AP English Terms for Pre-AP Flashcards

7076901011	metaphor	comparison of two seemingly unlike things	0
7076901012	simile	comparison using like or as	1
7076901013	personification	characteristics of humans given to non-humans	2
7076901014	synecdoche	giving the part for the whole	3
7076901015	metonymy	substitution of associated word for word itself	4
7076901016	allusion	reference to well-known being or event	5
7076901017	symbol	is what it is and something more	6
7076901018	image	sensory detail	7
7076901019	archetype	recurrent image that touches collective subconscious, appears in cultures around the world	8
7076901020	abstract	language that represents emotions or experiences with no physical parallel	9
7076901021	concrete	language that describes sensory images	10
7076901022	motif	recurrent image, idea, or theme in a specific piece of literature	11
7076901023	verbal irony	say one thing, mean another	12
7076901024	dramatic irony	audience knows, character doesn't	13
7076901025	situational irony	unexpected result	14
7076901026	understatement	making big things seem small/saying less than you mean	15
7076901027	hyperbole	exaggeration	16
7076901028	paradox	an apparent or seeming contradiction, that is somehow true- long style	17
7076901029	oxymoron	an apparent or seeming contradiction, that is somehow true- short style	18
7076901030	litotes	affirmation from negative	19
7076901031	ambiguity	purposeful multiple meanings as in pun and double entendre	20
7076901032	diction	word choice	21
7076901033	syntax	sentence and phrase structure	22
7076901034	antithesis	balancing of contrasting ideas	23
7076901035	polysyndeton	stringing a sentence out with conjunctions	24
7076901036	anacoluthon	breaking off a sentence...	25
7076901037	parallelism	repetition of similar syntactical structure	26
7076901038	point of view	narrative perspective- 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person	27
7076901039	apostrophe	addressing a person or entity not present	28
7076901040	analogy	extended comparison of similar things	29
7076901041	colloquialism	informal diction	30
7076901042	alliteration	repetition of consonant sound in initial position	31
7076901043	assonance	repetition of vowel sound	32
7076901044	consonance	repetition of consonant sound in any position	33
7076901045	euphony	soft, pleasing sounds	34
7076901046	cacophony	harsh sounds	35
7076901047	onomatopoeia	word whose sound suggests meaning	36
7076901048	metric feet	iamb, trochee, anapest, dactyl, pyrrhic, spondee	37
7076901049	amphibrach	unaccented, accented, unaccented, syllable	38
7076901050	metric lines	lines in a poem that can be divided into feet: eg. hexameter, pentameter	39
7076901051	stanzas	The division of lines in a poem. Some examples are couplet, quatrain, octave	40
7076901052	ballad stanza	abcb, alternating tetrameter and trimeter	41
7076901053	rhyme scheme	end rhyme expressed alphabetically (ex. abbacdcd)	42
7076901054	naturalism	extreme realism in literature	43
7076901055	existentialism	a form of literature where humans inadequate to explain complex world	44
7076901056	magical realism	a form of literature that begins real, gets weird	45
7076901057	expressionism	a form of literature that objectifies inner experience	46
7076901058	tragedy	a story that starts good, gets bad, hero destroyed	47
7076901059	comedy	a story that starts bad, gets good, hero triumphs	48
7076901060	comedy of manners	elevated, often satirical, piece of literature from Restoration Period	49
7076901061	farce	crude, often obscene, work of literature	50
7076901062	melodrama	an excessive appeal to emotions	51
7076901063	bildungsroman	novel about young person's maturation- Coming of Age	52
7076901064	allegory	persons equated with meanings beyond the narrative	53
7076901065	satire	improving human conditions through exaggeration, comedy	54
7076901066	novel	extended fictional narrative	55
7076901067	novella	Fictional narrative longer than a short story	56
7076901068	novelette	fictional narrative longer than a short story	57
7076901069	parody	ridicule of a serious work by exaggerated imitation	58
7076901070	Picaresque Novel	The life story of a rascal or scoundrel	59
7076901071	short story	brief fictional narrative in prose	60
7076901072	essay	prose discussion of a limited topic	61
7076901073	Horatian Satire	gentle ridicule	62
7076901074	Juvenalian Satire	Angry ridicule	63
7076901075	Myth	traditional story explaining natural phenomena or cultural practice	64
7076901076	didactic literature	a work on literature that seeks to instruct	65
7076901077	hook	initial attention grabber	66
7076901078	central idea	core of a writer's assertion	67
7076901079	thesis	outline of writer's proofs	68
7076901080	topic sentence	focus of paragraph	69
7076901081	structure	introduction, body and conclusion	70
7076901082	expository essay	presentation of information, facts, ideas	71
7076901083	persuasive essay	presentation to convince reader	72
7076901084	descriptive essay	single clear picture of person, place, thing or idea	73
7076901085	narrative essay	tells a story	74
7076901086	literary criticism	analyzes and comments on literature	75
7076901087	formalist criticism	emphasizes the work as an independent creation utilizing personal response and close examination of the work.	76
7076901088	deconstructive criticism	opposite of formalist criticism; seeks to reveal author's social, cultural, or philosophical assumptions by close examination of the text	77
7076901089	historical criticism	works are studies within historical context	78
7076901090	psychological criticism	utilizes Freudian theories and psychoanalytic interpretations	79
7076901091	gender criticism	feminist and gay criticism reflecting cultural framework	80
7076901092	blank verse	unrhymed iambic pentameter	81
7076901093	free verse	poetry with no regular rhyme or rhythm	82
7076901094	heroic couplet	two rhymed lines in iambic pentameter- a complete thought	83
7076901095	lyric poetry	short verse stressing emotional over story	84
7076901096	epic poetry	long story in verse	85
7076901097	canto	A division within a long poem- made up of multiple stanzas	86
7076901098	English sonnet	fourteen line poem with three quatrains and a couplet	87
7076901099	Italian sonnet	fourteen line poem with octave and sestet	88
7076901100	epigram	witty poem or saying	89
7076901101	epitaph	memorial poem (on gravestone sometimes)	90
7076901102	enjambment	running over of a sentence from one line or stanza to another	91
7076901103	refrain	repetition of line or phrase at regular intervals	92
7076901104	atmosphere	effect of physical environment	93
7076901105	tone	author or speaker's attitude	94
7076901106	conflict	interplay of oppssing forces	95
7076901107	comic relief	lightens narrative	96
7076901108	complication	plot reversals	97
7076901109	Deus ex Machina	contrived ending- ending where a supernatural force helps the hero	98
7076901110	epiphany	sudden awareness	99
7076901111	flashback	device to supply background	100
7076901112	foreshadowing	hints at coming events	101
7076901113	stream of consciousness	thoughts and feelings recorded as they occur	102
7076901114	theme	central idea	103
7076901115	plot	exposition, rising action, climax, falling action	104
7076901116	denouement	resolution, outcome replicating thought	105
7076901117	in media res	beginning in the middle of things	106
7076901118	Round character	complex, multi=faceted, not predictable	107
7076901119	flat character	recognizable type; lacks complexity	108
7076901120	confidant	protagonists's intimate	109
7076901121	foil	character's illuminator through contrast	110
7076901122	protagonist	character around which the action is centered	111
7076901123	antagonist	person or force working against the protagonist	112
7076901124	omniscience	narrator knows all about everyone	113
7076901125	limited omniscience	narrator knows all about one character	114
7076901126	dramatic perspective/objective	narrator presents just the facts	115
7076901127	doppelganger	mysterious double of a character	116
7076901128	antihero	an ordinary, modern man/woman groping through life	117
7076901129	Renaissance Period of Literature	14th through 17th century, rebirth of humanism	118
7076901130	Neoclassicism Period of Literature	Restoration to 18th century, order and reason	119
7076901131	Romanticism Period of Literature	18th and 19th century, imagination over reason	120
7076901132	Realism Period of Literture	Verisimilitude- truth	121
7076901133	Denotation	The Dictionary definition of a word	122
7076901134	Connotation	The meaning beyond the dictionary meaning	123
7076901135	Figurative Language	language that cannot be taken literally- metaphors, similes, symbols, etc.	124
7076901136	caesura	pauses within a line	125
7076901137	Truncation	the omission of an unaccented syllable at eaiter end of a line	126
7076901138	villanelle	19 lines of rhymed poetry divided into 5 3-line stanzas (tercets0	127

Class Notes

Social Science

Math

Science

Fine Arts

Test Prep

Textbook Notes

Members Only

Forum

Blogs

Textbook Request

AP English Terms for Pre-AP Flashcards

Primary tabs

Need Help?

Need Notes?

About Course-Notes.Org

You are here

AP English Terms for Pre-AP Flashcards

Primary tabs

Need Help?

Need Notes?

About Course-Notes.Org