AP Literature Vocab Flashcards

4805728377	Allegory	The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form	0
4805736707	Alliteration	The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of several words in a line of poetry. ie. Marilyn Monroe	1
4805742299	Ambiguity	When an author leaves out details/information or is unclear about an event so the reader will use his/her imagination to fill in the blanks	2
4805758055	Anaphora	Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines in a poem	3
4805777929	Anecdote	A short story or joke told at the beginning of a speech to gain the audience's attention	4
4805781074	Antagonist	The protagonist's adversary	5
4805785623	Anti-climatic	When the ending of the plot in poetry or prose is unfulfilling or lackluster	6
4805789100	Apostrophe	When a character speaks to a character or object that is not present or unable to respond	7
4805800998	Assonance	The repetition of the same vowel sound in a phrase or line of poetry	8
4805802757	Blank Verse	Name for unrhymed iambic pentameter. An iamb is a metrical foot in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable. In iambic pentameter there are five iambs per line making ten syllables	9
4805824557	Climax	The turning point in the plot or the high point of action	10
4805827276	Colloquial Language	Informal, conversational language. Colloquialisms are phrases or sayings that are indicative of a specific religion	11
4805831432	Connotation	An idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing, ie. bat=evil	12
4805836150	Convention	An understanding between a reader and a writer about certain details of a story that does not need to be explained	13
4805839063	Consonance	The repetition of consonant sounds in a phrase or line of poetry. The consonant sound may be at the beginning, middle, or end of the word.	14
4805851054	Couplet	Two rhyming lines in poetry	15
4805887470	Dues ex machine	Term that refers to a character or force that appears at the end of a story or play to help resolve conflict. Word means "god from a machine".	16
4805895670	Diction	Word choice or the use of words in speech or writing	17
4805896538	Denouement	The final resolution or clarification of a dramatic or narrative plot	18
4805915307	Doppelganger	The alter ego or a character- the suppressed side of one's personality that is usually unaccepted by society. ie. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson	19
4805928528	Elegy	A poem or song composed especially as a lament for a deceased person	20
4805934062	Emotive Language	Deliberate use of language by a writer to instill a feeling or visual	21
4805937513	Enjambment	The continuation of reading one line of a poem to the next with no pause, a run-on line	22
4805941612	Epic	An extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a legendary or traditional hero	23
4805948371	Epilogue	A short story or speech spoken directly to the audience following the conclusion of a play, or in a novel the epilogue is a short explanation at the end of the book which indicates what happens after the plot ends	24
4805954731	Epiphany	Sudden enlightenment or realization, a profound new outlook or understanding about how the world usually attained while doing everyday mundane activities	25
4805964137	Epistolary	Used to describe a novel that tells its story through letters written from one character to another	26
4805971387	Euphemism	The act of substituting a harsh, blunt, or offensive comment for a more politically accepted or positive one. ie. short=vertically challenged	27
4805982390	Euphony	A succession of words which are pleasing to the ear. These words may be alliterative, utilize consonance, or assonance are are often used in poetry but are also seen in prose	28
4805994079	Expansion	Adds an unstressed syllable and a contraction or elipson removes an unstressed syllable in order to maintain the rhythmic meter of a line. This practice explains some words frequently used in poetry such as th' in place of the, o'er in place of over, 'tis or 'twas in place of it is/it was	29
4806014470	Fable	A usually short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point and often employing as characters animals that speak and act like humans	30
4806022669	Feminine ending	Term that refers to an unstressed syllable at the end of a line of iambic pentameter	31
4806026418	Figurative language	Speech or writing that departs from literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect or meaning. Speech or writing employing figures of speech	32
4806059191	Flashback	When a character remembers a past event that is relevant to the current action of the story	33
4806061659	Flat character	A literary character that whose personality can be defined by one or two traits and does not change over the course of the story. Usually insignificant or minor	34
4806071885	Foil	A character that by contrast underscores or enhances the distinctive characteristics of another	35
4806079586	Folklore	The traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people or culture, transmitted orally	36
4806085756	Foot	The metrical length of a line is determined by the number of feet it contains	37
4806395187	Iamb	An iambic foot has two syllables. The first is unstressed and the second is stressed. Most common in English poetry	38
4806397316	Trochee	A trochaic foot has two syllables. The first is stressed and the second is unstressed	39