AP Language 45 terms study cards

Front

The opposite of passive voice, the active voice is

essentially any sentence with an active verb. Johnny Appleseed planted

his seeds in the garden. The active verb is 'tpianted." Active voice is

usually preferred in writing because it expresses mnore energy and

command of the essay than does the passive voice.

Back

ACTIVE VOICE

Front

This is an attack on the person rather than the issues at

hand—a common fanacy, especially during an election year.

Back

AD HOMINEM

Front

The repetition of a phonetic sound at the beginning of

several words in a sentence. Students sometimes mention alliteration

in rhetorical analysis essays, alt.hough it should only be discussed if the

alliterative phrase itself is noticeable and the. author has a legitimate

purpose for using it. Otherwise, it is linguistic window dressing more

often used in poetry. Examples are Simple Simon sat on the strew and

Peter Piper picked a peck Of pickled peppers.

Back

ALLITERATION

Front

A reference that recalls another work, another time in

history, another famous person, and so forth, Like metaphor and

simile, allusions are always important and begin a literary ripple effect.

For example, if you call a piece of real estate "the Promised l..and," you

are alluding to the Hebrews' forty-year search for the sacred land

promised them by God and found in Israel. Si[üilarly, if an author calls

a naive charac:ter "Miranda," he or she may be alluding to the

adolescent daughter of Prospero in The •rempest. The College Board

expects you to be well-read and to have adequate knowledge of Greek

and Roman Inyl.hology, the Judeo-Christian tradition. and

Shakespeare, at the very least. Identify the irnpact of allusions in the

same way you would work' with a metaphor.

Back

ALLUSION

Front

l.his is a wonderful technique of repetition. in

anadiplosis, t.he. last word of the clause begins the next clause, creating

a connection of' ideas important to Be author's purpose in some way.

-the Furies pursued the men. the men were chased by their nightmares.

"Ihe nightmares awakened everyone in the room.

Back

ANADIPLOSIS

Front

A term that signifies a relational comparison of or

similarity between two objects or ideas. For example, there is an

analogy between the heart and a pump (a heart pushes the flew of

blood through the body as a pump pushes air into a tire). You will

occasionally see this term combined with another, as in "antithetical

analogy" (a relational comparison of two opposing ideas/subjects,

such as a news attempt to compare diplomatic negotiations in the

Middle East to the NFI.. playoffs).

Back

ANALOGY

Front

In rhetoric, this is the deliberate repetition of a word or

phrase at the beginning of several successive poetic lines, prose

sentences, clauses, or paragraphs. You will see this quite often jn

political speeches, when politicians make promises to voters: I will fight for medical care for every man, woman, and child. I will fight for

social security for our children, I will fight to raise the minimum wage.

Back

ANAPHORA:

Front

The reversal of the natural order of words in a sentence

or line of poetry. It has a nice—if somewhat alarming—effect at times,

and it has been known to occasionally cause confusion in

inexperienced readers. Shakespeare was a whiz with anastrophe,

which is also the reason so many people mistakenly think Shakespeare

wrote in Old English, (He didn't! If you can understand the words, it is

modern English!) The poisoned apple she ate tubezgave cramps of a

serious nature.

Back

ANASTROPHE

Front

An observation or claim that is in opposition to your

claim or an author's claim. If we argue for the drilling of wells, the

antithesis might be to divert water from 'the river If we claim that the

electoral college is an outdated anachronism, the antithesis would be

that like the rest of the Constitution, it has managed to adapt to the

changing times.

Back

ANTTHESiS

Front

A brief statement of an opinion or elemental truth,

Aphorisms usually appear only in the multiple-choice section;

however, they occasionally show up in rhetorical analysis passages.

Ben Franklin specialized in such aphoristic gems as these: They who

can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve

neither liberty nor safety, and Glass, China, and Reputation, are easily

crack'd, and never well mended.

Back

APHORISM