AP Literary Terms

67644110	allusion	A reference to another work or famous figure is an allusion
67644111	apostrophe	A figure of speech wherein the speaker talks directly to something that is nonhuman, or absent
67644112	aside	A speech (usually just a short comment) made by an actor to the audience, as though momentarily stepping outside of the action on stage
67644113	colloquialism	This is a word or phrase used in everyday conversational English that isn't a part of accepted "school-book" English. For example, I'm toasted
67644114	double entendre	An expression or term liable to more than one interpretation
67644115	dramatic irony	When the audience knows something that the characters in the drama do not
67644116	ellipsis	the omission of a word or words understood in the context
67644117	epic	In a broad sense, an epic is simply a very long narrative poem on a serious theme in a dignified style
67644118	euphemism	A word or phrase that takes the place of a harsh, unpleasant, or impolite reality
67644119	foil	A secondary character whose purpose is to highlight the characteristics of a main character, usually by contrast
67644120	foreshadow	An event or statement in a narrative that in miniature suggests a larger event that comes later
67644121	hubris	The excessive pride or ambition that leads to the main character's downfall
67644122	hyperbole	exaggeration or deliberate overstatement
67644123	imagery	a word or phrase that appeals to one or more of the senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell
67644124	juxtaposition	the act or instance of placing two things close together or side by side. This is often done in order to compare/contrast the two, to show similarities or differences, etc
67644125	metaphor	metaphor is a comparison, or analogy that states on thing is another
67644126	oxymoron	A phrase composed of opposites; a contradiction
67644127	paradox	A situation or statement that seems to contradict itself, but on closer inspection, does not
67644128	parallelism	Repeated syntactical similarities used for effect
67644129	personification	When an inanimate object takes on human shape
67644130	pun	usually humorous use of a word in such a way to suggest more meanings.
67644131	repetition	a sound, a word, a phrase, a sentence, or a verse that is repeated.
67644132	rhetorical question	a question asked for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer
67644133	simile	like a metaphor but softens the full out equations of things, often, but not always by using like or as
67644134	soliloquy	A speech spoken by a character alone on stage; convey the impression that the audience is listening to the character's thoughts
67644135	tragedy	a dramatic work that presents the downfall of a dignified character who is involved in historically or socially significant event
67644136	tragic hero	potential for greatness but is doomed to fail. He/she is trapped in a situation where he/she cannot win. He/she makes some sort of tragic flaw, and this causes his/her fall from greatness. Even though he/she is a fallen hero, he/she still wins a moral victory, and his/her spirit lives on