AP Literary Terms Flashcards

7222509357	allegory	A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself.	0
7222509358	alliteration	Repetition of initial consonant sounds	1
7222509359	allusion	A reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art	2
7222509360	ambiguity	uncertainty or inexactness of meaning in language	3
7222509361	anaphora	the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses	4
7222509362	antagonist	A character or force in conflict with the main character	5
7222509363	analogy	A comparison of two different things that are similar in some way	6
7222509364	apostrophe	A locution that addresses a person or personified thing not present.	7
7222509365	archetype	a very typical example of a certain person or thing	8
7222509366	aside	A short remark or set of lines that are spoken by a character directly to the audience	9
7222509367	assonance	Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity	10
7222509368	asyndeton	omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words	11
7222509369	ballad	longer song that tells a story; usually sad.	12
7222509370	blank verse	unrhymed iambic pentameter	13
7222509371	cacophony	A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds	14
7222509372	caesura	a speech pause occurring within a line; sometimes marked by punctuation; a breath	15
7222509373	catharsis	Release of emotion that brings relief or renewal	16
7222509374	character / flat, round	uncomplicated character that doesn't change vs. complex character that develops and evolves	17
7222509375	cliche	An overused expression	18
7222509376	conceit	A fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor	19
7222509377	connotation	an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.	20
7222509378	colloquial diction	everyday usage that may contain terms accepted in a group but not universally acceptable	21
7222509379	comedy	A humorous work of drama	22
7222509381	consonance	Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity. (ex. pitter patter)	23
7222509382	couplet	Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme	24
7222509383	denotation	The dictionary definition of a word	25
7222509384	diction	the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.	26
7222509385	dramatic monologue	a long speech or poem in which one person speaks reflecting on a problem or situation.	27
7222509386	elegy	a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.	28
7222509387	enjambment	the continuation of a sentence or clause over a line-break	29
7222509388	epigram	a witty saying expressing a single thought or observation	30
7222509389	epic	A long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds	31
7222509390	epiphany	A moment of sudden revelation or insight	32
7222509391	euphony	pleasant, harmonious sound	33
7222509392	existential character/hero	he or she who can will, or create, his or her meaning in these absurd, doomed situations, and then still act in accordance to an internal morality	34
7222509393	exposition	Background information presented in a literary work.	35
7222509394	farce	a play filled with ridiculous or absurd happenings	36
7222509395	flashback/forward	scenes from past or future inserted into present action	37
7222509396	foil	A character who acts as a contrast to another character	38
7222509397	foreshadowing	a warning or indication of a future event	39
7222509398	free verse	Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme	40
7222509399	heroic couplet	two lines of rhyming iambic pentameter	41
7222509400	hyperbole	exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.	42
7222509401	imagery	the use of figures of speech to create vivid images that appeal to one or more of the senses	43
7222509402	iambic pentameter	A line of poetry that contains five iambic feet	44
7222509404	irony (dramatic, situational, verbal)	a state of affairs, language, or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result	45
7222509405	lyric	a short poem of song-like quality that expresses the feelings of a single speaker	46
7222509406	metaphor (stated, implied, extended)	a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable	47
7222509407	meter	A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry	48
7222509408	metonymy	substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it (ex. the White House instead of the president's name)	49
7222509409	motif	A recurring theme, subject or idea	50
7222509410	myth	Symbolic stories that express a spiritual truth or a basic belief about God	51
7222509411	narrative structure	how a story is organized; how the plot is structured by the writer	52
7222509412	octave	8 line stanza	53
7222509413	ode	a lyric poem that expresses strong emotions about a specific person, thing, or life	54
7222509414	onomatopoeia	A word that imitates the sound it represents.	55
7222509415	overstatement	the action of expressing or stating something too strongly in an effort to underscore the truth; exaggeration	56
7222509416	oxymoron	a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction	57
7222509417	parable	A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson	58
7222509418	paradox	a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true	59
7222509419	parallelism	The repetition of similar grammatical or syntactical patterns.	60
7222509420	parody	a work which imitates another in a ridiculous manner	61
7222509421	pastoral	A literary work that idealizes country and rural life	62
7222509422	persona	the role, attitude, personality a writer assumes in order to achieve a literary purpose	63
7222509423	personification	the giving of human qualities to an animal, object, or idea	64
7222509424	point of view	the method of narration; the lens through which the reader sees the action	65
7222509425	polysyndeton	the repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases, or clauses	66
7222509426	protagonist	The central character in a work of literature	67
7222509427	quatrain	A four line stanza	68
7222509428	realism	Attempting to describe nature and life without idealization and with attention to detail	69
7222509429	rhythm	A strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.	70
7222509430	rhyme	Words that end in the same sound, end rhyme	71
7222509431	romantic	fanciful, impractical, unrealistic; dominated by idealism	72
7222509432	rite of passage	a ritual marking the symbolic transition from one social position to another	73
7222509433	sarcasm	the use of irony to mock or convey contempt	74
7222509434	satire	A literary style used to make fun of or ridicule an idea or human vice or weakness	75
7222509435	scan	The act of determining the meter of a poetic line.	76
7222509436	sestet	6 line stanza	77
7222509437	simile	A comparison using "like" or "as"	78
7222509438	soliloquy	a speech in a play delivered by one character while he or she is alone on stage	79
7222509439	sonnet	a fourteen line poem with a precise rhyme scheme and meter	80
7222509440	stream of consciousness	writing that imitates the sometimes unpredictable workings of the mind	81
7222509443	symbol	anything that stands for or represents something else	82
7222509444	synecdoche	using one part of an object to represent the entire object	83
7222509445	syntax	The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences.	84
7222509446	tercet	a three-line stanza	85
7222509448	tone	Attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character	86
7222509449	tragedy	A serious form of drama dealing with the downfall of a heroic or noble character	87
7222509450	understatement	A statement which lessens or minimizes the importance of what is meant	88
7222509451	unreliable narrator	an untrustworthy or naive commentator on events and characters in a story	89