AP Words You Should Already Know

Sequential repetition of similar sounds

• alliteration

• allusion

• annotation

• description

An indirect reference to something with which the reader is supposed to be familiar

• alliteration

• allusion

• annotation

• description

Explanatory notes added to a text to explain, clarify, or prompt further thought.

• alliteration

• allusion

• annotation

• description

The picturing in words of something or someone through detailed observation of color, motion, sound, taste, smell, and touch; one of the four modes of discourse. 

• alliteration

• allusion

• annotation

• description

exposition

• The immediate revelation to the audience of the setting and other background information necessary for understanding the plot; also, explanation; one of the four modes of discourse.

• A sustained comparison, often referred to as a conceit, developed throughout a piece of writing.

• The opposite of "literal language"; writing that is not meant to be taken literally

• Expressions, such as similes, metaphors, and personification, that make imaginative, rather than literal, comparisons or associations

extended metaphor

• The immediate revelation to the audience of the setting and other background information necessary for understanding the plot; also, explanation; one of the four modes of discourse.

• A sustained comparison, often referred to as a conceit, developed throughout a piece of writing.

• The opposite of "literal language"; writing that is not meant to be taken literally

• Expressions, such as similes, metaphors, and personification, that make imaginative, rather than literal, comparisons or associations

figurative language

• The immediate revelation to the audience of the setting and other background information necessary for understanding the plot; also, explanation; one of the four modes of discourse.

• A sustained comparison, often referred to as a conceit, developed throughout a piece of writing.

• The opposite of "literal language"; writing that is not meant to be taken literally

• Expressions, such as similes, metaphors, and personification, that make imaginative, rather than literal, comparisons or associations

figures of speech

• The immediate revelation to the audience of the setting and other background information necessary for understanding the plot; also, explanation; one of the four modes of discourse.

• A sustained comparison, often referred to as a conceit, developed throughout a piece of writing.

• The opposite of "literal language"; writing that is not meant to be taken literally

• Expressions, such as similes, metaphors, and personification, that make imaginative, rather than literal, comparisons or associations

The excessive pride or ambition that leads a tragic hero to disregard warnings of impending doom, eventually causing his or her downfall

• hubris

• hyperbole

• genre

• imagery

exaggeration

• hubris

• hyperbole

• genre

• imagery