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AP Literature Vocab Terms Flashcards

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8279116269Free Indirect DiscourseA special type of third-person narration that slips in and out of the character's consciousness. The character's thoughts, feelings, and words are filtered through narrator.0
8279163467AntiheroA protagonist in a drama or narrative who is notably lacking heroic qualities.1
8279188630FoilA character that shows qualities that are in contrast with the qualities of another character with the objective to highlight the traits of the other character.2
8279223692Stock CharacterA conventional character that is instantly recognizable due to familiar stereotypes. Ex: Evil Stepmothers, Tortured artists, etc.3
8279271083AllegoryA story with a hidden meaning that is given by literary devices such as symbolism and metaphors.4
8280018772BildungsromanA coming-of-age story. Ex: "Grendel", "Catcher in the Rye"5
8280018773ComedyA genre that deals in humor and entertainment.6
8280021915EpicStory about larger-than-life heroes and their triumphs on and off the battlefield. Typically involve supernatural or mystic elements such as Gods. Use of "invocation of the muse."7
8280021916FarceA type of Comedy that makes use of highly exaggerated and funny situations aimed at entertaining the audience. Use bawdy jokes, physical humor, and deliberate absurdity.8
8280024645Free Verse PoetryA poetic style that lacks a regular meter or rhyme scheme.9
8280024646Lyric PoemType of poetry usually written in first-person POV in order to convey the speaker's thoughts and emotions. Include Odes and Sonnets10
8280027989ParodyA text that imitates another work or genre for the sole purpose of humor.11
8280032207Romantic MovementUse of untamed emotion in a work of literature, Commonly used Nature, with the N capitalized to show emphasis and personification.12
8280032208SatireA genre that sets out to improve bad behavior with the use of sarcasm and irony. Typically humorous.13
8280039256Stream-Of-ConsciousnessA method of narration that describes in words the flow of thoughts in the minds of the characters.14
8280039257TragedyA kind of drama that presents a serious subject matter about human suffering and corresponding terrible events in a dignified manner.15
8280043997AnaphoraThe deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect.16
8280043998AntithesisA rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect.17
8280047319ApostropheA writer or a speaker detaches himself from the reality and addresses an imaginary character in his speech.18
8280056478ClicheAn expression that has been overused to the extent that it loses its original meaning or novelty.19
8280061546EpithetA descriptive literary device that describes a place, a thing or a person in such a way that it helps in making the characteristics of a person, thing or place more prominent than they actually are20
8280061547HyperboleA figure of speech that involves an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis.21
8280064803UnderstatementA figure of speech employed by writers or speakers to intentionally make a situation seem less important than it really is.22
8280064804EnjambmentIn poetry, the running on of a sense from one couplet or line to the next without a major pause or syntactical break.23
8280068069CaesuraA rhythmical pause in a poetic line or a sentence. It often occurs in the middle of a line, or sometimes at the beginning and the end.24
8280068070Conceit MetaphorA figure of speech in which two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of similes or metaphors.25
8280072211Dead MetaphorA figure of speech that has lost its force and imaginative effectiveness through frequent use.26
8280076830Mixed MetaphorA succession of incongruous or ludicrous comparisons.27
8280076831MetonymyA figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated.28
8280081569SynecdocheA literary device in which a part of something represents the whole or it may use a whole to represent a part.29
8280085181SynesthesiaA technique adopted by writers to present ideas, characters or places in such a manner that they appeal to more than one senses like hearing, seeing, smell etc. at a given time.30
8280090122AnthropomorphismA literary device that can be defined as a technique in which a writer ascribes human traits, ambitions, emotions, or entire behaviors to animals, non-human beings, natural phenomena, or objects.31
8280105241ImageryTo use figurative language to represent objects, actions, and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses.32
8280105242Visual ImageryImagery that appeals to the visual senses.33
8280108696Auditory ImageryImagery that appeals to the sound senses.34
8280113053Kinesthetic IImageryImagery that appeals to the touch senses.35
8280113054Olfactory ImageryImagery that appeals to the smell senses.36
8280120904Gustatory ImageryImagery that appeals to the taste senses.37

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