AP Literature - Key Terminology Flashcards
Key terms in AP English Literature and Composition from the Kaplan study guide.
Terms : Hide Images
| 3132964181 | allegory | a prose or poetic narrative in which the characters, behavior, or setting demonstrate multiple levels of meaning or significance | 0 | |
| 3132964182 | alliteration | the sequential repetition of a similar initial sound | 1 | |
| 3132964183 | allusion | a reference to a literary or historical event, person, or place | 2 | |
| 3132964184 | anapestic | a metrical foot in poetry that consists of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one: "Twas the NIGHT before CHRISTmas" | 3 | |
| 3132964185 | anaphora | the regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses | 4 | |
| 3132964186 | anecdote | a brief story or tale told by a character in a piece of literature | 5 | |
| 3132964187 | antagonist | any character or force that is in opposition to the main character, or protagonist | 6 | |
| 3132964188 | antithesis | the juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced or parallel words | 7 | |
| 3132964189 | apostrophe | an address or invocation to something that is inanimate | 8 | |
| 3132964190 | archetypes | recurrent designs, patterns of action, character types, themes, or images which are identifiable in a wide range of literature | 9 | |
| 3132964191 | assonance | a repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds | 10 | |
| 3132964192 | asyndeton | a style in which conjunctions are omitted | 11 | |
| 3132964193 | attitude | the sense expressed by the tone of voice and/or mood of a piece of writing | 12 | |
| 3132964194 | ballad | a narrative poem that is, or originally was, meant to be sung | 13 | |
| 3132964195 | ballad stanza | a common stanza form, consisting of a quatrain (stanza of four lines) that alternates four-beat (iambic tetrameter) and three-beat (iambic trimeter) lines: "In SCARlet TOWN where I was BORN/ there LIVED a FAIR maid DWELLin'" | 14 | |
| 3132964196 | blank verse | the verse form that most resembles common speech, consisting of unrhymed lines in iambic pentameter | 15 | |
| 3132964197 | caesura | a pause in a line of verse, indicated by natural speech patterns rather than specific metrical patterns | 16 | |
| 3132964198 | caricature | a depiction in which a character's characteristics or features are so deliberately exaggerated as to render them absurd | 17 | |
| 3132964199 | chiasmus | a figure of speech by which the order of the terms in the first of two parallel clauses is reversed in the second: "Pleasure is a sin, and sometimes sin's a pleasure." | 18 | |
| 3132964200 | colloquial | ordinary language, the vernacular | 19 | |
| 3132964201 | conceit | a comparison of two unlikely things that is drawn out within a piece of literature, particularly a piece of extended metaphor within a poem | 20 | |
| 3132964202 | connotation | what is suggested by a word, apart from what it implicitly describes | 21 | |
| 3132964203 | consonance | the repetition of a sequence of two or more consonants, but with a change in the intervening vowels: "pitter-patter, pish-posh" | 22 | |
| 3132964204 | couplet | two rhyming lines of iambic pentameter that together present a single idea or connections: "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see/So long lives this and this gives life to thee." | 23 | |
| 3132964205 | dactylic | a metrical foot in poetry consisting of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable: "Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight." | 24 | |
| 3132964206 | denotation | a direct or specific meaning, often referred to as the dictionary meaning of a word | 25 | |
| 3132964207 | dialect | the language and speech idiosyncrasies of a specific area, region, or group of people | 26 | |
| 3132964208 | diction | the specific word choice an author uses to persuade or convey tone | 27 | |
| 3132964209 | dramatic monologue | a monologue set in a specific situation and spoken to an imaginary audience; soliloquy | 28 | |
| 3132964210 | elegy | a poetic lament upon the death of a particular person, usually ending in consolation | 29 | |
| 3132964211 | enjambment | the continuation of a sentence from one line or couplet of a poem to the next | 30 | |
| 3132964212 | epic | a poem that celebrates, in a continuous narrative, the achievements of mighty heroes and heroines, often concerned with the founding of a nation or developing of a culture | 31 | |
| 3132964213 | exposition | that part of the structure that sets the scene, introduces or identifies characters, and establishes the situation at the beginning of a story or play | 32 | |
| 3132964214 | extended metaphor | a detailed or complex metaphor that extends over a long section of a work, also known as a conceit | 33 | |
| 3132964215 | fable | a legend or short story often using animals as characters | 34 | |
| 3132964216 | falling action | that part of plot structure in which the complications of the rising action are untangled; also known as the denouement | 35 | |
| 3132964217 | farce | a play or scene in a play or book that is characterized by broad humor, wild antics, and often slapstick or physical jokes | 36 | |
| 3132964218 | flashback | retrospection, where an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronology of the narrative | 37 | |
| 3132964219 | foreshadowing | to hint at or to present an indication of the future beforehand | 38 | |
| 3132964220 | formal diction | language that is lofty, dignified, and impersonal | 39 | |
| 3132964221 | free verse | poetry that is characterized by varying line lengths, lack of traditional meter, and non-rhyming lines | 40 | |
| 3132964222 | genre | a type or class of literature such as epic or narrative poetry or belles lettres | 41 | |
| 3132964223 | hyperbole | overstatement characterized by exaggerated language | 42 | |
| 3132964224 | iambic | a metrical foot in poetry that consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?/Thou art more lovely and more temperate." | 43 | |
| 3132964225 | idyll | a short poem describing a country or pastoral scene, praising the simplicity of rustic life | 44 | |
| 3132964226 | imagery | any sensory detail or invocation in a work; also, the use of figurative language to evoke a feeling, call to mind an idea, or describe and object | 45 | |
| 3132964227 | informal diction | language that is not as lofty or impersonal as formal diction; similar to everyday speech | 46 | |
| 3132964228 | in medias res | "in the midst of things"; refers to opening a story in the middle of the action, necessitating filling in past details by exposition or flashback | 47 | |
| 3132964229 | irony | a situation or statement characterized by significant difference between what is expected or understood and what actually happens or is meant | 48 | |
| 3132964230 | jargon | specialized or technical language of a trade, profession, or similar group | 49 | |
| 3132964231 | juxtaposition | the location of one thing as being adjacent or juxtaposed with another, to create a certain effect | 50 | |
| 3132964232 | limited point of view | a perspective confined to a single character, whether a first person or a third person | 51 | |
| 3132964233 | litote | a figure of speech that emphasizes its subject by conscious understatement: "Last week I saw a woman flayed and you would hardly believe how it altered her appearance for the worse." | 52 | |
| 3132964234 | loose sentence | a sentence grammatically complete and usually stating its main idea before the end | 53 | |
| 3132964235 | lyric | originally designated poems meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a lyre; now any short poem in which the speaker expresses intense personal emotion rather than describing a narrative or dramatic situation | 54 | |
| 3132964236 | message | a misleading term for theme; the central statement or idea of a story, misleading because it suggests a simple, packaged statement that pre-exists and for the simple communication of which the story was written | 55 | |
| 3132964237 | metaphor | one thing pictured as if it were something else, suggesting a likeness or analogy between them | 56 | |
| 3132964238 | meter | the more or less regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry | 57 | |
| 3132964239 | metonymy | a figure of speech in which an attribute or commonly associated feature is used to name or designate something: "The White House announced today," "The pen is mightier than the sword." | 58 | |
| 3132964240 | mood | a feeling or ambiance resulting from the tone of the piece as well as the writer/narrator's attitude and point of view | 59 | |
| 3132964241 | motif | a recurrent device, formula, or situation that often serves as a signal for the appearance of a character or event | 60 | |
| 3132964242 | narrative structure | a textual organization based on sequences of connected events, usually presented in a straightforward, chronological framework | 61 | |
| 3132964243 | narrator | the character who "tells" the story, or in poetry, the persona | 62 | |
| 3132964244 | occasional poem | a poem written about or for a specific occasion, public or private | 63 | |
| 3132964245 | ode | a lyric poem that is somewhat serious in subject and treatment, is elevated in style, and sometimes uses elaborate stanza structure, which is often patterned in sets of three; often written to praise or exalt a person, quality, characteristic, or object | 64 | |
| 3132964246 | omniscient point of view | also called unlimited focus; a perspective that can be seen from one character's view, then another's, then another's and can be moved at any time | 65 | |
| 3132964247 | onomatopoeia | a word capturing or approximating the sound of what it describes: "buzz," "clank" | 66 | |
| 3132964248 | overstatement | exaggerated language also called hyperbole | 67 | |
| 3132964249 | oxymoron | a figure of speech that combines to apparently contradictory elements: "jumbo shrimp," "deafening silence" | 68 | |
| 3132964250 | parable | a short fictional story that illustrates an explicit moral lesson through the use of analogy | 69 | |
| 3132964251 | paradox | a statement that seems contradictory but may actually be true: "fight for peace" | 70 | |
| 3132964252 | parallel structure | the use of similar forms in writing for nouns, verbs, phrases, or thoughts: "Jane likes reading, writing, and skiing," NOT "Martha takes notes quickly, thoroughly, and in a detailed manner." | 71 | |
| 3132964253 | parody | a work that imitates another work for comic effect by exaggerating the style and changing the content of the original | 72 | |
| 3132964254 | pastoral | a work that describes the simple life of country folk, usually shepherds who live a timeless, painless life in a world full of beauty, music, and love; also called an eclogue, a bucolic, or and idyll | 73 | |
| 3132964255 | periodic sentence | a sentence that is not grammatically complete until the end: "The child, who looked as if she were being chased by demons, ran." | 74 | |
| 3132964256 | personification | treating an abstraction or nonhuman object as if it were a person by endowing it with human qualities | 75 | |
| 3132964257 | persona | the voice or figure of the author who tells and structures the story and who may or may not share the values of the actual author (e.g. adult Scout in 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' Watson in 'Sherlock Holmes') | 76 | |
| 3132964258 | Petrarchan sonnet | a sonnet form that divides the poem into one section of eight lines (octave) and a second section of six lines (sestet) usually following the abba abba cde cde rhyme scheme; also called an Italian sonnet | 77 | |
| 3132964259 | plot | the arrangement of the narration based on the cause-effect relationship of the events | 78 | |
| 3132964260 | protagonist | the main character in a work, who may or may not be heroic | 79 | |
| 3132964261 | quatrain | a poetic stanza of four lines | 80 | |
| 3132964262 | realism | the practice in literature of attempting to describe nature and life without idealism and with attention to detail | 81 | |
| 3132964263 | refrain | a repeated stanza or line(s) in a poem or song | 82 | |
| 3132964264 | rhetorical question | a question that is simply asked for stylistic effect and is not expected to be answered | 83 | |
| 3132964265 | rhyme | the repetition of the same or similar sounds, most often at the ends of lines | 84 | |
| 3132964266 | rhythm | the modulation of weak and strong elements in the flow of speech | 85 | |
| 3132964267 | rising action | the development of action in a work, usually at the beginning | 86 | |
| 3132964268 | sarcasm | a form of verbal irony in which apparent praise is actually harshly or bitterly critical | 87 | |
| 3132964269 | satire | a literary work that holds up human failings to ridicule and censure | 88 | |
| 3132964270 | scansion | the analysis of verse to show its meter | 89 | |
| 3132964271 | setting | the time and place of the action in a story, poem, or play | 90 | |
| 3132964272 | Shakespearean sonnet | a sonnet form that divides the poem into three units of four lines each and a final unit of two lines, usually abab cdcd efef gg; also called an English sonnet | 91 | |
| 3132964273 | shaped verse | another name for concrete poetry, poetry that is shaped to look like an object | 92 | |
| 3132964274 | simile | a direct, explicit comparison of one thing to another, using the words 'like' or 'as' | 93 | |
| 3132964275 | soliloquy | a monologue in which the character in a play is alone and speaking only to himself or herself | 94 | |
| 3132964276 | speaker | the person, not necessarily the author, who is the voice of a poem | 95 | |
| 3132964277 | stanza | a section of a poem demarcated by extra line spacing | 96 | |
| 3132964278 | couplet | two-line stanza | 97 | |
| 3132964279 | tercet | three-line stanza | 98 | |
| 3132964280 | quatrain | four-line stanza | 99 | |
| 3132964281 | cinquain | five-line stanza | 100 | |
| 3132964282 | sestet | six-line stanza | 101 | |
| 3132964283 | heptatich | seven-line stanza | 102 | |
| 3132964284 | octave | eight-line stanza | 103 | |
| 3132964285 | stereotype | a characterization based on conscious or unconscious assumptions that some aspect, such as gender, age, ethnic or national identity, religion, occupation, marital status, and so on, are predictable accompanied by certain character traits, action, and even values | 104 | |
| 3132964286 | Everyman character | main character that actually represents all people | 105 | |
| 3132964287 | stock character | character who appears in a number of stories or plays such as the cruel stepmother, the femme fatale, etc. | 106 | |
| 3132964288 | structure | the organization or arrangement of the various elements in a work | 107 | |
| 3132964289 | style | a distinctive manner of expression | 108 | |
| 3132964290 | symbol | a person, place, thing, event, or pattern in a literary work that designates itself and at the same time figuratively represents or "stands for" something else | 109 | |
| 3132964291 | synecdoche | when a part is used to signify a whole: "All hands on deck," "He stole five hundred head of longhorns." | 110 | |
| 3132964292 | syntax | the way words are put together to form phrases, clauses, and sentences | 111 | |
| 3132964293 | terza rima | a verse form consisting of three-line stanzas in which the second line of each rhymes with the first and third of the next, in the form ababcb | 112 | |
| 3132964294 | theme | a generalized, abstract paraphrase of the inferred central or dominant idea or concern of a work | 113 | |
| 3132964295 | tone | the attitude a literary work takes toward its subject and theme | 114 | |
| 3132964296 | tragedy | a drama in which a character (usually good and noble and of high rank) is brought to a disastrous end in his or her confrontation with a superior force due to a fatal flaw in his or her character | 115 | |
| 3132964297 | trochaic | a metrical foot in poetry that is the opposite of iambic, with the first syllable stressed and the second not: "BY the SHORES of GITCHee GUMee,/BY the SHINing BIG-Sea-WATer" | 116 | |
| 3132964298 | turning point | the third part of plot structure, the point at which the action stops rising and begins falling or reversing; also called the climax | 117 | |
| 3132964299 | villanelle | a verse form consisting of 19 lines divided into six stanzas - five tercets and one quatrain; the first and third lines of the first tercet rhyme, and this rhyme is repeated through each of the next four tercets and in the last two lines of the concluding quatrain | 118 | |
| 3132964300 | voice | the acknowledged or unacknowledged source of the words of the story; the "person" telling the story or poem | 119 |
AP Literature Terms Flashcards
Terms : Hide Images
| 4931302107 | Abstract | complex type of writing, discusses intangible qualities like good and evil | 0 | |
| 4931302108 | Academic | Dry and rhetorical writing; sucking all the life out of its subject with analysis. | 1 | |
| 4931302109 | Aesthetic | appealing to the senses, sense of taste, study of beauty | 2 | |
| 4931302110 | Accent | stressed portion of a word | 3 | |
| 4931302111 | Allegory | A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself. | 4 | |
| 4931302112 | Alliteration | Repetition of consonant sounds | 5 | |
| 4931302113 | Allusion | A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. | 6 | |
| 4931302114 | Anachronism | Something out of place in time | 7 | |
| 4931302115 | Analogy | A comparison of two different things that are similar in some way | 8 | |
| 4931302116 | Anecdote | short narrative | 9 | |
| 4931302117 | Antecedent | The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. | 10 | |
| 4931302118 | Anthropomorphism | the attribution of human characteristics to animals or inanimate objects | 11 | |
| 4931302119 | Anticlimax | something unimportant coming after something important; letdown in thought or emotion; something unexciting, ordinary, or disappointing coming after something important or exciting | 12 | |
| 4931302121 | Antihero | A protagonist (main character) who is markedly unheroic: morally weak, cowardly, dishonest, or any number of other unsavory qualities. | 13 | |
| 4931302122 | Aphorism | a short and usually witty saying | 14 | |
| 4931302123 | Apostrophe | An address to someone not present, or to a personified object or idea | 15 | |
| 4931302124 | Archaism | The use of deliberately old-fashioned language. | 16 | |
| 4931302125 | Aside | A device in which a character in a drama makes a short speech which is heard by the audience but not by other characters in the play | 17 | |
| 4931302126 | Aspect | a trait or characteristic | 18 | |
| 4931302127 | Assonance | Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity | 19 | |
| 4931302128 | Atmosphere | the emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene | 20 | |
| 4931302129 | Ballad | a long narrative poem usually in very regular meter and rhyme, has a naive folksy quality. | 21 | |
| 4931302130 | Bathos | insincere or overly sentimental quality of writing/speech intended to evoke pity | 22 | |
| 4931302131 | Pathos | Emotional appeal | 23 | |
| 4931302132 | Black humor | the use of disturbing themes in comedy; morbid humor used to express the absurdity, insensitivity, paradox, and cruelty of the modern world, ordinary characters or situations exaggerated beyond normal limits of satire or irony | 24 | |
| 4931302133 | Bombast | (adj.) pompous or overblown in language; full of high-sounding words intended to conceal a lack of ideas | 25 | |
| 4931302134 | Burlesque | parody, comically written | 26 | |
| 4931302135 | Cacophony | A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds | 27 | |
| 4931302136 | Cadence | Beat or rhythm of poetry | 28 | |
| 4931302137 | Canto | division of a long poem | 29 | |
| 4931302138 | Caricature | A portrait (verbal or otherwise) that exaggerates a facet of personality. | 30 | |
| 4931302139 | Catharsis | Purification that brings emotional relief or renewal | 31 | |
| 4931302140 | Chorus | A group of characters who comment on the action of a play without participation in it. | 32 | |
| 4931302141 | Classic | typical, masterpiece | 33 | |
| 4931302142 | Coinage (neologism) | a new word defined on the spot | 34 | |
| 4931302143 | Colloquialism | A word or phrase (including slang) used in everyday conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing (y'all, ain't) | 35 | |
| 4931302144 | Complex | suggests that there is more than one possibility in the meaning of words. | 36 | |
| 4931302145 | Conceit | A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects. | 37 | |
| 4931302146 | Connotation | All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests | 38 | |
| 4931302147 | Denotation | The dictionary definition of a word | 39 | |
| 4931302148 | Consonance | Repetition of consonant sounds within the words | 40 | |
| 4931302149 | Couplet | A pair of lines that end in rhyme | 41 | |
| 4931302150 | Decorum | Appropriateness of behavior or conduct of a character in a particular setting | 42 | |
| 4931302151 | Diction (Syntax) | Choice of words | 43 | |
| 4931302152 | Syntax | Sentence structure | 44 | |
| 4931302153 | Dirge | song for the dead | 45 | |
| 4931302154 | Dissonance | the grating of incompatible sounds | 46 | |
| 4931302155 | Doggerel | crude, simplistic verse often in sing song rhyme | 47 | |
| 4931302156 | Dramatic irony | Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. | 48 | |
| 4931302157 | Dramatic monologue | when a single speaker in literature says something to a silent audience | 49 | |
| 4931302158 | Elegy | a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead. | 50 | |
| 4931302159 | Elements | Basic techniques of each genre of literature | 51 | |
| 4931302160 | Enjambment | the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza. | 52 | |
| 4931302161 | 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 | 53 | |
| 4931302162 | Epitaph | a short written tribute in poetry or prose in memory of a deceased person | 54 | |
| 4931302163 | Euphemism | A polite or vague word or phrase used to replace another word or phrase that is thought of as too direct or rude. | 55 | |
| 4931302164 | Euphony | pleasant, harmonious sound | 56 | |
| 4931302165 | Explicit | definite, clearly stated | 57 | |
| 4931302166 | Farce | a play filled with ridiculous or absurd happenings; broad or far-fetched humor; a ridiculous sham | 58 | |
| 4931302167 | Feminine rhyme | lines rhymed by their final two syllables | 59 | |
| 4931302168 | Foil | A character who is in most ways opposite to the main character (protagonist) or one who is nearly the same as the protagonist. The purpose of the this character is to emphasize the traits of the main character by contrast only | 60 | |
| 4931302169 | Foot | the basic rhythmic unit of a line of poetry. Formed by 2 or 3 syllables. | 61 | |
| 4931302170 | Foreshadowing | A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader. | 62 | |
| 4931302171 | Free verse | Poetry written without a rhyme scheme | 63 | |
| 4931302172 | Genre | A category or type of literature (or of art, music, etc.) characterized by a particular form, style, or content. | 64 | |
| 4931302173 | Gothic | characterized by gloom and mystery and the grotesque | 65 | |
| 4931302174 | Hubris | Excessive pride or ambition that leads to the main character's downfall | 66 | |
| 4931302175 | In media res | in or into the middle of a sequence of events as in a literary narrative | 67 | |
| 4931302176 | Interior monologue | writing that records the conversation that occurs inside a character's head | 68 | |
| 4931302177 | Inversion | Switching the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase. | 69 | |
| 4931302178 | Irony | A contrast between expectation and reality | 70 | |
| 4931302179 | Lament | a poem of sadness or grief | 71 | |
| 4931302180 | Lampoon | a satire | 72 | |
| 4931302181 | Loose and periodic sentences | L: complete before its end; P: is not grammatically complete until it has reached its final phrase | 73 | |
| 4931302182 | Lyric | A type of poetry that explores the poet's personal interpretation of and feelings about the world. | 74 | |
| 4931302183 | Masculine rhyme | A rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable | 75 | |
| 4931302184 | Means | discovering what makes sense and what is important: literally and emotionally | 76 | |
| 4931302185 | Melodrama | A form of cheesy theater in which the hero is very, very good, the villain mean and rotten, and the heroine oh-so-pure. | 77 | |
| 4931302186 | Metaphor | A comparison without using like or as | 78 | |
| 4931302188 | Metonym | A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated (such as "crown" for "royalty"). | 79 | |
| 5886796979 | Mood | How the reader feels about the text while reading. | 80 | |
| 4931302189 | Nemesis | Enemy | 81 | |
| 4931302190 | Objectivity | an impersonal or outside view of events | 82 | |
| 4931302191 | Subjectivity | the interior or personal view of a single observer | 83 | |
| 4931302192 | Onomatopoeia | A word that imitates the sound it represents. | 84 | |
| 4931302193 | Opposition | a pair of elements that sharply contrast | 85 | |
| 4931302194 | Oxymoron | A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. | 86 | |
| 4931302195 | Parable | like a fable or an allegory, a story that instructs | 87 | |
| 4931302196 | Paradox | A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. | 88 | |
| 4931302197 | Parallelism | repeated syntactical similarities used for effect | 89 | |
| 4931302198 | Paraphrase | to restate | 90 | |
| 4931302199 | Parenthetical Phrase | a phrase set off by commas that interrupts the flow of a sentence with some commentary or added detail | 91 | |
| 4931302200 | Parody | A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule. | 92 | |
| 4931302201 | Pastoral | A work of literature dealing with rural life | 93 | |
| 4931302202 | Persona | the narrator in a non-first-person novel | 94 | |
| 4931302203 | Personification | A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes | 95 | |
| 4931302204 | Plaint | a poem or speech expressing sorrow | 96 | |
| 4931302205 | Omniscient narrator | a narrator who is able to know, see, and tell all, including the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters | 97 | |
| 4931302206 | Limited omniscient narrator | third-person narrator who generally reports only what one character (usually main character) sees, reports only thoughts of that one character | 98 | |
| 4931302207 | Objective narrator | 3rd person narr. who only reports on what would be visible to a camera, doesn't know what the character is thinking unless the character speaks of it. | 99 | |
| 4931302208 | Stream of Consciousness | a style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character's mind. | 100 | |
| 4931302187 | Simile | A comparison using "like" or "as" | 101 | |
| 5886806201 | Tone | Attitudes and presuppositions of the author that are revealed by their linguistic choices (diction, syntax, rhetorical devices) | 102 | |
| 4931302209 | Prelude | an introductory poem to a longer work | 103 | |
| 4931302210 | Pun | A play on words | 104 | |
| 4931302211 | Protagonist | Main character | 105 | |
| 4931302212 | Refrain | A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem. | 106 | |
| 4931302213 | Requiem | a song of prayer for the dead | 107 | |
| 4931302214 | Rhapsody | an intensely passionate verse or section of verse, usually of love or praise | 108 | |
| 4931302215 | Rhetorical question | A question whose answer is assumed | 109 | |
| 4931302216 | Satire | A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies. | 110 | |
| 4931302217 | Soliloquy | A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage | 111 | |
| 4931302218 | Stanza | A group of lines in a poem | 112 | |
| 4931302219 | Stock characters | standard or cliched character types: the drunk, the miser, the foolish girl, etc. | 113 | |
| 4931302220 | Subjunctive mood | A grammatical situation involving the words "if" and "were," setting up a hypothetical situation. | 114 | |
| 4931302221 | Suggest | imply | 115 | |
| 4931302222 | Summary | A retelling of the most important parts of what was read. | 116 | |
| 4931302223 | Suspension of disbelief | demand made of a theater audience to accept the limitations of staging and supply the details with imagination | 117 | |
| 4931302224 | Symbolism | A device in literature where an object represents an idea. | 118 | |
| 4931302225 | Technique | the methods, the tools, "how-you-do-it" ways of the author | 119 | |
| 4931302226 | Theme | Central idea of a work of literature | 120 | |
| 4931302227 | Thesis | Focus statement of an essay; premise statement upon which the point of view or discussion in the essay is based. | 121 | |
| 4931302228 | Tragic flaw | A weakness or limitation of character, resulting in the fall of the tragic hero. | 122 | |
| 4931302229 | Travesty | a grotesque parody | 123 | |
| 4931302230 | Truism | a way too obvious truth | 124 | |
| 4931302231 | Unreliable narrator | a narrator whose account of events appears to be faulty, misleadingly biased, or otherwise distorted | 125 | |
| 4931302232 | Utopia | an ideal society | 126 | |
| 4931302233 | Zeugma | the use of a word to modify 2 or more words, but have different meanings | 127 |
AP Literature Unit 22 Vocabulary Flashcards
Terms : Hide Images
| 2482904625 | pilgrimage | an act of spiritual devotion or penance in which an individual travels without material comforts to a distant holy place (Ex. Pilgrim's Progress or Canterbury Tales) | 0 | |
| 2482969039 | agrarian idealism | conviction that farming is an especially virtuous occupation in comparison with trade, craftsmanship, manufacturing, etc.; manifested strong in Romantic writings as one form of the American Dream motif (Ex. Virgil's Eclogues, Jefferson's Queries) | 1 | |
| 2482981664 | problem play | any play in which the main character faces a personal, social, political, environmental, or religious problem common to his society (Ex. Death of a Salesman: challenges of false values in a capitalistic society) | 2 | |
| 2483120822 | revenge play | Renaissance genre of drama; hero attempts to avenge a previous wrong by killing the perpetrator of the deed, commonly with a great deal of bloodshed and incidental violence (Ex. Hamlet) | 3 | |
| 2483127812 | roman à clef | (roman uh clay) narrative that represents actual historical characters and events in the form of fiction; real figures have fictitious names (Ex. Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises) | 4 | |
| 2489063310 | identical rhyme | use of the same words as a "rhymed" pair; adds emphasis to a poetic passage (Ex. Keats's Isabella: "All close they met again, before the dusk / Had taken from the stars its pleasant veil, / All close they met, all eyes, before the dusk / Had taken from the stars its pleasant veil, / Close in a bower of hyacinth and musk,/ Unknown of any, free from whispering tale") | 5 | |
| 2489075569 | eye rhyme | words that seem to rhyme when written down because their parts are spelled similarly but are pronounced differently in modern English (Ex. Andrew Marvell: "Thy beauty shall no more be found, / Nor in thy marble vault shall sound / My echoing love song. Then worms shall try / That long-preserved virginity") | 6 | |
| 2489109362 | internal audience | an imaginary listener or audience to whom a character speaks in a poem or story; might be the reader or another unnamed character (Ex. T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock": "Let us go then, you and I...") | 7 | |
| 2489121980 | multicultural novel | novel written by a member of or about a cultural minority group, giving insight into non-Western or non-dominant cultural experiences and values, either in the United States or abroad (Ex. Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Tan's The Kitchen God's Wife, etc.) | 8 | |
| 2490176277 | mythology | system of stories that help explain how the world works, customs and observances, rituals for sacred ceremonies, and life after death; once believed literally by ancestors but usually not believed by their descendants (Ex. Homer's Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid) | 9 |
AP Literature & Composition: Everything Diction Flashcards
Terms : Hide Images
| 2693393611 | Allusive | containing or characterized by indirect references | 0 | |
| 2693393612 | Archaic | dated; old and no longer used | 1 | |
| 2693393613 | Blunt | abrupt in address or manner | 2 | |
| 2693393614 | Ceremonial | relating to or characterized by ceremony | 3 | |
| 2693393615 | Coarse | harsh, obscene; lacking in fineness or delicacy | 4 | |
| 2693393616 | Colloquial | informal; characteristic of or appropriate to ordinary or familiar speech or writing | 5 | |
| 2693393617 | Concise | expressing or covering much in few words; brief in form | 6 | |
| 2693393618 | Connotative | suggestive of an associative or secondary meaning | 7 | |
| 2693393619 | Conversational | of, relating to, or characteristic of conversation | 8 | |
| 2693393620 | Cultivated | educated; refined; cultured | 9 | |
| 2693393621 | Denotative | having power to denote which is to represent by a symbol or be a name of designation for, to mean | 10 | |
| 2693393622 | Dialectical | relating to the logical discussion of ideas and opinions | 11 | |
| 2693393623 | Domestic | of or relating to the running of a home or to family relations; existing or occurring inside a particular country; | 12 | |
| 2693393624 | Ecclesiastical | religious; of or relating to the Christian Church or its clergy | 13 | |
| 2693393625 | Economical | using no more of something than is necessary; careful not to waste money or resources; using fewer words whenever possible | 14 | |
| 2693393626 | Elegiac | mournful; having a mournful quality | 15 | |
| 2693393627 | Elementary | of or relating to the most basic aspects of a subject; easily dealt with; straightforward and uncomplicated | 16 | |
| 2693393628 | Elevated | exalted or noble; lofty; advanced | 17 | |
| 2693393629 | Empirical | derived from or guided by experience or experiment; without using scientific method or theory; verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic | 18 | |
| 2693393630 | Erudite | scholarly; having or showing great knowledge or learning | 19 | |
| 2693393631 | Evocative | bringing strong images, memories, or feelings to mind | 20 | |
| 2693393632 | Explicit | states clearly and in detail; leaving no room for confusion or doubt | 21 | |
| 2693393633 | Forensic | of, relating to, or denoting the application of scientific methods and techniques to the investigation of crime | 22 | |
| 2693393634 | Formal | done in accordance with rules of convention or etiquette | 23 | |
| 2693393635 | Genteel | polite; refined; respectable; often in an affected or ostentatious way | 24 | |
| 2693393636 | Graphic | of or relating to visual art; giving a clear and effective picture | 25 | |
| 2693393637 | Idiomatic | using, containing, or denoting expressions that are natural to a native speaker | 26 | |
| 2693393638 | Implicit | implied though not plainly expressed; with not qualification or question; absolute | 27 | |
| 2693393639 | Informal | having a relaxed, friendly, or unofficial style, manner, or nature | 28 | |
| 2693393640 | Juvenile | of, for, or relating to young people | 29 | |
| 2693393641 | Lofty | exalted in rank, dignity, or character; eminent; elevated in style, tone, or sentiment, as writing or speech; arrogantly superior in manner; haughty | 30 | |
| 2693393642 | Panegyric | formal expression of praise; a public speech or published text in praise of someone or something | 31 | |
| 2693393643 | Pedantic | overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, especially in teaching; meticulous | 32 | |
| 2693393644 | Plain | not decorated or elaborate; simple or ordinary in character; easy to perceive or understand | 33 | |
| 2693393645 | Polite | having or showing behavior that is respectful and considerate of other people | 34 | |
| 2693393646 | Provocative | causing annoyance, anger, or another strong reaction, especially deliberately, arousing sexual desire or interest | 35 | |
| 2693393647 | Regal | of, resembling, or fit for a monarch, especially in being magnificent or dignified | 36 | |
| 2693393648 | Sensory | of or relating to sensation or the physical senses; transmitted or perceived by the senses | 37 | |
| 2693393649 | Simple | easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty | 38 | |
| 2693393650 | Sparse | thinly dispersed or scattered; austere | 39 | |
| 2693393651 | Suggestive | tending to suggest an idea; indicative or evocative | 40 | |
| 2693393652 | Trite | overused and consequently of little importance; lacking originality or freshness | 41 | |
| 2693393653 | Verbose | using or expressed in more words than are needed; wordy | 42 |
AP Literature Flashcards
Terms : Hide Images
| 4742742961 | Metaphor | A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. | 0 | |
| 4742742962 | Tone | The general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation | 1 | |
| 4742742963 | Literal | A form of language in which writers and speakers mean exactly what their words denote. | 2 | |
| 4742742964 | Figurative | A form of language use in which writers and speakers convey something other than the literal meaning of their words. | 3 | |
| 4742742965 | Allusion | An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference. | 4 | |
| 4742742966 | Argumentative | Given to expressing divergent or opposite views. "an argumentative child" | 5 | |
| 4742742967 | Expository | Intended to explain or describe something. "formal expository prose" | 6 | |
| 4742742968 | Satirical | The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. | 7 | |
| 4742742969 | Understatement | An understatement is a literary device in which a writer or speaker attributes less importance or conveys less passion than the subject would seem to demand. Understatement is often used for comic effect. | 8 | |
| 4742742970 | Hyperbole | Is a figure of speech, which involves an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis. It is a device that we employ in our day-to-day speech. | 9 | |
| 4742742971 | Diction | Can be defined as style of speaking or writing determined by the choice of words by a speaker or a writer. Diction or choice of words separates good writing from bad writing. It depends on a number of factors. Firstly, the word has to be right and accurate. | 10 | |
| 4742742972 | Imagery | When a writer attempts to describe something so that it appeals to our sense of smell, sight, taste, touch, or hearing; he/she has used imagery. | 11 | |
| 4742742973 | Narrative | Are works that provide an account of connected events. To put it simply, a narrative is a story. There are many types of literature that are considered narratives, including novels, dramas, fables, folk tales, short stories, and poetry. | 12 | |
| 4742742974 | Prose | Is a form of language that has no formal metrical structure. It applies a natural flow of speech. | 13 | |
| 4742742975 | Paradox | It is a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or silly but may include a latent truth. | 14 | |
| 4742742976 | Point of view | Point of view is the angle of considering things, which shows us the opinion, or feelings of the individuals involved in a situation. | 15 | |
| 4742742977 | Connotation | Connotation refers to a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly. | 16 | |
| 4742742978 | Denotation | Denotation is the literal definition of a word, where the name Sistrunk Boulevard tells people where they are. | 17 | |
| 4742742979 | Perspective | A perspective is a literary tool, which serves a lens through which readers observe other characters, events and happenings. | 18 | |
| 4742742980 | Style | Style in literature is the literary element that describes the ways that the author uses words — the author's word choice, sentence structure, figurative language, and sentence arrangement all work together to establish mood, images, and meaning in the text. | 19 | |
| 4742742981 | Syntax | Syntax determines how the chosen words are used to form a sentence. | 20 | |
| 4742742982 | Speaker | A person who speaks formally before an audience; lecturer; orator. | 21 | |
| 4742742983 | Oxymoron | Figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in "cruel kindness" or "to make haste slowly.". | 22 | |
| 4742742984 | Irony | The use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning | 23 | |
| 4742742985 | Symbol | A material object representing something, often something immaterial; emblem, token, or sign. | 24 | |
| 4742742986 | Foreshadowing | Or indicate beforehand; prefigure | 25 | |
| 4742742987 | Extended metaphor | A metaphor introduced and then further developed throughout all or part of a literary work, especially a poem. | 26 | |
| 4742742988 | Allegory | A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. | 27 |
AP Literature Flashcards
Terms : Hide Images
| 4795081762 | kenning | picturesque metaphorical compound | 0 | |
| 4795081763 | caesura | a pause in the middle of a line of poetry | 1 | |
| 4795081764 | aphorism | a principal expressed tersely in a few telling words | 2 | |
| 4795081765 | irony | appearance differs from reality | 3 | |
| 4795081766 | understatement | the magnitude of what is stated falls detectably short of reality | 4 | |
| 4795081767 | meter | rhythmic pattern of poetry by reoccurring units of sound | 5 | |
| 4795081768 | foot | unit of sounds that consists of a combination of stressed/unstressed syllables | 6 | |
| 4795081769 | (anti)strophe | 2 of the 3 stanzaic forms of the Greek choral ode | 7 | |
| 4795081770 | in media res | in the midst of things | 8 | |
| 4795081771 | characterization | how the author shapes/reveals a character to the reader | 9 | |
| 4795081772 | satire | blending censure with humor to improve humanity | 10 | |
| 4795081773 | sarcasm | caustic, bitter expression of disapproval | 11 | |
| 4795081774 | enjambment | poetry that has one line flowing to the next without punctuation | 12 | |
| 4795081775 | catharsis | purging of guilt as a result of going through tragic drama | 13 | |
| 4795081776 | hubris | arrogant pride of the protagonist | 14 | |
| 4795081777 | hamartia | fatal misstep that leads to the downfall of a character in a tragedy | 15 | |
| 4795081778 | foil | a character who's qualities emphasize the protagonist | 16 | |
| 4795081779 | monologue | extended speech uttered to one speaker, to others as if alone | 17 | |
| 4795081780 | soliloquy | speech utter by one person, to others as if alone | 18 | |
| 4795081781 | apostrophe | figure of speech in which someone, some abstract figure, or nonexistent person is directly expressed as if present | 19 | |
| 4795081782 | ambiguity | the state of having more than one meaning of interpretation | 20 | |
| 4795081783 | synecdoche | the part represents the whole | 21 | |
| 4888096378 | imagery | when the author makes pictures through the senses | 22 | |
| 4888113557 | point of view | vantage from which the story is told | 23 | |
| 4888113558 | dystopia | undesirable image of society | 24 | |
| 4888113559 | utopia | desirable image of society | 25 | |
| 4888113560 | theme | the message an author wants to express to the reader | 26 | |
| 4888113561 | novella | short story around 100 pages | 27 | |
| 4888113562 | plot | series of related events that create a story | 28 | |
| 4888205496 | feud ex machina | the plot is resolved by the use of a highly improbable chance that solves a difficult problem | 29 | |
| 4888205497 | synaethesia | description of one sense impression using words that normally describe another | 30 | |
| 4888205498 | style | writers way of stating things | 31 | |
| 4888205499 | tone | authors attitude towards the subject | 32 | |
| 4888205500 | mood | the feeling the audience gets from a piece | 33 | |
| 4888205501 | connotation | range of further associations in addition to the dictionary meaninh | 34 | |
| 4888205502 | juxtaposition | placing words/things side by side intentionally for effect | 35 | |
| 4888205503 | malapropism | the comic substitution of one word for another that's similar in sound, but has another meaning, making them look ignorant | 36 | |
| 4888205504 | voice | the sense a writers work conveys about the author | 37 | |
| 4888205505 | motif | reoccurring image, word, or phrase that appears throughout the work | 38 | |
| 4888476450 | anachronism | an event, object, custom, person, or thing that is out of its natural order of time | 39 | |
| 4888476451 | metonymy | figure of speech in which a representative term is used for a larger idea | 40 | |
| 4888476452 | narrator | the teller of the story | 41 | |
| 4888476453 | dissonance | harshness of sound and/or rhyme, either inadvertent or deliberate | 42 | |
| 4888476454 | euphory | a pleasing soothness of sound, perceived by the ease with which the words can be spoken in combination | 43 | |
| 4888476455 | litotes | figure of speech where an affirmation is made indirectly by saying its opposite, usually with an effect of understatement | 44 | |
| 4888476456 | euphemism | substituting a mild term in place of an offensive or hurtful term for effect | 45 |
Flashcards
The Total Package - AP Literary Analysis Terms 2017 Flashcards
Terms : Hide Images
| 5801893153 | ambiguity | A literary technique in which a word, statement, or literary work is deliberately endowed with multiple meanings |  | 0 |
| 5801893155 | aphorism | A statement of truth, moral, or philosophical principles expressed in a concise, witty, ans somewhat terse manner |  | 1 |
| 5801893156 | epic poem | Long narrative poem that includes heroic deeds |  | 2 |
| 5801893157 | flashback | Narrative interruptions in which past events are inserted in the story line in order to provide background information or context that helps readers to interpret current events in a different light |  | 3 |
| 5801893165 | syntax | The way in which words and phrases are placed together in sentences to convey a certain meaning |  | 4 |
| 5801893168 | pastiche | Artistic work in a style that imitates a wide mixture of themes, characters, and concepts from different literary texts |  | 5 |
| 5801893169 | motif | Recurring symbol, image, theme, or other narrative detail that becomes a unifying element in the literary work |  | 6 |
| 5801893172 | analogy | A technique in which two things that are very different are compared to one another in order to reveal surprising truths about one or both of the elements |  | 7 |
| 5801893173 | bildungsroman | A coming of age story |  | 8 |
| 5801893174 | foreshadowing | A literary technique in which a writer gives hints as warnings or indications of future events that will occur in the narrative |  | 9 |
| 5801893175 | monologue | Dramatic speech delivered by a single character in a play |  | 10 |
| 5801893178 | symbolism | The use of an object, person, situation, or word to represent or suggest an idea or belief |  | 11 |
| 5801893179 | frame narrative | Literary technique in which an introductory story is presented for the purpose of setting the stage for a second narrative: a story within a story |  | 12 |
| 5801893181 | euphemism | The use of a word that is less harsh in place of one that may be perceived to be blunt or offensive |  | 13 |
| 5801893183 | juxtaposition | Placing two or more things side by side for the purpose of comparing or contrasting them |  | 14 |
| 5801893184 | eponym | The use of a real or fictional person's name as a descriptive term |  | 15 |
| 5801893187 | neoclassical | A revival of a classical (Greek/Roman) style or treatment in art literature, architecture, or music |  | 16 |
| 5801893193 | chiasmus | a reversal in the word order of words in two otherwise parallel sentences |  | 17 |
| 5801893194 | metaphor | figurative language that describes something as though it actually were something else |  | 18 |
| 5801893195 | metonymy | the substitution of one term for another that is generally associated with it. (ex. the crown declared that the man would be executed.) |  | 19 |
| 5801893196 | onomatopoeia | the use of words that imitate the sounds they represent |  | 20 |
| 5801893197 | paradox | a statement or expression so surprisingly self-contradictory but ends up being true on some level |  | 21 |
| 5801893198 | parallelism | the use of similar grammatical structures or word order. |  | 22 |
| 5801893199 | point of view | the perspective that a narrator takes toward the events it describes |  | 23 |
| 5801893200 | pun | a witty word-play which reveals that words with different meanings have similar or even identical sounds |  | 24 |
| 5801893201 | polysyndeton | A literary technique in which conjunctions are used repeatedly in quick succession for an artistic or stylistic effect - often slows the speed of reading and emphasizes each item in the list |  | 25 |
| 5801893202 | asyndeton | Purposely leaving out conjunctions while maintaining the grammatical construction of a phrase. Used to build rhythm, speed, and momentum in writing |  | 26 |
| 5801893203 | archetype | a symbol found in many cultures |  | 27 |
| 5801893204 | dramatic irony | a situation where the audience knows something that the characters on stage are not aware of |  | 28 |
| 5801893205 | allusion | a reference to a piece of literature, character, historical figure that the author assumes the reader will recognize |  | 29 |
| 5801893206 | diction | the word choices made by a writer |  | 30 |
| 5801893207 | didactic | having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing |  | 31 |
| 5801893210 | exposition | the beginning portion of Freytag's pyramid where the background information, characters and setting are introduced |  | 32 |
| 5801893211 | inciting incident | the spark or complication that "gets the action going" in the play the event that sets the plot into motion |  | 33 |
| 5801893212 | denouement (catastrophe) | The final outcome of the main dramatic complication in a literary work or the outcome of a complicated sequence of events |  | 34 |
| 5801893213 | omniscient narrator | a narrator who is able to know, see, and tell all, including the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters |  | 35 |
| 5801893214 | theme | Central idea of a work of literature |  | 36 |
| 5801893215 | tone | A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization. |  | 37 |
| 5801893216 | deus ex machina | an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel |  | 38 |
| 5801893217 | allegory | a piece of writing in which abstract ideas are represented by characters and events. Usually political or moral in nature |  | 39 |
| 5801893218 | alliteration | beginning of same letter or sound in closely connected words |  | 40 |
| 5801893219 | anaphora | repetition in first part of a sentence , to have an artistic meaning |  | 41 |
| 5801893220 | antagonist | a hostile person who is opposed to another character |  | 42 |
| 5801893221 | apostrophe | figure of speech used to adresss an imaginary character |  | 43 |
| 5801893222 | aside | when a character's dialogue is spoken but not heard by other actors on the stage |  | 44 |
| 5801893223 | assonance | repetition of vowel sounds |  | 45 |
| 5801893224 | blank verse | poetry written in meter without an ending rhyme |  | 46 |
| 5801893225 | cacophony | blend of unharmonious sounds |  | 47 |
| 5801893226 | caesura | pause in the middle of a line |  | 48 |
| 5801893227 | catharsis | the release of emotions through art (emotional cleanse) |  | 49 |
| 5801893228 | flat character | story character who have no depth, usually has one personality or characteristic |  | 50 |
| 5801893229 | round character | character who has complex personality: contradicted person |  | 51 |
| 5801893230 | dynamic character | changes throughout the story, through major conflict |  | 52 |
| 5801893231 | static character | person who doesn't change throughout story keeps same personality |  | 53 |
| 5801893232 | characterization | process of revealing characters personality |  | 54 |
| 5801893233 | climax | point where conflict hits its highest point; the turning point toward resolution of conflict |  | 55 |
| 5801893234 | comedy | drama that is amusing or funny |  | 56 |
| 5801893235 | conflict | struggle between opposing forces |  | 57 |
| 5801893236 | connotation | secondary meaning to a word |  | 58 |
| 5801893237 | consonance | repetition of same consonant in words close together |  | 59 |
| 5801893238 | couplet | two rhyming lines in a verse |  | 60 |
| 5801893239 | denotation | the literal meaning of a word |  | 61 |
| 5801893240 | denouement | final outcome of the story |  | 62 |
| 5801893242 | direct characterization | author telling the reader how a character is and what actions it will do further in the story |  | 63 |
| 5801893243 | end rhyme | rhymes occurring at the end of line |  | 64 |
| 5801893244 | end stopped line | line ending in regular punctuation |  | 65 |
| 5801893245 | English sonnet | a sonnet rhyming abab cdcd eded gg (4+4+4+2=14) |  | 66 |
| 5801893246 | epiphany | when a character receives a spiritual insight into they life |  | 67 |
| 5801893247 | euphony | smooth choice and arrangement of sounds |  | 68 |
| 5801893248 | extended metaphor | A comparison sustained or developed through a considerable number of lines or through a whole poem. |  | 69 |
| 5801893249 | falling action | Events after the climax, leading to the resolution |  | 70 |
| 5801893250 | feminine rhyme | lines rhymed by their final two syllables |  | 71 |
| 5801893251 | figurative language | Language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling. |  | 72 |
| 5801893252 | figure of speech | a way of saying something other than the ordinary way |  | 73 |
| 5801893253 | foot | basic unit in the scansion or measurement of verse , stressed and un stressed syllables |  | 74 |
| 5801893254 | form | external pattern or shape of a poem |  | 75 |
| 5801893255 | free verse | Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme |  | 76 |
| 5801893256 | hamartia | tragic flaw which causes a character's downfall |  | 77 |
| 5801893257 | imagery | Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) |  | 78 |
| 5801893258 | indirect presentation of character | the personality of a character is revealed by what he or she does or says rather than by what is directly stated |  | 79 |
| 5801893259 | internal rhyme | A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line |  | 80 |
| 5801893260 | irony | A contrast between expectation and reality |  | 81 |
| 5801893261 | verbal irony | A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant |  | 82 |
| 5801893262 | situational irony | refers to an occurrence that is contrary to what is expected or intended |  | 83 |
| 5801893263 | italian sonnet | A sonnet consisting of an octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba, followed by a sestet with the rhyme pattern cdecde or cdcdcd (8+6=14) |  | 84 |
| 5801893264 | masculine rhyme | A rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable |  | 85 |
| 5801893265 | melodrama | a play based upon a dramatic plot and developed sensationally |  | 86 |
| 5801893266 | meter | A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry |  | 87 |
| 5801893267 | motivation | A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior |  | 88 |
| 5801893268 | narrator | Person telling the story |  | 89 |
| 5801893269 | octave | 8 line stanza |  | 90 |
| 5801893270 | hyperbole | A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor |  | 91 |
| 5801893271 | oxymoron | A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. |  | 92 |
| 5801893272 | paraphrase | A restatement of a text or passage in your own words. |  | 93 |
| 5801893273 | personification | A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes |  | 94 |
| 5801893274 | plot | Sequence of events in a story | | 95 |
| 5801893275 | omniscient point of view | The point of view where the narrator knows everything about the characters and their problems - told in the 3rd person. |  | 96 |
| 5801893276 | third person limited point of view | narrator tells the story from only one character's pov |  | 97 |
| 5801893277 | first person point of view | a character in the story is actually telling the story himself/herself |  | 98 |
| 5801893278 | objective point of view | a narrator who is totally impersonal and objective tells the story, with no comment on any characters or events. |  | 99 |
| 5801893279 | protagonist | Main character |  | 100 |
| 5801893280 | quatrain | A four line stanza |  | 101 |
| 5801893281 | rhythm | A regularly recurring sequence of events or actions. |  | 102 |
| 5801893282 | rhyme scheme | A regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem |  | 103 |
| 5801893283 | rising action | Events leading up to the climax |  | 104 |
| 5801893284 | sarcasm | the use of irony to mock or convey contempt |  | 105 |
| 5801893285 | satire | A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies. |  | 106 |
| 5801893286 | scansion | Analysis of verse into metrical patterns |  | 107 |
| 5801893287 | sestet | 6 line stanza |  | 108 |
| 5801893288 | setting | The context in time and place in which the action of a story occurs. |  | 109 |
| 5801893289 | simile | A comparison using "like" or "as" |  | 110 |
| 5801893290 | soliloquy | A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage |  | 111 |
| 5801893291 | sonnet | 14 line poem |  | 112 |
| 5801893292 | stanza | A group of lines in a poem | | 113 |
| 5801893293 | stream of consciousness | private thoughts of a character without commentary |  | 114 |
| 5801893294 | syllabic verse | Verse measured by the number of syllables rather than the number of feet per line. |  | 115 |
| 5801893295 | symbol | A thing that represents or stands for something else |  | 116 |
| 5801893296 | synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa |  | 117 |
| 5801893297 | synesthesia | describing one kind of sensation in terms of another ("a loud color", "a sweet sound") |  | 118 |
| 5801893298 | tercet | 3 line stanza | | 119 |
| 5801893299 | terza rima | a verse form with a rhyme scheme: aba bcb cdc, etc. |  | 120 |
| 5801893300 | tragedy | A serious form of drama dealing with the downfall of a heroic or noble character |  | 121 |
| 5801893301 | truncation | The shortening of a line of poetry that interferes with an otherwise metrical rhythm. |  | 122 |
| 5801893302 | understatement | the deliberate representation of something as lesser in magnitude than it actually is; a deliberate under-emphasis |  | 123 |
| 5801893303 | verse | A single line of poetry writing arranged with a metrical rhythm, typically having a rhyme | | 124 |
| 5801893304 | vilanelle | a nineteen-line poem with two rhymes throughout, consisting of five tercets and a quatrain, with the first and third lines of the opening tercet recurring alternately at the end of the other tercets and with both repeated at the close of the concluding quatrain. |  | 125 |
| 5801893305 | foil | a character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) in order to highlight qualities of the other character by opposition |  | 126 |
| 5801893306 | in media res | the narrative technique of beginning a story in the middle of the action without preamble or background information |  | 127 |
| 5801971271 | Juvenalian satire | Bitter, angry and ironic criticism of people or society. |  | 128 |
| 5801971261 | Horatian satire | Satire in which the voice is tolerant, amused, and witty. |  | 129 |
| 5801972727 | innuendo | an indirect suggestion; a hint |  | 130 |
| 5801973565 | litotes | ironic understatement using the negative to express its opposite. Example: "she's not ugly" to mean "she's pretty" |  | 131 |
AP Literature Flashcards
Terms : Hide Images
| 2812795700 | Genre | the French term for a type, species, or class of composition. A literary genre is a recognizable and established category of written work employing such common * CONVENTIONS as will prevent readers or audiences from mistaking it for another kind. Much of the confusion surrounding the term arises from the fact that it is used simultaneously for the most basic modes of literary art (* LYRIC, * NARRATIVE, dramatic); for the broadest categories of composition (poetry, prose fiction), and for more specialized sub-categories, which are defined according to several different criteria including formal structure (*SONNET, *PICARESQUE NOVEL), length (*NOVELLA, *EPIGRAM), intention (*SATIRE), effect (*COMEDY), origin (*FOLKTALE), and subject-matter (*PASTORAL, *SCIENCE FICTION). While some genres, such as the pastoral * ELEGY or the *MELODRAMA, have numerous conventions governing subject, style, and form, others—like the *NOVEL—have no agreed rules, although they may include several more limited *SUBGENRES. Adjective: generic. See also decorum, form, mode, type. | 0 | |
| 2812803062 | Theme | a salient abstract idea that emerges from a literary work's treatment of its subject-matter; or a topic recurring in a number of literary works. While the subject of a work is described concretely in terms of its action (e.g. 'the adventures of a newcomer in the big city'), its theme or themes will be described in more abstract terms (e.g. love, war, revenge, betrayal, fate, etc.). The theme of a work may be announced explicitly, but more often it emerges indirectly through the recurrence of *MOTIFS. Adjective: thematic | 1 | |
| 2812819186 | Novel | nearly always an extended fictional prose * NARRATIVE, although some novels are very short, some are non-fictional, some have been written in verse, and some do not even tell a story. Such exceptions help to indicate that the novel as a literary *GENRE is itself exceptional: it disregards the constraints that govern other literary forms, and acknowledges no obligatory structure, style, or subject-matter. Thriving on this openness and flexibility, the novel has become the most important literary genre of the modern age, superseding the *EPIC, the * ROMANCE, and other narrative forms. Novels can be distinguished from *SHORT STORIES and *NOVELLAS by their greater length, which permits fuller, subtler development of characters and themes. (Confusingly, it is a shorter form of tale, the Italian novella, that gives the novel its name in English.) There is no established minimum length for a novel, but it is normally at least long enough to justify its publication in an independent volume, unlike the short story. The novel differs from the prose romance in that a greater degree of *REALISM is expected of it, and that it tends to describe a recognizable secular social world, often in a sceptical and prosaic manner inappropriate to the marvels of romance. The novel has frequently incorporated the structures and languages of non-fictional prose forms (history, autobiography, journalism, travel writing), even to the point where the non-fictional element outweighs the fictional. It is normally expected of a novel that it should have at least one character, and preferably several characters shown in processes of change and social relationship; a *PLOT, or some arrangement of narrated events, is another normal requirement. Special *SUBGENRES of the novel have grown up around particular kinds of character (the *K"UNSTLERROMAN, the spynovel), setting(the *HISTORICAL NOVEL, the *CAMPUS NOVEL), and plot (the detective novel); while other kinds of novel are distinguished either by their structure (the *EPISTOLARY NOVEL, the *PICARESQUE NOVEL) or by special emphases on character (the *BILDUNGSROMAN) or ideas (the * ROMAN A THESE). Although some ancient prose narratives like Petronius' Satyricon (1st century CE) can be called novels, and although some significant forerunners of the novel—including Francois Rabelais's Gargantua (1534)—appeared in the 16th century, it is the publication in Spain of the first part of Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote de la Mancha in 1605 that is most widely accepted as announcing the arrival of the true novel. In France the inaugural landmark was Madame de Lafayette's La Princesse de Cleves (1678), while in England Daniel Defoe is regarded as the founder of the English novel with his Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Moll Flanders (1722). The novel achieved its predominance in the 19th century, when Charles Dickens and other writers found a huge audience through serial publication, and when the conventions of realism were consolidated. In the 20th century a division became more pronounced between the popular forms of novel and the various experiments Of * MODERNISM and *POSTMODERNISM—from the *STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS to the *ANTI-NOVEL; but repeated reports of the 'death of the novel' have been greatly exaggerated. Adjective: novelistic. See also fiction. | 2 | |
| 2812834130 | Bildungsroman | a kind of novel that follows the development of the hero or heroine from childhood or adolescence into adulthood, through a troubled quest for identity. The term ('formation-novel') comes from Germany, where Goethe's Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1795-6) set the pattern for later Bildungsromane. Many outstanding novels of the 19th and early 20th centuries follow this pattern of personal growth: Dickens's David Copperfield (1849-50), for example. When the novel describes the formation of a young artist, as in Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), it may also be called a *.KUNSTLERROMAN. For a fuller account, consult Franco Moretti, The Way of the World (1987). | 3 | |
| 2812841208 | Romance | a fictional story in verse or prose that relates improbable adventures of idealized characters in some remote or enchanted setting; or, more generally, a tendency in fiction opposite to that of *REALISM. The term now embraces many forms of fiction from the *GOTHIC NOVEL and the popular escapist love story to the 'scientific romances' of H. G. Wells, but it usually refers to the tales of King Arthur's knights written in the late Middle Ages by Chretien de Troyes (in verse), Sir Thomas Malory (in prose), and many others (see chivalric romance). Medieval romance is distinguished from *EPIC by its concentration on *COURTLY LOVE rather than warlike heroism. Long, elaborate romances were written during the *RENAISSANCE, including Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (1532), Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590-6), and Sir Philip Sidney's prose romance Arcadia (1590), but Cervantes's *PARODY of romances in Don Quixote (1605) helped to undermine this tradition. Later prose romances differ from novels in their preference for *ALLEGORY and psychological exploration rather than realistic social observation, especially in American works like Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Blithedale Romance (1852). Several modern literary *GENRES, from *SCIENCE FICTION to the detective story, can be regarded as variants of the romance (see also fantasy, marvellous). In modern criticism of Shakespeare, the term is also applied to four of his last plays—Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest—which are distinguished by their daring use of magical illusion and improbable reunions. The Romance languages are those languages originating in southern Europe that are derived from Latin: the most important of these are Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese. In Spanish literature, the term has a special sense, the romance [ro-mahn-thay] being a *BALLAD composed in *OCTOSYLLABIC lines. For a fuller account, consult Gillian Beer, The Romance (1970). | 4 | |
| 2812848725 | Romantic Comedy | a general term for *COMEDIES that deal mainly with the follies and misunderstandings of young lovers, in a lighthearted and happily concluded manner which usually avoids serious *SATIRE. The best-known examples are Shakespeare's comedies of the late 1590s, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It being the most purely romantic, while Much Ado About Nothing approaches the *COMEDY OF MANNERS and The Merchant of Venice is closer to *TRAGICOMEDY. See also New Comedy | 5 |
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