AP Language and Composition
Riverside Reader Vocabulary List
Research has shown that
“Children who are readers add between 3,000 and 5,000 new words
to their vocabulary every year through incidental exposure.
Consider how much greater this rate of word learning is than the 300-400 words per year
that can be taught through direct instruction” (Jago, p. 43).
During this year of AP Language you will be given the opportunity to read daily to practice and advance a
number of your personal skills. Vocabulary acquisition is one of them. Inside this document you will find
approximately 275 words that we will focus on for direct instruction to cement and grow your vocabulary.
You will have the opportunity to review these words and discover how much you already know, consider the
words in context and look at the variety of ways words can be used, and also learn totally new words. However,
it is important to recognize that these words have been chosen because they represent mature language that can
appear frequently across a variety of domains. Therefore, they are ones you should be familiar with as a mature
reader. You will have unit quizzes on these words and a collection of them will be a part of each final exam.
This is one part of our work in class you help you develop and refine your best reading and writing skills.
“A study conducted by ACT called ‘Reading Between the Lines’ found that the students who were most likely to
be successful in post-secondary educational settings were those who could comprehend complex texts. The
report defines a complex text as one that ‘contains multiple lays of meaning not all of which will be immediately
apparent to students on a single superficial reading’ (2006)” (Jago, p. 66).
You will have many opportunities to read complex texts and work at understanding them – vocabulary is a key
component in this process!
NARRATIVE ESSAY READING
VOCABULARY
Directions: Define as many of these words as you can based on your current knowledge. Then find each word
in context and evaluate your definition or identify the best one to fit the writer’s use of the word. If necessary,
look the word up to verify your definition.
Maya Angelou, “My Name Is Margaret”
Liberal (p. 42)
Debutante (p. 42)
Impish (p. 43)
Impudent (p. 43)
Tureen (p. 44)
Novelty (p. 44)
Dilemma (p. 47)
Hysteria (p. 48)
Judith Ortiz Cofer, “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria”
Microcosm (p. 51)
Bodega (p. 51)
Barrio (p. 52)
Coalesced (p. 52)
Innuendo (p. 53)
Proficiency (p. 55)
Retrospect (p. 56)
Faux pas (p. 56)
Terry Tempest Williams, “The Village Watchman”
Genealogy (p. 59)
Amniotic (p. 60)
Bridled (p. 61)
Formidable (p. 63)
Convened (p. 64)
E. B. White, “Once More to the Lake”
Primeval (p. 77)
Undulating (p. 78)
Jollity (p. 79)
Petulant (p. 80)
Premonitory (p. 82)
Languidly (p. 82)
PROCESS ANALYSIS ESSAY READING VOCABULARY
Directions:
1.
2.
3.
Define as many of these words as you can based on your current knowledge.
Then find each word in context, add page number, and evaluate your definition or identify the best one to fit the writer’s use
of the word.
If necessary, look the word up to verify your definition.
Lars Eighner, “My Daily Dives in the Dumpster”
Forage (p. )
Scavenge (p.
Stigma (p.
)
)
Bohemian (p.
)
Dilettanti (p.
)
Emulsified (p.
)
Dysentery (p.
)
Proprietary (p.
Sinecure (p.
Sate (p.
)
)
)
Nikki Giovanni, “Campus Racism”
Tenured (p.
)
Predominantly (p.
Malice (p.
)
)
Credentials (p.
Cultivate (p.
)
)
Articulation (p.
)
Gretel Ehrlich, “Rules of the Game: Rodeo”
Libidinous (p.
Girth (p.
)
)
Pas de deux (p.
Erudition (p.
)
)
Balanchine (p.
)
Flamboyance (p.
Chivalrous (p.
)
)
Anachronistic (p.
Concomitant (p.
)
)
Richard Selzer, “The Knife”
Litany (p.
)
Indolent (p.
)
Novitiate (p.
Regalia (p.
)
)
Omentum (p.
)
Metastatic (p.
)
Trussed (p.
Tempered (p.
)
)
COMPARISON CONTRAST ESSAY READING
VOCABULARY
Directions:
1.
2.
3.
Define as many of these words as you can based on your current knowledge.
Then find each word in context, add page number, and evaluate your definition or identify the best one to fit the writer’s use
of the word.
If necessary, look the word up to verify your definition.
Mark Twain, “Two Views of the River”
Acquisition (p. )
Conspicuous (p.
Somber (p.
)
)
Obstructed (p.
Wrought (p.
)
)
Bruce Catton, “Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts”
Fugitive (p.
)
Poignant (p.
)
Pronounced (p.
)
Deportment (p.
)
Tanner (p.
)
Sinewy (p.
)
Obeisance (p.
)
Burgeoning (p.
)
Deborah Tannen, “Rapport-Talk and Report Talk”
Icon (p.
)
Incredulity (p.
)
Disgruntled (p.
)
Taciturnity (p.
)
Ruminations (p.
Raconteur (p.
)
)
Asymmetry (p.
Fledgling (p.
)
)
Emulate (p.
)
Laura Bohannan, “Shakespeare in the Bush”
Hillock (p.
Millet (p.
)
)
Calabash (p.
Motif (p.
)
)
Fratricide (p.
)
Patronage (p.
)
Ardent (p.
)
Unaneled (p.
)
ARGUMENT & PERSUASION ESSAY READING VOCABULARY
Directions:
1. Define as many of these words as you can based on your current knowledge.
2. Then find each word in context, add page number, and evaluate your definition or identify the best one to fit the writer’s use
of the word.
3. If necessary, look the word up to verify your definition.
Barbara Kingsolver, “Stone Soup”
Harbinger (p. )
Imperious (p. )
Caprice (p. )
Specious (p. )
Raucous (p. )
Rogue (p. )
Venerates (p. )
Servility (p.
)
Amorphous (p. )
Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, “Women and the Future of Fatherhood”
Unfettered (p.
)
Emblematic (p.
)
Unassailable (p. )
Mordantly (p.
)
Proviso (p. )
Androgynous (p. )
Suffuses (p.
)
Altruism (p.
)
Joan Acocella, “Under the Spell”
Bildungsroman (p. )
Purloined (p. )
Ostracism (p.
Avatar (p.
)
)
Rapacious (p. )
Mendacity (p.
)
Pantheon (p. )
Harold Bloom, “Can 35 Million Book Buyers Be Wrong? Yes”
Emulate (p.
)
Epiphenomenon (p. )
Wane (p.
)
Mundane (p. )
Consign (p. )
Sadistic (p. )
Grotesque (p. )
Aesthetic (p. )
Emancipated (p. )
Beguile (p. )
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “An Ill Wind Off Cape Cod”
Enticed (p. )
Feasible (p. )
Subsidies (p. )
Preclude (p. )
Palate (p. )
Pristine (p. )
Menhaden (p. )
Quahogs (p. )
Francis Broadhurst, “Cape Wind Is Sound for the Sound”
Conjunction (p. )
Emissions (p. )
Adverse (p.
)
Roseate (p. )
Viable (p. )
Martin Luther King, Jr., “I Have a Dream”
Languishing (p. )
Manacles (p. )
Inextricably (p.
)
Tribulations (p. )
Hallowed (p.
)
Redemptive (p.
)
Prodigious (p. )
Desolate (p. )
H.L. Mencken, “The Penalty of Death”
Refutation (p. )
Salubrious (p. )
Timorous (p. )
Dissipated (p. )
Wafting (p.
)
Mandamuses (p.
)
Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal”
Importuning (p. )
Alms (p.
)
Raiment (p. )
Rudiments (p. )
Expedient (p. )
Parsimony (p.
)
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., “Harrison Bergeron”
Vigilance (p. )
Impediment (p. )
Hindrances (p. )
Consternation (p. )
DIVISION & CLASSIFICATION ESSAY READING VOCABULARY
Directions:
1. Define as many of these words as you can based on your current knowledge.
2. Then find each word in context, add page number, and evaluate your definition or identify the best one to fit the writer’s use of the word.
3. If necessary, look the word up to verify your definition.
Calvin Trillin, “The Extendable Fork”
Waif (p. )
Nanosecond (p. )
Urchin (p. )
Subterfuge (p. )
Economize (p. )
Evocative (p.
)
Adder (p. )
Russell Baker, “The Plot Against People”
Inanimate (p.
)
Cunning (p. )
Plausible (p. )
Locomotion (p. )
Negotiated (p. )
Conciliatory (p.
)
Attained (p. )
James H. Austin, “Four Kinds of Chance”
Discernible (p. )
Fortuitous (p. )
Nexus (p.
)
Serendipity (p.
Sagacity (p.
)
)
Circuitously (p.
)
Sentient (p. )
Lewis Thomas, “The Technology of Medicine”
Prudent (p.
)
Indispensable (p. )
Incapacitating (p. )
Chronic (p. )
Logistics (p.
)
Conspicuous (p. )
George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”
Decadent (p. )
Archaism (p.
)
Slovenliness (p. )
Egregious (p. )
Incendiarism (p.
)
Hackneyed (p. )
Sordid (p. )
Colloquial (p. )
Flannery O’Connor, “Revelation”
Florid (p. )
Roiling (p. )
Svelte (p. )
Tremulous (p. )
Repudiation (p. )
Protuberance (p. )
Solicitous (p. )
Glowered (p.
)
Paling (p. )
Hieratic (p.
)
DEFINITION ESSAY READING VOCABULARY
Directions:
1. Define as many of these words as you can based on your current knowledge.
2. Then find each word in context, add page number, and evaluate your definition or identify the best one to fit the writer’s use
of the word.
3. If necessary, look the word up to verify your definition.
Gloria Naylor, “A Word’s Meaning Can Often Depend on Who Says It”
Transcendent (p. )
Dynamics (p.
)
Fleeting (p. )
Intermittent (p. )
Innocuous (p. )
Necrophiliac (p. )
Gravitated (p.
)
Trifling (p. )
Internalization (p. )
Rendered (p. )
Joan Didion, “In Bed”
Avert (p.
)
Wary (p.
)
Circumnavigation (p. )
Lobotomy (p. )
Vascular (p. )
Contretemps (p. )
Derivative (p.
)
Aphasia (p.
)
Debility (p.
)
Richard Rodriquez, “Growing Up Old in Los Angeles”
Indelible (p. )
Deferment (p.
)
Ellipsis (p. )
Potentates (p. )
Refoliation (p. )
Genealogy (p.
)
Hyperbole (p. )
Manifesto (p. )
Susan Sontag, “Beauty”
Pedagogical (p. )
Arbitrary (p.
)
Vestiges (p. )
Narcissism (p.
)
Muster (p. )
Depreciation (p. )
Preen (p. )
Disparage (p.
)
CAUSE & EFFECT ESSAY READING VOCABULARY
Directions:
1. Define as many of these words as you can based on your current knowledge.
2. Then find each word in context, add page number, and evaluate your definition or identify the best one to fit the writer’s use of the word.
3. If necessary, look the word up to verify your definition.
Ellen Goodman, “The Chem 20 Factor’
Sieve (p. )
Sardonically (p.
)
Median (p. )
Altruistic (p. )
Avaricious (p. )
Hierarchy (p.
)
Solvency (p.
)
Sustained (p. )
Futilely (p. )
E.M. Forster, “My Wood”
Parable (p. )
Crystalline (p. )
Flanks (p. )
Trinity (p.
)
Carnal (p. )
Loren Eisley, “How Flowers Changed the World”
Epochs (p. )
Discern (p. )
Basalt (p. )
Angiosperms (p.
)
Abominable (p. )
Bipedal (p. )
Torpid (p. )
Metabolic (p. )
Agile (p.
)
Stephen Jay Gould, “Carrie Buck’s Daughter”
Criterion (p. )
Vernacular (p. )
Propagation (p. )
Verve (p. )
Quintessential (p. )
Ineluctably (p. )
Innate (p. )
Deportment (p. )
Terry McMillan, “The Movie That Changed My Life”
Luminous (p. )
Drudgery (p.
)
Transient (p. )
Delegate (p. )
Cumulative (p.
)
Gullible (p. )
Mesmerized (p.
)