AP Literature and Composition Terms Flashcards

10571442305	allegory	a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.	0
10571442306	alliteration	the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.	1
10571446905	allusion	A reference to another work of literature, person, or event	2
10571446906	ambiguity	The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.	3
10571449013	anachronism	a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, especially a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned.	4
10571449014	analogy	A comparison of two different things that are similar in some way	5
10571450525	anaphora	the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses	6
10571450526	anastrophe	Inversion of the natural or usual word order	7
10571450527	antagonist	A character or force in conflict with the main character	8
10571453554	anthropomorphism	attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object (Personification)	9
10571453555	aphorism	A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life.	10
10571453556	apostrophe	A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.	11
10571455826	archetype	a very typical example of a certain person or thing	12
10571455827	aside	a line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage	13
10571455828	assonance	Repetition of vowel sounds	14
10571457275	blank verse	unrhymed iambic pentameter	15
10571457276	caesura	A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.	16
10571459975	catastrophe	an event resulting in great loss and misfortune	17
10571459976	catharsis	a release of emotional tension	18
10571459977	chiasmus	A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed	19
10571462461	cliché	a worn-out idea or overused expression	20
10571462462	climax	Most exciting moment of the story; turning point	21
10571462463	colloquialism	informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing	22
10571464895	comic relief	A humorous scene or speech intended to lighten the mood	23
10571464896	conceit	A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects.	24
10571464897	conflict	A struggle between opposing forces	25
10571467254	connotation	an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.	26
10571467255	context	The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text.	27
10571467256	couplet	Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme	28
10571468952	denotation	The dictionary definition of a word	29
10571468953	denouement	an outcome; result	30
10571470745	deus ex machina	In literature, the use of an artificial device or gimmick to solve a problem.	31
10571473428	dialogue	Conversation between characters	32
10571473429	diction	word choice	33
10571473430	digression	straying from main point	34
10571478020	doppelganger	Ghostly counterpart of a living person or an alter ego	35
10571478021	double-entendre	a statement that has two meanings, one of which is dirty or vulgar	36
10571479452	elegy	a sad or mournful poem	37
10571479453	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	38
10571479454	epigram	a witty saying expressing a single thought or observation	39
10571481020	epithet	an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned.	40
10571481021	end stop	when a line of poetry ends with a period or definite punctuation mark, such as a colon	41
10571481022	enjabment	the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.	42
10571483163	euphemism	An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant	43
10571483164	figurative language	Language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling.	44
10571483165	foil	A character who contrasts and parallels the main character in a play or story.	45
10571485519	foot	A metrical unit composed of stressed and unstressed syllables.	46
10571485520	foreshadowing	A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader.	47
10571487401	frame story	A secondary story or stories embedded in the main story	48
10571487402	free verse	Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme	49
10571487403	genre	a major category or type of literature	50
10571489350	hyperbole	exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.	51
10571489351	iambic pentameter	a poetic meter that is made up of 5 stressed syllables each followed by an unstressed syllable	52
10571490924	imagery	Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste)	53
10571490925	in medias res	(adv.) in or into the middle of a plot; into the middle of things	54
10571490926	irony	A contrast between expectation and reality	55
10571493383	juxtaposition	Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts	56
10571493384	kenning	A device employed in Anglo-Saxon poetry in which the name of a thing is replaced by one of its functions or qualities, as in "ring-giver" for king and "whale-road" for ocean.	57
10571493385	literal	Exactly true, rather than figurative or metaphorical	58
10571493386	lyric	A type of poetry that explores the poet's personal interpretation of and feelings about the world.	59
10571494957	maxim	a general truth or rule of conduct; a short saying	60
10571494958	metaphor	A comparison without using like or as	61
10571494959	meter	A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry	62
10571497473	metonymy	A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it	63
10571497474	mood	Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader	64
10571497475	motif	(n.) a principal idea, feature, theme, or element; a repeated or dominant figure in a design	65
10571497476	narrator	the person who tells the story	66
10571501355	onomatopoeia	A word that imitates the sound it represents.	67
10571501356	oxymoron	A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.	68
10571501357	paradox	A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.	69
10571503477	parallel structure	the repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures	70
10571503478	parody	A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.	71
10571503479	personification	A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes	72
10571508368	polysyndeton	the use, for rhetorical effect, of more conjunctions than is necessary or natural	73
10571508369	point of view	the perspective from which a story is told	74
10571508370	protagonist	the main character in a literary work	75
10571510586	pun	A play on words	76
10571510587	rhetorical	relating to speech that is used to persuade or have some effect; insincere in expression	77
10571514247	rhythm	A strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.	78
10571514248	satire	the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.	79
10571519056	setting	The time and place of a story	80
10571519057	sibilance	A type of alliteration in which the "s" sound is repeated.	81
10571520578	simile	A comparison using "like" or "as"	82
10571522713	soliloquy	A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage	83
10571522714	sonnet	a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line.	84
10571525050	stream of consciousness	a style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character's mind.	85
10571525051	style	A basic and distinctive mode of expression.	86
10571525052	symbolism	A device in literature where an object represents an idea.	87
10571526537	synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa	88
10571526538	syntax	The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.	89
10571526539	theme	Central idea of a work of literature	90
10571532232	tone	Attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character	91
10571532233	understatement	the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.	92
10571532234	verse	A single line of poetry	93
10571536175	voice	A writers distinctive use of language	94