AP Literary Terms - 10th, 11th, & 12th

31427103	rhetorical question	question designed to draw attention, pause for thought
31427104	setting	time, place and social context in which a story takes place
31427105	symbol	an image that is itself but also stands for something more
31427106	situational irony	what we expect and what happens are not the same
31427107	repetition	use of key words, phrases, or ideas more than once, in close proximity
31427108	syllogism	a logical deduction that has three parts: a main premise, a secondary premise, and a conclusion
31427109	synecdoche	a part is substituted or used to represent the whole
31427110	sound devices	any of a number of literary elements such as onomatopoeia, alliteration, etc.
31427111	theme	main idea of a work of literature
31427112	sarcasm	cruel, rude form of verbal irony
31427113	scansion	analyzing and graphically marking poetry for stressed and unstressed patterns
31427114	syntax	the way words and phrases are connected to form sentences
31427115	stanza	a group of verse lines of the same structure and rhythm and rhyme scheme
31427116	satire	a type of writing that points out the follies and failings of man
31427117	stream of consciousness	literary style that attempts to capture thoughts, memories, impressions, often without punctuation or structure
31427118	structure	the organized, planned framework of a piece of literature
31427119	stereotyped character	stock character; character created to represent some standard archetypes
31427120	slang	informal words and expressions
31427121	alliteration	repetition of initial consonant sounds
31427122	ambiguity	vague, unclear, in literature, done on purpose
31427123	aphorism	short saying known for its wit and wisdom
31427124	anecdote	a short story used to illustrate a point
31427125	aside	speech in a drama where character speaks his mind and other characters on stage don't "hear"
31427126	bathos	moving from the serious to the ridiculous
31427127	cacophony	harsh sounds; should reflect meaning and content
31427128	cliche	an overused expression that has lost meaning such as quick as lightning
31427129	catharsis	an emotional release - crying, laughing, fear
31427130	apostrophe	addressing an inanimate object as if it were alive and could respond
31427131	antagonist	character in opposition to the protagonist
31427132	assonance	repetition of the same vowel sounds in close proximity
31427133	confidante	one in whom others confide their confidences, secrets
31427134	denotation	dictionary definition of a word
31427135	diction	word choice
31427136	dramatic irony	the reader or audience knows more than the characters
31427137	conceit	an extended metaphor
31427138	consonance	repeated consonant sounds; not at the beginning of words
31427139	couplet	two lines, in successive order, that have end rhyme
31427140	enjambment	when a line of poetry runs from the end of one into another without stopping or pausing for punctuation
31427141	imagery	language that appeals to the five senses; creating pictures with words
31427142	free verse	poetry without formal structure, stanzas, or rhyme scheme
31427143	blank verse	poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter
31427144	heroic couplet	couplet that rhymes and is written in iambic pentameter
31427145	metaphor	a comparison of two dissimilar items through direct comparision
31427146	jargon	specialized language of a group or profession
31427147	quatrain	a verse stanza of four lines
31427148	ode	a long lyrical poem on a serious subject
31427149	narrative	a poem or other work of literature that tells a story
31427150	onomatopoeia	words that sound like they are spelled and create aural imagery like fizz and whirr
31427151	pun	a clever play on words, usually involves double entendres
31427152	tragedy	a work of literature that raises emotions of pity and fear and shows the fall of a noble person
31427153	verbal irony	saying one thing but really meaning another
31427154	vernacular	common every day language
31427155	point of view	the vantage from which a story is told: first or third person, omniscient, limited, or not at all
31427156	narrative pace	speed at which a story and its plot move along; should reflect the content
31427157	meter	the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
31427158	metonymy	a word related to the topic is substituted for it
31427159	protagonist	the main character in a story
31427160	parallel events	events that are similar in scope
31427161	end rhyme	words that rhyme at the ends of lines of poetry
31427162	epic	a long narrative poem that spans a long time period, uses grand language, involves the fate of an entire people, and has a hero of super human characteristics, among other things
31427163	euphemism	using a less offensive word for one that could be offensive
31427164	climax	the point of highest tension in a plot
31427165	ballad	a poem with an abcb rhyme scheme, characters that pop in and out, and have repetition
31427166	characterization	how a character acts and talks, what other characters say about him, and how others react to him
31427167	masculine rhyme	words with one syllable word that rhymes such as man and can
31427168	feminine rhyme	words with two syllables that rhyme such as mister and blister
32631704	simile	an explicit comparison between two unlike things signaled by the use of like or as
32631705	personification	attributing human qualities to an inanimate object
32631706	anaphora	the regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases or causes
32631707	anastrophe	word order is reversed or rearranged
32631708	apposition	the placing next to a noun, another noun or phrase that explains it
32631709	asyndenton	conjunctions are omitted, producing a fast paced and rapid prose
32631710	epanalepsis	repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning
32631711	epistrophe	repetition of the same word or group of words at the ends of successive clauses (opposite of anaphora)
32631712	polysyndenton	the use of many conjunctions to slow the pace
32631713	parenthesis	the insertion of words, phrases, or a sentence that is not syntactically related to the rest of the sentence, set off from the rest of the sentence by dashes or parentheses
32631714	oxymoron	contradiction; two contradictory terms or ideas used together
32631715	paradox	a statement that appears to be contradictory but, in fact, has some truth
32631716	parallelism	expresses similar or related ideas in similar grammatical structures
32631717	chiasmus	grammatical structure of the first clause or phrase is reversed in the second, sometimes repeating the same words
32631718	antithesis	the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas
32631719	zeugma	when two different words that sound exactly alike are yoked together. "He bolted the door and his dinner."
32631720	irony	when the writer takes on another voice or role that states the opposite of what is expressed
32631721	hyperbole	exaggeration; deliberation exaggeration for emphasis
32631722	litotes	opposite of hyperbole; intensifies an idea by understatement
32631723	pathos	the emotional effect an author wishes to achieve on his audience
32631724	ethos	the persona or credibility of an author