AP Literature Terms Flashcards
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| 9207911772 | Act | A major division in the action of the play, comprising one or more *scenes. A break between acts often coincides with a point at which the plot jumps ahead in time. | 0 | |
| 9207924458 | Anatagonist | The most prominent of the characters who oppose the *protagonist or hero(ine) in a dramatic or narrative work. The antagonist is often a villain seeking to frustrate a heroine or hero; but in those works in which the protagonist is represented as evil, the antagonist will often be a virtuous or sympathetic character, as Macduff in Macbeth. | 1 | |
| 9207945128 | Aside | A short speech or remark spoken by a character in a drama, directed either to the audience or to another character, which by *convention is supposed to be inaudible to the other characters on stage. (See also soliloquy) | 2 | |
| 9207959860 | Catharsis | The effect of purgation or purification achieved by tragic drama, according to Aristotle's argument in his Poetics (4th century BC). Aristotle wrote that a *tragedy should succeed "in arousing pity and fear in such a way as to accomplish a catharsis of emotions". There has been dispute about his meaning, but Aristotle seems to be rejecting Plato's hostile view of poetry as an unhealthy emotional stimulant. His metaphor of emotional cleansing has been read as a solution to the puzzle of audiences' pleasure or relief in witnessing the disturbing events in tragedies. Another interpretation is that it is the *protagonist's guilt that is purged, rather than the audience's feeling of terror. | 3 | |
| 9208050915 | Catastrophe | The final resolution or *denouncement of the plot in a *tragedy, usually involving the death of the *protagonist. | 4 | |
| 9208056828 | Character | (1) Any of the persons involved in a story (2) The distinguishing moral qualities and personal traits of a character. | 5 | |
| 9208066133 | Flat character | A character whose character is summed up in one or two traits. | 6 | |
| 9208071799 | Round Character | A character whose character is complex and many-sided. | 7 | |
| 9208075992 | Stock Character | A stereotyped character: one whose nature is familiar to us from prototypes in previous fiction. Known for outstanding traits; more stereotypical rather an a unique character. They have little description since we already know them. | 8 | |
| 9208081919 | Dynamic Character | A character that is changed by the actions in which he or she is involved. | 9 | |
| 9208086925 | Static Character | A character that remains unchanged or little changed throughout the course of the story. | 10 | |
| 9208094537 | Climax | The turning point or high point in a plot's action. | 11 | |
| 9208096763 | Comic Relief | The interruption of a serious work, especially a *tragedy, by a short humorous episode that relieves emotional tension. | 12 | |
| 9208104077 | Conflict | A clash of actions, desires, ideas, or goals in the plot of a story. May exist between the main character and some other person or persons (man vs. man), between the main character and some external force - physical nature, society, or "fate" (man vs. nature), or between the main character and some destructive element in his own nature (man vs. himself). | 13 | |
| 9208128748 | Crisis | A decisive point in the plot of a play or story, upon which the outcome of the remaining action depends, and which ultimately precipitates the *catastrophe of *denouncement. | 14 | |
| 9208140755 | Denouncement | The portion of a plot that reveals the final outcome of its conflicts or the solution of its mysteries. | 15 | |
| 9208149141 | Deus es Machina | ("god from the machine") The resolution of a plot by use of a highly improbable chance, coincidence or artificial device that solves some difficult problem or crisis. | 16 | |
| 9208170097 | Epilogue | A concluding section of any written work during which the characters' subsequent fates are briefly outlined. | 17 | |
| 9208174944 | Exposition | The setting forth of a systematic explanation of or argument about any subject; or the opening part of a play or story, in which we are introduced to the characters and their situation, often by reference to preceding events. Adjective expository. Verb: expound | 18 | |
| 9208190323 | Falling Action | The segment of the plot that comes between the climax and the conclusion. | 19 | |
| 9208196478 | Foil | A character whose qualities or actions serve to emphasize those of the *protagonist (or of some other character) by providing a strong contrast with them. | 20 | |
| 9208206361 | Hamartia | The Greek word for error or failure, used by Aristotle in his Poetics (4th century BC) to designate the false step that leads the *protagonist in a *tragedy to his or her downfall. The term should not be confused with 'tragic flaw' which is a defect in character. Is the action that the character takes. | 21 | |
| 9208225551 | Hero or Heroine | The main character is a narrative or dramatic work. The term is preferable since the leading character may not be morally or otherwise superior. When our expectations of heroic qualities are strikingly disappointed, the central character may be known as anti-hero or anti-heroine. | 22 | |
| 9208241085 | Hubris | The Greek work for 'insolence' or 'affront', applied to the arrogance or pride of the *protagonist in a *tragedy in which he or she defies moral laws or the prohibitions of the gods. The protagonist's transgression or *hamartia leads eventually to his or her downfall, which may be understood as divine retribution. In proverbial terms, hubris is thus the pride that comes before a fall. Adjective: hubristic | 23 | |
| 9208270162 | In Media Res | "In the middle of things"; the technique of beginning a story in the middle of the action. | 24 | |
| 9208275709 | Monologue | An extended speech uttered by one speaker, either to others or as if alone. (See also soliloquy). | 25 | |
| 9208282261 | Narrator | The teller of a story. (See also point of view) | 26 | |
| 9208286893 | Reliable Narrator | Trustworthy | 27 | |
| 9208290382 | Unreliable Narrator | Untrustworthy | 28 | |
| 9208292479 | Naive Narrator | Is uncomprehending (child, simple-minded adult) who narrates the story without realizing its true implications. | 29 | |
| 9208300995 | Intrusive Narrator | Keeps interrupting the narrative to address the reader. | 30 | |
| 9208303534 | Plot | The careful arrangement by an author of incidents in a narrative to achieve a desired effort. | 31 | |
| 9208308993 | Prologue | An introductory section of a literary work or an introductory speech in a play. | 32 | |
| 9208314054 | Protagonist | The central character in a story. | 33 | |
| 9208356829 | Rising Action | The part of a plot that leads through a series of events of increasing interest and power to the climax or turning point. The rising action begins with an inciting moment, an action or event that sets a conflict of opposing forces into motion, and moves through complication(s), an entangling of the affairs of the characters in a conflict, toward the climax, the major crisis that brings about a change in the fortunes of the protagonist. | 34 | |
| 9208382156 | Scene | A subdivision of an act or of a play not divided into acts. A scene normally represents actions happening in one place at one time, and is marked from the next scene by a curtain, a black-out, or a brief emptying of the stage. | 35 | |
| 9208393363 | Setting | The general locale, time in history, or social milieu in which the action of a literary work takes place. (Locale- a term that refers to place) | 36 | |
| 9208398810 | Soliloquy | A dramatic speech uttered by one character speaking aloud while alone on stage, or while under the impression of being alone. | 37 | |
| 9208407119 | Soliloquest | Reveals his or her inner thoughts and feelings to the audience, either in supposed self-communion or in a consciously direct address. (in a soliloquy) | 38 | |
| 9208429396 | Stage Directions | The information provided in addition to the dialogue to help a reader visualize the setting, characters, and action. Usually in italics, are intended for the director, actors, etc. | 39 | |
| 9208446613 | Tragedy | A type of drama in which the protagonist, a person of unusual moral or intellectual stature or outstanding abilities, suffers a fall in fortune due to some error or judgment or flaw in his or her nature. | 40 | |
| 9208460640 | Tragic Flaw | The defect of character that brings about the protagonist's downfall in a *tragedy | 41 | |
| 9208465024 | Turning Point | The point in the plot where the protagonist's situation changes for the better or the worse; after this the action begins its movement toward a final resolution. | 42 | |
| 9208475870 | Villain | The principal evil character in a play or story. The villain is usually the antagonist opposed to the protagonist, but in some cases may be the protagonist himself/herself. | 43 | |
| 9208540737 | Point of View | To identify the narrator of a story, describing any part he or she plays in the events and any limitations placed upon his or her knowledge is to identify point of view. | 44 | |
| 9208554484 | Omniscient Narrator | The narrator sees into the minds of all (or some) of the characters, moving when necessary from one to another. | 45 | |
| 9208564355 | Editorial vs. Impartial Omniscience | When a narrator adds occasional comment or opinion vs. being non-judgmental. | 46 | |
| 9208569684 | Limited or Selective Omniscience | When a non-participatory narrator sees events through the eyes of a single character (major or minor) | 47 | |
| 9208575821 | Objective Point of View | The narrator does not enter the mind of any character but describes events from the outside. | 48 | |
| 9208582319 | Innocent or Naive Narrator | A participatory narrator who fails to understand all the implications of a story. Ex: Huck Finn | 49 | |
| 9208591400 | Stream of Consciousness | A kind of selective omniscience: the presentation of thoughts and sense impressions in a life-like fashion - randomly. | 50 | |
| 9208599635 | Interior Monologue | Is an extended presentation of a character's thoughts, not in the helter-skelter of stream of consciousness. | 51 | |
| 9208613018 | Naturalism | Fiction of grim realism, in which the writer observes human characters like a scientist studying ants, seeing them as the products and victims of environment and heredity. | 52 | |
| 9208866254 | Allusion | A reference to a famous person, place or thing in history, in fiction, or in actuality. | 53 | |
| 9208875062 | Anti-Hero | Hero who lacks one of the typical traits of the hero. | 54 | |
| 9208877889 | Gratuitous Act | An act who has no motivation or cause | 55 | |
| 9208884979 | Theme | Whatever general idea or insight of the entire story reveals | 56 | |
| 9208905174 | Dramatic Situation | The conflict in which some character is involved | 57 | |
| 9208914691 | Suspense | The pleasurable anxiety we feel that heightens our attention to the story, makes us wonder how it will all turn out. | 58 | |
| 9208935374 | Foreshadowing | An indication of events to come | 59 | |
| 9208940519 | Protagonist vs. Antagonist | Pro: central character, the principal person in the story. Ant: the character who is in opposition to the protagonsit | 60 | |
| 9208950023 | Resolution/Denouncement | The outcome or conclusion of the story | 61 | |
| 9208953233 | Flashback | A scene relived in a character's memory | 62 | |
| 9208955692 | Epiphany | Some moment of insight, discovery, or revelation by which a character's life, or view of life, is greatly altered | 63 | |
| 9208955693 | Story of Initiation | A story which tells of a character's initiated into experience or maturity | 64 | |
| 9209040467 | Tone | Whatever leads us to infer the author's attitude. Commonly the choice of details, characters, events, situations, and words leads us to an understanding of tone. | 65 | |
| 9209080127 | Style | Individual traits or characteristics of a piece of writing. A writer's particular way of managing words. | 66 | |
| 9209084855 | Diction | Choice of words | 67 | |
| 9209087814 | Minimalist | An author of realism who has a flat, laid back, unemotional tone. It is an appropriately bare, unadorned style. The author gives nothing but the facts drawn from ordinary life. | 68 | |
| 9209097536 | Irony (verbal) | Implies a contrast or discrepancy between what is SAID and what is MEANT. | 69 | |
| 9209103746 | Sarcasm | Verbal irony with mockery | 70 | |
| 9209109187 | Irony (situational) | A situation can be ironic if it contains some wry contrast or incongruity | 71 | |
| 9209113024 | Ironic Point of View | A point of view where we sense a sharp distinction between the narrator of a story and the author | 72 | |
| 9209119940 | Irony of Fate/Cosmic Irony | When we sense that some malicious fate (or other spirit of the universe) is deliberately frustrating human efforts. | 73 | |
| 9209125990 | Symbol | A thing that suggests more than its literal meaning. Symbols generally do not "stand for" any one meaning, not for anything definite; they point or hint to greater significance or meaning. | 74 | |
| 9209135435 | Allegory | A story in which persons, places, and things form a system of clearly labeled equivalents. | 75 | |
| 9209139849 | Symbolic Act | A gesture with larger significance than usual. | 76 |