire? He re-tired.

Example: What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta!

When a word, usually a verb or adjective, is applied to two or more nouns without being repeated

Example: The thief took my wallet and the Fifth Avenue bus.

An indirect reference to something the author expects you to be familiar with

Example: I was surprised his nose was not growing like Pinocchio’s.

Example: I thought the software would be useful, but it was a Trojan Horse.

Example: He was a real Romeo with the ladies.

A recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., esp. in a literary, artistic, or musical work

Example: Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger The protagonist Holden Caulfield is searching for a partner in life, as he lives alone. The fact that he is alone is brought up time and time again in the book, when he calls former girls he knew, or talks to classmates that he did not like, but just needed to talk to. His loneliness becomes a driving force to examine his separation of himself and the world.

The original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or based

A model or first form; a prototype

Examples: (1) Frankenstein = archetypal monster, (2) Prince from Sleeping Beauty = archetypal perfect man, (3) Hector from the siege of Troy (The Iliad) = archetypal hero

A literary work that holds up human failings to ridicule and censure

Examples: Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal; George Orwell’s 1984; Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Tone Voice Purpose Point of View Style Mood/atmosphere Shift

A speaker’s particular “take” on an idea based on word choice, syntax, and other elements of style