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AP Literature Vocab 20 Flashcards

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4758455719Themean ingredient of a literary work which gives the work unity. The theme provides an answer to the question, "What is the work about?" Each literary work carries its own theme(s). Unlike plot, which deals with the action of a work, theme concerns itself with a work's message or contains the general idea of a work and is worded in a complete sentence.0
4758455720Toneexpresses the author's attitude toward his or her subject. Since there are as many tones in literature as there are tones of voice in real relationships, the tone of a literary work may be one of anger or approval, pride or piety; the entire gamut of attitudes toward life's phenomena.1
4758455721Tragedydepicts the downfall or destruction of a character2
4758455722Tragic Flawa tragic flaw or error in judgment3
4758455723Tropeanother name for figurative language4
4758455724Understatementstatement in which the literal sense of what is said falls short of the magnitude of what is being talked about (a litote is a type of understatement.) Understatement: where we deliberately say less than we mean, and let the audience understand the real meaning5
4758455725Verisimilitudethe semblance of truth; the degree to which a writer creates the appearance of truth6
4758455726Villanellea poem with five triplets and a final quatrain; only two rhyme sounds are permitted in the entire poem, and the first and third lines of the first stanza are repeated, alternately, as the third line of subsequent stanzas until the last, when they appear as the last two lines of the poem.7
4758455727Voicethe "speaker" in a piece of literature8
4758455728AnecdoteBrief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something, often shows character of an individual9

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