AP Literature Fiction Terms Flashcards
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| 4830220608 | allusion | An indirect or passing reference to some event, person, place, or artistic work; the nature and relevance of which is not explained by the writer, but relies on the reader's familiarity with what is thus mentioned. | 0 | |
| 4830221949 | anaphora | Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. Ex: "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France." | 1 | |
| 4830222849 | antagonist | The character, force, or collection of forces in fiction or drama that opposes the protagonist and gives rise to the conflict of the story. | 2 | |
| 4830224368 | characterization | The process by which a writer makes a character seem real to the reader. | 3 | |
| 4830224369 | colloquialism | Spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate everyday speech. | 4 | |
| 4830226349 | denouement | A French term meaning "unraveling" or "unknotting," used to describe the resolution of the plot following the climax. | 5 | |
| 4830228808 | dialogue | The verbal exchanges between characters. | 6 | |
| 4830232112 | diction | An author's choice of words. Since words have specific meanings and since one's choice of words can affect feelings, a writer's choice of words can have great impact in a literary work. | 7 | |
| 4830232945 | epiphany | In fiction, when a character suddenly experiences a deep realization about himself/herself. | 8 | |
| 4830233608 | 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. | 9 | |
| 4830234990 | foil | A character in a work whose behavior and values contrast with those of another character in order to highlight the distinctive temperament of that character. | 10 | |
| 4830235735 | foreshadowing | The introduction early in a story of verbal and dramatic hints that suggest what is to come later. | 11 | |
| 4830236536 | frame Story | The result of inserting one more more stories within the body of a narrative that encompasses the smaller ones | 12 | |
| 4830237191 | hyperbole | A figure of speech in which an overstatement or exaggeration is used for deliberate effect. | 13 | |
| 4830238484 | verbal irony | A figure of speech that occurs when a person says one thing, but means the opposite. | 14 | |
| 4830239408 | situational irony | An event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience. | 15 | |
| 4830241363 | litotes | A type of understatement in which an idea is expressed by negating its opposite. Ex. Describing a particularly horrific scene by saying, "It was not a pretty picture." | 16 | |
| 4830242364 | motif | A recurrent image, word, phrase, represented object, or action that tends to unify the literary work or may be elaborated into a more general theme. | 17 | |
| 4830243433 | parody | A literary form in which the style of an author or particular work is mocked in its style for the sake of comic effect. | 18 | |
| 4830243434 | personification | A metaphor in which human qualities are attributed to non-humans or animals. | 19 | |
| 4830244716 | plot | An author's selection and arrangement of incidents in a story to shape the action and give the story a particular focus. | 20 | |
| 4830246077 | point of view | The perspective from which the writer tells the story (first person, third person limited, third person omniscient, third person objective). | 21 | |
| 4830247222 | prose | Ordinary writing as distinguished from verse. | 22 | |
| 4830247223 | protagonist | The central character of a literary work. | 23 | |
| 4830248265 | pun | A play on words that relies on a word's having more than one meaning or sounding like another word. | 24 | |
| 4830249824 | round character | A fully developed character | 25 | |
| 4830250602 | satire | A literary work which exposes and ridicules human vices or folly. It is usually intended as a moral criticism directed against the injustice or social wrong. | 26 | |
| 4830251562 | setting | The physical and social context in which the action of a story occurs. | 27 | |
| 4830253219 | stock character | A fictional character that relies heavily on cultural types or stereotypes for its personality, manner or speech, and other characteristics. Stock characters are instantly recognizable to members of given cultures. | 28 | |
| 4830254604 | suspense | The anxious anticipation of a reader or an audience as to the outcome of a story. | 29 | |
| 4830254605 | symbol | A figure of speech in which something (object, person, situation, or action) means more than what it is. A symbol may be read literally and metaphorically. | 30 | |
| 4830255891 | syntax | The way in which linguistic elements (words and phrases) are arranged to form grammatical structure. | 31 | |
| 4830256783 | theme | The abstract concept explored in a literary work. | 32 | |
| 4830257914 | tone | The author's implicit attitude toward a reader or the people, places, and events in a work as revealed by the elements of the author's style. | 33 |
