AP English Literature Flashcards

Review the most important literary terms for the AP Exam! All the words have appeared on actual AP literature tests administered in 2008, 2009, and 2012.

Terms : Hide Images [1]

769525249	brevity	briefness or conciseness in speech or writing	0
769525250	irony	incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs	1
769525252	synecdoche	A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassin), the general for the specific (as thief for pickpocket), or the material for the thing made from it (as steel for sword).	2
769525253	paradox	a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.	3
769525254	understatement	the opposite of exaggeration. It is a technique for developing irony and/or humor where one writes or says less than intended.	4
769525255	anticlimax	letdown in thought or emotion; something unexciting, ordinary, or disappointing coming after something important or exciting	5
769525257	mock heroic	a form of satire in which trivial subjects, characters or events are treated with the elevated language and elaborate devices characteristic of the heroic style.	6
769525258	allegory	A literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions	7
769525259	ambivalent	simultaneously feeling opposing feelings; uncertain	8
769525260	syntax	sentence structure	9
769525261	exhortation	a communication intended to urge or persuade the recipients to take some action	10
769525262	elegiac	expressing sorrow often for something past	11
769525264	antithesis	the juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas to give a feeling of balance	12
769525265	epiphany	a moment of sudden revelation or insight	13
769525267	couplet	a stanza consisting of two successive lines of verse	14
769525269	pragmatic	concerned with practical matters	15
769525271	somber	grave or even gloomy in character	16
769525272	condescending	patronizing	17
769525273	indignant	angered at something unjust or wrong	18
769525274	equivocation	falsification by means of vague or ambiguous language	19
769525275	allusion	indirect reference	20
769525277	diction	word choice	21
769525279	aesthetic	concerning or characterized by an appreciation of beauty or good taste	22
769525280	usurpation	wrongfully seizing and holding (an office or powers) by force (especially the seizure of a throne or supreme authority)	23
769525282	stealthy	marked by quiet and caution and secrecy	24
769525284	aloof	remote in manner	25
769525286	colloquial	characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation	26
769525287	didactic	instructive (especially excessively)	27
769525289	oxymoron	conjoining contradictory terms (as in 'deafening silence')	28
769525291	secular	concerning those not members of the clergy	29
769525292	tactile	producing a sensation of touch, Pertaining to the sense of touch	30
769525294	tercet	three line stanza	31
769525296	refrain	a regularly repeated line or group of lines in a poem or song	32
769525297	forthright	characterized by directness in manner or speech	33
769525299	discursive	(of e.g. speech and writing) tending to depart from the main point or cover a wide range of subjects, proceeding to a conclusion by reason or argument rather than intuition	34
769525301	speculative	not based on fact or investigation	35
769525302	laconic	brief and to the point	36
769525304	feign	make believe with the intent to deceive	37
769525306	flippant	lacking in seriousness; disrespectful, saucy	38
769525307	quizzical	perplexed (as if being expected to know something that you do not know), playfully vexing (especially by ridicule)	39
769525309	tone	The attitude of the author toward the audience and characters (e.g., serious or humorous).	40
769525311	rhetoric	using language effectively to please or persuade	41
769525313	expository	explanatory	42
769525315	hyperbole	an exaggeration	43
769525316	imagery	Language that appeals to the senses	44
769525318	epigrammatic	of the nature or in the style of an epigram; concise, clever, and amusing, terse and witty and like a maxim	45
769525320	nostalgic	wishing for a return to the way things used to be; longing for the past; homesick	46
769525322	vehement	marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions	47
769525324	paraphrase	to restate in other words	48
769525325	parallelism	phrases or sentences of a similar construction/meaning placed side by side, balancing each other	49
769525327	analogy	a similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them	50
769525329	conjecture	reasoning that involves the formation of conclusions from incomplete evidence	51
769525330	convention	accepted manner, model, or tradition	52
769525331	idyllic	charming in a rustic way; naturally peaceful	53
769525332	interjection	an exclamation; an interruption	54
769525333	Victorian	belonging to, made in or living in the time when Queen Victoria was queen of Britain (1837-1901)	55
769525334	disparaging	expressive of low opinion	56
769525335	pastoral	a literary work idealizing the rural life (especially the life of shepherds)	57
769525336	juxtapose	to place side by side, especially for comparison or contrast	58
769525337	anecdote	a brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event	59