AP Literature - Literary Terms Flashcards

5889413602	allegory	A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.	0
5889413603	alliteration	It is a stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series.	1
5889413604	allusion	A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance.	2
5889413605	anagram	a word or phrase spelled by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase	3
5889413606	antecedent	The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.	4
5889413607	antagonist	A character or force in conflict with the main character	5
5889413608	anaphora	A rhetorical figure of repetition in which the same word or phrase is repeated in (and usually at the beginning of) successive lines, clauses, or sentences.	6
5889413611	aphorism	A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life.	7
5889413612	apostrophe	A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.	8
5889413613	assonance	Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity	9
5889413615	blank verse	Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter	10
5889413616	caesura	A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.	11
5889413619	conceit	A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects.	12
5889413620	connotation	All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests	13
5889413621	consonance	Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.	14
5889413622	couplet	A pair of rhymed lines that may or may not constitute a separate stanza in a poem.	15
5889413624	denotation	Dictionary definition of a word	16
5889413625	denouement	an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot	17
5889413626	diction	The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing	18
5889413627	didactic	Intended to instruct; teaching, or teaching a moral lesson	19
5889413629	euphemism	An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant	20
5889413630	end-stopped line	A line that ends with a natural speech pause, usually marked by punctuation	21
5889413631	enjambment	A run-on line of poetry in which logical and grammatical sense carries over from one line into the next.	22
5889413632	epitaph	A brief statement written on a tomb or gravestone	23
5889413633	epic	A long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society	24
5889413634	epistolary	A piece of literature contained in or carried on by letters	25
5889413635	flashback	A method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events	26
5889413636	foreshadowing	A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader.	27
5889413637	foot	A metrical unit composed of stressed and unstressed syllables.	28
5889413638	frame story	A secondary story or stories embedded in the main story	29
5889413639	free verse	Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme	30
5889413641	hamartia	tragic flaw which causes a character's downfall	31
5889413642	heroic couplet	A pair of rhymed, iambic pentameter lines.	32
5889413644	hubris	Excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy	33
5889413645	hyperbole	A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor	34
5889413646	iamb	A common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line with five feet or accents, each foot containing an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable.	35
5889413647	imagery	Descriptive or figurative language in a literary work; the use of language to create sensory impressions.	36
5889413648	irony	A contrast or discrepancy between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen.	37
5889413649	verbal irony	In this type of irony, the words literally state the opposite of the writer's true meaning	38
5889413650	situational irony	Occurs when the outcome of a work is unexpected, or events turn out to be the opposite from what one had expected	39
5889413651	dramatic irony	Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play.	40
5889413652	jargon	Special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand	41
5889413653	juxtaposition	Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts	42
5889413654	kenning	A device employed in Anglo-Saxon poetry in which the name of a thing is replaced by one of its functions or qualities.	43
5889413655	metaphor	A comparison that establishes a figurative identity between objects being compared.	44
5889413656	meter	A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry	45
5889413658	mood	Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader	46
5889413659	motif	(n.) a principal idea, feature, theme, or element; a repeated or dominant figure in a design	47
5889413665	octave	a verse form consisting of eight lines of iambic pentameter	48
5889413667	onomatopoeia	A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words.	49
5889413668	oxymoron	A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.	50
5889413670	parable	A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson	51
5889413671	paradox	A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.	52
5889413672	parallelism	Phrases or sentences of a similar construction/meaning placed side by side, balancing each other	53
5889413673	parody	A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.	54
5889413675	pentameter	a rhythm in poetry that has five stressed syllables in each line (five metrical feet)	55
5889413677	personification	A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes	56
5889413678	plot	Sequence of events in a story	57
5889413679	point of view	The perspective from which a story is told	58
5889413682	protagonist	Chief character in a dramatic or narrative work, usually trying to accomplish some objective or working toward some goal.	59
5889413683	pun	A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.	60
5889413684	quatrain	4 line stanza	61
5889413685	refrain	A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem.	62
5889413686	rhetorical question	A question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer	63
5889413687	end rhyme	A word at the end of one line rhymes with a word at the end of another line	64
5889413688	eye rhyme	rhyme that appears correct from spelling but does not rhyme because of pronunciation	65
5889413690	internal rhyme	A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line	66
5889413691	slant rhyme	rhyme in which the vowel sounds are nearly, but not exactly the same (i.e. the words "stress" and "kiss"); sometimes called half-rhyme, near rhyme, or partial rhyme	67
5889413693	satire	A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies.	68
5889413694	sestet	a rhythmic group of six lines of verse	69
5889413696	sonnet	14-line lyric poem focused on a single theme; usually written in iambic pentameter	70
5889413697	symbol	A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.	71
5889413698	synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa	72
5889413699	syntax	Arrangement of words in phrases and sentences	73
5889413700	theme	A topic of discussion or writing; a major idea broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary work.	74
5889413701	tone	A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization on the sentence and global levels.	75
5889413702	understatement	the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.	76