14976022406 | Allegory | a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. | 0 | |
14976027799 | Alliteration | the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. | 1 | |
14976030264 | Allusion | an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference. | 2 | |
14976033078 | Analogy | a comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared to another thing that is quite different from it | 3 | |
14976038651 | Antagonist | a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary. | 4 | |
14976040889 | Antithesis | a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect | 5 | |
14976045167 | Apostrophe | A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. | 6 | |
14976052443 | aside | a character's dialogue is spoken but not heard by the other actors on the stage | 7 | |
14976055174 | bias | an undue favor, support, or backing, extended to a person, group, race, or even an argument | 8 | |
14976069017 | direct characterization | when the author directly states a character's traits | 9 | |
14976071792 | indirect characterization | Author subtly reveals the character through actions and interactions. | 10 | |
14976075062 | colloquial language | the use of informal words, phrases or even slang in a piece of writing | 11 | |
14976077749 | Connotation | an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning. | 12 | |
14976080958 | Denotation | the literal meaning of a word | 13 | |
14976081588 | diction | the author's choice of words | 14 | |
14976085618 | elegy | a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead. | 15 | |
14976088262 | simile | A comparison using "like" or "as" | 16 | |
14976090953 | metaphor | A comparison without using like or as | 17 | |
14976090954 | Personification | A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes | 18 | |
14976093172 | foil | a 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 | 19 | |
14976098912 | Foreshadowing | hinting at what is to come | 20 | |
14976102748 | frame story | A secondary story or stories embedded in the main story | 21 | |
14976107841 | genre | type of literature | 22 | |
14976112390 | hyperbole | exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. | 23 | |
14976115505 | idiom | a group of words whose collective meaning is quite different from their individual, literal meaning | 24 | |
14976119682 | imagery | visually descriptive work | 25 | |
14976123888 | dramatic irony | The audience knows something the characters do not | 26 | |
14976127080 | situational irony | An outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected | 27 | |
14976131801 | verbal irony | A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant (sometimes sarcasm) | 28 | |
14976134418 | Juxtaposition | Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts | 29 | |
14976134419 | mood | evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions | 30 | |
14976137805 | motif | a distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition | 31 | |
14976141276 | paradox | A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. | 32 | |
14976145358 | parody | imitation of a particular writer, artist or a genre, exaggerating it deliberately to produce a comic effect | 33 | |
14976152665 | emotional appeal (pathos) | When a writer appeals to readers' emotions (often through pathos) to excite and involve them in the argument. | 34 | |
14976156566 | Ethical appeal (ethos) | when an author uses people in the correct professional field to win support for their argument | 35 | |
14976168268 | Logical appeal (logos) | when an author uses facts and logic to win support for their argument | 36 | |
14976175242 | 1st person point of view | from the viewpoint of a character in the story | 37 | |
14976185628 | 3rd person limited | when the narrator is telling the story about one character that is not him/herself and is limited to the knowledge of that character | 38 | |
14976191404 | 3rd person omniscient | A method of storytelling in which the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters in the story. | 39 | |
14976191405 | Protagonist | main character | 40 | |
14976194209 | rhetorical question | A question asked merely for effect with no answer expected. | 41 | |
14976198195 | satire | a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule | 42 | |
14976201503 | syntax | The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language. | 43 | |
14976204272 | symbol/symbolism | the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities | 44 | |
14976208808 | theme | the main idea of a piece of literature | 45 | |
14976211446 | thesis | the primary position taken by a writer or speaker | 46 | |
14976215263 | tone | Attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character | 47 | |
14976215355 | topic sentence | thesis/ main idea | 48 | |
14976217200 | litotes | ironical understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary | 49 | |
14976220551 | anastrophe | the inversion of the usual order of words or clauses | 50 | |
14976223356 | parenthesis | a qualifying or explanatory sentence, clause or word that writers insert into a paragraph or passage | 51 | |
14976230011 | Synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa | 52 | |
14976234986 | metonymy | the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant | 53 |
AP Language Literary Terms Flashcards
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