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AP Literature Poetry Terms Flashcards

Poetry terms

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3920451543ALLEGORYstory or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities0
3920451544ALLITERATIONrepetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together1
3920451545ALLUSIONreference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture. An indirect reference to something (usually from literature etc.).,2
3920451546ANALOGYComparison made between two things to show how they are alike,3
3920451547ASSONANCEthe repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds especially in words that are together4
3920451548CHIASMUSIn poetry, a type of rhetorical balance in which the second part is syntactically balanced against the first but with the parts reversed. Coleridge: "Flowers are lovely love is flowerlike." ,5
3920451549CONCEITan elaborate metaphor that compares two things that are startlingly different. Often an extended metaphor.6
3920451550CONNOTATIONthe associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase in addition to its strict dictionary definition.,7
3920451551COUPLETtwo consecutive rhyming lines of poetry.,8
3920451552DICTIONa speaker or writer's choice of words.,9
3920451553ELEGYa poem of mourningusually about someone who has died. This is great praise or commendation a laudatory speech, often about someone who has died.10
3920451554EXPLICATIONthe meaning of a text, act of interpreting or discovering usually involves close reading and special attention to figurative language.11
3920451555FARCEa type of comedy in which ridiculous and often stereotyped characters are involved in silly far-fetched situations.12
3920451556FIGURATIVE LANGUAGEWords which are inaccurate if interpreted literally but are used to describe. Similes and metaphors are common forms.13
3920451557FLASHBACKa scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time.14
3920451558FOILA character who acts as contrast to another character. Often a funny side kick to the dashing hero or a villain contrasting the hero.15
3920451559FORESHADOWINGthe use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot.16
3920451560FREE VERSEpoetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme.17
3920451561HYPERBOLEa figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement for effect. "If I told you once I've told you a million times...."18
3920451562IMAGERYthe use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person , a thing a place, or an experience.,19
3920451563IRONYa discrepancy between appearances and reality.,20
3920451564VERBAL IRONYoccurs when someone says one thing but really means something else.21
3920451565SITUATIONAL IRONYtakes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen.22
3920451566DRAMATIC IRONYis so called because it is often used on stage. A character in the play or story thinks one thing is true but the audience or reader knows better.23
3920451567LITOTESis a form of understatement in which the positive form is emphasized throughthe negation of a negative form: Hawthorne--- "...the wearers of petticoat and farthingale...stepping forth into the public ways and wedging their not unsubstantial persons if occasion were, into the throng...",24
3920451568LYRIC POEMa poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker.25
3920451569METAPHORa figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as likeas, than, or resembles.,26
3920451570IMPLIED METAPHORdoes not state explicitly the two terms of the comparison:27
3920451571EXTENDED METAPHORis a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it. (conceit if it is quite elaborate).28
3920451572METONYMYa figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing, is referred to by something closely associated with it. "We requested from the crown support for our petition." The crown is used to represent the monarch.29
3920451573MOODAn atmosphere created by a writer's diction and the details selected.30
3920451574ONOMATOPOEIAthe use of words whose sounds echo their sense. "Pop." "Zap.",31
3920451575OXYMORONa figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. "Jumbo shrimp." "Pretty ugly." "Bitter-sweet"32
3920451576PARADOXa statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth.,33
3920451577PARALLEL STRUCTUREthe repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures34
3920451578PERSONIFICATIONa figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings thoughts, or attitudes.,35
3920451579QUATRAINa poem consisting of four lines, or four lines of a poem that can be considered as a unit.36
3920451580REFRAINa word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated, for effect, several times in a poem.37
3920451581RHYTHMa rise and fall of the voice produced by the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language.38
3920451582RHETORICAL QUESTIONa question asked for an effect, and not actually requiring an answer.39
3920451583SIMILEa figure of speech that makes an explicitly comparison between two unlike things using words such as like, as , than, or resembles.,40
3920451584SOLILOQUYa long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are on stage.41
3920451585SYNECDOCHEa figure of speech in which a part represents the whole. "If you don'tdrive properly you will lose your wheels." The wheels represent the entire car.,42
3920451586THEMEthe insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work.,43
3920451587TONEthe attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audiencerevealed through diction, figurative language, and organization.,44

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