AP Literature Literary Terms Flashcards

5882053729	Allegory	any literary work or picture that can be interpreted to show a hidden message	0
5882053730	Alliteration	repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words that are relatively close together	1
5882053731	Allusion	casually or indirecting referencing a well-known work, person, event, or idea using descriptive and figurative language	2
5882054258	Ambiguity	containing multiple different meanings or definitions than what is interpreted	3
5882054259	Analogy	comparisons made for clarification purposes	4
5882054788	Anaphora	repetition of the first part of the sentence	5
5882056047	Anastrophe	the inversion of a usually used phrase	6
5882056048	Anecdote	a short story or synopsis used to prove a point or provide comic relief	7
5882056582	Antagonist	opposite of a hero, evil intentions, villain	8
5882057101	Antimetabole	switching the words of a sentence to emphasize a point	9
5882057102	Antithesis	contrasting ideas presented in a parallel structure	10
5882057103	Antihero	a main character in literature that does not have the qualities of a traditional hero	11
5882058610	Anthropomorphism	when human traits are given to objects to make them appear human	12
5882058611	Aphorism	a short phrase or sentence that explains an idea of great purpose	13
5882059188	Apostrophe	talking to an imaginary thing as if it were real	14
5882098670	Apposition	when a noun or phrase describes another noun; usually the second identifies or supplements the first	15
5882098671	Assonance	when 2 or more words repeat the same vowel sounds	16
5882099349	Asyndeton	stylistic device used to eliminate conjunctions between phrases	17
5882101845	Indirect characterization	when an author uses speech or actions to show personality indirectly	18
5882102586	Direct characterization	directly stating characteristics to show a character's personality	19
5882104148	Static character	a literary or dramatic character who endures little to no inner change	20
5882105778	Dynamic character	character who undergoes a dramatic change	21
5882130353	Flat character	simple character, not known about, usually minor	22
5882130912	Round character	complex or multi-faceted personality, depth, or passion like a real person	23
5882131632	Chiasmus	two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point, usually in poetry	24
5882131633	Diction	style of writing based choice of words	25
5882132207	Didactic	a work of literature that teaches something; a parable	26
5882132208	Elegy	a mournful and somber poem expressing sorrow	27
5882133040	Epanalepsis	figure of speech when the initial word is repeated at the end	28
5882133041	Epic	a poem or hero that has bad traits	29
5882147439	Epigraph	quote or sentence at the beginning of a piece that reflects something we know	30
5882147440	Epistrophe	repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences	31
5882148966	Epithet	a descriptive term that is often added onto a name to form a characterizing nickname	32
5882148967	Explication	commentary revealing the meaning of the work	33
5882148968	Fable	a story that teaches a lesson or moral	34
5882149651	Farce	satirical situation using improbable situations and physical humor to entertain	35
5882123436	Litotes	two negatives are used to show a positive	36
5882126903	Verbal irony	a person says or writes one thing and means another	37
5882126216	Dramatic irony	the audience knows something that the other characters do not	38
5882126217	Juxtaposition	two or more things are paired to show a comparison	39
5882125473	Situational irony	actions that have the opposite effect	40
5882172183	Flashback	a sudden and vivid memory of an event in the past	41
5882171542	Foil	character in a literary work who contrasts with the main character	42
5882171543	Foreshadowing	predicts the future	43
5882171179	Hyperbole	exaggerated claim or statement that is not intended to be literal	44
5882171544	Free verse	usually in poetry, no rhyming or particular structure	45
5882171180	Hypotactic	sentence made by the use of connecting words between clauses and sentences	46
5882170533	Imagery	to use figurative language to reflect ideas that appeal to the senses	47
5882170017	Inversion	the changing of words in a sentence for emphasis	48
6617650294	Verbal Irony	a person says or writes one thing and means another	49
6617657139	Dramatic Irony	audience knows something that the other characters do not	50
6617661822	Loose sentence	the main idea is elaborated by the successive addition of modifying clauses or phrases	51
6617674007	Lyric poem	poem with a song-like quality, usually in the present tense and has a specific rhyme scheme	52
6617680874	Situational Irony	actions that have an opposite effect than is intended	53
6617688840	Implied metaphor	word or phrase that compares two unlike things to more clearly describe them	54
6617697391	Dead metaphor	has lost its effectiveness due to repeated use	55
6617705040	Mixed metaphor	two comparisons that don't make sense	56
6617709038	Metonymy	word or phrase that is used to represent another word Ex. crown=royal family	57
6617716468	Mood	the feeling that is evoked through the use of certain words or descriptions	58
6617721670	Motif	a particular element of the story that repeats and symbolizes something, usually one word	59
6617728735	Motivation	the reason a certain character has for voluntarily doing something	60
6617733161	Onomatopeia	words that sound like a sound	61
6617735916	Oxymoron	figure of speech in which two contrasting words are joined to create an effect	62
6617740129	Parable	a short story that teaches a moral or religious principle	63
6617744481	Paradox-Koan	paradox that is reflected upon during meditation usually related to spiritual subjects	64
6617749514	Parallel structure	a stylistic device where two or more clauses have similar grammatical parforms	65
6617755846	Paratactic structure	two sentences that do not make sense	66
6617758533	Parody	an imitation with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect	67
6617761968	Periodic sentence	a sentence that has the main clause at the end to create suspense	68
6617767199	Personification	applying human traits to an inanimate object	69
6617769063	Plot elements	a component of a literary work	70
6617773726	Polysyndenton	the joining of clauses using words such as and, but, or	71
6617779245	1st person POV	story is narrated by one character who is telling the story	72
6617782402	3rd person POV	narrator related all action using 3rd person pronouns such as he or she	73
6617794563	Omniscent POV	3rd person POV where the narrator is all-knowing	74
6617797500	Objective POV	when the writer tells what happens without stating more than can be inferred	75
6617801517	Protagonist	main character in a work of literature	76
6617806017	Quatrain	a fourline stanza with alternating rhymes	77
6617810342	Refrain	repetition of a line, phrase, or even words within a poem usually at the end of each stanza	78
6617817854	Rhythm	a particular beat or arrangement in a work of literature	79
6617821595	Rhetoric	a technique using language effectively or persuasively, usually used to convince, influence, or please an audience	80
6617832037	Rhetorical question	a question that was not meant to be answered and is used for emphasis	81
6617835753	Satire	used to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of something through humor	82
6617839851	Soliloquy	the act of speaking one's inner thoughts aloud when by oneself, usually in a play	83
6617850678	Stream of Consciousness	a person's thoughts or internal reaction in response to certain events are percieed as a continuous flow	84
6617857926	Symbol	contains several layers of meaning, usually concealed at first and an object	85
6617864375	Synecdoche	Part that represents a whole or vice versa	86
6617866018	Syntactic fluency	a writer's ability to use a variety of sentence structures while also using sentence structures that are easy to follow	87
6617880421	Syntactic permutation	sentence structures that are extremely complex and involved, often difficult to follow	88
6617888736	Tall tale	story with unbelievable elements, sometimes exaggerations of real events	89
6617895116	Telegraphic sentence	a sentence that expresses a straightforward idea, usually five words or less	90
6617897510	Theme	main idea or underlying idea of a literary work, usually a sentence	91