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AP Literature Flashcards

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9876950613AllegoryA narrative or description having a second or symbolic meaning beneath the surface one0
9876950614AllusionA reference, explicit or implicit, to something in previous literature or history1
9876950615AnecdoteA short account of an interesting or humorous incident2
9876950616Artistic unityThat condition of a successful literary work whereby all its elements work together for the achievement of its central purpose3
9876950617CacophonyA harsh, discordant, unpleasant-sounding choice and arrangement of sounds4
9876950618EuphonyA smooth, pleasant-sounding choice and arrangement of sounds5
9876950620ImageryThe representation through language of sensory experience6
9876950621MoodHow the reader feels about the text while reading.7
9876950623ProseNon-metrical language; the opposite of verse8
9876950624ThemeThe main idea, or message, of a literary work. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and may be implied rather than stated explicitly.9
9876950625ToneThe writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject matter10
9876950628Symbol (literary)Something that means more than what it is; an object, person, situation, or action that in addition to its literal meaning suggests other meanings as well, a figure of speech which may be read both literally and figuratively.11
9876950629VerseMetrical language; the opposite of prose12
9876950630VoiceThe distinctive style or manner of expression of an author or a character in a book13
9876950635DeuteragonistThe second most important character, after the protagonist, often a foil or eventual antagonist14
9876950636Direct presentation of characterA method of characterization in which the author, by exposition or analysis, tells us directly what a character is like, or has someone else in the story do so15
9876950637Dynamic characterA character (sense 1) who during the course of a story undergoes a permanent change in some aspect of character (sense 2) or outlook.16
9876950638Flat characterA character (sense 1) whose character (sense 2) is summed up in one or two traits17
9876950639FoilA character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) in order to highlight various features of that other character's personality, throwing these characteristics into sharper focus.18
9876950641HubrisOverbearing and excessive pride19
9876950642Indirect presentation of characterThat method of characterization in which the author shows us a character in action, compelling us to infer what the character is like from what is said or done by the character20
9876950644Round characterA character (sense 1) whose character (sense 2) is complex and many sided.21
9876950645Static characterA character who is the same sort of person at the end of a story as at the beginning.22
9876950646Stock characterA stereotyped character.23
9876950647Tragic FlawA flaw in the character of the protagonist of a tragedy that brings the protagonist to ruin or sorrow24
9876950648AsideA brief speech in which a character turns from the person being addressed to speak directly to the audience; a dramatic device for letting the audience know what a character is really thinking or feeling as opposed to what the character pretends to think or feel25
9876950649ColloquialInformal, conversational language26
9876950650Dialogue(1) Conversation between characters in a drama or narrative. (2) A literary work written in the form of a conversation.27
9876950651DialectA regional variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary28
9876950652DictionWord choice29
9876950653EuphemismSubstituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for a harsh, blunt, or offensive one30
9876950654Figure of speechBroadly, any way of saying something other that the ordinary way; more narrowly (and for the purposes of this class) a way of saying one thing and meaning another.31
9876950655HyperboleA figure of speech in which exaggeration is used in the service of truth32
9876950656InvectiveDenunciatory or abusive language.33
9876950657Monologue(1) A dramatic soliloquy. (2) A literary composition in such form34
9876950658ProverbA short, pithy saying that expresses a basic truth or practical precept35
9876950661Soliloquya device often used in drama where by a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters.36
9876950664ExpositionThe part of a play (usually at the beginning) that provides the background information needed to understand the characters and the actions.37
9876950669Denouement (Also called the resolution)the conclusion of the story. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis for them and the reader. Sometimes a hint as to the characters' future is given38
9876950670IronyA situation, or a use of language, involving some kind of incongruity or discrepancy. Three kinds of irony are distinguished in this class:39
9876950671Dramatic ironyAn incongruity of discrepancy between what a character says or thinks and what the reader knows to be true (or between what a character perceives and what the author intends the reader to perceive).40
9876950672Irony of situationA situation in which there is an incongruity between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment, or between the actual situation and what would seem appropriate.41
9876950673Verbal ironyA figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant42
9876950674Epistolary novelA novel written as a series of documents.43
9876950675First person point of viewThe story is told by one of its characters, using the first person.44
9876950678In medias res (into the middle of things)is a Latin phrase denoting the literary and artistic narrative technique wherein the relation of a story begins either at the mid-point or at the conclusion, rather than at the beginning, establishing setting, character, and conflict via flashback and expository conversations.45
9876950679Limited omniscient point of viewThe author tells the story, using the third person, but is limited to a complete knowledge of one character in the story and tells us only what that one character thinks, feels, sees, or hears.46
9876950680Linear structureA plot that follows a straight-moving, cause and effect, chronological order47
9876950681Objective point of viewThe author tells the story, using the third person, but is limited to reporting what the characters say or do; the author does not interpret their behavior or tell us their private thoughts or feelings.48
9876950682Omniscient point of viewThe author tells the story, using the third person, knowing all and free to tell us anything, including what the characters are thinking or feeling and why they act as they do49
9876950684Nonlinear structureis when the plot is presented in a non-causal order, with events presented in a random series jumping to and from the main plot with flashbacks or flashforwards; or in any other manner that is either not chronological or not cause and effect, for example, in medias res.50
9876950686Stream of consciousnessNarrative which presents the private thoughts of a character without commentary or interpretation by the author51
9876950687Unreliable narratora narrator whose credibility has been seriously compromised. Unreliable narrators are usually first-person narrators.52
9876950688AnticlimaxA sudden descent from the impressive or significant to the ludicrous or inconsequential53
9876950692Deus ex machina (god from the machine)The resolution of a plot by use of a highly improbable chance or coincidence (so named from the practice of some Greek dramatists of having a god descend from heaven at the last possible minute—in the theater by means of a stage machine—to rescue the protagonist from an impossible situation).54
9876950693Indeterminate endingAn ending in which the central problem or conflict is left unresolved55
9876950694InversionA reversal in order, nature, or effect56
9876950697ParadoxA statement or situation containing apparently contradictory or incompatible elements57
9876950699Plot manipulationA situation in which an author gives the plot a twist or turn unjustified by preceding action or by the characters involved58
9876950700Plot deviceAn object, character, or event whose only reason for existing is to advance the story. Often breaks suspension of disbelief.59
9876950701PrologueAn introduction or a preface, esp. a poem recited to introduce a play60
9876950702Red herringa literary tactic of diverting attention away from an item or person of significance61
9876950703SceneA subdivision of an act in a dramatic presentation in which the setting is fixed and the time continuous62
9876950705Suspension of DisbeliefAn unspoken agreement between writer and reader: "I agree to believe your make-believe if it entertains me."63
9876950706SubplotA plot subordinate to the main plot of a literary work64
9876950707SurpriseAn unexpected turn in the development of a plot65
9876950711Scornful comedyA type of comedy whose main purpose is to expose and ridicule human folly, vanity, or hypocrisy66
9876950713FarceA type of comedy that relies on exaggeration, horseplay, and unrealistic or improbable situations to provoke laughter67
9876950714Escapist literatureLiterature written purely for entertainment, with little or no attempt to provide insights into the true nature of human life or behavior.68
9876950717Interpretive literatureLiterature that provides valid insights into the nature of human life or behavior69
9876950719Novela book of long narrative in literary prose.70
9876950720Novella (also called a short novel)a written, fictional, prose narrative longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel.71
9876950721ParableA simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson72
9876950723ApostropheA figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and could reply73
9876950724ConnotationWhat a word suggests beyond its basic definition; a word's overtones of meaning74
9876950725DenotationThe basic definition or dictionary meaning of a word75
9876950726EkphrasisThe poetic representation of a painting or sculpture in words76
9876950727Epigram(1) A short, witty poem expressing a single thought or observation. (2) A concise, clever, often paradoxical statement.77
9876950728Extended figure (also knows as sustained figure)A figure of speech (usually metaphor, simile, personification, or apostrophe) sustained or developed through a considerable number of lines or through a whole poem78
9876950729Figurative languageLanguage employing figures of speech; language that cannot be taken literally or only literally79
9876950730Figure of speechBroadly, any way of saying something other that the ordinary way; more narrowly (and for the purposes of this class) a way of saying one thing and meaning another80
9876950731JuxtapositionPositioning opposites next to each other to heighten the contrast81
9876950732MetaphorA figure of speech in which an implicit comparison is made between two things essentially unlike82
9876950733MetonymyA figure of speech in which some significant aspect or detail of an experience is used to represent the whole experience83
9876950734OnomatopoeiaThe use of words that supposedly mimic their meaning in their sound (for example, boom, click, plop).84
9876950735PersonificationA figure of speech in which human attributes are given to an animal, an object, or a concept85
9876950736RhythmAny wavelike recurrence of motion or sound86
9876950737SentimentalityUnmerited or contrived tender feeling; that quality in a story that elicits or seeks to elicit tears through an oversimplification or falsification of reality87
9876950738SimileA figure of speech in which an explicit comparison is made between two things essentially unlike. The comparison is made explicit by the use of some such word or phrase as like, as, than, similar to, resembles, or seems88
9876950739SynecdocheA figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole. In this class it is subsumed under the term Metonymy.89
9876950740SyntaxWord organization and order.90
9876950741AlliterationThe repetition at close intervals of the initial consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words (for example, map-moon, kill-code, preach-approve)91
9876950742AnapestA metrical foot consisting of two unaccented syllables followed by one accented syllable (for example, understand)92
9876950743Anapestic meterA meter in which a majority of the feet are anapests93
9876950744Approximate rhyme (also known as imperfect rhyme, near rhyme, slant rhyme, or oblique rhyme)A term used for words in a rhyming pattern that have some kind of sound correspondence but are not perfect rimes (for example, arrayed-said)94
9876950745AssonanceThe repetition at close intervals of the vowel sounds of accented syllables or important words (for example, hat-ran-amber, veinmade).95
9876950746Ballad meterStanzas formed of quatrains of iambs in which the first and third lines have four stresses (tetrameter) and the second and fourth lines have three stresses (trimeter). Usually, the second and fourth lines rhyme (abcb), although ballad meter is often not followed strictly.96
9876950747Blank versePoetry with a meter, but not rhymed, usually in iambic pentameter97
9876950748ConsonanceThe repetition at close intervals of the final consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words (for example, bookplaque-thicker)98
9876950749CoupletTwo successive lines, usually in the same meter, linked by rhyme99
9876950750DactylA metrical foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables (for example, merrily)100
9876950751Dactylic meterA meter in which a majority of the feet are dactyls101
9876950752End rhymeRhymes that occur at the ends of lines102
9876950753End-stopped lineA line that ends with a natural speech pause, usually marked by punctuation — the opposite of enjambment103
9876950754Enjambment Or run-on line,a line which has no natural speech pause at its end, allowing the sense to flow uninterruptedly into the succeeding line — the opposite of an end-stopped line104
9876950755English (or Shakespearean) sonnetA sonnet rhyming ababcdcdefefgg. Its content or structure ideally parallels the rhyme scheme, falling into three coordinate quatrains and a concluding couplet; but it is often structured, like the Italian sonnet, into octave and sestet, the principal break in thought coming at the end of the eighth line.105
9876950756Feminine rhymeA rhyme in which the stress is on the penultimate (second from last) syllable of the words (picky, tricky)106
9876950757FootThe basic unit used in the scansion or measurement of verse. A foot usually contains one accented syllable and one or two unaccented syllables107
9876950758Free verseNonmetrical verse. Poetry written in free verse is arranged in lines, may be more or less rhythmical, but has no fixed metrical pattern or expectation108
9876950759Half rhyme(Sometimes called slant rhyme, sprung, near rhyme, oblique rhyme, off rhyme or imperfect rhyme), is consonance on the final consonants of the words involved109
9876950760Heroic coupletPoems constructed by a sequence of two lines of (usually rhyming) verse in iambic pentameter. If these couplets do not rhyme, they are usually separated by extra white space.110
9876950761IambA metrical foot consisting of one unaccented syllable followed by one accented syllable (for example, rehearse)111
9876950762Iambic meterA meter in which the majority of feet are iambs, the most common English meter112
9876950763Internal rhymeA rhyme in which one or both of the rhyme-words occur within the line113
9876950764Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnetA sonnet consisting of an octave rhyming abbaabba and of a sestet using any arrangement of two or three additional rhymes, such as cdcdcd or cdecde114
9876950765Masculine rhyme (also known as single rhyme)A rhyme in which the stress is on the final syllable of the words (rhyme, sublime)115
9876950766Meter Regularized rhythm;an arrangement of language in which the accents occur at apparently equal intervals in time116
9876950767Octave(1) An eight-line stanza. (2) The first eight lines of a sonnet, especially one structured in the manner of an Italian sonnet117
9876950768Perfect rhymeA rhyme in which is when the later part of the word or phrase is identical sounding to another. Types include masculine and feminine, among others.118
9876950769PentameterA metrical line containing five feet119
9876950770Quatrain(1) A four-line stanza. (2) A four-line division of a sonnet marked off by its rhyme scheme.120
9876950771RefrainA repeated word, phrase, line, or group of lines, normally at some fixed position in a poem written in stanziac form121
9876950772RhymeThe repetition of an identical or similarly accented sound or sounds in a work. Lyricists may find multiple ways to rhyme within a verse.122
9876950773End rhymeshave words that rhyme at the end of a verse-line. Internal rhymes have words that rhyme within it.123
9876950774Rhyme schemeAny fixed pattern of rhymes characterizing a whole poem or its stanzas124
9876950775ScansionThe process of measuring verse, that is, of marking accented and unaccented syllables, dividing the lines into feet, identifying the metrical pattern, and noting significant variations from that pattern125
9876950776Sestet(1) A six-line stanza (2) The last six lines of a sonnet structured on the Italian model126
9876950777SpondeeA metrical foot consisting of two syllables equally or almost equally accented (for example, true-blue).127
9876950778StanzaA group of lines whose metrical pattern (and usually its rhyme scheme as well) is repeated throughout a poem128
9876950779SyntaxThe arrangement of words to form phrases, clauses and sentences; sentence construction129
9876950780Terza RimaA three-line stanza form borrowed from the Italian poets. The rhyme scheme is: aba, bcb, cdc, ded, etc.130
9876950781TetrameterA metrical line containing four feet131
9876950782TrimeterA metrical line containing three feet132
9876950783Triple meterA meter in which a majority of the feet contain three syllables. (Actually, if more than 25 percent of the feet in a poem are triple, its effect is more triple than duple, and it ought perhaps to be referred to as triple meter.) Anapestic and dactylic are both triple meters.133
9876950784Trochaic meterA meter in which the majority of feet are trochees134
9876950785TrocheeA metrical foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by one unaccented syllable (for example, barter)135
9876950786Ballada narrative folk song. The ballad is traced back to the Middle Ages. Ballads were usually created by common people and passed orally due to the illiteracy of the time. Subjects for ballads include killings, feuds, important historical events, and rebellion.136
9876950787ElegyA type of literature defined as a song or poem, written in elegiac couplets, that expresses sorrow or lamentation, usually for one who had died.137
9876950788EpicA long poem in a lofty style about the exploits of heroic figures. These often come from an oral tradition of shared authorship or from a single, high-profile poet imitating the style.138
9876950789Lyrica song-like poem written mainly to express the feelings of emotions or thought from a particular person, thus separating it from narrative poems. These poems are generally short, averaging roughly twelve to thirty lines, and rarely go beyond sixty lines. These poems express vivid imagination as well as emotion and all flow fairly concisely.139
9876950790Narrative poemA poem that tells a story. A narrative poem can come in many forms and styles, both complex and simple, short or long, as long as it tells a story. A few examples of a narrative poem are epics, ballads, and metrical romances.140
9876950792SonnetA fixed form of fourteen lines, normally iambic pentameter, with a rhyme scheme conforming to or approximating one of two main types—the Italian or the English141
9876950791OdeUsually a lyric poem of moderate length, with a serious subject, an elevated style, and an elaborate stanza pattern. The ode often praises people, the arts of music and poetry, natural scenes, or abstract concepts.142

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