AP Literature - Literary Terms Flashcards

8472931577	allegory	A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.	0
8472931578	alliteration	It is a stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series.	1
8472931579	allusion	A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance.	2
8472931584	anastrophe	Inversion of the natural or usual word order	3
8472931585	antithesis	A balancing of two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses.	4
8472931586	aphorism	A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life.	5
8472931587	apostrophe	A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.	6
8472931591	caesura	A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.	7
8472931595	connotation	All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests	8
8472931600	denouement	an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot	9
8472931601	diction	The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing	10
8472931602	didactic	Intended to instruct; teaching, or teaching a moral lesson	11
8472931604	euphemism	An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant	12
8472931615	genre	A category or type of literature (or of art, music, etc.) characterized by a particular form, style, or content.	13
8472931620	hyperbole	A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor	14
8472931622	imagery	Descriptive or figurative language in a literary work; the use of language to create sensory impressions.	15
8472931623	irony	A contrast or discrepancy between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen.	16
8472931628	juxtaposition	Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts	17
8472931629	kenning	A device employed in Anglo-Saxon poetry in which the name of a thing is replaced by one of its functions or qualities.	18
8472931630	metaphor	A comparison that establishes a figurative identity between objects being compared.	19
8472931632	metonymy	A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it	20
8472931643	oxymoron	A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.	21
8472931646	paradox	A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.	22
8472931647	parallelism	Phrases or sentences of a similar construction/meaning placed side by side, balancing each other	23
8472931648	parody	A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.	24
8472931652	personification	A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes	25
8472931661	rhetorical question	A question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer	26
8472931668	satire	A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies.	27
8472931673	synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa	28
8472931674	syntax	Arrangement of words in phrases and sentences	29
8472931676	tone	A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization on the sentence and global levels.	30
8472931677	understatement	the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.	31
8474034967	Sestina	a poem with six stanzas of six lines and a final triplet, all stanzas having the same six words at the line-ends in six different sequences that follow a fixed pattern, and with all six words appearing in the closing three-line envoi.	32
8474048551	Italian Sonnet	a sonnet consisting of an octave rhyming abba abba and a sestet rhyming in any of various patterns (such as cde cde or cdc dcd) — called also Petrarchan sonnet.	33
8474057617	English Sonnet	Also Known as Elizabethan Sonnet; a type of sonnet much used by Shakespeare, written in iambic pentameter and consisting of three quatrains and a final couplet with the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg.	34
8474068552	Ode	a lyric poem in the form of an address to a particular subject, often elevated in style or manner and written in varied or irregular meter.	35
8474082290	Laudatory	(of speech or writing) expressing praise and commendation.	36
8474093235	consonance	refers to repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase. This repetition often takes place in quick succession, such as in "pitter, patter."	37