AP English Language Literary Terms Flashcards
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| 6697090263 | Allegory | a work that functions on a symbolic level | 0 | |
| 6697090264 | Alliteration | use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse | 1 | |
| 6697090265 | Allusion | a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art | 2 | |
| 6697090266 | Analogy | drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity in some respect | 3 | |
| 6697090267 | Anaphora | the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences | 4 | |
| 6697090268 | Anecdote | short story of an amusing or interesting event | 5 | |
| 6697090269 | Antecedent | a preceding occurrence or cause or event | 6 | |
| 6697090270 | Antithesis | an opposition or contrast of ideas that is often expressed in balanced phrases or clauses | 7 | |
| 6697090271 | Aphorism | a brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life | 8 | |
| 6697090272 | Apostrophe | a technique by which a writer addresses an inanimate object, an idea, or a person who is either dead or absent | 9 | |
| 6697090273 | Argument | a fact or assertion offered as evidence that something is true | 10 | |
| 6697090274 | Assonance | the repetition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words | 11 | |
| 6697090275 | Asyndeton | Commas used (with no conjunction) to separate a series of words. The parts are emphasized equally when the conjunction is omitted; in addition, the use of commas with no intervening conjunction speeds up the flow of the sentence. Asyndeton takes the form of X, Y, Z as opposed to X, Y, and Z. Ex: "Be one of the few, the proud, the Marines." Marine Corps Ex: "We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardships, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." John F. Kennedy | 12 | |
| 6697090276 | Attitude | the relationship an author has toward his or her subject, and/or his or her audience | 13 | |
| 6697090277 | Character | person or animal that takes part in the action of a literary work | 14 | |
| 6697090278 | Chiasmus | Arrangement of repeated thoughts in the pattern of X Y Y X. It is often short and summarizes a main idea. | 15 | |
| 6697090279 | Cliche | an overused saying or idea | 16 | |
| 6697090280 | Colloquialism | characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech | 17 | |
| 6697090281 | Connotation | a meaning or association suggested by a word beyond its definition | 18 | |
| 6697090282 | Consonance | repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximity, as in boost/best; it can also be seen within several compound words, such as fulfill and ping-pong | 19 | |
| 6697090283 | Deduction | reasoning from the general to the particular (or from cause to effect) | 20 | |
| 6697090284 | Denotation | the literal meaning of a word | 21 | |
| 6697090285 | Dependent Clause | a clause in a complex sentence that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence and that functions within the sentence as a noun or adjective or adverb | 22 | |
| 6697090286 | Description | the purpose of this rhetorical mode is to re-create, invent, or visually present a person, place, event, or action so that the reader can picture that being described; sometimes an author engages all five senses. | 23 | |
| 6697090287 | Diction | the author's choice of words | 24 | |
| 6697090288 | Direct Object | the object that receives the direct action of the verb | 25 | |
| 6697090289 | Dramatic Irony | occurs when another character(s) and/or the audience know more than one or more characters on stage about what is happening | 26 | |
| 6697090290 | Ethos | the appeal of a text to the credibility and character of the speaker, writer, or narrator | 27 | |
| 6697090291 | Euphemism | an indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant | 28 | |
| 6697090292 | Extended Metaphor | the comparison between two things is continued beyond the first point of comparison; this extends and deepens a description. | 29 | |
| 6697090293 | Genre | type or category of literary work (e.g., poetry, essay, short story, novel, drama) | 30 | |
| 6697090294 | Homily | a sermon, or a moralistic lecture | 31 | |
| 6697090295 | Cacophony | harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance | 32 | |
| 6697090296 | Hyperbole | a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor | 33 | |
| 6697090297 | Independent Clause | a clause in a complex sentence that can stand alone as a complete sentence | 34 | |
| 6697090298 | Indirect Object | the object that is the recipient or beneficiary of the action of the verb | 35 | |
| 6697090299 | Invective | An intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attack | 36 | |
| 6697090300 | Logos | an appeal based on logic or reason | 37 | |
| 6697090301 | Metaphor | a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity | 38 | |
| 6697090302 | Metonymy | symbolism; one thing is used as a substitute for another with which it is closely identified (the White House) | 39 | |
| 6697090303 | Mood | a prevailing emotional tone or general attitude | 40 | |
| 6697090304 | Narration | the act of recounting the particulars of an event in the order of time or occurrence | 41 | |
| 6697090305 | Narrative | consisting of or characterized by the telling of a story | 42 | |
| 6697090306 | Onomatopoeia | the use of words that mimic sounds. they appeal to our sense of hearing and they help bring a description to life. a string of syllables the author has made up to represent the way a sound really sounds. example: caarackle! | 43 | |
| 6697090307 | Oxymoron | a figure of speech consisting of two apparently contradictory terms | 44 | |
| 6697090308 | Paradox | a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. | 45 | |
| 6697090309 | Parallelism | refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity. | 46 | |
| 6697090310 | Parody | a composition that imitates somebody's style in a humorous way | 47 | |
| 6697090311 | Pathos | quality in drama, speech, literature, music, or events that arouses a feeling of pity or sadness | 48 | |
| 6697090312 | Personification | a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes | 49 | |
| 6697090313 | Point of View | the perspective from which the writer tells the story (1st, 2nd, 3rd person; omniscient, limited omniscient) | 50 | |
| 6697090314 | Predicate | tells what the subject is or does | 51 | |
| 6697090315 | Predicate Adjective | follows a linking verb and describes the subject | 52 | |
| 6697090316 | Predicate Noun | follows a linking verb and defines or renames the subject | 53 | |
| 6697090317 | Prounoun/Antecedent | the antecedent is the word the pronoun replaces | 54 | |
| 6697090318 | Prose | ordinary speech or writing without rhyme or meter; referring to speech or writing other than verse | 55 | |
| 6697090319 | Repetition | sounds, words, phrases, lines or stanzaz are repeated for emphasis | 56 | |
| 6697090320 | Rhetoric | the art or study of effective use of language for communication and persuasion | 57 | |
| 6697090321 | Sarcasm | from the Greek meaning "to tear flesh," ___ involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something; it may use irony as a device | 58 | |
| 6697090322 | Satire | language or writing that exposes follies or abuses by holding them up to ridicule | 59 | |
| 6697090323 | Situational Irony | an outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected, the difference between what is expected to happen and what actually does | 60 | |
| 6697090324 | Stream-of-consciousness | a narrative technique that places the reader in the mind and thought process of the narrator, no matter how random or spontaneous that may be | 61 | |
| 6697090325 | Subject | tells whom or what the sentence is about | 62 | |
| 6697090326 | Syllogism | deductive reasoning in which a conclusion is derived from two premises | 63 | |
| 6697090327 | Symbol | anything that stands for or represents something else | 64 | |
| 6697090328 | Synecdoche | using a part of something to represent the whole thing | 65 | |
| 6697090329 | Syntax | the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language. | 66 | |
| 6697090330 | Theme | central idea of a work of literature | 67 | |
| 6697090331 | Thesis | an unproved statement put forward as a premise in an argument | 68 | |
| 6697090332 | Third Person Limited | point of view which represents the feelings of only one character, presenting only the actions of all remaining characters | 69 | |
| 6697090333 | Tone | the author's attitude toward the subject or audience, either stated or implied | 70 | |
| 6697090334 | Understatement | the opposite of exaggeration; it is a technique for developing irony and/or humor where one writes or says less than intended | 71 | |
| 6697090335 | Verbal Irony | in this type of irony, the words literally state the opposite of the writer's true meaning | 72 | |
| 6697090336 | Voice | can refer to two different areas of writing; one refers to the relationship between a sentence's subject and verb (active and passive); the second refers to the total "sound" of the writer's style. | 73 |
