AP Literature Flashcards

5832739999	denotation	a dictionary definition of a word	0
5832742513	social commentary	when an author utilizes a text to comment about a particular society	1
5832745803	paradox	a statement that appears to be self-contradictory, but still makes sense	2
5832751439	juxtaposition	two or more ideas, characters, actions, settings, phrases, or words arranged in close proximity for the purpose of highlighting their differences, but also for the purpose of comparison	3
5832761557	bildungsroman	a special kind of novel that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of its main character from his/her youth to adulthood	4
5832766410	hyperbole	exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally	5
5832769634	flashback	an interruption that writers use to insert past events in order to provide background or context to the current events of a narrative	6
5832776648	pathos	a quality of an experience in life or a work of art that stirs up emotions of pity, sympathy and sorrow	7
5832781002	couplet	two lines of verse usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit	8
5832784064	hamartia	a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine	9
5832787605	parable	a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson	10
5832789965	epic	a long, serious poem that tells the story of a heroic figure	11
5832792741	elegy	a sad and thoughtful poem about the death of an individual or thing	12
5832794736	deus ex machina	a plot device where a problem is suddenly solved with an unexpected intervention of some new character, ability, or object	13
5832802124	narrative	a poem or piece of prose that tells a story	14
5832805175	dialogue	a conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie	15
5832808013	saga	a long story of heroic achievement	16
5832811358	theme	the message of the text	17
5832812097	bathos	fake sentimentality, or real but exaggerated	18
5832818393	villanelle	a 19 line poem of 5 three line stanzas and a concluding quatrain	19
5832822268	satire	the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues	20
5832831663	shift/turn	a change in mood or attitude that's typically accompanied by a corresponding change in the focus and language of a literary scene, passage, or theme	21
5832836183	apostrophe	a figure of speech in which some absent or nonexistent person or thing is addressed as if present or capable of understanding	22
5832841220	allusion	a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, literary, or political significance	23
5832846881	hubris	excessive pride or self-confidence	24
5832848379	connotation	an implied meaning of a word	25
5832850494	3rd person limited	the narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of one character	26
5832852749	alliteration	the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words	27
5832856537	repetition	a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer	28
5832859858	idyll	a lyric poem or passage that describes a kind of ideal life or place	29
5832863291	extended metaphor	refers to a comparison between two unlike things that continue throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem	30
5832869023	onomatopoeia	the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named	31
5832873499	oxymoron	a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms placing them side by side, and they also make sense	32
5832876796	protagonist	the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text	33
5832881071	tercet	a set or group of three lines of verse rhyming together or connected by rhyme with an adjacent tercet	34
5832955471	lyric	a poem that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet	35
5832957795	antagonist	a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something	36
5832961413	antithesis	it involves using contradictory phrases in close conjunction	37
5832966148	epithalamium	a poem written in honor of a bride, groom, or wedding	38
5832970860	monologue	a long speech by one actor in a play or movie, as part of a theatrical or broadcast program	39
5832974140	auditory	ears	40
5832975492	visual	eyes	41
5832975493	olfactory	smell	42
5832977132	gustatory	taste	43
5832978167	kinesthetic	touch	44
5832979545	blank verse	a poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter	45
5832986765	tone	an attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience	46
5832991935	foil	a character that contrasts with another character and highlights various facets of the main character's personality	47
5832995832	allegory	a story with two meanings, literal and symbolic	48
5833000192	conceit	develops a comparison which is exceedingly unlikely, but is intellectually imaginative with the help of similes and metaphors	49
5833012380	enjambment	the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza	50
5833016454	catharsis	the process of releasing, and providing relief from strong and repressed emotions	51
5833186884	parallelism	parts of the sentence are grammatically the same, or are similar in construction	52
5833189786	figurative language	using figures of speech to be more effective, persuasive, and impactful	53
5833194499	parody	an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect	54
5833212526	personification	when human characteristics are given to something that is nonliving	55
5833217896	diction	word choice	56
5833219152	symbol	a thing that represents or stands for something abstract	57
5833221289	simile	a figure of speech that compares to unlike things using like or as	58
5833223768	quatrain	a stanza of four lines	59
5833225021	red herring	misleads readers or characters or to induce them to make false conclusions	60
5833228574	anachronism	a representation of something as existing or occurring at other than its proper time in history	61
5833233380	euphemism	makes something harsh or offensive sound better	62
5833238021	structure	the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex	63
5833247204	soliloquy	an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers	64
5833250998	foreshadowing	a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story	65
5833255216	caricature	a picture, description, or imitation of a person or thing in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic effect	66
5833262801	meiosis	when a speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious that in it is, creating an ironic contrast	67
5833267768	end-stopped lines	when a line of poetry ends with a period or definite punctuation marks	68
5833272600	metonymy	the substitution of a name with something that is closely related	69
5833284159	expose	a public exposure or revelation, as of something discreditable	70
5833286312	didactism	a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature and other types of art	71
5833290494	synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa	72
5833294480	point of view	the narrator's position in relation to the story being told	73
5833296758	litotes	a form of understatement in which a speaker makes a statement indirectly, denying the opposite	74
5833301098	rhyme scheme	the ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse	75
5833303543	1st person	when the main character is telling the story	76
5833305701	sonnet	a lyric poem that consists of 14 lines which usually have one or more conventional rhyme schemes	77
5833308876	pastoral	a poem that depicts rural life in a peaceful, romanticized way	78
5833310909	epitaph	a commemorative inscription on a tomb or a mortuary monument written to praise the deceased	79
5833313758	selection of detail	the specific words, incidents, images, or events the author uses to create a scene or narrative	80
5833317436	dramatic monologue	a type of poem which is spoken to a listener and the speaker addresses a specific topic, while the listener unwittingly reveals details about themselves	81
5833325313	irony	the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect	82
5833331501	sestina	a 39 line poem of six, six line stanzas, and a three line stanza called an envoy	83
5833334970	free verse	poetry written in unrhymed lines that have no set fixed metrical pattern	84
5833339047	3rd person omniscient	the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all the characters in the story	85
5833341583	assonance	the repetition of the sound of a vowel	86
5833343705	ode	a poem dedicated to someone or something	87
5833345090	syntax	the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language	88
5833349210	mood	a literary element that evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions	89
5833353356	heroic couplet	a pair of rhyming iambic pentameters	90
5833354748	anaphora	the repetiton of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses	91
5833356991	triplet	three lines that rhyme	92
5833358399	omniscient narrator	the teller of the tale is all knowing on the story being told	93
5833361459	analogy	a comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification	94
5833366307	ballad	a poem that tells a story similar to a folktale or legend	95
5833368555	exposition	a comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory	96
5833371134	metaphor	a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, especially something abstract	97
5833384489	reflection	a contemplation or a long consideration	98