AP English Literature and Composition Literary Terms Flashcards

Important literary terms frequently used on the AP Literature and Composition Exam.

3757343090	Absolute	a word free from limitations or qualifications ("best", "all", "unique", "perfect")	0
3757343091	Adage	a familiar proverb or wise saying	1
3757343092	Ad Hominem Argument	an argument attacking an individual's character rather than his or her position on an issue	2
3757343093	Allegory	a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions	3
3757343094	Alliteration	the repitition of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words	4
3757343095	Allusion	a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize	5
3757343096	Analogy	a comparison of two different things that are similar in some way	6
3757343097	Anaphora	the repitition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences	7
3757343098	Anecdote	a brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event	8
3757343099	Antecedent	the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers	9
3757343100	Antithesis	a statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced	10
3757343101	Aphorism	a concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance	11
3757343102	Apostrophe	a figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction	12
3757343103	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	13
3757343104	Argument	a statement of the meaning or main point of a literary work	14
3757343105	Asyndeton	a construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjuctions	15
3757343106	Balanced Sentence	a sentence in which words, phrases, or clauses are set off against each other to emphasize a contrast	16
3757343107	Bathos	insincere or overly sentimental quality of writing/speech intended to evoke pity	17
3757343108	Chiasmus	a statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed ("Susan walked in, and out rushed Mary")	18
3757343109	Cliche	an expression that has been overused to the extent that its freshness has worn off	19
3757343110	Colloquialism	informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing	20
3757343111	Complex Sentence	a sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause	21
3757343112	Compound Sentence	a sentence with two or more coordinate independent clauses, often joined by one or more conjuctions	22
3757343113	Conceit	a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor	23
3757343114	Concrete Details	details that relate to or describe actual, specific things or events	24
3757343115	Connotation	the implied or associative meaning of a word	25
3757343116	Cumulative Sentence	a sentence in which the main independent clause is elaborated by the successive addition of modifing clauses or phrases	26
3757343117	Declarative Sentence	a sentenece that makes a statement or declaration	27
3757343118	Deductive Reasoning	reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning.)	28
3757343119	Denotation	the literal meaning of a word	29
3757343120	Dialect	a variety of speech characterized by its own particular grammar or pronunciation, often associated with a particular geographical region	30
3757343121	Dialogue	conversation between two or more people	31
3757343122	Diction	the word choices made by a writer	32
3757343123	Didactic	having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing	33
3757343124	Dilemma	a situation that requires a person to decide between two equally attractive or equally unattractive alternatives	34
3757343125	Dissonance	harsh, inharmonious, or discordant sounds	35
3757343126	Elegy	a formal poem presenting a meditation on death or another solemn theme	36
3757343127	Ellipsis	the omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context ("Some people prefer cats; others, dogs")	37
3757343128	Epic	a long narrative poem written in elevated style which presents the adventures of characters of high position and episodes that are important to the history of a race or nation	38
3757343129	Epigram	a brief, pithy, and often paradoxical saying	39
3757343130	Epigraph	a saying or statement on the title page of work, or used as a heading for a chapter or other section of a work	40
3757343131	Epiphany	a moment of sudden revelation or insight	41
3757343132	Epitaph	an inscription on a tombstone or burial place	42
3757343133	Epithet	a term used to point out a characteristic of a person. Homeric epithets are often compound adjectives ("swift-footed Achilles") that become an almost formulaic part of a name. Epithets can be abusive or offensive but are not so by definition. For example, athletes may be proud of their given epithets ("The Rocket")	43
3757343134	Eulogy	a formal speech praising a person who has died	44
3757343135	Euphemism	an indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant	45
3757343136	Exclamatory Sentence	a sentence expressing strong feeling, usually punctuated with an exclamation mark	46
3757343137	Expletive	an interjection to lend emphasis; sometimes, a profanity	47
3757343138	Fable	a brief story that leads to a moral, often using animals as characters	48
3757343139	Fantasy	a story that concerns an unreal world or contains unreal characters; a fantasy may be merely whimsical, or it may present a serious point	49
3757343140	Figurative Language	language employing one or more figures of speech (simile, metaphor, imagery, etc.)	50
3757343141	Flashback	the insertion of an earlier event into the normal chronological order of a narrative	51
3757343142	Flat Character	a character who embodies a single quality and who does not develop in the course of a story	52
3757343143	Foreshadowing	the presentation of material in such a way that the reader is prepared for what is to come later in the work	53
3757343144	Frame Device	a story within a story. An example is Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in which the primary tales are told within the "frame story" of the pilgrimage to Canterbury	54
3757343145	Genre	a major category or type of literature	55
3757343146	Homily	a sermon, or a moralistic lecture	56
3757343147	Hubris	excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy	57
3757343148	Hyperbole	intentional exaggeration to create an effect	58
3757343149	Hypothetical Question	a question that raises a hypothesis, conjecture, or supposition	59
3757343150	Idiom	an expression in a given language that cannot be understood from the literal meaning of the words in the expression; or, a regional speech or dialect	60
3757343151	Imagery	the use of figures of speech to create vivid images that appeal to one of the senses	61
3757343152	Implication	a suggestion an author or speaker makes (implies) without stating it directly. Note: the author/sender implies; the reader/audience infers	62
3757343153	Inductive Reasoning	deriving general principles from particular facts or instances (Every cat I have ever seen has four legs; cats are four-legged animals")	63
3757343154	Inference	a conclusion one draws (infers) based on premises or evidence	64
3757343155	Invective	an intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attack	65
3757343156	Irony	the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; or, incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs	66
3757343157	Jargon	the specialized language or vocabulary of a particular group or profession	67
3757343158	Juxtaposition	placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast	68
3757343159	Legend	a narrative handed down from the past, containing historical elements and usually supernatural elements	69
3757343160	Limerick	light verse consisting of five lines of regular rhythm in which the first, second, and fifth lines (each consisting of three feet) rhyme, and the second and third lines (each consisting of two feet) rhyme	70
3757343161	Limited Narrator	a narrator who presents the story as it is seen and understood by a single character and restricts information to what is seen, heard, thought, or felt by that one character	71
3757343162	Literary License	deviating from normal rules or methods in order to achieve a certain effect (intentional sentence fragments, for example)	72
3757343163	Litotes	a type of understatement in which an idea is expressed by negating its opposite (describing a particularly horrific scene by saying, "It was not a pretty picture.")	73
3757343164	Malapropism	the mistaken substitution of one word for another word that sounds similar ("The doctor wrote a subscription")	74
3757343165	Maxim	a concise statement, often offering advice; an adage	75
3757343166	Metaphor	a direct comparison of two different things	76
3757343167	Metonymy	substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it ("The pen [writing] is mightier than the sword [war/fighting]")	77
3757343168	Mood	the emotional atmosphere of a work	78
3757343169	Motif	a standard theme, element, or dramatic situation that recurs in various works	79
3757343170	Motivation	a character's incentive or reason for behaving in a certain manner; that which impels a character to act	80
3757343171	Myth	a traditional story presenting supernatural characters and episodes that help explain natural events	81
3757343172	Narrative	a story or narrated account	82
3757343173	Narrator	the one who tells the story; may be first- or third-person, limited or omniscient	83
3757343174	Non Sequitur	an inference that does not follow logically from the premises (literally, "does not follow")	84
3757343175	Omniscient Narrator	a narrator who is able to know, see, and tell all, including the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters	85
3757343176	Onomatopoeia	a word formed from the imitation of natural sounds	86
3757343177	Oxymoron	an expression in which two words that contradict each other are joined	87
3757343178	Parable	a simple story that illustrates a moral or religious lesson	88
3757343179	Paradox	an apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth	89
3757343180	Parallelism	the use of corresponding grammatical or synitactical forms	90
3757343181	Paraphrase	a restatement of a text in a different form or in different words, often for the purpose of clarity	91
3757343182	Parody	a humorous imitation of a serious work	92
3757343183	Parethetical	a comment that interrupts the immediate subject, often to qualify or explain	93
3757343184	Pathos	the quality in a work that prompts the reader to feel pity	94
3757343185	Pedantic	characterized by an excessive display of learning or scholarship	95
3757343186	Personification	endowing non-human objects or creatures with human qualities or characteristics	96
3757343187	Philippic	a strong verbal denunciation. The term comes from the orations of Demosthenes against Philip of Macedonia in the fourth century	97
3757343188	Plot	the action of a narrative or drama	98
3757343189	Point of View	the vantage point from which a story is told	99
3757343190	Polysyndeton	the use, for rhetorical effect, of more conjunctions than is necessary or natural	100
3757343191	Pun	a play on words, often achieved through the use of words with similar sounds bu different meanings	101
3757343192	Resolution	the falling action of a narrative; the events following the climax	102
3757343193	Rhetoric	the art of presenting ideas in a clar, effective, and persuasive manner	103
3757343194	Rhetorical Question	a question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer	104
3757343195	Rhetorical Devices	literary techniques used to heighten the effectiveness of expression	105
3757343196	Riddle	a question requiring thought to answer or understand; a puzzle or conundrum	106
3757343197	Romantic	a term describing a character or literary work that reflects the characteristics of Romanticism, the literary movement beginning in the late 18th century that stressed emotion, imagination, and individualism	107
3757343198	Round Character	a character who demonstrates some complexity and who develops or changes in the course of a work	108
3757343199	Sarcasm	harsh, cutting language or tone intended to ridicule	109
3757343200	Satire	the use of humor to emphasize human weaknesses or imperfections in social institutions	110
3757343201	Scapegoat	a person or group that bears the blame for another	111
3757343202	Scene	a real or fictional episode; a division of an act in a play	112
3757343203	Setting	the time, place, and environment in which action takes place	113
3757343204	Simile	a comparison of two things using "like," "as," or other specifically comparative words	114
3757343205	Simple Sentence	a sentence consisting of one independent clause and no dependent clause	115
3757343206	Solecism	nonstandard grammatical usage; a violation of grammatical rules	116
3757343207	Structure	the arrangement or framework of a sentence, paragraph, or entire work	117
3757343208	Style	the choices a writer makes; the combination of distinctive features of a literary work	118
3757343209	Surrealism	an artistic movement emphasizing the imagination and characterized by incongruous juxtapositions and lack of conscious control	119
3757343210	Syllepsis	a construction in which one word is used in two different senses ("After he threw the ball, he threw a fit.")	120
3757343211	Syllogism	a three-part deductive argument in which a conclusion is based on a major premise and a minor premise ("All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal")	121
3757343212	Symbol	an object that is used to represent something else	122
3757343213	Synecdoche	using one part of an object to represent the entire object (for example, referring to a car simply as "wheels")	123
3757343214	Synesthesia (or Synaesthesia)	describing one kind of sensation in terms of another ("a loud color," "a sweet sound")	124
3757343215	Syntax	the manner in which words are arranged into sentences	125
3757343216	Tautology	needless repitition which adds no meaning or understanding ("widow woman," "free gift")	126
3757343217	Theme	a central idea of a work	127
3757343218	Thesis	the primary position taken by a writer or speaker	128
3757343219	Tone	the attitude of a writer, usually implied, toward the subject or audience	129
3757343220	Topic	the subject treated in a paragraph or work	130
3757343221	Tragedy	a work in which the protagonist, a person of high degree, is engaged in a significant struggle and which ends in ruin or destruction	131
3757343222	Trilogy	a work in three parts, each of which is a complete work in itself	132
3757343223	Trite	overused and hackneyed	133
3757343224	Turning Point	the point in a work in which a very significant change occurs	134
3757343225	Understatement	the deliberate representation of something as lesser in magnitude than it actually is; a deliberate under-emphasis	135
3757343226	Usage	the customary way language or its elements are used	136
3757343227	Vernacular	the veryday speech of a particular country or region, often involving nonstandard usage	137
3757343228	Anapest	two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable	138
3757343229	Approximate Rhyme	(slant rhyme) the sounds are similar but not exactly the same	139
3757343230	Assonance	the repition of similar vowel sounds in a sequence of nearby words	140
3757343231	Ballad	a narrative folk song - oral stories passed on through generations alternating tetrameter and trimeter, usually iambic and rhyming	141
3757343232	Blank Verse	unrhymed iambic pentameter; bears a close resemblance to the rhythms of ordinary speech, giving poetry a natural feel	142
3757343233	Cacophony	the clash of discordant or harsh sounds within a sentence or phrase -for tongue twisters or poetic effect	143
3757343234	Consonance	the repitition of consonant sounds anywhere within words	144
3757343235	Continuous Form	form of poem in the lines follow one another without formal grouping; the only breaks being dictated by the units of meaning	145
3757343236	Couplet	a style of poetry defined as a complete thought written in two lines with rhyming ends (for example, heroic couplet is a pair of rhyming lines in iambic pentameter)	146
3757343237	Dactyl	a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables	147
3757343238	Dactylic	the form of classical epic poetry - Homer, Virgil dactyl lines made from hexameters (6 feet)	148
3757343239	Didactic Poetry	poetry that is instructional or informative - main purpose is in conveying a message, not artistic technique	149
3757343240	Dimeter	two feet	150
3757343241	Dramatic Irony	a technique in which the author lets the audience or reader in on a character's situation while the character himself remains in the dark. In tragic plays - called tragic irony	151
3757343242	Feminine Rhyme	a rhyme consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable	152
3757343243	Foot	basic rhythmic unit into which a line of verse can be divided - when reciting verse, there usually is a slight pause between feet	153
3757343244	Free Verse	verse that does not conform to any fixed meter or rhyme scheme	154
3757343245	Haiku	a compact form of Japanese poetry written in three lines of five, seven, and five syllables respectively	155
3757343246	Heptameter	seven feet	156
3757343247	Hexameter	six feet	157
3757343248	Iamb	an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable	158
3757343249	Iambic Pentameter	each line of verse has five feet, each of which consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable - most popular metrical schemes in English poetry	159
3757343250	Internal Rhyme	a rhyme between two or more words within a single line of verse	160
3757343251	Masculine Rhyme	a rhyme consisting of a single stressed syllable	161
3757343252	Meter	the rythmic pattern created in a line of verse - four basic types: accentual, syllabic, accentual-syllabic, and quatitive	162
3757343253	Monometer	one foot	163
3757343254	Octameter	eight feet	164
3757343255	Pentameter	five feet	165
3757343256	Petrarchan/Italian Sonnet	poetic form with an octave ABBAABBA/ABBACDDC and then a sestet CDECDE/CDCCDC	166
3757343257	Quatrain	a four line stanza, has many variants such as the heroic quatrain (ABAB rhyme scheme)	167
3757343258	Refrain	group of words repeated at key intervals in a poem	168
3757343259	Rhythm	the pattern of sound created by the varying length and emphasis given to different syllables. Rise and fall of spoken language - candace	169
3757343260	Rhyme	creating a sense of musicality between lines of verse	170
3757343261	Scansion	the process of analyzing the number and type of feet in a line	171
3757343262	Sentimentality	a term used to describe the effort by an author to induce emotional responses in the reader that exceed the situation, especially pertains to such emotions as pathos and sympathy	172
3757343263	Sestet	a six line stanza	173
3757343264	Shakespearean Sonnet	a poetic form with three quatrains and a final couplet - ABAB CDCD EFEF GG	174
3757343265	Situational Irony	a technique in which one understanding of a situation stands in sharp contrast to another, usually more prevalent, understanding of the same situation	175
3757343266	Sonnet	a distinctive poetic style that uses system or pattern of metrical structure and verse composition usually consisting of 14 lines written in iambic pentameter	176
3757343267	Spondee	two successive syllables with light stresses	177
3757343268	Stanza	a division in poetry often named for the number of lines it contains, comparable to a paragraph in prose	178
3757343269	Stress	the emphasize or accent given to a syllable in pronunciation	179
3757343270	Symbol	something that represents something else	180
3757343271	Terza Ryme	a system of interlaced tercets linked by a common rhyme: ABA BCB CDC (hard to remain in English)	181
3757343272	Tetrameter	four feet in a line	182
3757343273	Trimeter	three feet in a line	183
3757343274	Trochaic/Trochee	a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable	184
3757343275	Verbal Irony	the use of a statement that, by its context, implies the opposite; sarcasm	185
3757343276	Villanelle	a nineteen-line poem made up of five tercets and a final quatrain in which all nineteen lines carry one of only two rhymes. There are two refrains. alternating between the ends of each tercet and then forming the two last lines of the quatrain	186