APLANG Vocab Packet: A

Ad Hominem Argument _ comes from the Latin phrase meaning “to the Man”. It refers to an argument that attacks the opposing speaker or another person rather than addressing the issues at hand.

Allegory – an allegory is a fictional work in which the characters represent ideas or concepts. In Paul Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, for example, the characters named Faithful, Mercy and Mr. Worldly Wiseman are clearly meant to represent types of people rather than to be characters in their own rights.

Alliteration – repetition of consonant sounds usually at the beginning of words

Allusion – a passing reference to a familiar person, place or thing drawn from history, the bible, mythology or literature. It is an economical way for a writer to capture the essence of an idea, atmosphere, emotion or historical era e.g. “The scandal was his Watergate” “He saw himself as a modern Job” “Everyone there held those truths to be self-evident.” Allusions should be familiar to the reader or else it will add nothing to the meaning.

Ambiguity – When something is ambiguous, it is uncertain or indefinite; it is subject to more than one interpretation.

Analogy - asks a reader to think about the correspondence or resemblance between two things that are essentially different; a form of comparison in which the writer explains something unfamiliar by comparing it to something familiar e.g. The pond was as smooth as a mirror

Analytical Reading - same thing as active reading.

Anteceedent - every pronoun refers back to a previous noun or pronoun - the anteceedent. e.g. the car he wanted to buy was a green one. one = car

Antithesis - opposition or contrast of ideas that is often expressed in balanced phrases or clauses. e.g. Whereas he was boisterous, I was reserved.

Apostrophe - figure of speech in which an absent person or personified object is addressed by a speaker. e.g. Oh love, where have you gone? love = apostrophe

Apotheosis - derived from greek word meaning to deify. Occurs in literature when a character or thing is elevated to such a high status that it appears godlike.

Attitude - the feelings of a particular speaker or piece of writing towards a subject, person, or idea. same thing as tone.

Audience - the intended readership for a piece of writing.

Appositive - word or phrase that follows a noun or pronoun for emphasis or clarity. usually set off by commas. e.g. The luxury train, the Orient Express, crosses Europe... Orient Express = appositive

Argument - one of the four basic types of prose. To argue is to attempt to convince the reader to agree with a point of view, to make a given decision or to pursue a particular course of action. Logical argument is based on reasonable explanations and appeals to the reader's intelligence.

Assertion - the thesis or proposition that a writer puts forth in an argument

Assonance - basically the same thing as an alliteration, but vowel sounds instead of consonants.

Assumption - a belief or principle, stated or implied, that is taken for granted.

Asyndeton - when conjunctions that would normally connect a string of words/phrases/clauses are omitted from a sentence. e.g. I came, I saw, I conquered.

Atmosphere - same thing as mood.