AP Literature Terms Flashcards

3665767885	anaphora	the regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of two or more successive phrases or clauses.	0
3665776754	chiasmus	a reversal in the word order of words in two otherwise parallel sentences	1
3665782294	apostrophe	the direct address to an absent or dead person, or to an object, quality, or idea.	2
3665790643	hyperbole	a rhetorical figure in which emphasis is achieved through exaggeration	3
3665796471	metaphor	figurative language that describes something as though it actually were something else	4
3665851994	metonymy	the substitution of one term for another that is generally associated with it. (ex. the crown declared that the man would be executed.)	5
3665855766	synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole (ex. all hands on deck)	6
3665867023	onomatopoeia	the use of words that sound like a noise	7
3665869525	paradox	a statement or expression so surprisingly self-contradictory but ends up being true on some level	8
3665883618	parallelism	the use of similar grammatical structures or word order.	9
3665890150	personification	the use of human characteristics to describe animals, things, or ideas.	10
3665896899	point of view	the perspective that a narrator takes toward the events it describes	11
3665904185	protagonist	the central character in a story	12
3665905595	pun	a witty word-play which reveals that words with different meanings have similar or even identical sounds	13
3665910145	satire	writing that ridicules or holds up to contempt the faults of individuals or groups	14
3665920882	polysyndeton	the repetition of conjunctions in a sentence	15
3665924957	asyndeton	the omission of conjunctions in a sentence	16
3665929908	archetype	a symbol found in many cultures	17
3665943360	dramatic irony	a situation where the audience knows something that the characters on stage are not aware of	18
3665952167	allusion	a reference to a piece of literature, character, historical figure that the author assumes the reader will recognize	19
3666026827	dramatic climax	the turning point in a Shakespearean tragedy where the action turns against the protagonist	20
3666036036	diction	the word choices made by a writer	21
3666037710	didactic	having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing	22
3666052891	flat (static) character	a character who embodies a single quality and who does not develop in the course of a story	23
3666059529	dynamic (round) character	a character who undergoes a change or transformation in the course of a story	24
3666063544	exposition	the beginning portion of Freytag's pyramid where the background information, characters and setting are introduced	25
3666067342	exciting force	the spark or complication that "gets the action going" in the play the event that sets the plot into motion	26
3666073892	rising action	Events leading up to the climax	27
3666075102	denouement (catastrophe)	The final outcome of the main dramatic complication in a literary work or the outcome of a complicated sequence of events	28
3666082781	omniscient narrator	a narrator who is able to know, see, and tell all, including the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters	29
3666097652	theme	Central idea of a work of literature	30
3666098956	tone	A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization on the sentence and global levels.	31
3855209496	deus ex machina	an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel	32