4737837303 | Allegory | The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form. | 0 | |
4737837304 | Alliteration | The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of several words in a line of poetry. | 1 | |
4737837305 | Anaphora | Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines in a poem. | 2 | |
4737837306 | Apostrophe | When a character speaks to a character or object that is not present or is unable to respond. | 3 | |
4737837307 | Assonance | The repetition of the same vowel sound in a phrase or line of poetry. | 4 | |
4737837308 | Climax | The turning point in the plot or the high point of action. | 5 | |
4737837309 | Colloquial Language | Informal, conversational language. Indicative of a specific region. | 6 | |
4737837310 | Connotation | An idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing, ie. Bat=evil. | 7 | |
4737837311 | Diction | Word choice or the use of words in speech or writing. | 8 | |
4737837312 | Enjambment | The continuation of reading one line of a poem to the next with no pause, a run-on line. | 9 | |
4737837313 | Epiphany | Sudden enlightenment or realization, a profound new outlook or understanding about the world usually attained while doing everyday mundane activities. | 10 | |
4737837314 | Flashback | When a character remembers a past event that is relevant to the current action of the story. | 11 | |
4737837315 | Foreshadowing | Clues in the text about incidents that will occur later in the plot; creates anticipation in the novel. | 12 | |
4737837316 | Hyperbole | A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or comic/dramatic effect. | 13 | |
4737837317 | Imagery | The use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas. Also includes sensory language. | 14 | |
4737837318 | Irony | When one thing should occur, is apparent, or in logical sequence but the opposite actually occurs. | 15 | |
4737837319 | Meter | The measured arrangement of words in poetry, as by accentual rhythm, syllabic quantity, or the number of syllables in a line. | 16 | |
4737837320 | Metaphor | A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison; this comparison does not use like or as. | 17 | |
4737837321 | Motif | A recurring subject, theme, or idea in a literary work. | 18 | |
4737837322 | Onomatopoeia | The formation or use of words such as buzz or murmur that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. | 19 | |
4737837323 | Parody | A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule. | 20 | |
4737837324 | Personification | A figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions are endowed with human qualities or are represented as possessing human form. | 21 | |
4737837325 | Prose | Ordinary speech or writing without metrical structure, written in paragraph form. | 22 | |
4737837326 | Simile | A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as. | 23 | |
4737837327 | Soliloquy | A dramatic or literary form of discourse in which a character talks to himself or herself or reveals his or her thoughts without addressing a listener. Typical in plays. | 24 | |
4737837328 | Symbolism | Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible. | 25 | |
4737837329 | Tone | Reflects how the author feels about the subject matter or the feeling the author wants to instill in the reader. | 26 | |
4737837330 | Tragedy | A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances. | 27 | |
4737837331 | Sonnet | A poem with fourteen lines. There are Italian and English (typically referred to as "Shakespearean") forms. | 28 | |
4737837332 | Satire | A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit; the goal is to change the behavior/issue. | 29 | |
4737837333 | Active Voice | When the subject of the sentence performs the action, the sentence is written in this voice. | 30 | |
4737837334 | Allusion | Reference to a person, place, event from history, literature, religion, or art with which a reader is likely to be familiar. | 31 | |
4737837335 | Ambiguity | There is a problem in pronoun usage, when it is unclear what the antecedent of the pronoun is. | 32 | |
4737837336 | Anachronism | This is an error of chronology in a literary piece. | 33 | |
4737837337 | Anadiplosis | The repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the next clause. | 34 | |
4737837338 | Anecdote | A brief story about an interesting incident. | 35 | |
4737837339 | Antecedent | The noun to which a pronoun refers. | 36 | |
4737837340 | Antithesis | The direct contrast or exact opposite of something. | 37 | |
4737837341 | Aphorism | This statement reflects a general truth in some way. | 38 | |
4737837342 | Appositive | Placing side by side two elements the second of which serves as a modification or explanation of the first. | 39 | |
4737837343 | Aside | Brief comment delivered by an actor which expresses the actor's thoughts. It is usually directed to the audience and not heard by other actors. | 40 | |
4737837344 | Asyndeton | Using no conjunctions in order to create an effect of speed or simplicity | 41 | |
4737837345 | Ballad | Song-like poem that tells a story | 42 | |
4737837347 | Blank verse | Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. | 43 | |
4737837348 | Caesura | Strong stop or pause in a metrical line often marked by punctuation to convey emotion or depth. | 44 | |
4737837349 | Chiasmus | Rhetorical scheme by which the order of the terms in the first of parallel clauses is reversed in the second. | 45 | |
4737837350 | Complex sentence | Consists of one independent clause with one or more subordinate clauses | 46 | |
4737837351 | Compound sentence | Two or more independent clauses with no subordinate clauses | 47 | |
4737837352 | Compound-complex sentence | At lease two independent clauses and at least one subordinate clause | 48 | |
4737837353 | Consonance | Repetition in two or more words of final consonants in stressed syllables that are preceded by different vowel sounds | 49 | |
4737837354 | Denotation | Literal definition of a word | 50 | |
4737837355 | Denouement | The unraveling of the plot | 51 | |
4737837356 | Dependent clause | A group of words that has a subject and verb but cannot stand alone | 52 | |
4737837357 | Deus Ex Machina | The introduction of an implausible concept or character into a story in order to address the conflict and provide a pleasing resolution | 53 | |
4737837358 | Dialect | Form of language that is characteristic of a particular place or group of people | 54 | |
4737837359 | Direct characterization | When a character is revealed by clear descriptions by the author | 55 | |
4737837360 | Dramatic irony | When the audience or the readers know something that the characters do not know | 56 | |
4737837361 | Elegy | Poem of mourning | 57 | |
4737837362 | Epigraph | Quotation at the beginning of a literary work to suggest tone or theme | 58 | |
4737837363 | End Rhyme | Repetition of similar sounds in end lines of poetry | 59 | |
4737837364 | Epic Poem | Type of poem that is very long and deals with the adventures of a legendary character | 60 | |
4737837365 | Epigram | Rhetorical device that is short witty and memorable | 61 | |
4737837366 | Epistle | Literary work addressed to patron or friend on the form of letters | 62 | |
4737837367 | Euphemism | Substitution of a non-offensive phrase for an offensive one | 63 | |
4737837368 | Existentialism | Literary movement of mid-twentieth century which holds that a human has complete freedom to determine his/her own fate. The actions chosen determine his/her own existence. | 64 | |
4737837369 | Fable | A fictitious story that teaches a lesson. Usually, animals speak and act like humans. | 65 | |
4737837370 | Foil | A character that serves by contrast to highlight the opposing traits of the main character to further define the main character. | 66 | |
4737837371 | Flat character | Character that is never fully developed. | 67 | |
4737837372 | Free Verse | Poetry written without a regular rhyme, scheme, meter, or form. | 68 | |
4737837373 | Hubris | Excessive pride that usually leads to a hero's downfall | 69 | |
4737837374 | In Medias Res | Opening the story in the middle of the action | 70 | |
4737837375 | Independent Clause | Group of words that states the main thought of a sentence | 71 | |
4737837376 | Indirect Characterization | When an author reveals a person in the story through his/her words, thoughts, appearance, action, or what others say or think | 72 | |
4737837377 | Isocolon | Type of parallel structure in which the parallel elements are similar not only in grammatical structure but also in length | 73 | |
4737837378 | Limerick | Five line poem with a rhyme scheme of AABBA | 74 | |
4737837379 | Limited 3rd person | Point of view where the narrator only reveals the inner thoughts of one character | 75 | |
4737837380 | Litote | Type of understatement in which the negative of the contrary is used to achieve emphasis and intensity | 76 | |
4737837381 | Lyric poem | Highly musical verse that expresses observation of single speaker | 77 | |
4737837382 | Metonymy | Figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated | 78 | |
4737837383 | Monologue | Long uninterrupted speech by a character | 79 | |
4737837384 | Mood | Feeling that an author wants the reader to have while reading | 80 | |
4737837385 | Muse | A force that inspires an artist | 81 | |
4737837386 | Ode | Lyrical poem written in praise of someone or something | 82 | |
4737837387 | Oxymoron | Yoking of two terms that are contradictory | 83 | |
4737837388 | Parable | Short simple story told to relay a moral lesson | 84 | |
4737837389 | Paradox | Statement that is a contradiction | 85 | |
4737837390 | Parallelism | Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses | 86 | |
4737837391 | Passive Voice | When the subject of the sentence receives the action instead of doing it | 87 | |
4737837392 | Pastoral Poetry | Form of poetry that depicts rural life in a peaceful, idealized way | 88 | |
4737837393 | Pun | A play on words | 89 | |
4737837394 | Romanticism | Literary movement in late 18th century that is characterized by a heightened interest in nature and emphasis on emotion | 90 | |
4737837395 | Second Person | Point of view from the YOU perspective | 91 | |
4737837396 | Situational irony | When something happens that is the opposite of what is expected | 92 | |
4737837397 | Stream of Consciousness | Type of narration when author takes reader directly into character's mind | 93 | |
4737837398 | Syntax | Ordering of elements in a sentence | 94 | |
4737837399 | Synecdoche | A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole | 95 | |
4737837400 | Terza Rima | Italian form of poetry which consists of stanzas of three lines (tercets) | 96 | |
4737837401 | Understatement | Restraint or lack of emphasis for rhetorical effect | 97 | |
4737837402 | Verbal Irony | When someone says the opposite of what he/she really means | 98 | |
4737852655 | anapestic | metrical foot consisting of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable | 99 | |
4737855792 | anecdote | a very short story told to make a point | 100 | |
4737862060 | antithesis | a figure of speech in which an opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites of, or strongly contrasted with, each other, such as "hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins" | 101 | |
4737865011 | archetype | a very typical example of a certain person or thing; universal symbol that crosses many cultures | 102 | |
4737867805 | auditory imagery | language/words appealing to the sense of sound and hearing | 103 | |
4737869529 | choleric | medieval body humor; angry | 104 | |
4737871646 | didactic | having an educational purpose | 105 | |
4737873719 | dramatic irony | involves a situation in a play or a narrative in which the audience or reader shares with the author knowledge of present or future circumstances of which a character is ignorant; in that situation, the character unknowingly acts in a way we recognize to be grossly inappropriate to the actual circumstances, or expects the opposite of what we know that fate holds in store, or says something that anticipates the actual outcome, but not at all in the way that the character intends. | 106 | |
4737880376 | elegy | In Greek and Roman literature, "elegy" denoted any poem written in elegiac meter (alternating hexameter and pentameter lines). The term was also used, however, to refer to the subject matter of change and loss frequently expressed in the elegiac verse form, especially in complaints about love; pastoral elegy laments the loss of rural life and farms | 107 | |
4737881739 | end stopped line | a poetic device in which a pause comes at the end of a syntactic unit (sentence, clause or phrase); this pause can be expressed in writing as a punctuation mark such as a colon, semi-colon, period or full stop. | 108 | |
4737882574 | epigram | The term is now used for a statement, whether in verse or prose, which is terse, pointed, and witty. The epigram may be on any subject, amatory, elegiac, meditative, complimentary, anecdotal, or (most often) satiric. | 109 | |
4737885610 | exposition | A narrative device, often used at the beginning of a work that provides necessary background information about the characters and their circumstances. | 110 | |
4737885958 | farce | (n.) a play filled with ridiculous or absurd happenings; broad or far-fetched humor; a ridiculous sham | 111 | |
4737886518 | genre | A category of literature. The main literary types are fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. | 112 | |
4737887374 | gustatory imagery | descriptive language that appeals to the sense of taste | 113 | |
4737888476 | iambic pentameter | Definition- (n.) A poetic meter consisting of five poetic "feet" with each foot containing an unaccented (unstressed) and an accented stressed syllable in that order (unstressed/stressed) | 114 | |
4737890321 | internal rhyme | A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line | 115 | |
4737892769 | malapropism | a word humorously misused | 116 | |
4737896262 | myth | A traditional story about gods, ancestors, or heroes, told to explain the natural world or the customs and beliefs of a society. | 117 | |
4737896989 | third person omniscient | Point of view in which an all-knowing narrator who is privy to the thoughts and actions of any or all characters. | 118 | |
4737897454 | third person limited | Point of view in which narrator exists outside of all characters, but is privy to the feelings and thoughts of one character, presenting only the actions of all remaining characters | 119 | |
4737898496 | first person | A narrator who is a character in the story and tells the tale from his or her point of view. | 120 | |
4737899055 | olfactory imagery | descriptive language that appeals to the sense of smell | 121 | |
4737899811 | couplet | Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme | 122 | |
4737904842 | stanza | A group of lines forming a unit in a poem | 123 | |
4737905843 | tactile imagery | descriptive language that appeals to the sense of touch | 124 | |
4737906937 | troachic | metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable /u | 125 | |
4737911758 | verse | A single line of poetry | 126 |
AP Literature Terms (with images) Flashcards
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