AP Literature - Semester 1 Word List (A-G) Flashcards

4919302311	Accent	the stressed portion of a word	0
4919302312	Allegory	an extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities and in which the writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface story; the underlying meaning may be moral, religious, political, social, or satiric	1
4919302313	Alliteration	the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close to one another	2
4919304263	Anachronism	an event, object, custom, person, or thing that is out of order in time	3
4919304264	Anecdote	a short, simple narrative of an incident	4
4919305678	Aphorism	a short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life	5
4919305679	Apostrophe	usually in poetry (not grammar, but sometimes in prose) the device of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place, thing, or personified abstraction either to begin a poem or to make a dramatic break in thought somewhere within the poem	6
4919305680	Aside	a brief speech or comment that an actor makes to the audience, supposedly without being heard by the other actors on stage; often used for melodramatic or comedic effect	7
4919305681	Assonance	the repetition of vowel sounds between different consonants	8
4919308240	Folk Ballad	one of the earliest forms of literature, this ballad was usually sung and was passed down orally from singer to singer; its author (if a single author) is generally unknown, and its form and melody often changed according to a singer's preference	9
4919308241	Literary Ballad	also called an art ballad, this is a ballad that imitates the form and spirit of the folk ballad, but is more polished and uses a higher level of poetic diction	10
4919311327	Blank Verse	poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter; a favorite form used by Shakespeare	11
4919311328	Cacophony	harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose	12
4919311329	Catharsis	the emotional release that an audience member experiences as a result of watching a tragedy	13
4919313443	Chorus	in Greek drama, a group of characters who comments on the action taking place on stage	14
4919313444	Classicism	the principles and styles admired in the classics of Greek and Roman literature, such as objectivity, sensibility, restraint, and formality	15
4919315617	Colloquialism	a word or phrase used in everyday conversation and informal writing that is sometimes inappropriate in formal writing	16
4919320176	Conceit	an elaborate figure of speech in which two seemingly dissimilar things or situations are compared	17
4919325914	Consonance	the repetition of identical consonant sounds before and after different vowel sounds	18
4919349890	Conundrum	a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun; may also be a paradox or difficult problem	19
4919360338	Diction	word choice	20
4919360339	Elegy	a formal poem focusing on death or mortality, usually beginning with the recent death of a particular person	21
4919360340	End Rhyme	a rhyme that comes at the end of lines of poetry	22
4919360341	Epic	a long narrative poem about a serious or profound subject in a dignified style; usually featuring heroic characters and deeds important in legends	23
4919361768	Epigram	a concise, witty saying in poetry or prose that either stands alone or is part of a larger work; may also refer to a short poem of this type	24
4946019661	Euphony	a succession of harmonious sounds used in poetry or prose	25
4946019662	Exemplum	a brief tale used in medieval times to illustrate a sermon or teach a lesson	26
4946020578	Exposition	the immediate revelation to the audience of the setting and other background information necessary for understanding the plot	27
4946020579	Farce	a light, dramatic composition characterized by broad satirical comedy and a highly improbable plot	28
4946020580	Figurative Language	language that contains figures of speech such as similes and metaphors in order to create associations that are imaginative rather than literal	29
4946021747	Figures of Speech	expressions such as similes, metaphors, and personifications that make imaginative, rather than literal, comparisons or associations	30
4946022376	Foil	a character who, by contrast, highlights the characteristics of another character	31
4946022377	Folklore	traditional stories, songs, dances, and customs that are preserved among a people; folklore usually precedes literature, being passed down orally between generations until recorded by scholars	32
4946022378	Anapest (foot)	two unstressed followed by one stressed syllable	33
4946024198	Dactyl (foot)	one stressed followed by two unstressed syllables	34
4946024199	Spondee (foot)	two successive stressed syllables	35
4946025205	Trochee (foot)	one stressed followed by one unstressed syllable	36
4946025206	Foreshadowing	the use of a hint or clue to suggest a larger event that occurs later in the work	37
4946025207	Free Verse	poetry that is written without a regular meter, usually without rhyme	38
4946025745	Genre	a type of literary work, such as a novel or poem; there are also subgenres, such as science fiction novel and sonnet, within the larger genres	39
4946025746	Gothic	referring to a type of novel that emerged in the eighteenth century that uses mystery, suspense, and sensational and supernatural occurrences to evoke terror	40