AP Language: Literary Terms/ Devices Flashcards

5047088798	Anachronism	Something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred. An artifact that belong to another time. A person who seems to be displaced in time - who belongs to another age.	0
5047088799	Anthropomorphism	The act of attributing human forms or qualities to entities which are not human. Describing of gods or goddesses in human forms and possessing human characteristics such as jealousy, hatred, or love.	1
5047088800	Archetype	A theme, motif, symbol, or stock character that holds a familiar place in a culture's consciousness. Think of it as the biggest cliché ever: but one that never dies.	2
5047088801	Example and Explanation of Archetype	The Odyssey is so full of archetypes that there is probably at least one of every kind. Odysseus is the archetypical hero, Hydra and Charybdis and the Cyclops are the archetypical monsters...	3
5047088802	Prose	The ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure, as distinguished from poetry.	4
5047088803	Theme	The central idea or message in a work of literature.	5
5047088804	Mood	The atmosphere or emotional state created by a piece of literature. The words and sentence structure that a writer uses contribute to it. Usually described in expressions of feelings and emotions, such as fear, surprise, anger, hatred, contentment, or jealousy, to name a few.	6
5047088805	Tone	The emotional quality of the words that the author has chosen. It is also the author's attitude and point of view toward a subject; it reflects the feelings of the writer, and can affect the emotional response of the reader to the piece.	7
5047088806	Foible	A minor weakness or failing of character.	8
5047088807	Irony	A trope in which a word or phrase is used to mean the opposite of its literal meaning. Example: "I just love scrubbing the floor.	9
5047088808	Juxtaposition	When one theme or idea or person or whatever is paralleled to another.	10
5047088809	Paradox	Reveals a kind of truth which at first seems contradictory. Two opposing ideas. The middle ground between two seemingly contradictory points.	11
5047088810	Explanation of Paradox	in teaching: wanting a safe school but also wanting kids to have freedom; wanting them to have choice and interest in what they learn but wanting them to "get" certain "stuff"; wanting a friendly relationship with colleagues but being able to say the tough stuff to each other, etc.	12
5047088811	Montage	A quick succession of images or impressions used to express and idea.	13
5047088812	Motif	A phrase, idea, symbol, or event that through repetition serves to unify or convey a theme in an essay or other discourse.	14
5047088813	Omniscient narrator	A narrator with unlimited awareness, understanding and insight of characters, setting, background, and all other elements of the story	15
5047088814	Stream of consciousness	A style of writing in which the author tries to reproduce the random flow of thoughts in the human mind	16