AP Language & Literature Terms Flashcards

7242246322	Absolute	a word free from limitations or qualifications - best, all, none, perfect, worst	0
7242246323	Abstract	Complex, discusses intangible qualities like good and evil, seldom uses examples to support its points.	1
7242246324	Absurd	Extremely ridiculous or completely lacking reason; unreasonable or foolish.	2
7242246325	Academic	Dry and rhetorical writing; sucking all the life out of its subject with analysis.	3
7242246326	Accent	In poetry, the stressed portion of a word.	4
7242246327	Active Voice	The opposite of passive voice; a sentence with an active verb. It expresses more energy and command of the essay than does the passive voice.	5
7242246328	Ad hominem argument	An argument attacking an individual's character rather than his or her position on an issue	6
7242246329	Aesthetic	Appealing to the senses; a coherent sense of taste or style.	7
7242246330	Allegory	A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself.	8
7242246331	Alliteration	The repetition of initial consonant sounds.	9
7242246332	Allusion	A reference to another work or famous figure.	10
7242246333	Ambibranch	A poetic foot -- light, heavy, light	11
7242246334	Ambiguity	The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.	12
7242246335	Anachronism	"Misplaced in time." An aspect of a story that doesn't belong in its supposed time setting.	13
7242246336	Analogy	A comparison, usually involving two or more symbolic parts, employed to clarify an action or a relationship.	14
7242246337	Anapest	A poetic foot -- light, light, heavy	15
7242246338	Anaphora	A sub-type of parallelism, when the exact repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive lines or sentences.	16
7242246339	anecdote	A short account of an interesting or humorous incident	17
7242246340	Antecedent	The word, phrase, or clause that determines what a pronoun refers to.	18
7242246341	Anthimeria	substitution of one part of speech for another (for example, changing a noun into a verb)	19
7242246342	Anthropomorphism	When animals are given human characteristics. Often confused with personification.	20
7242246343	Anticlimax	Occurs when an action produces far smaller results than one had been led to expect.	21
7242246344	Antihero	A protagonist who is markedly unheroic: morally weak, cowardly, dishonest, or any number of other unsavory qualities.	22
7242246345	Antithesis	An opposition or contrast of ideas. Balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by means of grammatical structure.	23
7242246346	antonomasia	the substitution of a title, epithet, or descriptive phrase for a proper name; example calling a lover Casanova.	24
7242246347	Aphorism	A short and usually witty saying.	25
7242246348	Apostrophe	A figure of speech wherein the speaker talks directly to something that is nonhuman.	26
7242246349	Apotheosis	Elevation to divine status; the perfect example of something. Making a God of something or someone.	27
7242246350	Appositive	A noun or noun substitute that is placed directly next to the noun it is describing: My student, Sidney, makes me want to retire.	28
7242246351	Archaism	The use of deliberately old-fashioned language.	29
7242246352	Archetype	A detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and to evoke a response	30
7242246353	Argument	a statement of the meaning or main point of a literary work	31
7242246354	Aside	A speech (usually just a short comment) made by an actor to the audience, as though momentarily stepping outside of the action on stage.	32
7242246355	Assonance	The repeated use of vowel sounds: "Old king Cole was a merry old soul."	33
7242246356	Asyndeton	The deliberate omission of conjunctions from series of related independent clauses. The effect is to create a tight, concise, and forceful sentence.	34
7242246357	Atmosphere	The emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene	35
7242246358	Attitude	A speaker's, author's, or character's disposition toward or opinion of a subject.	36
7242246359	balanced sentence	a sentence in which words, phrases, or clauses are set off against each other to emphasize a contrast	37
7242246360	Bathos	A false or forced emotion that is often humorous; Writing strains for grandeur it can't support and tries too hard to be a tear jerker.	38
7242246361	Black humor	The use of disturbing themes in comedy.	39
7242246362	Bombast	Pretentious, exaggeratedly learned language.	40
7242246363	burlesque	ludicrous parody or grotesque caricature; humorous and provocative stage show	41
7242246364	cacophony	(n) harsh-sounding mixture of words, voices, or sounds	42
7242246365	Caricature	A portrait (verbal or otherwise) that exaggerates a facet of personality.	43
7242246366	carpe diem	"Seize the day"; a Latin phrase implying that one must live for the present moment, for tomorrow may be too late.	44
7242246367	Catharsis	Drawn from Aristotle's writings on tragedy. Refers to the "cleansing" of emotion an audience member experiences during a play	45
7242246368	chiasmus	A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed ("Susan walked in, and out rushed Mary."), A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed ("Susan walked in, and out rushed Mary.")	46
7242246369	chorus	A group of characters in Greek tragedy (and in later forms of drama), who comment on the action of a play without participation in it.	47
7242246370	cliché	A worn-out idea or overused expression	48
7242246371	coherence	Marked by an orderly, logical, and aesthetically consistent relation of parts.	49
7242246372	Coinage (neologism)	A new word, usually one invented on the spot.	50
7242246373	Colloquial/Colloquialism	The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing. Not generally acceptable for formal writing, but give a work a conversational, familiar tone. Include local or regional dialect	51
7242246374	Complex (Dense)	Suggesting that there is more than one possibility in the meaning of words.	52
7242246375	Conceit (Controlling Image)	A startling or unusual metaphor, or a metaphor developed and expanded upon several lines.	53
7242246376	concrete	Capable of being perceived by the senses.	54
7242246377	Connotation	Everything other than the literal meaning that a word suggests or implies.	55
7242246378	Consonance	The repetition of consonant sounds within words (rather than at their beginnings)	56
7242246379	cumulative sentence	a sentence in which the main independent clause is elaborated by the successive addition of modifying clauses or phrases	57
7242246380	Deduction	A form of reasoning that begins with a generalization, then applies the generalization to a specific case or cases.	58
7242246381	Denotation	The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color.	59
7242246382	Diction	The words an author chooses to use.	60
7242246383	Didactic	literally means "teaching." These words have the primary aim of teaching or instructing, especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles.	61
7242246384	Dirge	A song for the dead. Its tone is typically slow, heavy, depressed, and melancholy	62
7242246385	Dissonance	Refers to the grating of incompatible sounds.	63
7242246386	Doggerel	Crude, simplistic verse, often in sing-song rhyme, like limericks.	64
7242246387	Dominant Expression	Precisely and clearly expressed or readily observable.	65
7242246388	Dramatic Irony	When the audience knows something that the characters in the drama do not	66
7242246389	Dramatic Monologue	When a single speaker in literature says something to a silent audience.	67
7242246390	Elegiac	Expressing sorrow or lamentation; a work that has a mournful quality.	68
7242246391	Elements	Basic techniques of each genre of literature	69
7242246392	epigram	A concise but ingenious, witty, and thoughtful statement.	70
7242246393	epiphany	A moment of sudden revelation or insight	71
7242246394	epiplexis	(1) A rhetorical term for asking questions to rebuke or reproach rather than to elicit answers; (2) More broadly, a form of argument in which a speaker attempts to shame an opponent into adopting a particular point of view.	72
7242246395	Epistrophe	ending of a series of lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences with the same word or words.	73
7242246396	Epitaph	Lines that commemorate the dead at their burial place.	74
7242246397	Ethos	Appeals to an audience's sense of ethics/morality/trust; Achieved by projecting an image of credibility which supports the speaker's position.	75
7242246398	Euphemism	A word or phrase that takes the place of a harsh, unpleasant, or impolite reality.	76
7242246399	euphony	A succession of harmonious sounds used in poetry or prose; the opposite of cacophony.	77
7242246400	Explicit	To say or write something directly and clearly.	78
7242246401	Extended Metaphor	A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.	79
7242246402	Fallacy	A failure of logical reasoning. Appear to make an argument reasonable, but falsely so.	80
7242246403	Farce	Extremely broad humor; in earlier times, a funny play or a comedy.	81
7242246404	Feminine rhyme	Lines rhymed by their final two syllables. Properly, the penultimate syllables are stressed and the final syllables are unstressed.	82
7242246405	Figurative Language	Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid	83
7242246406	Figure of speech	A device used to produce figurative language. Many compare dissimilar things.	84
7242246407	First person	A narrator who is a character in the story and tells the tale from his or her point of view.	85
7242246408	flat character	a character who embodies a single quality and who does not develop throughout the story	86
7242246409	Foil	A secondary character whose purpose is to highlight the characteristics of a main character, usually by contrast.	87
7242246410	foreshadowing	A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader.	88
7242246411	frame device	a story within a story	89
7242246412	Genre	A sub-category of literature.	90
7242246413	Gerund	a verb ending in 'ing' to serve as a noun - 'Stabbing (used as a noun) is what I do said the thief.'	91
7242246414	Gothic	A sensibility that includes such features as dark, gloomy castles and weird screams from the attic each night.	92
7242246415	grotesque	Commonly used to denote aberrations from the norm of harmony, balance and proportion. Characterized by distortion, exaggeration, absurd, or the bizarre.	93
7242246416	Homily	This term literally means "sermon," but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice.	94
7242246417	Hubris	The excessive pride or ambition that leads to the main character's downfall	95
7242246418	Hyperbole	Exaggeration or deliberate overstatement.	96
7242246419	Idiom	An expression that cannot be understood if taken literally.	97
7242246420	Imagery	The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions; related to the five senses: visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, and olfactory. O	98
7242246421	Implicit	To say or write something that suggests and implies but never says it directly or clearly.	99
7242246422	in medias res	A Latin term for a narrative that starts not at the beginning of events but at some other critical point.	100
7242246423	Inductive Reasoning	A method of reasoning by which a speaker collects a number of instances and forms a generalization that is meant to apply to all instances.	101
7242246424	Inference/infer	To draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented. If it is directly stated, then it is not this.	102
7242246425	Interior Monologue	Refers to writing that records the mental talking that goes on inside a character's head; tends to be coherent.	103
7242246426	Invective	an emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language. (For example, in Henry IV, Part hill of flesh.")	104
7242246427	Inversion	Switching the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase.	105
7242246428	Irony/ironic	The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant, or the difference between what appears to be and what is actually true. there are three major types: (1) verbal - when the words literally state the opposite of the writer's (or speaker's) meaning (2) situational - when events turn out the opposite of what was expected; when what the characters and readers think ought to happen is not what does happen (3) dramatic - when facts or events are unknown to a character in a play or piece of fiction but known to the reader, audience, or other characters in the work.	106
7242246429	Jargon	A pattern of speech and vocabulary associated with a particular group of people. Computer analysis have their own vocabulary, as do doctors, plumbers, etc.	107
7242246430	Juxtaposition	Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts.	108
7242246431	Lampoon	A satire.	109
7242246432	Limited Omniscient	A Third person narrator who generally reports only what one character sees, and who only reports the thoughts of that one privileged character.	110
7242246433	Literary Conceit	A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects Displays intellectual cleverness through unusual comparisons that make good sense	111
7242246434	Litotes	a form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite. Examples: "Not a bad idea."	112
7242246435	Logos	An appeal to reason.	113
7242246436	Loose sentence	A sentence that is complete before its end: Jack loved Barbara despite her irritating snorting laugh.	114
7242246437	Macabre	Grisly, gruesome; horrible, distressing; having death as a subject.	115
7242246438	Malapropism	a word humorously misused: Example, he is the AMPLE of her eye... instead of "he is the APPLE of her eye".	116
7242246439	Masculine rhyme	A rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable (regular old rhyme)	117
7242246440	maxim	a concise statement, often offering advice; an adage	118
7242246441	Meaning	What makes sense, what's important, why the writer/speaker said what he/she said.	119
7242246442	Melodrama	A form of cheesy theater in which the hero is very, very good, the villain mean and rotten, and the heroine oh-so-pure.	120
7242246443	Metaphor	A comparison or analogy that states one thing IS another.	121
7242246444	Metonymy	One word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated (such as crown for royalty).	122
7242246445	Monosyllabic	Having or characterized by or consisting of one syllable.	123
7242246446	Mood	The prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work.	124
7242246447	motif	a principal idea, feature, theme, or element; a repeated or dominant figure in a design	125
7242246448	Narrative	The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events.	126
7242246449	Nemesis	The protagonist's arch enemy or supreme and persistent difficulty.	127
7242246450	neologism	a new word, expression, or usage; the creation or use of new words or senses	128
7242246451	Non Sequitur	This literally means "it does not follow". An argument by misdirection that is logically irrelevant.	129
7242246452	Objectivity	Treatment of subject matter in an impersonal manner or from an outside view.	130
7242246453	Omniscient	A third person narrator who sees into each character's mind and understands all the action going on.	131
7242246454	Onomatopoeia	Words that sound like what they mean	132
7242246455	Opposition	A pairing of images whereby each becomes more striking and informative because it's placed in contrast to the other one.	133
7242246456	Oxymoron	A phrase composed of opposites; a contradiction.	134
7242246457	Parable	A story that instructs.	135
7242246458	Paradox	A situation or statement that seems to contradict itself, but on closer inspection, does not.	136
7242246459	Parallelism	Repeated syntactical similarities used for effect.	137
7242246460	Paraphrase	To restate phrases and sentences in your own words.	138
7242246461	Parenthetical phrase	A phrase set off by commas that interrupts the flow of a sentence with some commentary or added detail.	139
7242246462	Parody	A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.	140
7242246463	Passive Voice	The opposite of active voice; a sentence phrased so something happens to someone: Mordred was bitten by the dog.	141
7242246464	Pathos	An appeal to emotion. May use loaded words to make you feel guilty, happy, angry, confused etc.	142
7242246465	Pedantic	An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish (language that might be described as "show-offy"; using big words for the sake of using big words).	143
7242246466	Pentameter	A poetic line with five feet.	144
7242246467	Periodic Sentence	A sentence that is not grammatically complete until it has reached it s final phrase: Despite Barbara's irritation at Jack, she loved him.	145
7242246468	Persona	The narrator in a non first-person novel.	146
7242246469	Personification	When an inanimate object takes on human shape.	147
7242246470	philippic	a strong verbal denunciation. The term comes from the orations of Demosthenes against Phlip of Macedonia in the fourth century.	148
7242246471	Plaint	A poem or speech expressing sorrow.	149
7242246472	Point of View	The perspective from which the action of a novel is presented.	150
7242246473	Polysyllabic	Having or characterized by words of more than three syllables.	151
7242246474	Polysyndeton	The use of consecutive coordinating conjunctions even when they are not needed. The effect is to render the reader somewhat breathless.	152
7242246475	Prelude	An introductory poem to a longer work of verse	153
7242246476	Prose	one of the major divisions of genre that refers to fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms.	154
7242246477	Protagonist	The main character of a novel or play	155
7242246478	Pun	The usually humorous use of a word in such a way to suggest two or more meanings	156
7242246479	Red Herring	An argument that distracts the reader by raising issues irrelevant to the case. It is like being given too many suspects in a murder mystery.	157
7242246480	Repetition	The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern.	158
7242246481	Rhetoric	From the Greek for "orator," this term describes the principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively.	159
7242246482	rhetorical devices	literary techniques used to heighten the effectiveness of expression	160
7242246483	Rhetorical question	A question that suggests an answer.	161
7242246484	Rhetorical Shift	This occurs when the author of an essay significantly alters his or hers diction, syntax, or both. It isn't exactly a different writer who is writing, but it feels awfully close to it. Important to recognize because they are dramatic and usually occur at critical points in an argument.	162
7242246485	Round character	a character who demonstrates some complexity and who develops or changes in the course of a work	163
7242246486	Sarcasm	From the Greek meaning "to tear flesh," sarcasm involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something.	164
7242246487	Satire	A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule.	165
7242246488	simile	A comparison using like or as	166
7242246489	Simple Sentence	An independent clause. It has a subject and a verb, and that's pretty much it. The giant chopped down the bean tree.	167
7242246490	Slang	Informal language consisting of words and expressions that are not considered appropriate for formal occasions	168
7242246491	Slant (general)	A biased way of looking at or presenting something.	169
7242246492	Simile	A figure of speech when what is unknown is compared to something that is known using "like," "as," or "than".	170
7242246493	solecism	nonstandard grammatical usage; a violation of grammatical rules	171
7242246494	Soliloquy	A speech spoken by a character alone on stage, meant to convey the impression that the audience is listening to the character's thoughts.	172
7242246495	Stock characters	Standard or clichéd character types.	173
7242246496	stream of consciousness	a style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character's mind.	174
7242246497	Subjectivity	A treatment of subject matter that uses the interior or personal view of a single observer and is typically colored with that observer's emotional responses.	175
7242246498	Subjunctive Mood	A grammatical situation involving the words "if" and "were," setting up a hypothetical situation.	176
7242246499	Suggest	To imply, infer, indicate.	177
7242246500	Summary	A simple retelling of what you've just read.	178
7242246501	syllepsis	A kind of ellipsis in which one word (usually a verb) is understood differently in relation to two or more other words, which it modifies or governs.	179
7242246502	Syllogism	a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises (the first one called "major" and the second called "minor") that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion.	180
7242246503	Symbolism	A device in literature where an object represents an idea.	181
7242246504	Synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole or, occasionally, the whole is used to represent a part. Examples: To refer to a boat as a "sail"; to refer to a car as "wheels".	182
7242246505	Synesthesia	when one kind of sensory stimulus evokes the subjective experience of another. Ex: The sight of red ants makes you itchy.	183
7242246506	Syntax	The ordering and structuring of words.	184
7242246507	synthesis	To unite a variety of sources to achieve a common end.	185
7242246508	Technique	The methods and tools of the author.	186
7242246509	Tension	A feeling of excitement and expectation the reader or audience feels because of the conflict, mood, or atmosphere of the work.	187
7242246510	Theme	The main idea of the overall work; the central idea.	188
7242246511	Thesis	The main position of an argument. The writer's statement of purpose.	189
7242246512	Tone	Similar to mood, it describes the author's attitude toward his material, the audience, or both. Easier to determine in spoken language than in written.	190
7242246513	Tragic flaw	In a tragedy, this is the weakness of a character in an otherwise good (or even great) individual that ultimately leads to his demise.	191
7242246514	Travesty	A grotesque parody	192
7242246515	Truism	A way-too obvious truth	193
7242246516	Understatement	the ironic minimalizing of fact; the opposite of hyperbole.	194
7242246517	Unreliable narrator	When the first person narrator is crazy, a liar, very young, or for some reason not entirely credible	195
7242246518	Utopia	An idealized place. Imaginary communities in which people are able to live in happiness, prosperity, and peace.	196
7242246519	verisimilitude	Similar to truth; quality of realism in a work that persuades the reader that he is getting a vision of life as is.	197
7242246520	Wit	in modern usage, intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights. Usually uses terse language that makes a pointed statement.	198
7242246521	Zeugma	a sentence tied together by the same verb or noun. Especially acute if the noun or verb does not have the exact same meaning in both parts of the sentence. She dashed His hopes and out of his life when she waked through the door.	199