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AP Literature Key Terminology Flashcards

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5208470932AllegoryA prose or poetic narrative in which the characters, behavior, and even setting demonstrate multiple levels of meaning and significance.0
5208500011AlliterationThe sequential repetition of a similar initial sound, usually applied to consonants, usually heard in closely proximate stressed syllables.1
5208524771AllusionA reference to a literary or historical event, or place.2
5208540989AnapesticA metrical foot in poetry that consists of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed.3
5208556468AnaphoraThe regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of a successive phrases or clauses.4
5208567973AnecdoteA brief story or tale told by a character in a piece of literature.5
5208579245AntagonistAny force that is in opposition to the main character, or protagonist.6
5208602735AnitithesisThe juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced or parallel words, phrases, grammatical, structure, or ideas.7
5208621269ApostropheAn address or invocation to something that is inanimate- such as an angry lover who might scream at the ocean in his or her despair.8
5208646766ArchetypeRecurrent designs, patterns of action, character types, themes or images which are identifiable in a wide range of literature.9
5208677619AssonaceA repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, usually those found in stressed syllables or close proximity.10
5208689555AsyndetonA style in which conjunctions are omitted, usually producing a fast-paced, more rapid prose.11
5208704433AttitudeThe sense expressed by the tone of voice and/or the mood of a piece of writing.12
5208722632BalladA narrative poem that is, or originally was, meant to be sung.13
5208732677Blank verseThe verse from that most resembles common speech, blank verse consists of unrhymed lines in iambic pentameter.14
5208763564CaesuraA pause in a line of verse, indicated by natural speech patterns rather than due to specific metrical patterns.15
5208783216ChiasmusA figure of speech by which the order of the terms in the first of two parallel clauses is reversed in the second.16
5208793510ConceitA comparison of two unlikely things that is drawn out within a piece of literature, in particular an extended metaphor within a poem.17
5208812352ConnotationWhat is suggested by a word, apart from what it explicitly describes, often referred to as the implied meaning of a word.18
5208825207ConsonanceThe repetition of a sequence of two or more consonants, but with a change in the intervening vowels.19
5208838585CoupletTwo rhyming lines of iambic pentameter that together present a single idea or connection.20
5208849430DactylicA metrical foot in poetry that consists of two stressed syllables followed by one unstressed syllable.21
5208862840DenotationA direct and specific meaning often referred to as the dictionary meaning of a word.22
5208873395DialectThe language and speech idiosyncrasies of a specific area, religion, or group of people.23
5208892859DictionThe specific word choice an author uses to persuade or convey tone, purpose, or effect.24
5208906298ElegyA poetic lament upon the death of a particular person, usually ending in consolation.25
5208915394EpicA poem that celebrates, in a continuous narrative, the achievements of the mighty heroes and heroines.26
5208928266Extended metaphorA detailed and complex metaphor that extends over a long section of a work, also known as a conceit.27
5208936256FableA legend or a short moral story often using animals as characters.28
5208944982ForeshadowingTo hint at or to present an indication of the future beforehand.29
5208952180FlashbackRetrospection, where an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronology of the narrative.30
5210532902Free versePoetry that is characterized by varying line lengths, lack of traditional meter, and non-rhyming lines.31
5210552318GenreA type or class of literature such as epic or narrative or poetry or belles letter.32
5210574096IambicMetrical foot in poetry that consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.33
5210613517ImageryBroadly defined, any sensory detail or evocation in a work.34
5210642844IronyA situation or statement characterized by significant difference between what is expected or understood and what actually happens or is meant.35
5210692401JargonSpecialized or technical language of a trade, profession, or similar group.36
5210706174JuxtapositionThe location of one thing as being adjacent or juxtaposed with another.37
5210728106LitoteA figure of speech that emphasizes its subject by conscious understatement.38
5210795687LyricOriginally designated poems meant to be sung to accompaniment of a lyre.39
5210813069MetaphorOne thing pictured as if it were something else, suggesting a likeness or analogy between them.40

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