Terms : Hide Images
| 7424564688 | Allegory | —A narrative or description with a second meaning beneath the surface one. A story, fictional or nonfiction, in which characters, things, and events represent qualities or concepts. The interaction of these characters, things, events is meant to reveal an abstraction or a truth. These characters, etc. may be symbolic of the ideas referred to. | 0 | |
| 7424564689 | Allusion | —A brief, indirect reference to something (usually a literary text) with which the reader is expected to be familiar. These are usually literary, historical, Biblical, or mythological. | 1 | |
| 7424564690 | Ambiguity | —when an event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way. | 2 | |
| 7424564691 | Anachronism | —Assignment of something to a time when it was not in existence (e.g. the almanac in Back to the Future) | 3 | |
| 7424564692 | Analogy | —a comparison to a directly parallel case. When a writer uses this, he or she argues that a claim reasonable for one case is reasonable for the parallel case. | 4 | |
| 7424564693 | Anecdote | —A brief recounting of a relevant episode. These are often inserted into fictional or nonfiction texts as a way of developing a point or injecting humor. | 5 | |
| 7424564694 | Angst | —A term used in existential criticism to describe both the individual and the collective anxiety-neurosis of the period following the Second World War. | 6 | |
| 7424564695 | Annotation | —Explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources, or give bibliographic data (by the author or student). | 7 | |
| 7424564696 | Antagonist. | — the principal character in opposition to the protagonist or hero of a narrative or drama | 8 | |
| 7424564697 | Antihero | — not to be confused with the antagonist or the villain, a central character in a dramatic or narrative work who lacks the qualities of nobility and magnanimity expected of traditional heroes and heroines in romances and epics. e.g. Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman | 9 | |
| 7424564698 | Archetype | —A term borrowed by psychologist Carl Jung who described archetypes as "primordial images" formed by repeated experiences in the lives of our ancestors, inherited in the "collective unconscious" of the human race and expressed in myths, religion, dreams, fantasies, and literature. These "images" of character, plot pattern, symbols recur in literature and evoke profound emotional responses in the reader because they resonate with an image already existing in our unconscious mind, e.g. death, rebirth. | 10 | |
| 7424564699 | Canon | —those works generally considered by scholars, critics, and teachers to be the most important to read and study, which collectively constitute the "masterpieces" of certain genres of literature. | 11 | |
| 7424564700 | Characterization | —The method an author uses to develop characters in a work. | 12 | |
| 7424564701 | Cliché | —a trite, tired, overused idea or expression; usually a sign of weak writing | 13 | |
| 7424564702 | Concrete Language | —Language that describes specific, observable things, people or places, rather than ideas or qualities. | 14 | |
| 7424564703 | Connotation | —Rather than the dictionary definition, the associations associated by a word. Implied meaning rather than literal meaning or denotation. | 15 | |
| 7424564704 | Denouement | — a French term meaning "unknotting" used to describe the resolution of the lot following the climax | 16 | |
| 7424564705 | Diction | —Word choice, particularly as an element of style. Different types and arrangements of words have significant effects on meaning. Can be described as formal or colloquial. | 17 | |
| 7424564706 | Didactic | —A term used to describe fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model or correct behavior or thinking. | 18 | |
| 7424564707 | Dramatic Irony | —When the reader is aware of an inconsistency between a fictional or nonfiction character's perception of a situation and the truth of that situation. | 19 | |
| 7424564708 | Ennui | —A persistent feeling of tiredness or weariness, which often afflicts existential man, often manifesting as boredom. | 20 | |
| 7424564709 | Epigraph | —A quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of a theme. | 21 | |
| 7424564710 | Epiphany | —A major character's moment of realization or awareness. | 22 | |
| 7424564711 | Explication | —The act of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text, especially a poem. This usually involves close analytical reading and special attention to figurative language and other literary devices. | 23 | |
| 7424564712 | Exposition | —Background information provided by a writer to enhance a reader's understanding of the context of a fictional or nonfictional story. | 24 | |
| 7424564713 | Fiction | —even it it's based on familiar events, a fiction is still defined as a product of a writer's imagination made up of characters, plot, setting, point of view, and theme. | 25 | |
| 7424564714 | Figurative Language | —includes device such as imagery, metaphor, hyperbole, simile, etc. The opposite of literal or actual words; describes sensations or responses that the thing described evokes. e.g. soft as a blanket or "All the world's a stage" | 26 | |
| 7424564715 | Figure of Speech | —A form of expression in which words are used out of the usual sense in order to make the meaning more specific | 27 | |
| 7424564716 | Flashback | —a narrated scene that marks a break in the narrative in order to inform the reader or audience member about events that took place before the opening scene of a work | 28 | |
| 7424564717 | Flat Character | —A character constructed around a single idea or quality; a flat character is immediately recognizable. | 29 | |
| 7424564718 | Foil | —A character whose traits are the opposite of another and who thus points up the strengths and weaknesses of the other character. | 30 | |
| 7424564719 | Foreshadowing | —verbal and dramatic hints that suggest what might come later in a play or story; sometimes only detected upon a second reading or analysis of the plot | 31 | |
| 7424564720 | Genre | —French, a literary form or type; classification. e.g. tragedy, comedy, novel, essay, poetry. | 32 | |
| 7424564721 | Hyperbole | —Conscious exaggeration used to heighten effect. Not intended literally, it is often humorous. Example: "And fired the shot heard round the world." | 33 | |
| 7424564722 | Image | —A word or group of words, either figurative or literal, used to describe a sensory experience or an object perceived by the senses. It is always a concrete representation. | 34 | |
| 7424564723 | Imagery | —The use of sensory details in a pattern of images, often figurative, to create a strong unified sensory impression. (When an AP question asks you to discuss this, you should look especially carefully at the sensory details and the metaphors and similes of a passage. Some diction is also imagery, but not all diction evokes sensory responses.) | 35 | |
| 7424564724 | In media res | —a term meaning "in the middle of the story"; used to describe the common strategy of beginning a story in the middle of the action, in which the story begins on the verge of some important moment and which will later include flashbacks and flashforwards (e.g. Cold Mountain and Frankenstein begin in media res) | 36 | |
| 7424564725 | Irony | — a discrepancy between expectation and reality | 37 | |
| 7424564726 | Metaphor | —A comparison of two things, often unrelated. "all the world's a stage" | 38 | |
| 7424564727 | Dead Metaphor | —So overused that its original impact has been lost. | 39 | |
| 7424564728 | Extended Metaphor | (also called Conceit)—a metaphor developed at length; involves several points of comparison. | 40 | |
| 7424564729 | Mixed Metaphor | —When two metaphors are jumbled together, often illogically. | 41 | |
| 7424564730 | Mood | —An atmosphere created by a writer's word choice (diction) and the details selected. Syntax is also a determiner of this because sentence length and complexity often affect pacing. | 42 | |
| 7424564731 | Moral | —The lesson drawn from a fictional or nonfictional story; heavily didactic story. | 43 | |
| 7424564732 | Motif | —A recurring symbol, character, incident, or concept in literature (e.g. Inman's journal in Cold Mountain) | 44 | |
| 7424564733 | Onomatopoeia | —The use of a word whose pronunciation suggests its meaning. "Buzz," "hiss," "slam," and "pop" are commonly used examples. | 45 | |
| 7424564734 | Oxymoron | —a simple paradoxical term that combines contradictory words into a single expression; usually serves the purpose of shocking the reader into awareness or conveying complex emotions. Examples include "wise fool," "sad joy," and "eloquent silence." | 46 | |
| 7424564735 | Paradox | - like an oxymoron, but more complex; a situation or action or feeling that appears to be contradictory but on inspection turns out to reveal a profound truth (e.g. one must serve in order to lead; solitude was his only companion; the silence was deafening.) | 47 | |
| 7424564736 | Parable | —A short story from which a lesson may be drawn. | 48 | |
| 7424564737 | Parallelism | Sentence construction which places in close proximity two or more equal grammatical constructions. | 49 | |
| 7424564738 | Parody | —An exaggerated imitation of a usually more serious work for humorous purposes. | 50 | |
| 7424564739 | Pathos | —Qualities of a fictional or nonfictional work that evoke sorrow or pity. Over-emotionalism can be the result. | 51 | |
| 7424564740 | Personification | —Figurative Language in which inanimate objects, animals, ideas, or abstractions are endowed with human traits or human form—e.g. "When Duty whispers..." | 52 | |
| 7424564741 | Plot | —System of actions represented in a dramatic or narrative work. | 53 | |
| 7424564742 | Point of View | —The perspective from which a fictional or nonfictional story is told. | 54 | |
| 7424564743 | First person | -uses "I"; major/minor participant in the action | 55 | |
| 7424564744 | Second person | -- "you"; usually not literal and usually intended to thrust the reader into the story | 56 | |
| 7424564745 | Third person/Objective | - detached, impersonal; uses details, dialogue, actions to reveal character to the reader | 57 | |
| 7424564746 | 3rd person limited | the reader observes the situation from the outside through the senses and thoughts of a single character | 58 | |
| 7424564747 | 3rd person omniscient | the story is told by an all-knowing narrator, allowing us to see the world through the eyes of many characters, not just one character | 59 | |
| 7424564748 | Protagonist | —Chief character in a dramatic or narrative works; usually trying to accomplish some objective or working toward some goal. | 60 | |
| 7424564749 | Round Character | —Similar to a dynamic character; drawn with sufficient complexity to be able to surprise the reader without losing credibility. | 61 | |
| 7424564750 | Satire | —A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme, ironic and often humorous way. | 62 | |
| 7424564751 | Sarcasm | —A type of verbal irony in which, under the guise of praise, a caustic and bitter expression of strong and personal disapproval is given. | 63 | |
| 7424564752 | Setting | —The locale and time period in which the action takes place. | 64 | |
| 7424564753 | Simile | —A figurative comparison of two things, often dissimilar, using the connecting words: "like," "as," or "then." | 65 | |
| 7424564754 | Situational Irony | -the opposite occurs rather than what is expected | 66 | |
| 7424564755 | Stock Character | —Conventional character types that recur repeatedly in various literary genres. E.g. the wicked stepmother or Prince Charming or the rascal. | 67 | |
| 7424564756 | Stream of Consciousness | —Technique of writing that undertakes to reproduce the raw flow of consciousness, with the perceptions, thoughts, judgments, feelings, associations, and memories presented just as they occur without being tidied into grammatical sentences or given logical and narrative order. | 68 | |
| 7424564757 | Style | —The choices in diction, tone, and syntax that a writer makes. In combination they create a work's manner of expression. | 69 | |
| 7424564758 | Symbol | —A thing, event, or person that represents or stands for some idea or event. A figure of speech in which a concrete object is used to stand for an abstract idea —e.g. the cross for Christianity. | 70 | |
| 7424564759 | Syntax | —In grammar, the arrangement of words as elements in a sentence to show their relationship. | 71 | |
| 7424564760 | Theme | —A central idea of a work of fiction or nonfiction, revealed and developed in the course of a story or explored through argument. | 72 | |
| 7424564761 | Tone | —A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization of the sentence and global levels. This is the result of allusion, diction, figurative language, imagery, irony, symbol, syntax, and style. | 73 | |
| 7424564762 | Understatement | - the opposite of hyperbole; a kind of irony that deliberately represents something as much less than it really is —e.g. Macbeth, having been nearly hysterical after killing Duncan, tells Lenox, "'Twas a rough night." | 74 | |
| 7424564763 | Unity | —A work of fiction or nonfiction is said to be unified is all the parts are related to one central idea or organizing principle. Thus, unity is dependent upon coherence. | 75 | |
| 7424564764 | Verbal Irony | —When the reader is aware of a discrepancy between the real meaning of a situation and the literal meaning of the writer's words. | 76 |
