AP English Language and
Composition
Textual Examples
of Terms
Alliteration
• Yes, I have
read that
little bundle
of
pernicious
prose, but I
have no
comment
to make
upon it.
• The
repetition
of initial
consonant
sounds,
such as
"Peter Piper
picked a
peck of
pickled
peppers."
al-lit'-er-a'-tion
Antithesis
•
• Though
surprising,
it is true;
though
frightening
at first, it is
really
harmless.
The
presentation
of two
contrasting
images. The
ideas are
balanced by
word, phrase,
clause or
paragraphs.
an-tith'-e-sis
Climax
•
The concerto was
applauded at the
house of Baron von
Schnooty, it was
praised highly at
court, it was voted
best concerto of the
year by the
Academy, it was
considered by
Mozart the highlight
of his career, and it
has become known
today as the best
concerto in the
world.
• The point
of highest
interest in a
literary
work.
cli'-max
Epizeuxis
• The best
way to
describe
this portion
of South
America is
lush, lush,
lush.
• The
repetition
of one
word or a
short
phrase.
e-pi-zook'-sis
Metanoia
• The chief
thing to look
for in impact
sockets is
hardness; no,
not so much
hardness as
resistance to
shock and
shattering.
• Qualifies a
statement
or part of a
statement
by rejecting
it or calling it
back and
expressing it
in a better,
milder, or
stronger
way.
\me-tə-ˈnȯi-ə\
Polysyndeton
• They read
• The use, for
and
rhetorical
studied
effect, of
and wrote
more
and drilled.
conjunctions
I laughed
than is
and played
necessary or
and talked
natural.
and
flunked.
pol-y-syn'-de-ton
Allusion
• You must
borrow me
Gargantua's
mouth first.
'Tis a word
too great for
any mouth of
this age's size.
–
Shakespeare.
• A reference
to another
more famous
work (such as
the Bible and
Mythology)
contained in
a work.
uh-loo-zhuhn
Apophasis
• Of course, I • Brings up a
do not need
subject by
to mention
pretending
that you
not to bring
should bring
it up.
a No. 2
pencil to the
exam.
a-pof'-a-sis
Procatalepsis
• But you might
object that, if
what I say is
actually true,
why would
people buy
products
advertised
illogically? The
answer to that
lies in human
psychology . . .
• Anticipates
an objection
that might
be raised by
a reader
and
responds to
it.
pro-cat-a-lep'-sis
Amplification
• In my hunger
after ten days
of rigorous
dieting I saw
visions of ice
cream-mountains of
creamy,
luscious ice
cream,
dripping with
gooey syrup
and calories.
• Consists of
restating a
word or
idea and
adding
more
detail.
am-pluh-fi-key-shuhn
Aporia
• I am not sure
whether to
side with those
who say that
higher taxes
reduce
inflation or
with those
who say that
higher taxes
increase
inflation.
• Expresses a
doubt
about a
fact, idea,
or
conclusion.
a-po'-ri-a
Diacope
•We will
do it, I
tell you;
we will
do it.
• Repetition
of a word
or phrase
after an
intervening
word or
phrase.
di-a'-co-pee
Eponym
• Is he smart? • A specific
type of
Why, the
allusion,
man is an
substituting
Einstein.
the name of
Has he
a famous
person for
suffered?
some
This poor
attribute in
Job can
place of the
tell you
attribute
himself.
itself.
ep-uh-nim
Metaphor
• The fountain
of
knowledge
will dry up
unless it is
continuously
replenished
by streams
of new
learning.
• A direct
comparison
between
dissimilar
things. "Your
eyes are
stars" is an
example
met’-a-phor
Sententia
• Quoting a
• But, of
maxim or
course, to
understand wise
saying to
all is to
apply a
forgive all.
general
truth to
the
situation
\sen-ˈten(t)-sh(ē-)ə\
Oxymoron
• Senator
Rosebud
calls this a
useless plan;
if so, it is the
most helpful
useless plan
we have
ever
enacted.
• An image of
contradictory
terms
(bittersweet,
pretty ugly,
jumbo
shrimp)
ox-y-mo'-ron
Hyperbaton
• Refers to
• We will not,
any
from this
departure
house, under
from
any
normal
word
circumstances,
order.
be evicted.
hy-per'-ba-ton
Distinctio
• To make
methanol for
twenty-five
cents a gallon
is impossible;
by "impossible"
I mean
currently
beyond our
technological
capabilities.
• The
presentation
of a specific
meaning for
a word to
prevent
confusion.
dis-tinc'-ti-o
Apostrophe
• O books who
alone are
liberal and
free, who give
to all who ask
of you and
enfranchise all
who serve you
faithfully! -Richard de
Bury
• A direct
address to
someone,
whether
present or
absent, and
whether
real,
imaginary,
or
personified.
a-pos'-tro-phe
Anadiplosis
• In the
beginning
was the
Word, and
the Word
was with
God, and the
Word was
God. --John
1:1
• Formed by
the
repetition of
the last
word or
words of a
sentence or
clause at or
very near
the
beginning
of the next.
an'-a-di-plo'-sis
Scesis Onomaton
• But there is
one thing
these glassyeyed idealists
forget: such a
scheme would
be extremely
costly,
horrendously
expensive,
and require a
ton of money.
• Emphasizes
an idea by
expressing it
in a string of
generally
synonymous
phrases or
statements.
ske'-sis o-no'-ma-ton
Onomatopoeia
• The flies
buzzing and
whizzing
around their
ears kept
them from
finishing the
experiment
at the
swamp.
• Words that
sound like
the sound
they
represent
(hiss,
gurgle,
pop)
on-o-mat-o-pee'-a
Expletive
• But the
lake was
not, in
fact,
drained
before
April.
• An
interjection
to lend
emphasis;
sometimes
a profanity.
ek-spli-tiv
Dirimens Copulatio
• This car is
extremely
sturdy and
durable. It's
low
maintenance
; things never
go wrong
with it. Of
course, if you
abuse it, it will
break.
• Mentioning a
balancing or
opposing
fact to
prevent the
argument
from being
one-sided or
unqualified:
di'-ri-mens ko-pu-la'-ti-o
Aposiopesis
• I've got
to make
the
team or
I'll--.
• Stopping
abruptly
and
leaving a
statement
unfinished:
a-pos-i-o-pee’-sis
Anacoluthon
• And then the
deep rumble
from the
explosion
began to
shake the
very bones
of--no one
had ever felt
anything like
it.
• A sentence
whose two
pieces do not
fit together
grammatically
an-a-co-lu'-thon
Rhetorical Question
• Shouldn’t parents
be encouraged
to join with the
school in the
children’s summer
reading
program? After
all, parents and
guardians will be
the ones who
must monitor and
encourage their
children’s reading
at home.
• In a
rhetorical
question the
answer is
self-evident
and
expected
\ri-ˈtȯr-i-kəl\
Metonymy
• You
can't
fight city
hall.
• A figure of
speech in
which a
representative
term is used for
a larger idea
(The pen is the
mightier than
the sword).
me-ton'-y-my
Epanalepsis
• To report that
your
committee is
still
investigating
the matter is
to tell me
that you
have nothing
to report.
• Repeats
the
beginning
word or
words of a
clause or
sentence
at the end.
ep-an-a-lep'-sis
Asyndeton
• On his
return he
received
medals,
honors,
treasures
, titles,
fame.
• A sentence
construction
in which
elements are
presented in
a series
without
conjunctions.
a-syn'-de-ton
Antanagoge
• True, he
always
forgets my
birthday,
but he buys
me
presents all
year round.
• Placing a good
point or benefit
next to a fault,
criticism, or
problem in
order to reduce
the impact or
significance of
the negative
point.
Ant`an*a*go"ge
Symploce
• To think clearly
and rationally
should be a
major goal for
man; but to
think clearly
and rationally
is always the
greatest
difficulty
faced by
man.
• Combines
anaphora and
epistrophe by
repeating
words at both
the beginning
and end of a
phrase,
clause, or
sentence.
sim'-plo-see or sim'-plo-kee
Hypophora
• There is a striking
and basic
difference
between a man's
ability to imagine
something and
an animal's
failure. . . . Where
is it that the
animal falls short?
We get a clue to
the answer, I
think, when
Hunter tells us . . . .
--Jacob Bronowski
• Involves
asking one
or more
question
and then
proceeding
to answer
them,
usually at
some
length.
hi-po'-phor-a
Enumeratio
• I love her
eyes, her
hair, her
nose, her
cheeks, her
lips [etc.].
• Detailing
parts, causes,
effects, or
consequences
to make a
point more
forcibly:
e-nu-mer-a'-ti-o
Assonance
• A city that
is set on a
hill cannot
be hid. -Matthew
5:14b (KJV)
• A repetition
of vowel
sounds.
ass'-o-nance
Anaphora
To think on
death it is a
misery,/ To
think on life it is
a vanity;/ To
think on the
world verily it
is,/ To think
that here man
hath no
perfect bliss. -Peacham
• The
repetition of
words or
phrases at
the
beginning
of
consecutive
lines or
sentences.
an-aph'-o-ra
Simile
• The soul in
the body is
like a bird
in a cage.
• An indirect
comparison
that uses the
words like or
as to link the
differing
items in the
comparison.
("You eyes
are like
stars.")
si'-mi-lee
Parallelism
•
• To think
carefully and
to write
precisely are
interrelated
goals.
The use of
corresponding
grammatical
or syntactical
forms.
par-uh-le-liz-uhm
Hyperbole
• There are a
thousand
reasons
why more
research is
needed on
solar
energy.
• Extreme
exaggeration,
often humorous,
it can also be
ironic; the
opposite of
understatement
hy-per'-bo-lee
Enthymeme
• He is an
American
citizen, so he
is entitled to
due process.
• Omitted
premise:
[All American
citizens are
entitled to due
process.]
• An informally-
stated two-part
syllogism which
omits either one
of the premises
or the
conclusion. The
omitted part
must be clearly
understood by
the reader.
en’-thy-meem
Appositive
• Henry
Jameson,
the boss of
the
operation,
always
wore a red
baseball
cap.
•
A noun or noun
substitute
placed next to
another noun to
be described or
defined by the
appositive. The
appositive can
be placed
before or after
the noun
uh-poz-i-tiv
Analogy
• In order to solve
a problem, you
first have to
know what the
problem is,
really is, in the
same way that
you can’t untie
a knot until
you’ve found
the knot. –
Aristotle
• A literary
device
employed to
serve as a
basis for
comparison
Zeugma
• Fred
excelled at
sports;
Harvey at
eating; Tom
with girls.
Commentary:
Excelled is the
link.
• Grammatically
correct linkage
of ideas or
phrases. A type
of parallel.
• The main
benefit of the
linking is that it
shows
relationships
between ideas
and actions
more clearly.
Chiasmus
• He labors
•
without
complaining
and without
bragging
rests.
Might be
called "reverse
parallelism,"
since the
second part of
a grammatical
construction is
balanced or
paralleled by
the first part,
only in reverse
order.
Antiphrasis
• "Come
here, Tiny,"
he said to
the fat
man.
• One word
irony,
established
by context.
Personification
• This coffee
is strong
enough to
get up and
walk away.
• The assigning of
Human qualities
to inanimate
objects or
concepts
(Wordsworth
personifies "The
sea that bares
her bosom to
the moon" In
the poem
"London 1802".)
Litotes
• Heat
waves are
not rare in
the
summer.
• A type of
understatement
in which an
idea is
expressed by
negating its
opposite.
(describing a
particularly
horrific scene by
saying "It was
not a pretty
picture".)
Epistrophe
• Where
affections bear
rule, there
reason is
subdued,
honesty is
subdued, good
will is subdued,
and all things
else that
withstand evil,
for ever are
subdued. -Wilson
• A repetition
technique
• (also called
antistrophe) forms
the counterpart to
anaphora,
because the
repetition of the
same word or
words comes at
the end of
successive
phrases, clauses, or
sentences:
Catachresis
• The little
old lady
turtled
along at
ten miles
per hour.
• An
extravagant,
implied
metaphor
using words in
an alien or
unusual way.
Antimetabole
• All work
and no
play is as
harmful to
mental
health as
all play
and no
work.
• Word ordering
technique
• Reversing the
order of
repeated words
or phrases (a
loosely chiastic
structure, AB-BA)
to intensify the
final formulation,
to present
alternatives, or
to show contrast:
an'-ti-me-ta'-bo-lee
Synecdoche
• The army
included
two
hundred
horse and
three
hundred
feet.
• A figure of
speech
that utilizes
a part as
representat
ive of the
whole. ("All
hands on
deck" is an
example.)
Parenthesis
• But the new
calculations-and here we
see the value
of relying upon
up-to-date
information-showed that
man-powered
flight was
possible with
this design.
• A final form of
hyperbaton,
consists of a
word, phrase,
or whole
sentence
inserted as an
aside in the
middle of
another
sentence.
Hypotaxis
• They asked
the
question
because
they were
curious.
• Using
subordination
to show the
relationship
between
clauses or
phrases (and
hence the
opposite of
parataxis)
Parataxis
• In the beginning
God created the
heaven and the
earth. And the
earth was without
form and void;
and darkness was
upon the face of
the deep. And
the Spirit of God
moved upon the
face of the
waters. --Genesis
1:1-2
• Consists of
combining
several
sentences with
coordinating
conjunctions.