AP Literature Terms Flashcards

7372988233	Deus Ex Machina	the circumstance where an implausible concept or a divine character is introduced into a storyline for the purpose of resolving its conflict and procuring an interesting outcome.	0
7372644337	Allegory	The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning.	1
7372646224	Allegory (story)	A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself.	2
7372649693	Alliteration	The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words	3
7372651436	Allusion	A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art.	4
7372653264	Ambiguity	The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.	5
7372654917	Analogy	A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them	6
7372661347	Antithesis	The opposition or contrast of ideas; the direct opposite.	7
7372663176	Aphorism	A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle.	8
7372665133	Apostrophe	A prayer like figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction such as liberty or love.	9
7372675101	Atmosphere	The emotional nod created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author's choice of objects that are described.	10
7372676961	Caricature	A verbal description, the purpose of which is to exaggerate or distort, for comic effect, a person's distinctive physical features or other characteristics.	11
7372679205	Chiasmus	a rhetorical or literary figure in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order, in the same or a modified form; e.g.	12
7372689144	Conceit	A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects	13
7372691364	Didacticism	Have the primary aim of teaching or instructing, especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles.	14
7372707608	Euphemism	A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept	15
7372709926	Extended Metaphor	A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.	16
7372712021	Figurative Language	Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid	17
7372714497	Litotes	A figure of speech which employs an understatement by using double negatives or, in other words, positive statement is expressed by negating its opposite expressions.	18
7372716887	tautology	The saying of the same thing twice in different words, generally considered to be a fault of style	19
7372719190	Figure of Speech	A device used to produce figurative language.	20
7372721260	Generic conventions	Describes traditions for each genre.	21
7372723996	Genre	The major category into which a literary work fits	22
7372727298	Homily	Any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice.	23
7372729694	Hyperbole	A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.	24
7372731965	Imagery	The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions.	25
7372737475	Invective	An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language.	26
7372740533	Irony	The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant, or the difference between what appears to be and what is actually true.	27
7372743126	Metaphor	A figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity.	28
7372745599	Metonymy	A figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it.	29
7372747775	Mood	The prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work.	30
7372749886	Narrative	The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events.	31
7372751743	onomatopoeia	A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words.	32
7372755182	Oxymoron	A figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox	33
7372757750	Paradox	A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity.	34
7372760369	Parallelism	Refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity.	35
7372777945	Malapropism	A word humorously misused	36
7372777946	Parody	A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.	37
7372777947	Pedantic	An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish	38
7372777948	Personification	A figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions.	39
7372783710	Point of view	The perspective from which a story is told.	40
7372786223	Prose	Refers to fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms	41
7372788313	Repetition	The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language such as sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern	42
7372804990	Sarcasm	Involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something	43
7372807505	Satire	A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule.	44
7372807571	Style	An evaluation of the sum of the choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and others.	45
7372812980	Symbol/Symbolism	Anything that represents itself and stands for something else	46
7372814999	Theme	The central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers into life.	47
7372816614	Tone	Describes the author's attitude toward his material, the audience, or both.	48
7372818966	Understatement	The ironic minimizing of fact	49
7372822587	Wit	Intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights	50
7372833522	Hero	A protagonist who behave virtuously	51
7372835639	Villain	An evil or cruel antagonist	52
7372837833	Dialect	Dialogue written to reflect qualities of a character's speech	53
7372840130	Antagonist	Force or character who struggles against the protagonist	54
7372843143	Foreshadowing	Hinting at events that will occur later in a story	55
7372845704	Propaganda	Literature plainly written to persuade the reader to espouse the author's position on a significant issue of his time.	56
7372847605	Protagonist	Main character of a story	57
7372847606	Conflict	Opposition of two or more characters or forces	58
7372849761	Suspense	Reader anxiety resulting from the author's withholding of plot details	59
7372852262	Setting	The time, place, and way of life in which the action of the story occurs	60
7372859612	Foil	Character that opposes another	61
7372870939	Persona	Personality created by the author that narrates the story	62
7372861957	Tragedy	A story in which the protagonist's flaws cause him tremendous suffering	63
7372873815	Anecdote	A short narrative of a single interesting or amusing incident	64
7372877232	Frame Story	Type of story containing a second story set within the opening and closing narrative	65
7372891295	Synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part, the special for the general or the general for the special	66
7372914412	onomatopoeia	a word which imitates the natural sounds of a thing.	67
7372926290	Pun	a play on words in which a humorous effect is produced by using a word that suggests two or more meanings or by exploiting similar sounding words having different meanings.	68
7372933251	Achetype	a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature.	69
7372966991	Catharsis	an emotional discharge through which one can achieve a state of moral or spiritual renewal or achieve a state of liberation from anxiety and stress.	70
7372978165	Comedy	a literary genre and a type of dramatic work that is amusing and satirical in its tone, mostly having cheerful ending.	71
7373029260	Stream of Consciousness	a method of narration that describes in words the flow of thoughts in the minds of the characters.	72
7373036572	Synesthesia	a technique adopted by writers to present ideas, characters or places in such a manner that they appeal to more than one senses like hearing, seeing, smell etc. at a given time.	73
7373067180	Anti-hero	a prominent character in a play or book that has characteristics opposite to that of a conventional hero.	74
7373081427	Dystopia	a world in which everything is imperfect and everything goes terribly wrong.	75
7373119519	Double Entendre	a literary device that can be defined as a phrase or a figure of speech that might have multiple senses, interpretations or two different meanings or that could be understood in two different ways.	76
7372763338	Malapropism	A word humorously misused	77