AP Literature Unit 21 Vocabulary Flashcards

2447331559	palindrome	a word or phrase that reads the same backward as forward; tradition goes back to ancient Greece and Rome (Ex. "Madam, I'm Adam")	0
2447348613	flashback	method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events--usually in the form of a character's memories, dreams, narration, or even authorial commentary (Ex. Willy Loman's memories)	1
2447375184	diction	choice of a particular word as opposed to others; used to influence reader's reaction, create tone, and impact writing style (Ex. rock formation = stone, boulder, outcropping, pile of rocks, cairn, mound, or "anomalous geological feature.")	2
2448086110	concrete diction	language that describes qualities that can be perceived with the senses; calling a fruit "cool" or "sweet" is concrete; the word sweat is concrete (Ex. There were some dirty plates and a glass of milk beside her on a small table near the rank, disheveled bed" -Williams)	3
2448097560	abstract diction	language that describes qualities that cannot be perceived with the five senses; calling a fruit "pleasant" or "good" is abstract; the word domesticity is abstract (Ex. "Hope springs eternal in the human breast, / Man never is, but always to be, blest" - Pope)	4
2448301443	high/formal diction	involves elaborate, technical, or polysyllabic vocabulary and careful attention to the proprieties of grammar; creates serious or lofty tone (Ex. "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on" - Keats)	5
2448306498	low/informal diction	involves conversational or familiar language, contractions, slang, grammatical errors, etc; designed to convey a relaxed tone (Ex. The wonder is I didn't see at once. / I never noticed it from here before. / I must be wonted to it - that's the reason. / The little graveyard where my people are! - Frost)	6
2448450666	elision	removal of an unstressed syllable, consonants, or letters from a word or phrase to decrease the number of letters or syllables in order to mix words together; used to maintain meter (Ex. Whereby whole cities have escap'd the plague, And thousand desperate maladies been cur'd? The god thou serv'st is thine own appetite, Wherein is fix'd the love of Belzebub - Marlowe)	7
2448508561	Harlem Renaissance	period of writing, poetry, music, and art among black Americans during the 1920s and 1930s; marked by the mass migration of black citizens to the urban North (Ex. Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, Countee Cullen, Sterling Brown, Zora Neale Hurston, and Langston Hughes)	8
2448527334	synesthesia	presenting ideas, characters, or places in such a manner that they appeal to more than one sense at a given time; creates vivid ideas and adds layers of meaning (Ex. "Tasting of Flora and the country green, / Dance, and Provencal song, and sun burnt mirth!" - Keats)	9