AP Language Literary Terms Flashcards

6459908562	Allegory	A narrative in which the characters, behavior, and even the setting demonstrates multiple levels of meaning and significance. Often a universal symbol or a personified abstraction	0
6459908563	Alliteration	The sequential repetition of a similar initial sound, usually applied to consonants, usually in closely proximate stressed syllables	1
6459908564	Allusion	A literary, historical, religious, or mythological reference in a literary work	2
6459908565	Anaphora	The regular repetition of the same words or phrases at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses	3
6459908566	Antithesis	The juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced or parallel words, phrases, grammatical structure, or ideas	4
6459908569	Apostrophe	An address or invocation to something inanimate	5
6459908570	Assonance	The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, usually in successive or proximate words	6
6459908571	Asyndeton	A syntactical structure in which conjunctions are omitted in a series, usually producing more rapid prose	7
6459908573	Begging the question	An argumentative ploy where the arguer sidesteps the question or the conflict, evades or ignores the real question	8
6459908576	Colloquial	A term identifying the diction of the common, ordinary folks, especially in a specific region or area	9
6459908578	Connotation	The implied, suggested, or underlying meaning of a word or phrase	10
6459908579	Consonance	The repetition of two or more consonants with a change in intervening vowels	11
6459908582	Dialect	The language and speech idiosyncrasies of a specific area, region, or group	12
6459908583	Diction	The specific word choice an author uses to persuade or convey tone, purpose or effect	13
6459908586	Epistrophe	In rhetoric, the repetition of a phrase at the end of successive sentences	14
6459908588	Ethos	In rhetoric, the appeal of a text to the credibility and character of the speaker, writer, or narrator	15
6459908589	Eulogy	A speech or written passage in praise of a person; an oration in honor of a deceased person	16
6459908590	Euphemism	An indirect, kinder, or less harsh or hurtful way of expressing unpleasant information	17
6459908592	Extended metaphor	A series of comparisons within a piece of writing. If they are consistently one concept, this is also known as a conceit.	18
6459908593	Figurative Language	Language with levels of meaning expressed through figures of speech such as personification, metaphor, litote, etc.	19
6459908594	Flashback	An earlier event is inserted into the normal chronology of the narration	20
6459908597	Hyperbole	Overstatement characterized by exaggerated language, usually to make a point or draw attention	21
6459908598	Imagery	Any sensory detail or evocation in a work to evoke a feeling, to call to mind an idea, or to describe an object. Involves any or all of the five senses.	22
6459908600	Inference	A conclusion or proposition arrived at by considering facts, observations, or some other specific data. Looking at the clues, learning the facts.	23
6459908601	Irony	The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant. The intended meaning is often the opposite of what is stated, often suggesting light sarcasm.	24
6459908603	Jargon	Specialized or technical language of a trade, profession, or similar group	25
6459908604	Juxtaposition	The location of one thing adjacent to another to create an effect, reveal an attitude, or accomplish some other purpose	26
6459908605	Litote	A figure of speech that emphasizes its subject by conscious understatement	27
6459908606	Loose Sentence	A long sentence that starts with its main clause, which is followed by several dependent clauses and modifying phrases	28
6459908607	Metaphor	One thing pictured as if it were something else, suggesting a likeness or analogy. An implicit comparison or identification of one thing with another, without the use of like or as.	29
6459908608	Metonymy	A figure of speech in which an attribute or commonly associated feature is used to name or designate something	30
6459908610	Mood	A feeling or ambience resulting from the tone of a piece as well as the writer/narrator's attitude and point of view. It is a "feeling" that establishes the atmosphere in a work of literature or other discourse.	31
6459908611	Narrative	A mode of discourse that tells a story of some sort and it is based on sequences of connected events, usually presented in a straightforward, chronological framework	32
6459908612	Onomatopoeia	A word capturing or approximating the sound of what is described. The purpose of these words is to make a passage more effective for the reader or listener.	33
6459908613	Oxymoron	A figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory elements	34
6459908614	Paradox	A statement that seems contradictory but may probably be true	35
6459908615	Parallel Structure	The use of similar forms in writing for nouns, verbs, phrases, or thoughts. In prose, recurrent syntactical similarity where several parts of a sentence or several sentences are expressed alike to show that their ideas are equal in importance.	36
6459908616	Pathos	That element in literature that stimulates pity or sorrow. In argument or persuasion it tends to be the evocation of pity.	37
6459908617	Periodic Sentence	A long sentence in which the main clause is not completed until the end	38
6459908618	Personification	Treating an abstraction or nonhuman object as if it were a person by endowing it with human features or qualities	39
6459908619	Point of View	The relation in which a narrator/author stands to a subject of discourse. Requires the reader to establish the historical perspective of what is being said.	40
6459908620	Prose	The ordinary form of written language without metrical structure in contrast to verse and poetry	41
6459908624	Rhetorical Question	A question that is asked simply for the sake of stylistic effect and is not expected to be answered	42
6459908625	Sarcasm	A form of verbal irony in which apparent praise is actually critical. Can be light, and gently poke fun at something, or it can be harsh and mean	43
6459908626	Satire	A literary work that holds up human failings to ridicule and censure	44
6459908627	Simile	A direct, explicit comparison of one thing to another, using the words like or as	45
6459908629	Symbolism	Use of a person, place, thing, event, or pattern that figuratively represents or "stands for" something else	46
6459908630	Synecdoche	A figure of speech in which a part signifies a whole	47
6459908631	Syntax	The way words are put together to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. Basically, sentence structure.	48
6459908632	Theme	The central or dominant idea or focus of a work. The statement a passage makes about its subject.	49
6459908633	Tone	The attitude the narrator/author has toward the subject and theme. Based on particular stylistic devices employed by the author.	50