Literary Terms - AP Language Flashcards
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| 5001918715 | Ad Hominum | a logical fallacy in which a claim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact about the author of or the person presenting the claim or argument | 0 | |
| 5001927159 | Allegory | a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one | 1 | |
| 5001933554 | Allusion | a reference to something or someone from religion, history, literature/mythology | 2 | |
| 5001937100 | Alliteration | the repetition of sounds at the beginnings of words very close together | 3 | |
| 5001949831 | Apostrophe | not to be confused with the punctuation mark, this literary device addresses some abstraction or personification not physically present | 4 | |
| 5001957510 | Aphorism | a pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." | 5 | |
| 5001970001 | Analogy | a comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared to another thing that is quite different from it; it aims at explaining that idea or thing by comparing it to something familiar; metaphors and similes are tools used to draw this | 6 | |
| 5001978356 | Anaphora | the deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect | 7 | |
| 5001993621 | Anecdote | a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person | 8 | |
| 5001998127 | Antithesis | the rhetorical contrast of ideas by means of parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or sentences (as in "action, not words" or "they promised freedom and provided slavery") | 9 | |
| 5002011186 | Archaic | word choice that is old or outdated | 10 | |
| 5002014906 | Asyndeton | omission of the conjunctions that ordinarily join coordinate words or clauses ( as in "We ran, laughed, loved.") | 11 | |
| 5002021974 | Cacophony | harsh, discordant mixture of sounds | 12 | |
| 5002027505 | Chiasmus (Antimetabole) | a rhetorical device in which two or more clauses balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures produces an artistic effect ("Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you") | 13 | |
| 5002039344 | Colloquialism | a word or phrase not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation | 14 | |
| 5002043724 | Conceit | an extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs a poetic passage or entire poem | 15 | |
| 5002047754 | Connotation | your own definition of a word based on your personal and emotional associations to it | 16 | |
| 5002051460 | Cumulative Sentence | an independent clause followed by a series of dependent clauses ( ex: "He dipped his hands in the bichloride solution and shook them--a quick shake, fingers down, like the fingers of a pianist above the keys.") | 17 | |
| 5002068587 | Denotation | the dictionary definition of a word | 18 | |
| 5002070522 | Detail | an individual or minute part - one that supports a greater good | 19 | |
| 5002073725 | Diction | word choice | 20 | |
| 5002077001 | Didactic | describes writing intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive | 21 | |
| 5002082270 | Ellipsis | the leaving out of one or more words not necessary for a phrase to be understood (...) | 22 | |
| 5002087388 | Epiphany | that moment in the story where a character achieves realization, awareness or a feeling of knowledge after which events are seen through the prism of this new light in the story | 23 | |
| 5002095232 | Ethos | persuasive appeals that refer to the trustworthiness or credibility of the writer or speaker | 24 | |
| 5002099419 | Euphamism | a kinder, gentler way of saying a brutal truth | 25 | |
| 5002112197 | Figurative language | language used by writers to produce images in readers' minds and to express ideas in fresh, vivid, and imaginative ways | 26 | |
| 5002119596 | Genre | a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter | 27 | |
| 5002127631 | Homily | a religious discourse that is intended primarily for spiritual edification rather than doctrinal instruction; a sermon | 28 | |
| 5002133110 | Hyperbole | an exaggeration in literature | 29 | |
| 5002135328 | Imagery | writing that appeals to the five senses | 30 | |
| 5002139403 | Invective | insulting, abusive, or highly critical language | 31 | |
| 5002150130 | Irony | a contrast between what the expectations of a situation are and what is really the case (can be dramatic, verbal or situational) | 32 | |
| 5002156770 | Juxtaposition | the act of placing two or more things side-by-side to emphasize their differences | 33 | |
| 5002161893 | Litotes | understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary (ex: you won't be sorry, MEANING you'll be glad) | 34 | |
| 5002176778 | Logos | refers to the logical consistency of the message -- the clarity of the claim, the logic of its reasons, and the effectiveness of its supporting evidence | 35 | |
| 5002183186 | Metaphor | a figure of speech that compares (either directly or indirectly/implied) two unlike things without using"like" "as" or "than" | 36 | |
| 5002194864 | Metonymy (Synecdoche) | figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated (sometimes the name of a part that makes up the whole - ex: suit is used to refer to a business executive) | 37 | |
| 5002203802 | Motif | a distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition | 38 | |
| 5002209364 | Non Sequitur | a conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement | 39 | |
| 5002212999 | Onomatopeia | words spelled exactly as they sound | 40 | |
| 5002215598 | Oxymoron | a combination of contradictory words side-by-side (ex: cruel kindness) | 41 | |
| 5002219513 | Pacing | the movement of a literary piece from one point or section to another | 42 | |
| 5002224598 | Parallelism | similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses (ex: "I came, I saw, I conquered" - because all phrases begin with "I" and all verbs are past tense, this creates parallel structure) | 43 | |
| 5002240677 | Parody | an imitation of a particular writer, artist or a genre, exaggerating it deliberately to produce a comic effect | 44 | |
| 5002246810 | Paradox | a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true | 45 | |
| 5002253014 | Pathos | often associated with emotional appeal; persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions | 46 | |
| 5002258738 | Pedantic | an adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish | 47 | |
| 5002268193 | Periodic Sentence | a long and frequently involved sentence, marked by suspended syntax, in which the sense is not completed until the final word (ex: With a quick shake, fingers down, like the fingers of a pianist above the keys, he dipped his hands in the bichloride solution.") | 48 | |
| 5002283040 | Personification | a figure of speech that gives human qualities to non-human things | 49 | |
| 5002294712 | Point of View | the perspective from which a story is told (first person, third person omniscient, or third person limited omniscient) | 50 | |
| 5002308031 | Polysyndenton | literary device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to suggest a list is endless (much like the asyndeton) | 51 | |
| 5002315767 | Repitition | a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer | 52 | |
| 5002324044 | Rhetorical Question | a question asked merely for effect with no answer expected | 53 | |
| 5002327374 | Sarcasm | verbal irony used to mock or convey contempt | 54 | |
| 5002330173 | Satire | a work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule | 55 | |
| 5002337124 | Shift | a change in the mood, tone, or subject matter of a piece of literature | 56 | |
| 5002339859 | Simile | a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different things (like,as,than) | 57 | |
| 5002344971 | Style | an evaluation of the sum of the choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary devices | 58 | |
| 5002351157 | Syllepsis | a kind of ellipsis in which one word (usually a verb) is understood differently in relation to two or more other words, which it governs (like zeugma) | 59 | |
| 5002360850 | Syllogism | from the Greek for "reckoning together," a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises (first "major," second "minor") that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion (ex: All men are mortal, Socrates is mortal) | 60 | |
| 5002378113 | Symbol | anything that represents or stands for something else (natural, conventional, literary) | 61 | |
| 5002382517 | Synecdoche | a literary device in which a part of something represents the whole or it may use a whole to represent a part (similar to metonymy - ex: the phrase "gray beard" refers to an old man) | 62 | |
| 5002394999 | Syntax | the way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences; a set of language rules that dictate how words from different parts of speech are put together in order to convey a complete thought | 63 | |
| 5002405588 | Tautology | a formula that is true in every possible interpretation; redundancies of propositional logic | 64 | |
| 5002415894 | Tone | similar to mood, describes the author's attitude toward his material, the audience, or both | 65 | |
| 5002420347 | Understatement | the ironic minimalizing of fact, presenting something as less significant than it is | 66 | |
| 5002428691 | Zeugma | rhetorical term for the use of a word to modify or govern two or more words (that usually come after it) although its use may be grammatically or logically correct with only one (ex: "You are free to execute your laws, and your citizens, as you see fit.") | 67 | |
| 5765829645 | Anadiplosis | Repeating the last word of a clause at the beginning of he next clause | 68 | |
| 5765829646 | Double entendre | A phrase or figure of speech that could be understood in two different ways | 69 | |
| 5765829647 | Epithet | Describes a place, a thing or a person in such a way that it helps in making the characteristics of a person, thing or place more prominent than they are | 70 | |
| 5765829648 | Epistrophe | Repeats the ends of successive clauses with the same word | 71 | |
| 5765829649 | Malapropism | The accidentally humerous use of an incorrect word in place of another word with a similar sound | 72 | |
| 5765829650 | Paraleipsis | Rhetorical device in which an idea is deliberately suggested through a brief treatment of a subject while most of the significant points are omitted | 73 | |
| 5765829651 | Prolepsis | Anticipation; device showing events expected to happen | 74 | |
| 5765829652 | Synaesthesia | Confusing of the senses | 75 | |
| 5765829653 | Vernacular | The use of ordinary, everyday and plain language in speaking or writing | 76 | |
| 5765829654 | Wit | The clever expression of ideas that awaken amusement and pleasure | 77 |