AP Literature Vocabulary Terms Flashcards
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| 7240661956 | alliteration | the repetition of the initial consonant sound in two or more neighboring words (Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.) | 0 | |
| 7240661957 | allusion | a brief reference to a person, place, event, or passage in a work of literature assumed to be sufficiently well known to be recognized by the reader (My dog is so old; she's been around since the flood.) | 1 | |
| 7240661958 | ambiguity | the multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage; a double entendre is a type of ambiguity (the short story "The Most Dangerous Game") | 2 | |
| 7240661959 | anadiplosis | the repetition of the last word of one phrase, clause, or sentence, at the beginning of the next phrase, clause, or sentence (Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.) | 3 | |
| 7240661960 | analogy | a comparison between two things in which the more complex is explained in terms of the more simple (comparing a year-long profile of the stock index to a roller-coaster ride) | 4 | |
| 7240661961 | anaphora | the repetition of a word or a phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs (I have a dream . . . I have a dream . . . I have a dream . . .) | 5 | |
| 7240661962 | anecdote | a short, entertaining account of some happening, frequently personal or biographical | 6 | |
| 7240661963 | antecedent | the word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun (John stopped at the store before he went home.) | 7 | |
| 7240661964 | anticlimax | a sudden drop from the dignified or important in thought or expression to the commonplace or trivial, often for humorous effect | 8 | |
| 7240661965 | antithesis | a sentence in which opposing ideas are presented in parallel grammatical structure (It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.) | 9 | |
| 7240661966 | aphorism | a short statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or moral principle (A penny saved is a penny earned; an apple a day keeps the doctor away) | 10 | |
| 7240661967 | apostrophe | a figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or personified abstraction (Emily Dickinson's poem "Heart! We will forget him.") | 11 | |
| 7240661968 | asyndeton | the omission of a conjunction from a sentence in which it would normally be used (The fruit bowl overflowed with grapes, apples, peaches, bananas, oranges, pears, tangerines.) | 12 | |
| 7240661969 | chiasmus | verbal crisscrossing in a sentence; the order of the words in the first clause is inverted in the second clause (Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.) | 13 | |
| 7240661970 | clause | a grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. An independent, or main, clause expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent, or subordinate, clause cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent clause. | 14 | |
| 7240661971 | cliché | an overused expression that should be avoided (A picture is worth a thousand words.) | 15 | |
| 7240661972 | colloquialism | word or phrase used in everyday speech but avoided in formal writing (Jack was bummed out about his chemistry grade.) | 16 | |
| 7240661973 | connotation | the nonliteral, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning. Connotations may involve ideas, emotions, or | 17 | |
| 7240661974 | attitudes (slender, skinny, gaunt, emaciated | these words may have similar denotations, but their connotations are different) | 18 | |
| 7240661975 | damning with faint praise | intentional use of a positive statement that has a negative implication (Your new hairdo is so . . . interesting.) | 19 | |
| 7240661976 | deductive reasoning | a form of reasoning that begins with a generalization, then applies the generalization to a specific case; a syllogism is a form of deductive reasoning where a conclusion is drawn based on a major premise and a minor premise (Major Premise: All men are mortal; Minor Premise: Socrates is a man; Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.) | 20 | |
| 7240661977 | denotation | the literal or dictionary definition of a word, without associated feelings | 21 | |
| 7240661978 | diction | the writer's word choice; for example formal, informal, ornate, plain, etc. | 22 | |
| 7240661979 | didactic | intended to instruct; inclined to teach or moralize excessively. | 23 | |
| 7240661980 | digression | a temporary departure from the main subject in speaking or writing | 24 | |
| 7240661981 | ellipsis | the punctuation (...) that indicates something has been left out of a quotation | 25 | |
| 7240661982 | euphemism | the use of a word or phrase that is less direct, and less distasteful or offensive, than another ("he is at rest" is a euphemism for "he is dead") | 26 | |
| 7240661983 | extended metaphor | a metaphor that is developed a great length | 27 | |
| 7240661984 | figurative language | writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning | 28 | |
| 7240661985 | genre | a major category or type of literature (novel, play, short story, speech, etc.) | 29 | |
| 7240661986 | hyperbole | an extravagant exaggeration of fact, used for effect (there were a million people at my party last night) | 30 | |
| 7240661987 | imagery | the sensory details used to describe or arouse emotions (visual imagery - sight; auditory imagery - sound; tactile imagery - touch; olfactory imagery - smell; gustatory imagery - taste) | 31 | |
| 7240661988 | inductive reasoning | a form of reasoning which begins with a body of fact and then formulates a generalization (Socrates was mortal; Abraham Lincoln was mortal; my grandfather was mortal; therefore, all men must be mortal) | 32 | |
| 7240661989 | inference | a reasonable conclusion drawn from the information presented | 33 | |
| 7240661990 | invective | an emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language | 34 | |
| 7240661991 | inverted syntax | reversing the normal word order of a sentence ("Whose woods these are I think I know." Robert Frost) | 35 |
