AP Literature and Composition Terms Flashcards

4746592050	Abstract	existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence	0
4746592051	Accent	a distinct emphasis given to a syllable or word in speech by stress or pitch	1
4746592052	Aesthetic(s)	concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty	2
4746592053	Allegory	A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one	3
4746592054	Alliteration	The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.	4
4746592055	Allusion	An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly	5
4746592056	Anachronism	A story that is told not in order.	6
4746592057	Analogy	A comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification	7
4746592058	Anaphora	The use of a word referring to or replacing a word used earlier in a sentence, to avoid repetition, such as do in I like it and so do they	8
4746592059	Anecdote	A short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person	9
4746592060	Antagonist	A person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something	10
4746592061	Anthropomorphism	The attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object	11
4746592062	Anticlimax	A disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events	12
4746592063	Antihero	A central character in a story, movie, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes	13
4746592064	Antithesis	A person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else	14
4746592065	Aphorism	A pithy observation that contains a general truth	15
4746592066	Apologia	A formal written defense of one's opinions or conduct	16
4746592067	Apostrophe	Talking to something that is imaginary or non existent.	17
4746592068	Archaism	The use or conscious imitation of very old or old-fashioned styles or features in language or art	18
4746592069	Archetype	A very typical example of a certain person or thing	19
4746592070	Aside	A remark or passage by a character in a play that is intended to be heard by the audience but unheard by the other characters in the play	20
4746592071	Assonance	the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in non-rhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible	21
4746592072	Atmosphere	The pervading tone or mood of a place, situation, or work of art	22
4746592073	Ballad	A poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas	23
4746592074	Bildungsroman	A novel dealing with one person's formative years or spiritual education	24
4746592075	Cacophony	A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds	25
4746592076	Cadence	A modulation or inflection of the voice	26
4746592077	Canto	One of the sections into which certain long poems are divided	27
4746592078	Caricature	A picture, description, or imitation of a person or thing in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect	28
4746592079	Catharsis	The process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions	29
4746592080	Chorus	A single character who speaks the prologue and other linking parts of the play, especially in Elizabethan drama	30
4746592081	Climax	The most intense, exciting, or important point of something	31
4746592082	Colloquialism	A word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation	32
4746592083	Conceit	A fanciful expression in writing or speech	33
4746592084	Conflict	A serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one	34
4746592085	Connotation	An idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning	35
4746592086	Consonance	The recurrence of similar sounds, especially consonants, in close proximity	36
4746592087	Couplet	Two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit	37
4746592088	Decorum	Behavior in keeping with good taste and propriety	38
4746592089	Denotation	The literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests	39
4746592090	Denouement	The final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved	40
4746592091	Dialect	A particular form of a language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group	41
4746592092	Diction	The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing	42
4746592093	Dirge	A mournful song, piece of music, or poem	43
4746592094	Dissonance	A tension or clash resulting from the combination of two disharmonious or unsuitable elements	44
4746592095	Doggerel	Comic verse composed in irregular rhythm	45
4746592096	Dramatic Irony	A literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character	46
4746592097	Elegy	A poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead	47
4746592098	Epic	A long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation	48
4746592099	Epitaph	A phrase or statement written in memory of a person who has died, especially as an inscription on a tombstone	49
4746592100	Euphemism	A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing	50
4746592101	Euphony	The quality of being pleasing to the ear, especially through a harmonious combination of words	51
4746592102	Exposition	A comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory	52
4746592103	Falling Action	the parts of a story after the climax and before the very end	53
4746592104	Farce	A comic dramatic work using buffoonery and horseplay and typically including crude characterization and ludicrously improbable situations	54
4746592105	Feminine Rhyme	A rhyme between stressed syllables followed by one or more unstressed syllables	55
4746592106	Figurative Language	language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation	56
4746592107	Flashback	A scene in a movie, novel, etc., set in a time earlier than the main story	57
4746592108	Flat Character	an easily recognized character type in fiction who may not be fully delineated but is useful in carrying out some narrative purpose of the author	58
4746592109	Foil	Prevent (something considered wrong or undesirable) from succeeding	59
4746592110	Foot	A group of syllables constituting a metrical unit	60
4746592111	Foreshadowing	Be a warning or indication of (a future event)	61
4746592112	Free Verse	Poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular rhythm	62
4746592113	Genre	A style or category of art, music, or literature	63
4746592114	Gothic/ Gothic Novel	characterized by an atmosphere of mystery and horror and having a pseudo-medieval setting	64
4746592115	Hubris	Excessive pride or self-confidence	65
4746592116	Hyperbole	Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally	66
4746592117	Imagery	Visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work	67
4746592118	In Medias Res	Into the middle of a narrative; without preamble	68
4746592119	Inference	A conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning	69
4746592120	Interior Monologue	A piece of writing expressing a character's inner thoughts	70
4746592121	Inversion	Reversal of the normal order of words, typically for rhetorical effect but also found in the regular formation of questions in English	71
4746592122	Irony	A literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions is clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character	72
4746592123	Juxtaposition	The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect	73
4746592124	Lament	A passionate expression of grief or sorrow	74
4746592125	Lyric	expressing the writer's emotions, usually briefly and in stanzas or recognized forms	75
4746592126	Masculine Rhyme	A rhyme between final stressed syllables	76
4746592127	Melodrama	A sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions	77
4746592128	Metaphor	a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable	78
4746592129	Extended Metaphor	a metaphor introduced and then further developed throughout all or part of a literary work, especially a poem	79
4746592130	Controlling Metaphor	a metaphor that is so extensive it dominates or organizes an entire literary work, especially a poem	80
4746592131	Mixed Metaphor	a combination of two or more incompatible metaphors, which produces a ridiculous effect	81
4746592132	Metonymy	The substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant	82
4746592133	Monologue	A long speech by one actor in a play or film, or as part of a theatrical or broadcast program	83
4746592134	Mood	The atmosphere or pervading tone of something	84
4746592135	Motif	A decorative image or design, especially a repeated one forming a pattern	85
4746592136	Nemesis	The inescapable agent of someone's or something's downfall	86
4746592137	Objectivity	The quality of being objective	87
4746592138	Omniscient Narrator	the voice in which a story is written that is outside the story and that knows everything about the characters and events in the story	88
4746592139	Onomatopoeia	The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named	89
4746592140	Oxymoron	A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction	90
4746592141	Parable	A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson	91
4746592142	Paradox	A seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition which when investigated may prove to be well founded or true	92
4746592143	Parody	An imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect	93
4746592144	Pastoral	portraying or evoking country life, typically in a romanticized or idealized form	94
4746592145	Pathos	A quality that evokes pity or sadness	95
4746592146	Personification	The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form	96
4746592147	Third Person Omniscient	a method of storytelling in which the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters in the story	97
4746592148	Third Person Limited	adheres closely to one character's perspective	98
4746592149	Third Person Objective	when the writer tells what happens without stating more than can be inferred from the story's action and dialogue	99
4746592150	First Person	where the story is narrated by one character at a time	100
4746592151	Stream of Consciousness	a person's thoughts and conscious reactions to events, perceived as a continuous flow	101
4746592152	Prelude	An action or event serving as an introduction to something more important	102
4746592153	Protagonist	The leading character or one of the major characters in a play, film, novel, etc.	103
4746592154	Refrain	A repeated line or number of lines in a poem or song, typically at the end of each verse	104
4746592155	Resolution	The ending or a story, book, play, etc.	105
4746592156	Rhetoric	The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques	106
4746592157	Rhetorical Question	A question that is not meant to be answered, as there is an obvious answer	107
4746592158	Round Character	A character that is extremely realistic, behaving and speaking in a "real life" manner	108
4746592159	Satire	The use of humour, irony, exaggeration,or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues	109
4746592160	Scansion	The action of scanning a line of verse to determine its rhythm	110
4746592161	Setting	The place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place	111
4746592162	Simile	A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid, using like or as	112
4746592163	Situational Irony	occurs when incongruity appears between expectations of something to happen, and what actually happens instead	113
4746592164	Soliloquy	An act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play	114
4746592165	Stanza	A group of lines forming the basic recurring metrical unit in a poem	115
4746592166	Stock Characters	a stereotypical person whom audiences readily recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition	116
4746592167	Subjectivity	The quality of being based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions	117
4746592168	Symbol	A mark or character used as a conventional representation of an object, function, or process	118
4746592169	Synecdoche	A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa	119
4746592170	Syntax	The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language	120
4746592171	Theme	The subject of a talk, piece of writing, exhibition, etc.	121
4746592172	Thesis	A statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved	122
4746592173	Tone	The general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc.	123
4746592174	Tragedy	A play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character	124
4746592175	Tragic Flaw	Less technical term for hamartia	125
4746592176	Unreliable Narrator	a narrator, whether in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised	126
4746592177	Utopia	An imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect	127
4746592178	Understatement	The presentation of something as being smaller or less good or important than it really is	128
4746592179	Verbal Irony	in which a person says or writes one thing and means another	129
4746592180	Vernacular	The language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people of a country or region	130