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AP Literature Flashcards Flashcards

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7192399959AbstractAbstract style. Complex, discusses intangible qualities (Absolute goods and evils), rarely uses examples to support its points.0
7192404298AcademicDry and theoretical writing. When a piece of writing seems to be sucking all the life out of its subject with analysis.1
7192411692AccentThe stressed portion of a word Ex: "To BE or NOT to be... THAT is the question" (Accents can be interpreted any way... Where you accent is based on your own opinion)2
7192424175Aesthetic / AestheticsAppealing to the senses. A coherent sense of taste.3
7192471574AllegoryA story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself.4
7192474148AlliterationThe repetition of initial consonant sounds. Consonant clusters coming closely cramped and compressed ExDee5
7192522759AnachronismMisplaced in time for, most of the time, comedic values Ex: Julius Caesar forgetting to take off his wristwatch.6
7192530594AnalogyA comparison between two or more symbolic parts. Used to clarify an action or a relationship.7
7195699830AnecdoteA short narrative8
7195701662AntecedenA word, phrase, or clause that a pronoun refers to or replaces. Ex: "The principal asked the children where they were going." Pronoun: They Antecedent: Children9
7195704306AnthropomorphismInanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena are given human characteristics.10
7195706040AnticlimaxWhen an action produces far smaller results than one had been led to expect. Anticlimactic.11
7195712643AntiheroA protagonist who is marked unheroic: morally weak, cowardly. dishonest, or any number of other unsavory qualities.12
7195714802AphorismA short and usually witty saying. Ex: "NorCal? More like DumbCal! xdxdxdxd"13
7195717168ApostropheA figure of speech wherein the speaker talks directly to something that is nonhuman14
7195719341ArchaismThe use of deliberately old-fashioned language. Ex: "Ye Ole Candle Shoppe"15
7195721423AsideA short comment made by an actor to the audience, as though momentarily stepping outside of the action on stage. Breaking the fourth wall per se.16
7195740159AssonanceThe repeated use of vowel sounds. Ex: "Old king Cole was a merry old soul"17
7195741190AtmosphereThe emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene.18
7195752018BalladA long, narrative poem, usually in very regular meter and rhyme.19
7195756592Bathos / PathosWhen the writing of a scene evokes feelings of dignified pity and sympathy.20
7195757645Black HumorThe use of disturbing themes in comedy. xdxdxd21
7195758345BombastThis is pretentious, exaggeratedly learned language. Using the most eloquent, largest, uncommon words.22
7195761221BurlesqueA broad parody. Takes a style or a form, such as tragic drama, and exaggerates it into ridiculousness. VERY similar definition to parody. Practically the same thing.23
7195763889CacophonyUsing deliberately harsh, awkward sounds.24
7195770548CadenceThe beat or rhythm of poetry in a general sense. Ex: Gentle, conversational, vigorous, matching, etc.25
7195779063CantoThe Divides a long poem into parts the way chapters divide a novel.26
7195779774CaricatureA portrait that exaggerates a facet of personality.27
7195781558CatharsisThe "cleansing" of emotion an audience member experiences, having lived through the experiences presented on stage. Ex: Your favorite character dies and you're breathless for a few seconds. When you snap back into reality and realize that this was just a play and that character is not real, the sigh releasing all of your emotions is the catharsis.28
7195787686ChorusA group of citizens who stand outside the main action on stage and comment on it.29
7195788361ClassicAccepted masterpiece Ex: Star Wars30
7195789602Coinage / NeologismCoining a new word. Ex: "Please, no Johns."31
7195792424ColloquialismA word or phrase used in everyday conversational English that isn't a part of accepted "schoolbook" English. Ex: "Bro! I'm hella toasted dude!!! xdxdxd".32
7195798296Complex / DenseThere is more than one possible meaning to an image, idea, opposition, word, dialogue, etc.33
7195808908Conceit / Controlling ImageStartling or unusual metaphor, or a metaphor developed and expanded upon over several lines.34
7195810451ConnotationEverything that the word suggests or implies. Not literal meaning.35
7195812919DenotationThe word's literal meaning.36
7195814567ConsonanceThe repetition of consonant sounds within words. NOT THE REPETITION OF CONSONANT BEGINNINGS. Ex: "A flock of sick, black-checkered ducks."37
7195991855CoupletA pair of lines that end in rhyme. Ex: I am cow hear me MOO I weight eight times more as YOU38
7195996416DecorumRhetoric based on identity. A bum will talk like a bum and about bumly things. A princess should speak like a princess and about highly things.39
7196000400DictionThe author's choice of words. Ex: Author using frugal instead of stingy to label a character.40
7196271615DirgeA song for the dead. Slow, heavy, melancholy.41
7196272841DissonanceThe granting of incompatible sounds.42
7196273210DoggerelCrude, simplistic verse, often in sing-song rhyme .43
7196274910Dramatic IronyWhen the audience knows something that the characters in the drama do not.44
7196279448Dramatic MonologueWhen a single speaker in literature says something to a silent audience.45
7196281186ElegyA poem that meditates on death or mortality in a serious, thoughtful manner.46
7306056845ElementsThe basic techniques of each genre of literature.47
7196429981Elements: Short StoryCharacters, Irony, Theme, Symbolism, Plot, Setting.48
7196431098Elements: PoetryFigurative Language, Symbol, Imagery, Rhythm, Rhyme.49
7196432723Elements: DramaConflict, Characters, Climax, Conclusion, Exposition, Rising Action, Falling Action, Sets, Props.50
7196434649Elements: NonfictionArgument, Evidence, Reason, Appeals, Fallacies, Thesis.51
7196436217EnjambmentThe continuation of a syntactic unit from one line or couplet of a poem to the next with no pause. There is no sort of punctuation from one line to another in a poem.52
7196439413EpicA very long and grand narrative poem on a serious theme in a dignified style. Ex: Wars, fallacy, heroic journey.53
7196447279EpitaphLines that commemorate the dead at their burial place.54
7196447871EuphemismA word or a phrase that takes the place of a harsh, unpleasant, or impolite reality. Ex: "Passed away" vs "died" & "let go" vs "fired".55
7196451216EuphonyWhen sounds blend harmoniously.56
7196451990ExplicitTo say or write something directly and clearly. Similar to Denote.57
7196453782FarceA funny play or comedy. Not always implying humor xD.58
7196469214Feminine RhymeKines rhymed by their final two syllables. Ex: "Running and gunning."59
7196512590First Person NarratorxD60
7196513870FoilA secondary character whose purpose is to highlight the characteristics of a main character, usually by contrast. Ex: Creating a super happy side character to your depressing main character.61
7198635455FootThe basic rhythmic unit of a line of poetry. Formed by the combination of two or three syllables, either stressed or unstressed.62
7198638195ForeshadowingAn event or statement in a narrative that suggests,in miniature, a larger even that comes later.63
7198641016Free VersePoetry written without a regular rhyme scheme or metrical pattern.64
7198641017GenreA subcategory of literature.65
7198642558Gothic / Gothic NovelMid 1700s. Think of the Gothic Era. Ex: Mysterious gloomy castles perched high upon sheer cliffs.66
7198648304HubrisThe excessive pride or ambition that leads to the main character's downfall.67
7198649532HyperboleExaggeration or deliberate overstatement.68
7198651432ImplicitWriting or satin something that suggest and implies. Never direct or clear.69
7198656103In Medias Res"In the midst of things". Action happening or have happened prior to the beginning of a piece of literature. Ex: The Trojan War already taking place when The Iliad begins70
7198667453Interior MonologueWriting that records the mental talking that goes on inside character's head.71
7198671042InversionSwitch the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase. Ex: "Do or do not, there is no try."72
7198673307IronyA statement that means the opposite of what it seems to mean. ^That's just the first layer.73
7198679280LamentA poem of sadness or grief over the death of a loved one or over some other intense loss.74
7198680683LampoonIt is literally a satire. Attempts to improve things by pointing out people's mistakes in the hope that once exposed, such behavior will become less common.75
7198681666Loose SentencesA sentence that is complete before its end. Ex: "Jack loved Barbara despite her irritating snorting laugh, her complaining, and her terrible taste in shoes."76
7198682503Periodic SentencesA sentence that is not grammatically complete until it has reached its final phrase. Ex: "Depire Barbara's irritation at Jack's peculiar habit of picking between his tos while watching MTV and his terrible haircut, she loved him."77
7198692127LyricPoetry that explores the poet's personal interpretation of and feeling about the world.78
7198694904Masculine RhymeA rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable.79
7198696153Means / MeaningDiscovering what makes sense and what's important to the piece of literature. Literal and emotional meaning.80
7198700844MelodramaA form of cheesy theater in which the hero is very, very good while the villain is mean and rotten.81
7198828026MetaphorComparison stating that one thing is another.82
7198828607SimileComparison using like or as.83
7198831267Metaphysical conceitA metaphor comparing two VERY unlike things. No correlation whatsoever.84
7198835023MetonymA word that is used to stand for something else that it has attribute of or is associated with. Ex: A herd of 50 cows is called 50 HEAD of cattle.85
7198836775NemesisThe protagonist's archenemy. Supreme and persistent difficulty.86
7198838948ObjectivityAn impersonal or outside view of events.87
7198840543SubjectivityAn interior or personal view of a single observer.88
7198889394Omniscient NarratorALL KNOWING NARRATOR.89
7198889716OnomatopoeiaWords that sound like what they mean. Ex: "BOOM!", "SPLOOSH!"90
7201665292OppositionA pair of elements that contrast sharply.91
7201665774OxymoronA phrase composed of opposites; a contradiction. Ex: "He's pretty ugly."92
7201667902ParableA story that instructs.93
7201672609ParadoxA situation or statement that seems to contradict itself. Upon closer inspection, it does not.94
7201673409ParallelismRepeated syntactical similarities used for effect.95
7201674789ParaphraseTo restate phrases and sentences in your own words. No analysis or interpretation. Prove that you comprehend and put it in your own words.96
7201676695Parenthetical PhraseA phrase set off by commas that interrupts the flow of a sentence with some commentary or added detail.97
7201677506ParodyThe work that results when a specific work is exaggerated to ridiculousness.98
7201682713PastoralA poem set in a tranquil nature. Probably about shepherds.99
7201683429PathosAppealing to emotion.100
7201684308PersonaThe narrator in a third person novel. Shadow-author. Although the author is not a character, the author may influence the reader's impressions through their style.101
7201688072PersonificationGiving an inanimate object human qualities or form.102
7201688369PlaintA poem or speech expressing sorrow.103
7201691019Limited Omniscient NarratorNarrator that only know everything about one character (main character).104
7201693137Objective / Camera-Eye NarratorTheir person narrator that only reports on what would be visible to a "camera".105
7201694195First-Person NarratorThe narrator is a character in the story and tells the tale from their point of view.106
7201755761Unreliable NarratorThe narrator is misleading or genuinely does not know the truth.107
7201696139Stream of Consciousness Technique (Narrator)The author places the reader inside the main character's head and makes the reader privy to all of the character's thoughts as they scroll through their consciousness.108
7201698389PreludeAn introductory poem to a longer work of verse.109
7201698776ProtagonistThe main character of a novel or play.110
7201699072PunThe usually humorous use of a word in such a way to suggest two or more meanings. XD111
7201699629RefrainA line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem.112
7201700096RequiemA song of prayer for the dead.113
7201701521RhapsodyAn intensely passionate verse or section of verse, usually of love or praise.114
7201702200Rhetorical QuestionA question that suggests an answer. Ex: "Fight or flight-- are we cowards?"115
7201703985SatireAttempts to improve things by pointing out people's mistakes in the hope that once exposed, such behavior will become less common.116
7201705911SoliloquyA speech spoken by a character alone on stage.117
7201711823StanzaA group of lines in verse, roughly analogous in function to the paragraph in prose.118
7201712760Stock CharactersCliche character types. Ex: The Drunk, The Fool, The Memer, The Holy Man, The Tsundere.119
7201714904Subjunctive MoodIf __________ was ____________, ________________ Ex: If Joey was rich, _________________ If John was smart, ______________ If Jack was Jill, ___________________120
7201720162SuggestTo imply, infer, indicate.121
7201720745SummaryA simple retelling of what you've just read. Mechanical and superficial.122
7201723269Suspension of DisbeliefThe demand made of a theater audience to accept the limitation of staging and supply the detail with imagination. Ex: The play takes play in a forest BUT the stage has a wooden floor not dirt and grass.123
7201726516SymbolismA device in literature where an object represents an idea.124
7201728155SyntaxThe author's choice of words. Ex: Author using frugal instead of stingy to label a character.125
7201729351TechniqueThe methods and tools the authors use. NOT AN ELEMENT Ex: Onomatopoeia, Blocking, Lighting, Etc.126
7201735792ThemeThe main idea of the overall work; the central idea. The topic of discourse or discussion.127
7201737125ThesisThe main position of an argument. The central contention that will be supported.128
7201738096Tragic FlawThe weakness of character in an otherwise good individual that ultimately leads to his demise. Ex: Being blinded by love.129
7201753426TravestyA grotesque parody.130
7201753873TruismA way-too-obvious truth. Ex: "There are books in this library!"131
7201756772UtopiaAn idealized place.132
7201757219ZeugmaThe use of a word to modify two or more words, used for different meanings. Ex: "He closed the door and his heart on his lost love."133
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