AP Literature - Literary Terms Flashcards

4946378215	allegory	A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.	0
4946378216	alliteration	It is a stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series.	1
4946378217	allusion	A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance.	2
4946378218	anagram	a word or phrase spelled by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase	3
4946378219	antecedent	The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.	4
4946378220	antagonist	A character or force in conflict with the main character	5
4946378221	anaphora	A rhetorical figure of repetition in which the same word or phrase is repeated in (and usually at the beginning of) successive lines, clauses, or sentences.	6
4946378222	anastrophe	Inversion of the natural or usual word order	7
4946378223	antithesis	A balancing of two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses.	8
4946378224	aphorism	A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life.	9
4946378225	apostrophe	A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.	10
4946378226	assonance	Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity	11
4946378227	asyndeton	A series of words separated by commas (with no conjunction), e.g. "I came, I saw, I conquered." The parts of the sentence are emphasized equally; in addition, the use of commas with no intervening conjunction speeds up the flow of the sentence.	12
4946378228	blank verse	Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter	13
4946378229	caesura	A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.	14
4946378230	cacophony	Harsh, discordant, or meaningless mixture of sounds	15
4946378231	cadence	Rhythmic rise and fall	16
4946378232	conceit	A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects.	17
4946378233	connotation	All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests	18
4946378234	consonance	Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.	19
4946378235	couplet	A pair of rhymed lines that may or may not constitute a separate stanza in a poem.	20
4946378236	dactyl	A stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables	21
4946378237	denotation	Dictionary definition of a word	22
4946378238	denouement	an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot	23
4946378239	diction	The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing	24
4946378240	didactic	Intended to instruct; teaching, or teaching a moral lesson	25
4946378241	dirge	a funeral hymn or mournful speech	26
4946378242	euphemism	An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant	27
4946378243	end-stopped line	A line that ends with a natural speech pause, usually marked by punctuation	28
4946378244	enjambment	A run-on line of poetry in which logical and grammatical sense carries over from one line into the next.	29
4946378245	epitaph	A brief statement written on a tomb or gravestone	30
4946378246	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	31
4946378247	epistolary	A piece of literature contained in or carried on by letters	32
4946378248	flashback	A method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events	33
4946378249	foreshadowing	A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader.	34
4946378250	foot	A metrical unit composed of stressed and unstressed syllables.	35
4946378251	frame story	A secondary story or stories embedded in the main story	36
4946378252	free verse	Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme	37
4946378253	genre	A category or type of literature (or of art, music, etc.) characterized by a particular form, style, or content.	38
4946378254	hamartia	tragic flaw which causes a character's downfall	39
4946378255	heroic couplet	A pair of rhymed, iambic pentameter lines.	40
4946378256	hexameter	A line of poetry that has six metrical feet.	41
4946378257	hubris	Excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy	42
4946378258	hyperbole	A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor	43
4946378259	iamb	A common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line with five feet or accents, each foot containing an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable.	44
4946378260	imagery	Descriptive or figurative language in a literary work; the use of language to create sensory impressions.	45
4946378261	irony	A contrast or discrepancy between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen.	46
4946378262	verbal irony	In this type of irony, the words literally state the opposite of the writer's true meaning	47
4946378263	situational irony	Occurs when the outcome of a work is unexpected, or events turn out to be the opposite from what one had expected	48
4946378264	dramatic irony	Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play.	49
4946378265	jargon	Special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand	50
4946378266	juxtaposition	Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts	51
4946378267	kenning	A device employed in Anglo-Saxon poetry in which the name of a thing is replaced by one of its functions or qualities.	52
4946378268	metaphor	A comparison that establishes a figurative identity between objects being compared.	53
4946378269	meter	A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry	54
4946378270	metonymy	A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it	55
4946378271	mood	Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader	56
4946378272	motif	(n.) a principal idea, feature, theme, or element; a repeated or dominant figure in a design	57
4946378273	motivation	A psychological factor that provides a directional force or reason for behavior.	58
4946378274	narration	The purpose of this type of rhetorical mode is to tell the story or narrate an event or series of events.	59
4946378275	novel	A long fictional narrative written in prose, usually having many characters and a strong plot.	60
4946378276	novella	A short novel usually under 100 pages.	61
4946378277	novelette	When a novel is short and has chapters reffered to as vignettes	62
4946378278	octave	a verse form consisting of eight lines of iambic pentameter	63
4946378279	ode	A lyric poem usually marked by serious, respectful, and exalted feelings toward the subject.	64
4946378280	onomatopoeia	A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words.	65
4946378281	oxymoron	A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.	66
4946378282	paean	song of joy or triumph; a fervent expression of joy	67
4946378283	parable	A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson	68
4946378284	paradox	A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.	69
4946378285	parallelism	Phrases or sentences of a similar construction/meaning placed side by side, balancing each other	70
4946378286	parody	A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.	71
4946378287	pedantic	An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish.	72
4946378288	pentameter	a rhythm in poetry that has five stressed syllables in each line (five metrical feet)	73
4946378289	persona	A pattern of relatively permanent traits, dispositions, or characteristics that give some consistency to people's behavior.	74
4946378290	personification	A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes	75
4946378291	plot	Sequence of events in a story	76
4946378292	point of view	The perspective from which a story is told	77
4946378293	polysyndeton	Deliberate use of many conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted. Hemingway and the Bible both use extensively. Ex. "he ran and jumped and laughed for joy"	78
4946378294	prosody	Appropriate expression when reading. Includes pitch (intonation), loudness, stressing phrases, etc.	79
4946378295	protagonist	Chief character in a dramatic or narrative work, usually trying to accomplish some objective or working toward some goal.	80
4946378296	pun	A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.	81
4946378297	quatrain	4 line stanza	82
4946378298	refrain	A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem.	83
4946378299	rhetorical question	A question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer	84
4946378300	end rhyme	A word at the end of one line rhymes with a word at the end of another line	85
4946378301	eye rhyme	rhyme that appears correct from spelling but does not rhyme because of pronunciation	86
4946378302	forced rhyme	when two words don't really rhyme together, but an author uses similar spelled, or sounding words to try to create a rhyme; Ex: stone, one	87
4946378303	internal rhyme	A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line	88
4946378304	slant rhyme	rhyme in which the vowel sounds are nearly, but not exactly the same (i.e. the words "stress" and "kiss"); sometimes called half-rhyme, near rhyme, or partial rhyme	89
4946378305	rhyme scheme	A regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem	90
4946378306	satire	A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies.	91
4946378307	sestet	a rhythmic group of six lines of verse	92
4946378308	shifts/turns	Changes in the speaker's attitude. Look for key words such as but, yet, however, and although, punctuation, and stanza division.	93
4946378309	sonnet	14-line lyric poem focused on a single theme; usually written in iambic pentameter	94
4946378310	symbol	A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.	95
4946378311	synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa	96
4946378312	syntax	Arrangement of words in phrases and sentences	97
4946378313	theme	A topic of discussion or writing; a major idea broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary work.	98
4946378314	tone	A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization on the sentence and global levels.	99
4946378315	understatement	the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.	100
4946378316	villanelle	A French verse form calculated to appear simple and spontaneous but consisting of nineteen lines and a prescribed pattern of rhymes.	101