AP Literature Terms Flashcards
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| 6606505733 | Abstract | An abbreviated synopsis of a longer work of scholarship or research. | 0 | |
| 6606505734 | Adage | A saying or proverb containing a truth based on experience and often couched in metaphorical language. | 1 | |
| 6606505735 | Anachronism | A person, scene, event, or other element in literature that fails to correspond with the time or era in which the work is set. | 2 | |
| 6606506280 | Antithesis | A rhetorical opposition or contrast of ideas by means of a grammatical arrangement of words, clauses, or sentences. | 3 | |
| 6606507502 | Aphorism | A short, pithy statement of a generally accepted truth or sentiment. | 4 | |
| 6606507503 | Apollonian | Refers to the most noble, godlike qualities of human nature and behavior. | 5 | |
| 6606508255 | Apostrophe | A rhetorical device in which a speaker addresses a person or personified thing not present. | 6 | |
| 6606508734 | Archetype | An abstract or ideal conception of a type; a perfectly typical example; an original model or form. | 7 | |
| 6606508735 | Assonance | The repetition of two or more vowel sounds in a group of words or lines in poetry and prose. | 8 | |
| 6606508736 | Bard | A poet. | 9 | |
| 6606508740 | Bathos | The use of insincere or overdone sentimentality. | 10 | |
| 6606509550 | Bildungsroman | A German word referring to a novel structured as a series of events that take place as the hero travels in quest of a goal. | 11 | |
| 6606509863 | Bombast | Inflated, pretentious language used for trivial subjects. | 12 | |
| 6606509864 | Burlesque | A work of literature meant to ridicule a subject. | 13 | |
| 6606510864 | Caesura | A pause somewhere in the middle of a verse, often (but not always) marked by punctuation. | 14 | |
| 6606510865 | Canon | The works considered most important in a national literature or period; works widely read and studied. | 15 | |
| 6606513051 | Consonance | The repetition of two or more consonant sounds in a group of words or a line of poetry. | 16 | |
| 6606513762 | Connotation vs. Denotation | Suggested or implied meaning vs. dictionary definition. | 17 | |
| 6606514243 | Denouement | The resolution that occurs at the end of a play or work of fiction. | 18 | |
| 6606514244 | Deus ex machina | The use of an artificial device or gimmick to solve a problem. | 19 | |
| 6606514747 | Dionysian | Sensual, pleasure-seeking impulses. | 20 | |
| 6606516603 | Epigram | A concise but ingenious, witty, and thoughtful statement. | 21 | |
| 6606516604 | Euphony | Pleasing, harmonious sounds. | 22 | |
| 6606520927 | Harangue | A forceful sermon, lecture, or tirade. | 23 | |
| 6606521356 | Hubris | The excessive pride that often leads tragic heroes to their death. | 24 | |
| 6606521833 | In medias res | A Latin term for a narrative that starts not at the beginning of events but at some other critical point. | 25 | |
| 6606522303 | Kenning | A device employed in Anglo-Saxon poetry in which the name of a thing is replaced by one of its functions or qualities. | 26 | |
| 6606522304 | Lampoon | A mocking, satirical assault on a person or situation. | 27 | |
| 6606523023 | Litotes | A form of understatement in which the negative of the contrary is used to achieve emphasis or intensity (He is not a bad dancer). | 28 | |
| 6606523024 | Maxim | A saying or proverb expressing common wisdom or truth. | 29 | |
| 6606523848 | Melodrama | A literary form in which events are exaggerated in order to create an extreme emotional response. | 30 | |
| 6606523849 | Metaphysical poetry | The work of poets, particularly those of the seventeenth century, that uses elaborate conceits, is highly intellectual, and expresses the complexities of love and life. | 31 | |
| 6606524297 | Metonymy | A figure of speech that uses the name of one thing to represent something else with which it is associated. | 32 | |
| 6606524949 | Non sequitur | A statement or idea that fails to follow logically from the one before. | 33 | |
| 6606527047 | Pathetic fallacy | Faulty reasoning that inappropriately ascribes human feelings to nature or non-human objects. | 34 | |
| 6606529642 | Stream of consciousness | A style of writing in which the author tries to reproduce the random flow of thoughts in the human mind (As I Lay Dying) | 35 | |
| 6606529643 | Synecdoche | A figure of speech in which a part signifies the whole or the whole signifies the part (mast for ship or days for life). | 36 | |
| 6606531063 | Trope | The generic name for a figure of speech such as image, symbol, simile, and metaphor. | 37 | |
| 6606532835 | Verisimilitude | Similar to the truth; the quality of realism in a work that persuades readers that they are getting a vision of life as it is. | 38 | |
| 6606533516 | Villanelle | A French verse form calculated to appear simple and spontaneous but consisting of 19 lines and a prescribed pattern of rhymes. | 39 |