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AP Literature Terms Flashcards

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5895317227AllegoryA story in which people, things, and events have another meaning. Ex: The Crucible0
5895317228AllusionA reference I'm a work of lit. To something outside of the work, typically a well known subject.1
5895317229AnaphoraThe rep. of the same words or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses.2
5895317230AnticlimaxA sudden descentfrom the impressive to the trivial. Anticlimactic3
5895317231AntithesisA contrast used for emphasis4
5895317232ApostropheDirect addres, usually to someone or somethingthat is not present5
5895317233AsyndetonThe abstence of conjunctions in a series of related clauses. Ex: I came, I saw, I conqured.6
5895317234BathosSlip from sublime to ridiculous; anticlimax, sentimental pathos; triteness or dullness7
5895317235CaesuraA pause in a line of poetry8
5895317236ChiasmusRhetorical balance created by the inversion of 1 or 2 clauses. Ex: he is the cook of kings and the king of cooks.9
5895317237ConceitVery elaborate comparisons between 2 unlike things10
5895317238DidaticExplicitly instructive11
5895317239EpigramA pithy saying, often using contrast. Also a brief or pointed verse12
5904070193EllipsisThe omission of words for rhetorical effect: drop dead for you drop dead13
5904070194EnjambementThe running of one line of poetry into another.14
5904070195EuphemismA figure of speech using indirection to avoid offensive bluntness.15
5904070196GrotesqueCharacterized by distortions or incongrueities. The fiction of Poe or Flannery O'Connor is often described as grotesque16
5904070197HomilyA religious discoure or sermon: emphasizes spiritual or moral advice17
5904070198LyricalSong like; characterized by emotion, subjectivity, and imagination18
5904070199MetonymyThe substitution of 1 item that suggests what it's related to. Ex: the crown to rep. A king19
5904070200MotifReoccurring images or idea in a work which is used to develop theme20
5904070201Pathetic fallacyA specific kind of personification is which inanimate objects are giving human emotions.21
5904070202PathosThe aspects of a literary work that elicit pity from the audience.22

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