AP English Literature Vocab Flashcards

6578173670	Allegory	a universal symbol or personified abstraction	0
6578176258	Alliteration	the repetition of similar initial sounds, usually consonants, in a group of words	1
6578179661	Allusion	an indirect or oblique reference within a text to another text or work. Hence a subtle artistic quotation or homage	2
6578179662	Ambiguity	something uncertain as to interpretation	3
6578181989	Anachronism	something that shows up in the wrong place or the wrong time	4
6578183726	Analogy	a comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them	5
6578183727	Analysis	a method in which a work or idea is separated into its parts, and those parts given rigorous and detailed scrutiny	6
6578187668	Anaphora	a device or repetition in which a word or words are repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences	7
6578187669	Anecdote	a very short story used to illustrate a point.	8
6578189641	Antagonist	a person or force opposing the protagonist in a drama or narrative	9
6578189642	Antihero	a protagonist who does not embody or exhibit the qualities of the traditional hero. An antihero may even be downright dishonest and petty.	10
6578191528	Aphorism	a terse, pointed statement expressing some wise or clever observation about life.	11
6578191529	Apologia	a defense or justification for some doctrine, piece of writing, cause, or action; also apology	12
6578193154	Apostrophe	a figure of speech in which an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something inanimate or nonhuman is addressed directly.	13
6578194711	Apocalyptic Literature	writings that aim to reveal the future history of the world and the ultimate destiny of the earth and its inhabitants	14
6578194712	Argumentation	the process of convincing a reader by proving either the truth or the falsity of an idea or proposition; also, the thesis or proposition itself	15
6578196711	Assonance	the repetition of similar vowel sounds within a line or succeeding lines of verse.	16
6578196712	Assumption	the act of supposing, or taking for granted that a thing is true	17
6578202742	Audience	the intended listener or listeners	18
6578207903	Autobiography	an author's own life history or memoir.	19
6578212274	Antithesis	a balancing of one term against another for emphasis or stylistic effectiveness.	20
6578214092	Archetype	recurrent designs, patterns of action, character types, themes, or images which are identifiable in a wide range of literature	21
6578219673	Blank Verse	a verse form consisting of unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter. Shakespeare's plays are largely in blank verse.	22
6578219674	Black Humor	comedy mingled with horror or a sense of the macabre; extremely bitter, morbid, or shocking humor	23
6578222541	Catalogue	a traditional epic device consisting of a long rhetorical list or inventory.	24
6578225312	Characterization	the means by which a writer reveals a character's personality	25
6578225313	Chiasmus	a reversal in the order off words so that the second half of a statement balances the first half in inverted word order.	26
6578227403	Christ Figure	a character who sacrifices himself or herself for the betterment of the characters in the story.	27
6578227404	Circumlocution	a roundabout or evasive speech or writing, in which many words are used but a few would have served	28
6578229322	Classicism	art, literature, and music reflecting the principles of ancient Greece and Rome: tradition, reason, clarity, order, and balance	29
6578229323	Cliche	a phrase or situation overused within society	30
6578229324	Climax	the decisive point in a narrative or drama; the pint of greatest intensity or interest at which plot question is answered or resolved	31
6578232342	Colloquialism	folksy speech, slang words or phrases usually used in informal conversation	32
6578235328	Conceit	A witty or ingenious thought a diverting or highly fanciful idea, often stated in figurative language.	33
6578235329	Comedy	film or dramatic work depicting the uphill struggle and eventual success of a sympathetic hero or heroine; usually about ordinary people in difficult but non-life-threatening predicaments.	34
6578235330	Connotation	implicit meaning, going beyond dictionary definition	35
6578255899	Consonance	repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in a line or succeeding lines of verse.	36
6578255900	Contrast	a rhetorical device by which one element (idea or object) is thrown into opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity	37
6578264373	Couplet	A pair of rhyming lines in a poem	38
6578266450	Drama	a literary work designed for presentation by actors on a stage.	39
6578266451	Dramatic Romance	play which adapts the themes, characters, and conventions of narrative romance for the stage	40
6578268213	Denotation	plain dictionary definition	41
6578268214	Denouement	loose ends tied up in a story after the climax, closure, and conclusion	42
6578269860	Dialect	the language of a particular district, class or group of persons; the sounds, grammar, and diction employed by people distinguished from others.	43
6578273265	Dialectics	formal debates usually over the nature of truth.	44
6578273266	Dichotomy	split or break between two opposing things	45
6578273267	Diction	the style of speaking or writing as reflected in the choice and use of words.	46
6578278187	Didactic	having to do with the transmission of information; education.	47
6578278188	Dogmatic	rigid in beliefs and principles.	48
6578280417	Dues Ex Machina	in literature, the use of an artificial device or gimmick to solve a problem.	49
6578280418	Elegy	a mournful, melancholy poem, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead, sometimes contains general reflections on death, often with a rural or pastoral setting.	50
6578281748	Epic	a long narrative poem usually about gods, heroes, and legendary events; celebrates the history, culture, and character of a people	51
6578284750	Enjambment	In poetry, the use of the successive lines with no punctuation or pause between them.	52
6578284751	Epigram	witty aphorism.	53
6578286505	Epitaph	any brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone; a short formal poem of commemoration often a credo written by the person who wishes it to be on his tombstone.	54
6578286506	Epithet	a short, descriptive name or phrase that may insult someone's character, characteristics	55
6578287930	Essay	literally a "trial," "test run," or "experiment" (from the French essayer, "to attempt"); hence a relatively short, informal piece of non-fiction prose that treats a topic of general interest in a seemingly casual, impressionistic, and lively way.	56
6578287931	Euphemism	the use of an indirect, mild or vague word or expression for one thought to be coarse, offensive, or blunt.	57
6578290257	Evocative (Evocation)	a calling forth of memories and sensations; the suggestion or production through artistry and imagination of a sense of reality.	58
6578290258	Exposition	beginning of a story that sets forth facts, ideas, and/or characters, in a detailed explanation.	59
6578290259	Expressionism	movement in art, literature, and music consisting of unrealistic representation of an inner idea or feeling(s).	60
6578295548	Extended Metaphor	A series of comparisons between two unlike objects.	61
6578295549	Fable	a short, simple story, usually with animals as characters, designed to teach a moral truth.	62
6578295550	Fallacy	from Latin word "to deceive", a false or misleading notion, belief, or argument; any kind of erroneous reasoning that makes arguments unsound.	63
6578297409	Falling Action	part of the narrative or drama after the climax.	64
6578299521	Fantasy Fiction	modern adventure novels or tales that adapt many of the conventions and devices of medieval romance	65
6578299522	Farce	comedy that makes extensive use of improbable plot complications, zany characters, and slapstick humor.	66
6578303309	Figurative Language	apt and imaginative language characterized by figures of speech (such as metaphor and simile). This is language that cannot be taken literally	67
6578303310	Flashback	a narrative device that flashes back to prior events.	68
6578303311	Foil	a person or thing that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more prominent.	69
6578304659	Folk Tale	story passed on by word of mouth.	70
6578304660	Foreshadowing	in fiction and drama, a device to prepare the reader for the outcome of the action; "planning" to make the outcome convincing, though not to give it away.	71
6578306998	Free Verse	verse without conventional metrical pattern, with irregular pattern or no rhyme.	72
6578310350	Genre	a collective grouping or general category of literary works; a large class or group that consists of individual works of literature that share common attributes (e.g., similar themes, characters, plots, or styles).	73
6578310351	Gothic Tale	a style in literature characterized by gloomy settings, violent or grotesque action, and a mood of decay, degeneration, and decadence.	74
6578312444	Hyperbole	an exaggerated statement often used as a figure of speech or to prove a point	75
6578314260	Imagery	a word or phrase in a literary text that appeals directly to the reader's taste, touch, hearing, sight, or smell.	76
6578317487	Incongruity	the deliberate joining of opposites or of elements that are not appropriate to each other.	77
6578317488	Inference	a judgment or conclusion based on evidence presented; the forming of an opinion which possesses some degree of probability according to facts already available.	78
6578320728	Irony		79
6578320729	Interior Monologue		80
6578322355	Inversion		81
6578324326	In-Medis-Res		82
6578325861	Juxtaposition		83
6578327190	Lyric		84
6578327191	Magical Realism		85
6578328755	Melodrama		86
6578328756	Metaphor		87
6578328757	Meter		88
6578330478	Metonymy		89
6578333128	Mock Epic		90
6578333129	Mode of Discourse		91
6578334749	Modernism		92
6578334750	Monologue		93
6578334751	Mood		94
6578336407	Motif		95
6578336408	Myth		96
6578337780	Narrative		97
6578341612	Narrator		98
6578341613	Neo-Classicism		99
6578341614	Novel		100
6578343109	Novella		101
6578343110	Ode		102
6578344438	Omniscient Point of View		103
6578348931	Onomatopoeia		104
6578348932	The Other		105
6578350381	Oxymoron		106
6578350382	Pacing		107
6578351822	Parable		108
6578351823	Paradox		109
6578353940	Parallelism		110
6578368378	Parody		111
6578369695	Pastoralism		112
6578372655	Pathos		113
6578372656	Personification		114
6578374457	Plot		115
6578374458	Poignant		116
6578376260	Point of View		117
6578376261	Postmodernism		118
6578376262	Prosody		119
6578381557	Prose		120
6578383364	Protagonist		121
6578383365	Pun		122
6578383366	Purpose		123
6578385523	Quatrain		124
6578392118	Realism		125
6578393965	Refrain		126
6578395964	Requiem		127
6578400707	Resolution		128
6578400708	Rhetoric		129
6578400709	Rhetorical Question		130
6578402075	Rhyme		131
6578402076	Rhythm		132
6578402077	Rising Action		133
6578403651	Romance		134
6578405034	Romanticism		135
6578405035	Satire		136
6578406352	Science Fiction		137
6578406353	Scansion		138
6578408744	Setting		139
6578410541	Simile		140
6578419672	Soliloquy		141
6578424171	Sonnet		142
6578425884	Spiritual		143
6578425885	Speaker		144
6578425886	Stereotype		145
6578429014	Stream of Consciousness		146
6578429015	Structure		147
6578430730	Style		148
6578430731	Synecdoche		149
6578432111	Symbolism		150
6578434095	Syntax		151
6578436023	Theme		152
6578439420	Tragedy		153
6578439421	Tragicomedy		154
6578440704	Tone		155
6578443573	Utopian Literature		156
6578449797	Victorian Literature		157