AP Literature - Literary Terms Flashcards
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| 9694286081 | allegory | A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. | 0 | |
| 9694286082 | alliteration | It is a stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series. |  | 1 |
| 9694286083 | allusion | A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. | 2 | |
| 9694286084 | anagram | a word or phrase spelled by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase | 3 | |
| 9694286085 | antecedent | The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. |  | 4 |
| 9694286086 | antagonist | A character or force in conflict with the main character |  | 5 |
| 9694286087 | anaphora | A rhetorical figure of repetition in which the same word or phrase is repeated in (and usually at the beginning of) successive lines, clauses, or sentences. | 6 | |
| 9694286088 | anastrophe | Inversion of the natural or usual word order |  | 7 |
| 9694286089 | antithesis | A balancing of two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses. |  | 8 |
| 9694286090 | aphorism | A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life. |  | 9 |
| 9694286091 | apostrophe | A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. | 10 | |
| 9694286092 | assonance | Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity |  | 11 |
| 9694286093 | asyndeton | A series of words separated by commas (with no conjunction), e.g. "I came, I saw, I conquered." The parts of the sentence are emphasized equally; in addition, the use of commas with no intervening conjunction speeds up the flow of the sentence. |  | 12 |
| 9694286094 | blank verse | Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter |  | 13 |
| 9694286095 | caesura | A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line. |  | 14 |
| 9694286096 | cacophony | Harsh, discordant, or meaningless mixture of sounds |  | 15 |
| 9694286097 | cadence | Rhythmic rise and fall | 16 | |
| 9694286098 | conceit | A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects. |  | 17 |
| 9694286099 | connotation | All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests |  | 18 |
| 9694286100 | consonance | Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity. |  | 19 |
| 9694286101 | couplet | A pair of rhymed lines that may or may not constitute a separate stanza in a poem. |  | 20 |
| 9694286102 | dactyl | A stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables | 21 | |
| 9694286103 | denotation | Dictionary definition of a word |  | 22 |
| 9694286104 | denouement | an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot |  | 23 |
| 9694286105 | diction | The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing |  | 24 |
| 9694286106 | didactic | Intended to instruct; teaching, or teaching a moral lesson |  | 25 |
| 9694286107 | dirge | a funeral hymn or mournful speech |  | 26 |
| 9694286108 | euphemism | An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant |  | 27 |
| 9694286109 | end-stopped line | A line that ends with a natural speech pause, usually marked by punctuation |  | 28 |
| 9694286110 | enjambment | A run-on line of poetry in which logical and grammatical sense carries over from one line into the next. |  | 29 |
| 9694286111 | epitaph | A brief statement written on a tomb or gravestone |  | 30 |
| 9694286112 | epic | A long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society |  | 31 |
| 9694286113 | epistolary | A piece of literature contained in or carried on by letters |  | 32 |
| 9694286114 | flashback | A method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events |  | 33 |
| 9694286115 | foreshadowing | A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader. |  | 34 |
| 9694286116 | foot | A metrical unit composed of stressed and unstressed syllables. | 35 | |
| 9694286117 | frame story | A secondary story or stories embedded in the main story | 36 | |
| 9694286118 | free verse | Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme |  | 37 |
| 9694286119 | genre | A category or type of literature (or of art, music, etc.) characterized by a particular form, style, or content. |  | 38 |
| 9694286120 | hamartia | tragic flaw which causes a character's downfall |  | 39 |
| 9694286121 | heroic couplet | A pair of rhymed, iambic pentameter lines. |  | 40 |
| 9694286122 | hexameter | A line of poetry that has six metrical feet. |  | 41 |
| 9694286123 | hubris | Excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy |  | 42 |
| 9694286124 | hyperbole | A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor |  | 43 |
| 9694286125 | iamb | A common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line with five feet or accents, each foot containing an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable. |  | 44 |
| 9694286126 | imagery | Descriptive or figurative language in a literary work; the use of language to create sensory impressions. |  | 45 |
| 9694286127 | irony | A contrast or discrepancy between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen. |  | 46 |
| 9694286128 | verbal irony | In this type of irony, the words literally state the opposite of the writer's true meaning |  | 47 |
| 9694286129 | situational irony | Occurs when the outcome of a work is unexpected, or events turn out to be the opposite from what one had expected |  | 48 |
| 9694286130 | dramatic irony | Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. |  | 49 |
| 9694286131 | jargon | Special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand |  | 50 |
| 9694286132 | juxtaposition | Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts |  | 51 |
| 9694286133 | kenning | A device employed in Anglo-Saxon poetry in which the name of a thing is replaced by one of its functions or qualities. |  | 52 |
| 9694286134 | metaphor | A comparison that establishes a figurative identity between objects being compared. |  | 53 |
| 9694286135 | meter | A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry | 54 | |
| 9694286136 | metonymy | A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it | 55 | |
| 9694286137 | mood | Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader |  | 56 |
| 9694286138 | motif | (n.) a principal idea, feature, theme, or element; a repeated or dominant figure in a design |  | 57 |
| 9694286139 | motivation | A psychological factor that provides a directional force or reason for behavior. |  | 58 |
| 9694286140 | narration | The purpose of this type of rhetorical mode is to tell the story or narrate an event or series of events. |  | 59 |
| 9694286141 | novel | A long fictional narrative written in prose, usually having many characters and a strong plot. |  | 60 |
| 9694286142 | novella | A short novel usually under 100 pages. | 61 | |
| 9694286143 | novelette | When a novel is short and has chapters reffered to as vignettes |  | 62 |
| 9694286144 | octave | a verse form consisting of eight lines of iambic pentameter | 63 | |
| 9694286145 | ode | A lyric poem usually marked by serious, respectful, and exalted feelings toward the subject. |  | 64 |
| 9694286146 | onomatopoeia | A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words. |  | 65 |
| 9694286147 | oxymoron | A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. |  | 66 |
| 9694286148 | paean | song of joy or triumph; a fervent expression of joy |  | 67 |
| 9694286149 | parable | A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson |  | 68 |
| 9694286150 | paradox | A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. |  | 69 |
| 9694286151 | parallelism | Phrases or sentences of a similar construction/meaning placed side by side, balancing each other |  | 70 |
| 9694286152 | parody | A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule. |  | 71 |
| 9694286153 | pedantic | An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish. |  | 72 |
| 9694286154 | pentameter | a rhythm in poetry that has five stressed syllables in each line (five metrical feet) |  | 73 |
| 9694286155 | persona | A pattern of relatively permanent traits, dispositions, or characteristics that give some consistency to people's behavior. |  | 74 |
| 9694286156 | personification | A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes |  | 75 |
| 9694286157 | plot | Sequence of events in a story |  | 76 |
| 9694286158 | point of view | The perspective from which a story is told |  | 77 |
| 9694286159 | polysyndeton | Deliberate use of many conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted. Hemingway and the Bible both use extensively. Ex. "he ran and jumped and laughed for joy" |  | 78 |
| 9694286160 | prosody | Appropriate expression when reading. Includes pitch (intonation), loudness, stressing phrases, etc. |  | 79 |
| 9694286161 | protagonist | Chief character in a dramatic or narrative work, usually trying to accomplish some objective or working toward some goal. |  | 80 |
| 9694286162 | pun | A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings. |  | 81 |
| 9694286163 | quatrain | 4 line stanza |  | 82 |
| 9694286164 | refrain | A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem. | 83 | |
| 9694286165 | rhetorical question | A question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer |  | 84 |
| 9694286166 | end rhyme | A word at the end of one line rhymes with a word at the end of another line |  | 85 |
| 9694286167 | eye rhyme | rhyme that appears correct from spelling but does not rhyme because of pronunciation |  | 86 |
| 9694286168 | forced rhyme | when two words don't really rhyme together, but an author uses similar spelled, or sounding words to try to create a rhyme; Ex: stone, one | 87 | |
| 9694286169 | internal rhyme | A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line |  | 88 |
| 9694286170 | slant rhyme | rhyme in which the vowel sounds are nearly, but not exactly the same (i.e. the words "stress" and "kiss"); sometimes called half-rhyme, near rhyme, or partial rhyme |  | 89 |
| 9694286171 | rhyme scheme | A regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem |  | 90 |
| 9694286172 | satire | A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies. |  | 91 |
| 9694286173 | sestet | a rhythmic group of six lines of verse |  | 92 |
| 9694286174 | shifts/turns | Changes in the speaker's attitude. Look for key words such as but, yet, however, and although, punctuation, and stanza division. | 93 | |
| 9694286175 | sonnet | 14-line lyric poem focused on a single theme; usually written in iambic pentameter |  | 94 |
| 9694286176 | symbol | A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract. |  | 95 |
| 9694286177 | synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa |  | 96 |
| 9694286178 | syntax | Arrangement of words in phrases and sentences |  | 97 |
| 9694286179 | theme | A topic of discussion or writing; a major idea broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary work. |  | 98 |
| 9694286180 | tone | A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization on the sentence and global levels. |  | 99 |
| 9694286181 | understatement | the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is. |  | 100 |
| 9694286182 | villanelle | A French verse form calculated to appear simple and spontaneous but consisting of nineteen lines and a prescribed pattern of rhymes. |  | 101 |
