AP Literature - Literary Terms Flashcards

9789839746	allegory	A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.	0
9789839747	alliteration	It is a stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series.	1
9789839748	allusion	A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance.	2
9789839751	antagonist	A character or force in conflict with the main character	3
9789839752	anaphora	A rhetorical figure of repetition in which the same word or phrase is repeated in (and usually at the beginning of) successive lines, clauses, or sentences.	4
9789839755	aphorism	A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life.	5
9789839756	apostrophe	A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.	6
9789839757	assonance	Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity	7
9789839759	blank verse	Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter	8
9789839761	cacophony	Harsh, discordant, or meaningless mixture of sounds	9
9789839762	cadence	Rhythmic rise and fall	10
9789839764	connotation	All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests	11
9789839765	consonance	Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.	12
9789839766	couplet	A pair of rhymed lines that may or may not constitute a separate stanza in a poem.	13
9789839768	denotation	Dictionary definition of a word	14
9789839769	denouement	an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot	15
9789839770	diction	The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing	16
9789839773	euphemism	An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant	17
9789839774	end-stopped line	A line that ends with a natural speech pause, usually marked by punctuation	18
9789839775	enjambment	A run-on line of poetry in which logical and grammatical sense carries over from one line into the next.	19
9789839776	epitaph	A brief statement written on a tomb or gravestone	20
9789839777	epic	A long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society	21
9789839779	flashback	A method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events	22
9789839780	foreshadowing	A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader.	23
9789839782	frame story	A secondary story or stories embedded in the main story	24
9789839783	free verse	Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme	25
9789839784	genre	A category or type of literature (or of art, music, etc.) characterized by a particular form, style, or content.	26
9789839785	hamartia	tragic flaw which causes a character's downfall	27
9789839788	hubris	Excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy	28
9789839789	hyperbole	A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor	29
9789839791	imagery	Descriptive or figurative language in a literary work; the use of language to create sensory impressions.	30
9789839792	irony	A contrast or discrepancy between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen.	31
9789839793	verbal irony	In this type of irony, the words literally state the opposite of the writer's true meaning	32
9789839794	situational irony	Occurs when the outcome of a work is unexpected, or events turn out to be the opposite from what one had expected	33
9789839795	dramatic irony	Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play.	34
9789839796	jargon	Special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand	35
9789839797	juxtaposition	Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts	36
9789839799	metaphor	A comparison that establishes a figurative identity between objects being compared.	37
9789839800	meter	A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry	38
9789839802	mood	Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader	39
9789839803	motif	(n.) a principal idea, feature, theme, or element; a repeated or dominant figure in a design	40
9789839804	motivation	A psychological factor that provides a directional force or reason for behavior.	41
9789839805	narration	The purpose of this type of rhetorical mode is to tell the story or narrate an event or series of events.	42
9789839806	novel	A long fictional narrative written in prose, usually having many characters and a strong plot.	43
9789839807	novella	A short novel usually under 100 pages.	44
9789839809	octave	a verse form consisting of eight lines of iambic pentameter	45
9789839811	onomatopoeia	A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words.	46
9789839812	oxymoron	A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.	47
9789839814	parable	A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson	48
9789839815	paradox	A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.	49
9789839817	parody	A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.	50
9789839820	persona	A pattern of relatively permanent traits, dispositions, or characteristics that give some consistency to people's behavior.	51
9789839821	personification	A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes	52
9789839822	plot	Sequence of events in a story	53
9789839823	point of view	The perspective from which a story is told	54
9789839826	protagonist	Chief character in a dramatic or narrative work, usually trying to accomplish some objective or working toward some goal.	55
9789839827	pun	A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.	56
9789839828	quatrain	4 line stanza	57
9789839829	refrain	A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem.	58
9789839830	rhetorical question	A question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer	59
9789839831	end rhyme	A word at the end of one line rhymes with a word at the end of another line	60
9789839833	forced rhyme	when two words don't really rhyme together, but an author uses similar spelled, or sounding words to try to create a rhyme; Ex: stone, one	61
9789839834	internal rhyme	A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line	62
9789839835	slant rhyme	rhyme in which the vowel sounds are nearly, but not exactly the same (i.e. the words "stress" and "kiss"); sometimes called half-rhyme, near rhyme, or partial rhyme	63
9789839836	rhyme scheme	A regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem	64
9789839837	satire	A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies.	65
9789839839	shifts/turns	Changes in the speaker's attitude. Look for key words such as but, yet, however, and although, punctuation, and stanza division.	66
9789839840	sonnet	14-line lyric poem focused on a single theme; usually written in iambic pentameter	67
9789839841	symbol	A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.	68
9789839842	synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa	69
9789839843	syntax	Arrangement of words in phrases and sentences	70
9789839844	theme	A topic of discussion or writing; a major idea broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary work.	71
9789839845	tone	A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization on the sentence and global levels.	72
9789839846	understatement	the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.	73