AP Literature Terms Flashcards

5389699707	Diction	The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.	0
5389705909	Denotation	The literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.	1
5389705910	Connotation	An idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.	2
5389708274	Formal Diction	Contains language that creates and elevated tone. It is free of slang, idioms, colloquialisms, and contractions. It often contains polysyllabic words, sophisticated syntax, and elegant word choice.	3
5389708275	Informal Diction	The relaxed, conversational language that we use every day and is used to address a familiar audience such as family or friends.	4
5389711117	Colloquialism	A word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation.	5
5389714048	Abstract Diction	The language (words and phrases) we use to describe qualities that cannot be perceived with our five senses (sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing).	6
5389714049	Concrete Diction	Consists of specific words that describe physical qualities or conditions.	7
5389717459	Figurative Language	Using figures of speech to be more effective, persuasive and impactful.	8
5389717460	Simile	A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid.	9
5389720019	Metaphor	A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.	10
5389724148	Personification	The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.	11
5389724149	Analogy	A comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification.	12
5389727097	Extended Metaphor	Refers to a comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem.	13
5389729155	Hyperbole	Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.	14
5389729156	Understatement	The presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.	15
5389732215	Paradox	A statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory.	16
5389732216	Situational Irony	When something happens that is very different than what was expected.	17
5389735442	Verbal Irony	When words express something contrary to truth or someone says the opposite of what they really feel or mean. It is often sarcastic.	18
5389735443	Dramatic Irony	Occurs when the audience knows something that some characters in a narrative do not.	19
5389738632	Imagery	Visually descriptive or figurative language.	20
5389738633	Syntax	The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.	21
5389741767	Simple Sentence	A sentence consisting of only one clause, with a single subject and predicate.	22
5389741768	Complex Sentence	Contains an independent clause and at least one dependent clause.	23
5389745735	Inverted Syntax	Occurs when lines do not follow traditional sentence patterns, for example when the subject and verb or the object and subject are reversed.	24
5389745736	Tone	Expresses the writer's attitude toward or feelings about the subject matter and audience.	25
5389746698	Mood	Evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions.	26
5389654922	Plot	Refers to the sequence of events inside a story which affect other events through the principle of cause and effect.	27
5389654923	Elements of a Conventional Narrative		28
5389667338	Protagonist		29
5389667339	Antagonist		30
5389671355	Bildungsroman		31
5389673052	Epiphany		32
5389675768	Round (dynamic) Characters		33
5389679096	Flat (static) characters		34
5389681012	Foil		35
5389681013	Stock Characters		36
5389686508	Direct Characterization		37
5389689315	Indirect Characterization		38
5396000166	Unreliable Narrator	The perspective of someone who is naive, mentally ill, biased, corrupt, or immoral.	39
5396010422	Omniscient	Readers have access to what all the characters are thinking and feeling.	40
5396012326	Limited Omniscient	Narrator tells us what just one major or minor character is thinking and feeling.	41
5396017864	Objective Narrator	Recounts only what characters say and do, offering no insight into their thinking or analysis of events. Think of the it as a camera that films events.	42