The Glossary of Literary Terms for the AP English Literature and Composition Test
Terms : Hide Images
| 4189086483 | Accent | In poetry, the stressed portion of a word. | 0 | |
| 4189086484 | Aesthetic | Appealing to the senses; pertaining to beauty. | 1 | |
| 4189086485 | Allegory | A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself. | 2 | |
| 4189086486 | Alliteration | The repetition of initial consonant sounds. | 3 | |
| 4189086487 | Allusion | A reference to another work or famous figure. | 4 | |
| 4189086488 | Analogy | A comparison, usually involving two or more symbolic parts, employed to clarify an action or a relationship. | 5 | |
| 4189086489 | Anecdote | A Short narrative or story used to make a point or further explain a situation. | 6 | |
| 4189086490 | Anticlimax | Occurs when an action produces far smaller results than one had been led to expect. | 7 | |
| 4189086491 | Antihero | A protagonist who is markedly unheroic: morally weak, cowardly, dishonest, or any number of other unsavory qualities. | 8 | |
| 4189086492 | Aphorism | A short and usually witty saying. | 9 | |
| 4189086493 | Aside | A speech (usually just a short comment) made by an actor to the audience, as though momentarily stepping outside of the action on stage. | 10 | |
| 4189086494 | Assonance | The repeated use of vowel sounds: "Old king Cole was a merry old soul." | 11 | |
| 4189086495 | Atmosphere | The emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene | 12 | |
| 4189086496 | Ballad | A long, narrative poem, usually in meter and rhyme. Typically has a naive folksy quality. | 13 | |
| 4189086497 | Cadence | The beat or rhythm or poetry in a general sense. | 14 | |
| 4189086498 | Caricature | A portrait (verbal or otherwise) that exaggerates a facet of personality. | 15 | |
| 4189086499 | Catharsis | Drawn from Aristotle's writings on tragedy. Refers to the "cleansing" of emotion an audience member experiences during a play | 16 | |
| 4189086500 | Colloquialism | A word or phrase used in everyday conversational English that isn't a part of accepted "school-book" English. | 17 | |
| 4189086501 | Denotation | A word's literal meaning. | 18 | |
| 4189086502 | Connotation | Everything other than the literal meaning that a word suggests or implies. | 19 |
