AP Literature Terms Flashcards

5009919341	anaphora	the regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of two or more successive phrases or clauses.	0
5009919342	chiasmus	a reversal in the word order of words in two otherwise parallel sentences	1
5009919343	apostrophe	the direct address to an absent or dead person, or to an object, quality, or idea.	2
5009919344	hyperbole	a rhetorical figure in which emphasis is achieved through exaggeration	3
5009919345	metaphor	figurative language that describes something as though it actually were something else	4
5009919346	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
5009919347	synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole (ex. all hands on deck)	6
5009919348	onomatopoeia	the use of words that sound like a noise	7
5009919349	paradox	a statement or expression so surprisingly self-contradictory but ends up being true on some level	8
5009919350	parallelism	the use of similar grammatical structures or word order.	9
5009919351	personification	the use of human characteristics to describe animals, things, or ideas.	10
5009919352	point of view	the perspective that a narrator takes toward the events it describes	11
5009919353	pun	a witty word-play which reveals that words with different meanings have similar or even identical sounds	12
5009919354	satire	writing that ridicules or holds up to contempt the faults of individuals or groups	13
5009919355	polysyndeton	the repetition of conjunctions in a sentence	14
5009919356	asyndeton	the omission of conjunctions in a sentence	15
5009919357	archetype	a symbol found in many cultures	16
5009919358	dramatic irony	a situation where the audience knows something that the characters on stage are not aware of	17
5009919359	allusion	a reference to a piece of literature, character, historical figure that the author assumes the reader will recognize	18
5009919360	diction	the word choices made by a writer	19
5009919361	didactic	having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing	20
5009919362	exposition	the beginning portion of Freytag's pyramid where the background information, characters and setting are introduced	21
5009919363	denouement (catastrophe)	The final outcome of the main dramatic complication in a literary work or the outcome of a complicated sequence of events	22
5009919364	theme	Central idea of a work of literature	23
5009919365	tone	A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization on the sentence and global levels.	24