Literary Terms for AP Literature Flashcards

7375771507	absolute	a word free from limitations or qualifications ("best, "all", "unique", "perfect")	0
7375779665	adage	a familiar proverb or wise saying	1
7375782940	allegory	a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions	2
7375789613	alliteration	the repetition of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words	3
7375801652	analogy	a comparison of two different things that are similar in some way	4
7388259529	anaphora	the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences	5
7388259530	anecdote	a brief area rife that focuses on a particular incident or event	6
7437343937	antecedent	the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers	7
7437343938	antithesis	a statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced	8
7437343939	aphorism	A concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance	9
7437343940	apostrophe	a figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction	10
7437343941	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	11
7437343942	argument	a statement of the meaning or main point of a literary work	12
7437343943	asyndeton	a construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions	13
7437343944	balanced sentence	a sentence in which words, phrases, or clauses are set off against each other to emphasize a contrast	14
7437343945	bathos	insincere or overt sentimental quality of writing/speech intended to evoke pity	15
7437343946	chiasmus	a statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed (susan walked in, and out rushed mary)	16
7437343947	cliché	an expression that has been overused to the extent that it's freshness has worn off	17
7437343948	climax	the point of highest interest in a literary work	18
7437343949	Colloquialism	informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing	19
7437343950	complex sentence	a sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause	20
7437343951	comping sentence	a sentence with two or more coordinate independent clauses, often joined by one or more conjunctions	21
7437343952	conceit	A fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor	22
7437343953	concrete details	details that relate to or describe actual, specific things or events	23
7437343954	connotation	an implied or associative meaning of a word	24
7437547722	cumulative sentence	a sentence in which the main independent clause is elaborated by the successive addition of modifying clauses or phrases	25
7437547723	declarative sentence	a sentence that makes a statement or declaration	26
7437547724	denotation	the literal meaning of a word	27
7437547725	dialect	a variety of speech characterized by its own particular grammar or pronunciation, often associated with a particular geographical region	28
7437547726	dialogue	a conversation between two or more people	29
7437547727	diction	the word choices made by a writer	30
7437547728	didactic	having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing	31
7437547729	dissonance	harsh, inharmonious, or discordant sounds	32
7437547730	elegy	a formal poem presenting a meditation on death or another solemn theme	33
7437547731	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)	34
7437547732	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	35
7437718930	epigram	a brief, pithy, and often paradoxical saying	36
7437718931	epigraph	a saying or statement on the title page of a work, or used as a heading for a chapter or other section of work	37
7437718932	epiphany	A moment of sudden revelation or insight	38
7437718933	epitaph	an inscription on a tombstone of burial place	39
7437718934	epithet	a term used to point out a characteristic of a person. homeric epithets are often compound adjectives that become an almost formulaic part of a name. epithets can be abusice or offensive but are not so by definition.	40
7437718935	eulogy	a formal speech praising a person who has died	41
7437718936	Euphamism	an indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant	42
7437718937	exclamatory sentence	a sentence expressing strong feeling, usually punctuated with an exclamation mark	43
7437718938	expletive	an interjection to lend emphasis; sometimes a profanity	44
7437718939	fable	a brief story that leads to a moral, often using animals as characters	45
7437718940	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	46