4646243091 | Allegory | Story or poem in which charachters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities | 0 | |
4646243092 | Alliteration | Repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together | 1 | |
4646243093 | Allusion | Reference 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 | |
4646895211 | Ambiguity | Deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work. An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way This is done on purpose by the author, when it is not done on purpose, it is vagueness, and detracts from the work | 3 | |
4646895212 | Analogy | Comparison made between two things to show how they are alike | 4 | |
4646895213 | Anaphora | Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer's point more coherent | 5 | |
4646905662 | Anastrophe | Inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence. Purpose is rhythm or emphasis or euphony. It is a fancy word for invasion. | 6 | |
4646913085 | Anecdote | Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something, often shows character of an individual | 7 | |
4647447195 | Antagonist | Opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist, in a story | 8 | |
4647447196 | Anthropomorphism | Attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object (personification) | 9 | |
4647447197 | Antihero | Central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with heroes; may lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples | 10 | |
4647447198 | Antimetabole | Repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order | 11 | |
4647447199 | Antithesis | Balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by means of grammatical structure | 12 | |
4647447200 | Aphorism | Brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life, or of a principle of accepted general truth. Also called maxim, epigram | 13 | |
4647447201 | Apostrophe | Calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea. If the character is asking a god or goddess for inspiration it is called an invocation | 14 | |
4647447202 | Apposition | Placing in immediately succeeding order of two or more coordinate elements, the latter of which is an explanation, qualification, or modification of the first ( often set off by a colon) | 15 | |
4647447203 | Argumentation | One of the four forms of discourse which uses logic, ethics, and emotional appeals ( logos, ethos, pathos) to develop an effective means to convince the reader to think or act in a certain way | 16 | |
4647447204 | Assonance | The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonants sounds in words that are together | 17 | |
4647447205 | Asyndeton | Commas used without conjunction to separate a series of words, thud emphasizing the parts equally: instead of X, Y and Z... the writer uses X,Y,Z...see polysyndeton | 18 | |
4647447206 | Balanxe | Constructing a sentence that both halves have the same length and importance. Sentences can be unbalanced to serve a special effect as well | 19 | |
4647447207 | Casual relationship | Form of argumentation in which the writer claims that one thing results from another, often used as part of a logical argument | 20 | |
4647447208 | Characterization | The process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character | 21 | |
4647447209 | Chiasmus | In 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" in prose this is called antimetabole | 22 | |
4647447210 | Cliche | A word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that hasn't become lifeless because of overuse. Avoid cliches like the plague. ( That cliche is intended) | 23 | |
4647447211 | Climax | That point in a plot that creates the greatest intensity, suspense, or interest. Also called "turning point" | 24 | |
4647447212 | Colloquialism | A word or phrase in everyday use in conversations and informal writing but is inappropriate for formal situations | 25 | |
4647447213 | Comedy | In general, a story that ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced by the main character or characters | 26 | |
4647447214 | Conceit | An elaborate metaphor that compares two things that are different. Often an extended metaphor | 27 | |
4647447215 | Confessional poetry | A twentieth century term used to describe poetry that uses intimate material from the poet's life | 28 | |
4647447216 | Conflict | The struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story | 29 | |
4647447217 | Connotations | The associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition | 30 | |
4647447218 | Couplet | Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry | 31 | |
4647447219 | Dead metaphor | Is a metaphor that has been used so often that the comparison is no longer vivid | 32 | |
4647447220 | Description | A form of discourse that uses language to create a mood or emotion | 33 | |
4647447221 | Dialect | A way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area | 34 | |
4647447222 | Diction | A speaker or writer's choice of words | 35 | |
4647447223 | Didactic | Form of fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking | 36 | |
4647447224 | Direct characterization | The author tells us directly what the character is like: sneaky, generous, mean to pets and so on. Romantic style literature relied more heavily on this form | 37 | |
4647447225 | Dramatic irony | Is 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 | 38 | |
4647447226 | Dynamic character | Is one who changes in some important way as a result of the story's action. | 39 | |
4647447227 | Elegy | A poem of mourning, usually about someone who has died. A eulogy is great praise or commendation, a laudatory speech, often about someone who has died | 40 | |
4647447228 | Epanalepsis | Device or repetition in which the same expression (single word or phrase) is repeated both at the beginning and at the end of the line, clause, or sentence | 41 | |
4647447229 | Epic | A long narrative poem, written in high tend language, which recounts the deed of a heroic who embodies the values of a particular society | 42 | |
4647447230 | Epigraph | A quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literature work suggestive of the theme | 43 | |
4647447231 | Epistrophe | Device of repetition in which the same expression (single word or phrase) is repeated at the end of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences ( it is the opposite of anaphora) | 44 | |
4650089160 | Epithet | An adjective or adjective phrase applied to a person or thing that is frequently used to emphasize a characteristic quality. "Father of our country" and "the great Emancipator" are examples. A Homeric epithet is a compound adjective used with a person or thing: "swift-footed Achilles"; "rosy- fingered dawn." | 45 | |
4650089161 | Essay | A short piece of nonfiction prose in which the writer discusses some aspects of a subject | 46 | |
4650089162 | Explication | Act of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text, usually involves close reading and special attention to figurative language | 47 | |
4650089163 | Exposition (essay) | One of the four major forms of discourse in which something is explained or "set forth" | 48 | |
4650089164 | Exposition (plot) | Introduces characters, attention, and setting | 49 | |
4650089165 | Extended Metaphor | Is a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it. (Conceit of its quite elaborate) | 50 | |
4650089166 | External conflict | Co flicks can exist between two people, between a person or and nature or a machine or between a person and whole society | 51 | |
4650089167 | Fable | A very short story told in prose or poetry that teaches a practical lesson about how to succeed in life | 52 | |
4650089168 | Farce | A type of comedy in which ridiculous and often stereotyped characters are involved in silly, far-fetched situations | 53 | |
4650089169 | Figurative language | Words which are inaccurate if interpreted literally, but are used to describe. Similes and metaphors are common forms. | 54 | |
4650089170 | First person point of view | One of the characters tells the story (I) | 55 | |
4650089171 | Flashbacks | A scene that interrupts normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time | 56 | |
4650089172 | Flat character | Has only one or two personality traits. They are one dimensional, like a piece of cardboard. They can be summed up in one phrase | 57 | |
4650089173 | Foil | A character who acts as contrast to another character. Often a funny side kick to the dashing hero, or a villain contrasting the hero | 58 | |
4650089174 | Foreshadowing | The use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot | 59 | |
4650089175 | Free verse | Poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme schemr | 60 | |
4650089176 | Hyperbole | A figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect | 61 | |
4650089177 | Hypotactic | Sentence marked by the use of connection words between clauses or sentences, explicitly showing the local or other relationships between them. (Use of such syntactic subordination of just one clause to another is known as hypotaxis) | 62 | |
4650089178 | Imagery | The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience | 63 | |
4650089179 | Implied metaphor | Does not state explicitly the two terms of the comparison: "I like to see it lap the miles" is an implied metaphor in which the verb lap implies a comparison between "it" and some animal that "laps" up water | 64 | |
4650089180 | Impressionism | A nineteenth-century movement in literature and art which advocates a recording of the artist's personal impressions of the world, rather than a strict representation of reality | 65 | |
4650089181 | Indirect characterization | The author reveals to the reader what the character is like by describing how the characters looks and dresses, by leading the reader hear what the character's private thoughts and feelings, by revealing the characters effect on other people (showing how other character feels or behave towards the character), or by showing the character in action. Common in modern literature | 66 | |
4650089182 | Internal conflict | A conflict can be internal, involving opposing forces within a person's mind. | 67 | |
4650089183 | Inversion | The reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase | 68 | |
4650089184 | Irony | A discrepancy between appearances and reality | 69 | |
4650089185 | Juxtaposition | Poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit | 70 | |
4650089186 | Koan | Is a paradox used in Zen Buddhism to gain intuitive knowledge | 71 | |
4650089187 | Litotes | Is a form of understatement in which the positive form is emphasized through the negotiation of a negative form | 72 | |
4650089188 | Local color | A term applied to fiction in which tends to place special emphasis on a particular setting, including its customs, clothing, dialect, and landscape | 73 | |
4650089189 | Loose sentence | One in which the main clause comes first, followed by further dependent grammatical units | 74 | |
4650089190 | Lyric poem | A poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of a speaker. A ballad tells a story | 75 | |
4650089191 | Metaphor | A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles | 76 | |
4650089192 | Mietonymy | A figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing is referred to by something closely associated with it | 77 | |
4650089193 | Mixed metaphor | Is a metaphor that has gotten out of control and mixes it's term so that they are visually or imaginatively incompatible | 78 | |
4650089194 | Modernism | A term for the bold new experimental styles and form that swept the arts during the first third of the twentieth century | 79 | |
4650089195 | Mood | An atmosphere created by a writer's diction and the details selected | 80 | |
4650089196 | Motif | A recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the work by tying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme | 81 | |
4650089197 | Motivation | The reasons for a character's behavior | 82 | |
4650089198 | Narrative | The form of discourse that tells about a series of events | 83 | |
4650089199 | Naturalism | A nineteenth century literary movement that was an extension of realism and that claimed to portray life exactly as it was | 84 | |
4650089200 | Objective point of view | A narrator who is totally impersonal and objective tells the story, with no comment on any characters or events | 85 | |
4650089201 | Omniscient point of view | An omniscient or all knowing narrator tells the story, also using the third person pronouns. This narrator, instead of focusing on one character only, often tells us everything about many characters | 86 | |
4650089202 | Onomatopoeia | The use of words whose sounds echo their sense | 87 | |
4650089203 | Oxymoron | A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase | 88 | |
4650089204 | Parable | A relatively short story that teaches a moral, or lesson about how to lead a good life | 89 | |
4650089205 | Paradox | A statement that appears self contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth | 90 | |
4650089206 | Parallel structure | The repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures | 91 | |
4650089207 | Paratactic sentence | Simply juxtaposed clauses or sentences. I am tired: it is hot. | 92 | |
4650089208 | Parody | A work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspects of the writer's stylr | 93 | |
4650089209 | Periodic | Sentences that places the main idea or central complete thought at the em doc the sentence, after all introductory elements | 94 | |
4650089210 | Personification | A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitides | 95 | |
4650089211 | Plain style | Writing style that stress simplicity and clarity of expression (but will still utilize allusions and metaphors), and was the main form of the Puritan writers | 96 | |
4650089212 | Plot | Series of related. Events in a story or play, sometimes called the storyline | 97 | |
4650089213 | Point of view | The vantage point from which the writer tells the story | 98 | |
4650089214 | Persuasion | Relies more on emotional appeals than on favts | 99 | |
4650089215 | Polysyndeton | Sentence which uses a conjunction with NO commas to separate the items in a series. Instead of X, Y, and Z... Polysyndeton results in X and Y and Z | 100 | |
4650089216 | Protagonist | The central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action. Usually the hero or anti hero; in a tragic hero, like John Proctor of The Crucible, there is always hamartia, or tragic flaws in his character which will lead to his downfalk | 101 | |
4650089217 | Pun | A "play on words" based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things | 102 | |
4650089218 | Puritanism | Writing style of America's early English- speaking colonists, emphasizes obedience to God and consists mainly of journals, sermons, and poems | 103 | |
4650089219 | Quatrain | A poem consisting of four lines, or four lines in a poem that can be considered as a unit | 104 | |
4650089220 | Rationalism | A movement that began in Europe in the seventeenth century, which held that we can arrive at truth by using our reason rather than relying on the authority of the past, on the authority of the Church, or an institution. ALSO CALLED NEOCLASSICISM AND AGE OF REASON | 105 | |
4650089221 | Realism | A style of writing, developed in the nineteenth century, that attempts to depict life accurately without idealizing it or romanticizing it | 106 | |
4650089222 | Refrain | A word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated, for effect, several times in a poem | 107 | |
4650089223 | Regionalism | Literature that emphasizes a specific geographic setting and that reproduces the speech, behavior, and attitudes of the people who live in that region | 108 | |
4650089224 | Resolution | The conclusion of a story, when all or most of the conflicts have been settled; often called the denouement | 109 | |
4650089225 | Rhetoric | Art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse | 110 | |
4650089226 | Rhetorical question | A question asked for an effect, and not actually requiring an answer | 111 | |
4650089227 | Rhythym | A rise and fall of the voice produced by the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language | 112 | |
4650089228 | Rising action | Complication in conflict or situation (may introduce new ones as well) | 113 | |
4650089229 | Romance | In general, a story in echo an idealized hero or heroine undertakes a quest and is successful | 114 | |
4650089230 | Romanticism | A revolt against Rationalism that affected literature and the other arts, beginning in the late eighteenth century and remaining storing throughout most nineteenth century | 115 | |
4650089231 | Round character | Has more dimensions to their personalities-- they are complex, just a real people are | 116 | |
4650089232 | Satire | A type of writing that ridicules the shortcoming of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change | 117 | |
4650089233 | Simile | A figure of speech that makes an explicitly comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as, than, or resembles | 118 | |
4650089234 | Situational irony | Takes place when there is discrepancy between what it is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen | 119 | |
4650089235 | Soliloquy | A long speech made my a character in a play while no other character is on stage | 120 | |
4650089236 | Static character | Is one who does not change much in a course of a story | 121 | |
4650089237 | Stereotype | A fixes idea or conception of a character or an idea that does not allow for any individuality, often based on religious, social, or racial prejudice | 122 | |
4650089238 | Stream of consciousness | A style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a charters mind | 123 | |
4650089239 | Style | The distinctive way in which a writer uses language: a writer's distinctive use of diction, tone, and syntax | 124 | |
4650089240 | Surrealism | In movement in art and literature that started in Europe during the 1920's. Surrealist wanted to replace conventional realism with the full expression of the unconscious mind, which they considered to be more real than the "real" world of appearances | 125 | |
4650089241 | Suspense | A feeling of uncertainty and curiosity about what will happen next in a story | 126 | |
4650089242 | Symbol | A person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself | 127 | |
4650089243 | Symbolism | A literary movement that originated in late 19 century France, and which writers rearrange the world of appearances in order to reveal A more truthful version of reality | 128 | |
4650089244 | Synecdoche | A figure of speech in which a part represents the whole | 129 | |
4650089245 | Syntactic fluency | Ability to create a variety of sentence structure, appropriately complex and/or simple and vary in length | 130 | |
4650089246 | Tall tale | An outrageously exaggerated, humorous story that is obviously unbelievable | 131 | |
4650089247 | Telegraphic sentence | A sentence shorter than five words in length | 132 | |
4650089248 | Theme | The insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work | 133 | |
4650089249 | Third person point of view | And unknown narrator, tells the story, but this narrator zooms in to focus on the thoughts and feelings on only one character | 134 | |
4650089250 | Tone | The attitude a writer takes towards the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience, revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization | 135 | |
4650089251 | Tragedy | In general, a story in which a heroic character either dies or comes to some other unhappy end | 136 | |
4650089252 | Transcendentalism | A 19 century movement in the Romantic tradition, which held that every individual can reach ultimate truth through spiritual intuition, which transcends reason and sensory experience | 137 | |
4650089253 | Tricolon | Fenton of three parts of equal importance, usually three independent clauses | 138 | |
4650089254 | Understatement | A statement that says less than what is meant | 139 | |
4650089255 | Unity | Unified part of the writing are related to one central idea or organizing principle. Unity is dependent upon coherence | 140 | |
4650089256 | Verbal irony | Occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else | 141 | |
4650089257 | Vernacular | The language spoken by the people who live in a particular locality | 142 | |
4649985410 | Epithet | An adjective or adjective phrase applied to a person or thing that is frequently used to emphasize a characteristic quality. "Father of our country" and "the great Emancipator" are examples. A Homeric epithet is a compound adjective used with a person or thing: "swift-footed Achilles"; "rosy- fingered dawn." | 143 | |
4649985411 | Essay | A short piece of nonfiction prose in which the writer discusses some aspects of a subject | 144 | |
4649985412 | Explication | Act of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text, usually involves close reading and special attention to figurative language | 145 | |
4649985413 | Exposition (essay) | One of the four major forms of discourse in which something is explained or "set forth" | 146 | |
4649985414 | Exposition (plot) | Introduces characters, attention, and setting | 147 | |
4649985415 | Extended Metaphor | Is a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it. (Conceit of its quite elaborate) | 148 | |
4649985416 | External conflict | Co flicks can exist between two people, between a person or and nature or a machine or between a person and whole society | 149 | |
4649985417 | Fable | A very short story told in prose or poetry that teaches a practical lesson about how to succeed in life | 150 | |
4649985418 | Farce | A type of comedy in which ridiculous and often stereotyped characters are involved in silly, far-fetched situations | 151 | |
4649985419 | Figurative language | Words which are inaccurate if interpreted literally, but are used to describe. Similes and metaphors are common forms. | 152 | |
4649985420 | First person point of view | One of the characters tells the story (I) | 153 | |
4649985421 | Flashbacks | A scene that interrupts normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time | 154 | |
4649985422 | Flat character | Has only one or two personality traits. They are one dimensional, like a piece of cardboard. They can be summed up in one phrase | 155 | |
4649985423 | Foil | A character who acts as contrast to another character. Often a funny side kick to the dashing hero, or a villain contrasting the hero | 156 | |
4649985424 | Foreshadowing | The use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot | 157 | |
4649985425 | Free verse | Poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme schemr | 158 | |
4649985426 | Hyperbole | A figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect | 159 | |
4649985427 | Hypotactic | Sentence marked by the use of connection words between clauses or sentences, explicitly showing the local or other relationships between them. (Use of such syntactic subordination of just one clause to another is known as hypotaxis) | 160 | |
4649985428 | Imagery | The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience | 161 | |
4649985429 | Implied metaphor | Does not state explicitly the two terms of the comparison: "I like to see it lap the miles" is an implied metaphor in which the verb lap implies a comparison between "it" and some animal that "laps" up water | 162 | |
4649985430 | Impressionism | A nineteenth-century movement in literature and art which advocates a recording of the artist's personal impressions of the world, rather than a strict representation of reality | 163 | |
4649985431 | Indirect characterization | The author reveals to the reader what the character is like by describing how the characters looks and dresses, by leading the reader hear what the character's private thoughts and feelings, by revealing the characters effect on other people (showing how other character feels or behave towards the character), or by showing the character in action. Common in modern literature | 164 | |
4649985432 | Internal conflict | A conflict can be internal, involving opposing forces within a person's mind. | 165 | |
4649985433 | Inversion | The reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase | 166 | |
4649985434 | Irony | A discrepancy between appearances and reality | 167 | |
4649985435 | Juxtaposition | Poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit | 168 | |
4649985436 | Koan | Is a paradox used in Zen Buddhism to gain intuitive knowledge | 169 | |
4649985437 | Litotes | Is a form of understatement in which the positive form is emphasized through the negotiation of a negative form | 170 | |
4649985438 | Local color | A term applied to fiction in which tends to place special emphasis on a particular setting, including its customs, clothing, dialect, and landscape | 171 | |
4649985439 | Loose sentence | One in which the main clause comes first, followed by further dependent grammatical units | 172 | |
4649985440 | Lyric poem | A poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of a speaker. A ballad tells a story | 173 | |
4649985441 | Metaphor | A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles | 174 | |
4649985442 | Mietonymy | A figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing is referred to by something closely associated with it | 175 | |
4649985443 | Mixed metaphor | Is a metaphor that has gotten out of control and mixes it's term so that they are visually or imaginatively incompatible | 176 | |
4649985444 | Modernism | A term for the bold new experimental styles and form that swept the arts during the first third of the twentieth century | 177 | |
4649985445 | Mood | An atmosphere created by a writer's diction and the details selected | 178 | |
4649985446 | Motif | A recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the work by tying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme | 179 | |
4649985447 | Motivation | The reasons for a character's behavior | 180 | |
4649985448 | Narrative | The form of discourse that tells about a series of events | 181 | |
4649985449 | Naturalism | A nineteenth century literary movement that was an extension of realism and that claimed to portray life exactly as it was | 182 |
Ap Literature Terms Flashcards
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