AP English Literature Terms Flashcards

6745980870	foreshadowing	to hint at or to present an indication of the future beforehand in a work of literature	0
6745980871	enjambment	the continuation of a sentence from one line of a poem to the next with no punctuation between the lines.	1
6745980872	pastoral	a work that describes the simple life of country folk who live in a timeless, painless life in a world full of beauty, music and love; bucolic, idyll	2
6745980873	ode	a lyric poem that is somewhat serious in subject and treatment, elevated in style and sometimes uses elaborate stanza structure, which is often patterned in sets of three	3
6745980874	antithesis	the juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced or parallel words, phrases, grammatical structure, or ideas	4
6745980875	apostrophe	an address or invocation to something that is inanimate	5
6745980876	denotation	a direct and specific meaning, often reffered to as the dictionary definition of a word	6
6745980877	blank verse	the verse form consisting of unrhymed lines in iambic pentameter	7
6745980878	caesura	pause in the midst of a line of verse, indicated by a distinct grammatical stop, such as a period or semi-colon.	8
6745980879	antagonist	any force that is in opposition to the main character	9
6745980880	colloquial	ordinary language, the vernacular	10
6745980881	theme	a generalized, abstract insight/statement of the dominant idea or concern of a work. More than one word.	11
6745980882	couplet	two rhyming lines of iambic pentameter that together present a single idea or connection	12
6745980883	dialect	the language and speech idiosyncrasies of a specific area, region, or group of people	13
6745980884	synechdoche	when a part is used to signify a whole, as in "All hands on deck!" (hands = sailors)	14
6745980885	diction	the specific word choice an author uses to persuade or convey tone, purpose, or effect	15
6745980886	syntax	the way words are put together to form phrases, clauses, and sentences	16
6745980887	flashback	retrospection, where an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronology of the narrative	17
6745980888	elegy	a poetic lament upon the death of a particular person, usually ending in consolation	18
6745980889	epic	a poem that celebrates, in a continuous narrative, the achievements of mighty heroes and heroines, often concerned with the founding of a nation or developing of a culture	19
6745980890	allusion	a reference to a literary work or historical/fictional person, image or place	20
6745980891	extended metaphor	a detailed and complex metaphor that extends over a long section of a work; see conceit.	21
6745980893	in-media-res	refers to opening a story in the middle of the action, necessitating filing in past details by exposition or flashback; literally, "in the midst of things"	22
6745980894	formal diction	language that is lofty, dignified, and impersonal	23
6745980895	exposition	that part of the structure of a plot that sets the scene, introduces and identifies characters, and establishes the situation at the beginning of a story or play	24
6745980896	satire	a literary work that holds up human or societal failing to ridicule	25
6745980897	alliteration	the sequential repetition of the same initial sound, usually applied to consonants, usually heard in closely proximate words	26
6745980898	style	a distinctive manner of expression expressed through an author's diction, rhythm, imagery, and more	27
6745980899	free verse	poetry that is characterized by varying line lengths, lack of traditional meter, and non-rhyming lines	28
6745980901	hyperbole	overstatement characterized by exaggerated language	29
6745980902	iambic	a metrical foot in poetry that consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable	30
6745980903	conceit	a comparison of two unlikely things that is drawn out within a piece of literature; in particular, an extended metaphor within a poem	31
6745980904	motif	a recurrent device, formula, or situation that often serves as a signal for the appearance of a character or event	32
6745980905	dramatic monologue	also, a soliloquy; a monologue set in a specific situation and spoken to an imaginary audience	33
6745980906	imagery	any sensory detail or evocation in a work; relates to all of the senses, not only visual.	34
6745980908	irony	a situation or statement characterized by a significant difference between what is expected or understood and what actually happens or is meant	35
6745980909	lyric	any short poem in which the speaker expresses intense personal emotion rather than desciribing a narrative or dramatic situation; a sonnet and ode are two examples	36
6745980910	consonance	the repetition within a series of words of a consonant sound	37
6745980911	mood	a feeling or ambiance created for the reader through the use of various techniques such as imagery, tone, etc.	38
6745980912	metaphor	an implicit comparison of two unlike things	39
6745980914	allegory	a prose or poetic narrative in which the characters, behavior, and even the setting demonstrates multiple levels of meaning and significance; often is a universal symbol or personified abstraction	40
6745980915	tone	the attitude a literary work takes toward its subject and theme	41
6745980916	narrative structure	a textual organization based on sequences of connected events, usually presented in a straightforward, chronological framework	42
6745980917	narrator	the character who tells the story	43
6745980918	connotation	what is suggested by a word, apart from what it explictly describes	44
6745980919	3rd person omniscient narration	a perspective that can present insights from multiple characters' thoughts, feelings and actions.	45
6745980920	oxymoron	a figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory elements, sometimes resulting in a humorous image or statement	46
6745980921	parable	a short fiction that illustrates an explicit moral lesson through the use of analogy	47
6745980922	realism	the practice in literature of attempting to describe nature and life without idealization and with attention to detail	48
6745980923	juxtaposition	placement of two items (words, ideas, images) side by side to create a certain effect, usually contrast.	49
6745980924	anecdote	a brief story or tale used to make a point	50
6745980925	structure	the organization or arrangement of the various elements in a work	51
6745980926	parallel structure	the use of similar forms in writing for nouns, verbs, phrases, or thoughts; maintains balance and symmetry	52
6745980928	refrain	a repeated stanza or line(s) in a poem or song	53
6745980929	quatrain	a poetic stanza of four lines	54
6745980930	rhyme	the repetition of the same final syllable's or syllables' sound(s), most often at the ends of lines	55
6745980931	simile	a direct, explicit comparison of two things, using like or as to draw the connection	56
6745980932	solioquy	a monologue in which the character in a play is alone and speaking only to himself or herself	57
6745980933	protagonist	the main character in a work who may or may not be heroic	58
6745980934	assonance	repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, usually in close proximity	59
6745980935	personification	treating an abstraction or nonhuman object as if it were a person by endowing it with human qualitites	60
6745980936	Shakespearean sonnet	a sonnet form divided into three quatrains and one couplet; also called an English sonnet	61
6745980937	onomatopoeia	a word capturing or approximating the sound of what it describes	62
6745980938	speaker	the person, not necessarily the author, who is the voice of the poem	63
6745980939	symbolism	a person, place, or thing in a literary work that designates itself and at the same time figuratively represents something else	64
6745980940	Petrarchan sonnet	a sonnet form divided into an octave and a sestet; also called an Italian sonnet	65
6745980941	setting	the time and place of the action in a story, poem, or play	66
6745980942	tragedy	a drama in which a character, usually of noble or high rank, is brought to a disastrous end in confrontation with a superior force	67
6745980944	paradox	a statement that seems contradictory but may actually be true	68
6745980945	rhythm	the modulation of weak and strong (stressed and unstressed) elements in the flow of speech	69
6745980950	denouement	the end of a play, book, etc., in which everything is explained or settled; the end result of a situation	70
6745980956	foil	a character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character	71
6745980957	aside	a remark or passage by a character in a play that is intended to be heard by the audience but unheard by the other characters in the play.	72
6746208473	metonymy	a figure of speech that consists of the use of the name of one object or concept for that of another to which it is related. Example: "suits" to represent business professionals or "the track" to represent horse racing.	73
6746345422	Near or slant rhyme	a type of rhyme formed by similar but not identical sounding words -- rant and hand for example.	74
6746357301	cacophony	a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds, used for effect	75
6746363635	euphony	the quality of being pleasing to the ear through the use of harmonious sounding words	76
6746376911	point of view	the perspective taken in a work of literature; can be first person (I), second person (you - used rarely), or third person limited or omniscient	77
6746386750	third person limited point of view	an external narration that delves into the thoughts and feelings of only one character, presenting other characters merely through their actions, appearance and words.	78
6746396031	internal rhyme	rhymed words that occur within lines of poetry, not at the ends of lines.	79
6746400292	dramatic irony	a literary technique by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character	80