AP Terminology Flashcards

5702764135	Allegory	story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities. EXAMPLE: Animal Farm; Dante's Inferno; Lord of the Flies	0
5702764136	Alliteration	repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together.	1
5702764137	Allusion	reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture.	2
5702764138	Ambiguity	deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work. An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way	3
5702767378	Analogy	Comparison made between two things to show how they are alike	4
5702794252	Anecdote	Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something, often shows character of an individual	5
5702822032	Antihero	Central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with heroes. May lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples.	6
5702829454	Indirect Characterization	the author reveals to the reader what the character is like by describing how the character looks and dresses, by letting the reader hear what the character says, by revealing the character's private thoughts and feelings, by revealing the characters effect on other people (showing how other characters feel or behave toward the character), or by showing the character in action. Common in modern literature.	7
5702829455	Direct Characterization	the author tells us directly what the character is like: sneaky, generous, mean to pets and so on. Romantic style literature relied more heavily on this form.	8
5702833905	Static Character	is one who does not change much in the course of a story.	9
5702839166	Dynamic Character	is one who changes in some important way as a result of the story's action.	10
5702877654	Flat Character	has only one or two personality traits. They are one dimensional, like a piece of cardboard. They can be summed up in one phrase.	11
5702877655	Round Character	has more dimensions to their personalities---they are complex, just as real people are.	12
5702998797	Colloquialism	a word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing but is inappropriate for formal situations. EXAMPLE: "He's out of his head if he thinks I'm gonna go for such a stupid idea.	13
5703015639	Couplet	two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry	14
5703018833	Diction	a speaker or writer's choice of words.	15
5703048945	Farce	a type of comedy in which ridiculous and often stereotyped characters are involved in silly, far-fetched situations.	16
5703048946	Foil	A character who acts as contrast to another character. Often a funny side kick to the dashing hero, or a villain contrasting the hero.	17
5703053110	Foreshadowing	the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot.	18
5703063614	Imagery	the use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience.	19
5703063615	3 Types of Irony	Verbal, Dramatic, and Situational	20
5703081425	Juxtaposition	poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit. Martin Luther King: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."	21
5703088283	Metaphor	a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles.	22
5703088284	Metonymy	a figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing, is referred to by something closely associated with it. "We requested from the crown support for our petition." The crown is used to represent the monarch	23
5703097805	Motif	a recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the work by tying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme. EXAMPLE: Kurt Vonnegut uses "So it goes" throughout Slaughterhouse-Five to remind the reader of the senselessness of death.	24
5703097806	Mood	An atmosphere created by a writer's diction and the details selected.	25
5703104149	Paradox	a statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth.	26
5703128139	Soliloquy	a long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are on stage.	27
5703133439	Symbol	a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself.	28
5703133440	Synecdoche	a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole. EXAMPLE: "If you don't drive properly, you will lose your wheels." The wheels represent the entire car.	29
5703148772	Theme	Central idea of a work of literature	30
5703148773	Tone	the attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience, revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization.	31
5703300687	Vernacular	the language spoken by the people who live in a particular locality	32