AP Literature Quiz Terms Flashcards

4953779776	Allegory	A narrative in either verse or prose, in which characters, action, and sometimes setting represent abstract concepts apart from the literal sense of the story	0
4953821735	Alliteration	The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words or within words, particularly in accented syllables.	1
4953841711	Allusion	A reference to a person event, place work of art, etc.	2
4953858962	Analogy	A comparison made between two objects, situations, or ideas that are somewhat alike but unlike in most respects.	3
4953879612	Antagonist	A character in a story or play who opposes the chief character , or protagonist.	4
4953890393	Apostrophe	A figure of speech in which an absent person, an abstract concept, or an inanimate object is directly addressed.	5
4953915066	Archetype	A symbol, story pattern, or character type that recurs frequently in literature and evokes strong, often unconscious, associations in the reader. ex: Damsel in distress, evil genius	6
4953938174	Assonance	The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in stressed syllables or words.	7
4954046892	Ballad	A narrative passed on, or composed, in the oral tradition. It often makes use of repetition and dialogue.	8
4954060008	Blank Verse	Unrhymed Iambic pentameter	9
5000106549	Caesura	A pause in a line of verse, usually near the middle. It most often reflects the sense of the line and is greater than a normal pause between words.	10
5000656353	Characterization	The methods an author uses to develop the personality of a character in a literary work.	11
5000669049	Climax	The decisive point in a story or play, after which the action changes course and begins to resolve itself.	12
5000683912	Complication	A circumstance that complicates something (?)	13
5000692056	Connotation	The emotional associations surrounding a word as opposed to the word's literal meaning, or denotation.	14
5000699973	Consonance	the repetition of consonant sounds that are preceded by different vowel sounds.	15
5000705188	Couplet	A pair of rhyming lines with identical meter.	16
5000709826	Denotation	The strict, literal meaning of a word	17
5000715339	Denouement	The resolution of the plot.	18
5000717191	Dialect	A form of speech characteristic of a particular region or class, differing from the standard language.	19
5088878945	Diction	The author's choice of words and phrases in a literary work	20
5088884999	Dramatic Irony	A situation in which events or facts not known to a character on stage or in a fictional work are known to the audience or reader	21
5088929679	Dynamic Character	A literary, or dramatic character who undergoes an important inner change, as in change in personality or attitude	22
5088963788	Elegy	A solemn, reflective poem, usually about death, written in formal style.	23
5088976822	Exposition	Background information about the setting, characters and other elements of a story or play.	24
5088990496	Extended Metaphor	A metaphor that is developed at great length, often through a whole work or great part of it.	25
5089006223	Figurative Language	Language used in a non-literal way for the purpose of emphasis, clarification, or a special effect.	26
5089061089	Epic	A long narrative poem (originally handed down in oral tradition - later a literary form) dealing with great heroes and adventures; having a national, world-wide, or cosmic setting; involving supernatural forces; and written in a deliberately ceremonial style.	27
5089096716	First-person	Using pronouns such as 'I' or 'we' and presents information according to what a character (the narrator) knows, experiences, or infers.	28
5089136394	Flashback	An event or scene taking place before the present time in the narrative is inserted into the chronological structure of the work	29
5139636174	Flat Character	An easily recognized character type in fiction who may not be fully delineated but is useful to carry out some narrative purpose of the author.	30
5139636175	Foil	A character whose traits are different from those of a comparable character, and who thus points up the strengths or weaknesses of the other character.	31
5139638811	Foreshadowing	A clue given to the reader or audience of what is to come	32
5139638812	Frame	A narrative device presenting a story or group of stories with in the frame of a larger narrative.	33
5139641216	Free Verse	A type of poetry that differs from conventional verse forms in being "free" from a fixed pattern of meter and rhyme, but using rhythm and other poetic devices.	34
5139641217	Hyperbole	A figure of speech involving great exaggeration.	35
5139644924	Imagery	The sensory details that provide vividness in a literary work and tend to arouse emotions in a reader that abstract language would not.	36
5139644925	Inference	A reasonable conclusion about the behavior of a character or the meaning of an event, drawn from the limited information presented by the author.	37
5139647557	Inversion	An inverting of the usual order of the words or parts of a sentence, primarily for emphasis or to achieve a certain rhythm or rhyme.	38
5139647558	Irony	The term used to describe a contrast between what is claimed to be and what really is.	39
5230205382	Irony of Situation	The irony is sustained over the whole work. There is sometimes a naive spokesman, who is not aware of the discrepancy between what he says and what the author intends.	40
5230206807	Lyric	A poem, usually short, that expresses the emotion or state of mind of only one speaker. It usually creates a single impression.	41
5230206808	Metaphor	A figure of speech that establishes an identity between two basically unlike things.	42
5230210182	Metonymy	A figure of speech in which a term closely associated with a person or thing is made to stand for it.	43
5230210183	Mood	The overall atmosphere or prevailing emotional aura of a work, sometimes established at the beginning.	44
5230210184	Motif	A situation that recurs in various works or in various parts of the same work.	45
5230213909	Narrative Poetry	Poetry that tells a story or recounts a series of events.	46
5230213910	Ode	A lyric poem, formal in style and complex in form, often written in commemoration or celebration of a special quality, object, or occasion.	47
5230217732	Onomatopoeia	A word or words used in such a way that the sound imitates the sound of the thing spoken of.	48
5230223486	Paradox	A statement or situation that seems to be self-contradicting but has valid meaning.	49
5249901166	Parallelism	An arrangement of parts of a sentences, paragraph, or other unit of composition in which one element equal in importance to another is similarly developed and phrased.	50
5249903165	Parody	A humorous imitation of serious writing.	51
5249911806	Pastoral	A conventional form of lyric poetry presenting an idealized picture of rural life.	52
5249913556	Persona	The mask of the author as expressed by an important character in a particular work.	53
5249915928	Personification	The representation of abstractions, ideas, or inanimate objects as living, or even human, beings..	54
5249915929	Plot	A series of related happenings in a literary work.	55
5249918621	Point of View	The narrative situation a writer uses to present the action and characters of a story.	56
5249918622	Protagonist	The leading character or hero in a literary work.	57
5249921303	Rhyme	The exact repetition of sounds in at least the final accented syllables of two or more words.	58
5249938853	Rhythm	In verse, the arrangement into patterns of stressed and unstressed sounds.	59
5344235393	Round Character	Fully developed and acts according to complex and believable patterns of emotion, motivation, and behavior.	60
5344235394	Satire	The literary form that employs wit to ridicule characters in a work who represent some social institution or human foible, with intention of inspiring self-reform.	61
5344237926	Scansion	The result of scanning, or marking off lines of poetry into feet and indicating the stressed and unstressed syllables.	62
5344237927	Setting	The time, place, and social situation in which the action of a work occurs.	63
5344238027	Simile	A figure of speech involving a direct comparison, using "like" or "as," between two basically unlike things that are asserted to have something in common.	64
5344239852	Sonnet	A lyric poem with a traditional form of fourteen iambic pentameter lines.	65
5344239853	Static Character	Remain the same throughout the course of the narrative, untouched by events and people they encounter	66
5344242982	Stereotype	A conventional over-simplified character, plot, or setting that possess little or no individuality but that may be used for a purpose.	67
5344247127	Stream of Consciousness	The recording or re-creation of a character's flow of thought.	68
5344249152	Style	The distinctive handling of language by an author.	69
5360230869	Symbol	A concrete image, such as an object, action, character, or scene, that signifies something bigger, such as a concept or idea.	70
5360233087	Synecdoche	A figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole.	71
5360234519	Syntax	The arrangement of words and phrases	72
5360234520	Theme	The underlying meaning of a literary work.	73
5360235383	Third-person Limited	Narrator knows and relates the thoughts of one particular character in the story.	74
5360236047	Third-person Objective	Narrator describes only what can be seen, recording events like a newspaper reporter or a camera.	75
5360236497	Third-person Omniscient	Narrator is able to relate the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of any or all characters.	76
5360236498	Tone	The author's attitude, either stated or implied, toward his or her subject matter and toward the audience.	77
5360237538	Verbal Irony	The surface meaning of words is opposite to the intended, underlying meaning.	78
5360238323	Verisimilitude	The appearance of truth or reality in fiction.	79
5450456982	Anapest	A three-syllable metrical foot consisting of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable, as in the word "interfere"	80
5450456983	Aphorism	A brief saying embodying a moral	81
5450460237	Cacophony	A succession of harsh, discordant sounds in either poetry or prose, used to achieve a specific effect.	82
5450462517	Caricature	Exaggeration of prominent features of appearance or personality.	83
5450462518	Chorus	In Greek tragedy, a group of actors who sing and dance their commentary on the dialogue taking place in the drama.	84
5450467564	Classicism	The style of literature created by the ancient Greeks and Romans, characterized by attention to form; by order, restraint, and balance in the treatment of content; and by an absence of the values associated with Romanticism.	85
5450467565	Comedy	A play or other work written primarily to amuse the reader or audience.	86
5450470122	Dactyl	A three-syllable metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables, as in the word "odyssey"	87
5450470123	Epigram	Any short, witty verse or saying, often ending with a wry twist.	88
5450475336	Epilogue	A concluding section added to a work in order to round it out or to comment on it.	89
5518384044	Fable	A brief tale in which the characters' actions point out a moral truth.	90
5518385058	Folk Literature	A type of early literature passed orally from generation to generation, and written down later.	91
5518385059	Foot	A group of syllables in verse, usually consisting of one stressed syllable and one or more unstressed syllables.	92
5518385700	Heroic Couplet	A pair of rhymed verse lines in iambic pentameter	93
5518389453	Iamb	A two-syllable metrical foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable as in the word "until."	94
5518389454	Lay	A short narrative poem, especially one written in french during the middle ages and based on legend.	95
5518390552	Legend	A story handed down from the past, often associated with some period in the history of a people.	96
5518390553	Masque	A short amateur dramatic court entertainment with more emphasis on music, costumes, and scenery than on poetry.	97
5518391201	Miracle Play	A type of play produced during the late medieval and early Renaissance periods, based on the life of Jesus, on stories from the bible, or especially on legends of the saints.	98
5518391202	Moral	The lesson or inner meaning to be learned from a fable, tale, or other story.	99
5615461407	Morality Play	A type of play popular in the 1400s and 1500s in which the characters are personifications of abstract qualities such as vice, virtue, mercy, shame, wealth, knowledge, ignorance, poverty, and perseverance.	100
5615461408	Myth	A traditional story connected with the beliefs of a people, usually attempting to account for something in nature or history.	101
5615461409	Naturalism	Writing that depicts events as rigidly determined by the forces of heredity and environment, which are conceived of as being indifferent to human desires.	102
5615465762	Neoclassicism	Writing of a later period that shows the influence of the Greek and Roman classics.	103
5615465763	Parable	A brief fictional work that concretely illustrates an abstract idea or teaches some lesson or truth.	104
5615472814	Petrarchan Sonnet	A sonnet that can be divided into eight opening lines rhyming abba abba and six concluding lines rhyming cde cde or cd cd cd.	105
5615521624	Prologue	A section preceding the main body of work and serving as an introduction to it, sometimes with thematic importance.	106
5615521625	Proverb	A short, well-known saying, often handed down from the past, that expresses an obvious truth or familiar observation about life.	107
5615524668	Rationalism	A philosophy that emphasizes the role or reason rather than of experience or of faith in answering the basic questions of human existence.	108
5615526641	Realism	A way of representing life that emphasizes ordinary people in believable experiences.	109
5729761750	Refrain	The repetition of one or more lines that emphasizes ordinary people in believable experiences.	110
5729761751	Romance	A long narrative in poetry or prose that originated in the medieval period.	111
5729764471	Romanticism	A type of literature that tends to portray the uncommon.	112
5729764472	Saga	A medieval Scandinavian prose account of the battles and ways of a legendary Norse family hero, placing much emphasis on genealogy and featuring violent men and outspoken women.	113
5729771169	Shakespearean Sonnet	Rhymed abab cdcd efef gg, presenting a four-part structure in which an idea or theme is developed in three quatrains and then brought to a conclusion in the couplet.	114
5729771170	Slant Rhyme	Rhyme in which the vowel sounds are not quite identical.	115
5729776608	Soliloquy	A dramatic convention that allows a character alone on stage to speak his or her thoughts aloud.	116
5729788086	Tale	A simple prose or verse narrative, either true or fictional, in which the main interest is in the events themselves, rather than in the structure or the meaning of the events.	117
5729792500	Tragedy	Dramatic or narrative writing in which the main character suffers disaster after a serious and significant struggle, but faces her downfall in such a way as to attain heroic stature.	118
5729792501	Trochee	A metrical foot made up of one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable, as in the word "answer"	119
5807861352	Aside	A remark or passage by a character in a play that is intended to be heard by the audience but unheard by the other characters in the play. (or) A remark that is not directly related to the main topic of discussion.	120
5807861704	Aubade	A poem or piece of music appropriate to the dawn or early morning.	121
5870756200	Catharsis	The purging of emotions or relieving of emotional tensions, especially through certain kinds of art, tragedy or music	122
5870775366	Character	Features or traits; moral or ethical quality	123
5870799350	Comic Relief	An amusing episode in a serious or tragic literary work, especially a drama, that is introduced to relieve tension	124
5870802834	Conflict	The struggle between two opposing forces.	125
5870810373	Convention	A rule, method, or practice established by usage; custom. An agreement, compact, or contract.	126
5974029623	Deus Ex Machina	An unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel.	127
5974053209	Dramatic Monologue	A lyric poem in which the speaker addresses someone whose replies are not recorded.	128
5974128414	Enjambment	(in verse) the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.	129
6032735978	Euphony	Pleasing or sweet sound; especially : the acoustic effect produced by words so formed or combined as to please the ear	130
6032735979	Form	The shape and structure of something as distinguished from its material	131
6060241341	Idyll	An extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque episode or scene, typically an idealized or unsustainable one.	132
6060241342	Image	A physical likeness or representation of a person, animal, or thing, photographed, painted, sculptured, or otherwise made visible.	133
6060246246	Impressionism	The depiction of scene, emotion, or character by details intended to achieve a vividness or effectiveness more by evoking subjective and sensory impressions than by recreating an objective reality	134
6060273954	Lyric Poetry	A formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person.	135
6060289189	Metaphysical Poetry	Highly intellectualized poetry marked by bold and ingenious conceits, incongruous imagery, complexity and subtlety of thought, frequent use of paradox, and often by deliberate harshness or rigidity of expression	136
6060289190	Meter	The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.	137
6132771524	Monologue	The speaker addresses someone whose responses are not recorded. A character alone on stage speaks his or her thoughts aloud.	138
6132771525	Narrative Poem	Poetry that tells a story or recounts a series of events.	139
6132774573	Narrator	The teller of a story.	140
6132774574	Octave	Eight-line stanza that presents a proposition, dilemma, or question.	141
6132777281	Oxymoron	A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction.	142
6271088742	Parallel Plot	The writer weaves two or more dramatic plots that are usually linked by a common character and a similar theme.	143
6271088743	Pathos	The quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature, music, speech, or other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of pity, or of sympathetic and kindly sorrow or compassion.	144
6271091054	Quatrain	A stanza of four lines, especially one having alternate rhymes.	145
6271091055	Resolution	The conclusion of a story which ties up all the loose ends in the plot.	146
6271095554	Rhetorical Question	A question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer.	147
6311002986	Sestet	Six-line stanza that provides a comment, application, or solution.	148
6311033815	Sestina	A poem with six stanzas of six lines and a final triplet, all stanzas having the same six words at the line-ends in six different sequences that follow a fixed pattern, and with all six words appearing in the closing three-line envoy.	149
6346100052	Spondee	A metrical foot of two stressed syllables, as in "Great Scott!"	150
6346100053	Stage Directions	Directions given by the author of a play to indicate the action, costumes, setting, arrangement of the stage, and so on.	151
6355927328	Stanza	A group of lines that are set off to form a division in a poem, sometimes linked with other stanzas by a rhyme scheme.	152
6355935197	Structure	The arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex. The quality of being organized.	153
6355936818	Subplot	A secondary plot, or a strand of the main plot that runs parallel to it and supports it.	154
6355938042	Tercet	A three-lined stanza or poem that often contains a rhyme.	155
6355939659	Tragic hero	A literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.	156
6355939744	Understatement	A figure of speech employed by writers or speakers to intentionally make a situation seem less important than it really is.	157
6355946750	Villanelle	A poetic device which requires a poem to have 19 lines and a fixed form.	158
6417006176	Abstract	Words or phrases that name things not knowable through the five senses.	159
6417006177	Concrete	Pertaining to or concerned with realities or actual instances rather than abstractions.	160
6638179408	Situational Irony	A contrast between what is expected or intended and what actually happens.	161
6638180853	Litotes	A figure of speech which employs an understatement by using double negatives or, in other words, positive statement is expressed by negating its opposite expressions.	162
6638180854	Ambiguity	A word, phrase, or statement which contains more than one meaning.	163
6698516650	Antithesis	A rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect.	164
6698516817	Polysyndeton	A stylistic device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect.	165
6698520257	Anacoluthon	"lacking sequence". It is a stylistic device and is defined as a syntactic deviation and interruption within a sentence from one structure to another.	166
6698522712	Colloquialism	The use of informal words, phrases or even slang in a piece of writing.	167
6698522713	Jargon	A use of specific phrases and words by writers in a particular situation, profession or trade.	168
6745899951	Metric Feet	Unit of measurement repeated in a line of poetry.	169
6745899952	Amphibrach	A long syllable between two short syllables.	170
6745899953	Metric Lines	Line named according to the number of feet composing it.	171
6745899954	Rhyme Scheme	Any pattern of rhyme in a stanza.	172
6745899955	Ballad stanza	Stanza consisting of four alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and trimester. 2nd and 4th line rhyme.	173