AP Literature Summer Reading Terms Flashcards

14431859268	Allusion	a figure of speech in which an object or circumstance from unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly; an expression used to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly.	0
14431901413	Diction	the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing; the style of enunciation in speaking or singing.	1
14431913532	Genre	a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content.	2
14431913533	Imagery	visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work; visual symbolism.	3
14431914079	Prose	a form of language that has no formal metrical structure (applies a natural flow of speech, ordinary grammatical structure, rather than rhythmic structure as is used in poetry.)	4
14431914732	Mood	a literary element that evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions; the atmosphere of a peace creating an emotional setting.	5
14431915204	Theme	main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work, which may be stated directly or indirectly.	6
14431916437	Setting	an environment or surrounding in which an event or story takes place; can also set the mood as well as where the story is taking place.	7
14431917092	Symbolism	the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities, by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense.	8
14431917093	Verse	a single line of poetry; a stanza or other parts of poetry.	9
14431917952	Antagonist	a character, or group of characters, which stand in opposition to the protagonist, which is the main character; commonly known as the villian whom the hero fights in order to save himself or others.	10
14431918582	Deuteragonist	the person second in importance to the protagonist in a drama.	11
14431919623	Direct Characterization	the way an author or another character within the story describes or reveals a character, through the use of descriptive adjectives, epithets, or phrases; happens when a writer reveals traits of a character in a straightforward manner.	12
14431920390	Dynamic Character	Undergoes changed throughout the narrative due to conflicts encountered on a journey; a character that faces trials and takes time to learn from his experiences and mistakes.	13
14431920833	Flat Character	a character that helps the main character in pursuing his ambitions and goals; does not change too much from the start of the narrative to the end.	14
14431920834	Foil	A character that shows qualities that are in contrast with the qualities of another character; objective is to highlight that traits of the other character; may also be used for a comparison that is drawn to portray a difference between two things.	15
14431921621	Hubris	extreme pride and arrogance shown by a character, which ultimately brings about his downfall; a typical flaw in the personality of a character who enjoys a powerful position.	16
14431921622	Indirect Characterization	a subtle way of introducing the character to the audience; the audience has to deduce for themselves the characteristics of the character by observing his/her thought process, behavior, speech, way of talking, etc.	17
14431922106	Protagonist	the central character or leading figure in poetry, narrative, novel, or any other story; sometimes a hero to audience or readers.	18
14431922550	Static Character	a character that does not undergo inner changes, or undergoes a little change; does not grow or develop.	19
14431923102	Tragic Flaw (Hamartia)	a personal error in a protagonist's personality, which brings about his tragic downfall in a tragedy.	20
14431923567	Aside	a short comment or speech that a character delivers directly to the audience, or to himself, while other actors on the stage appear not to hear.	21
14431924165	Colloquial Diction	regional speech patterns that may vary in terms of accent, inflection, and informal words used within a given region.	22
14431924166	Dialect	the language used by the people of a specific area, class, district, or any other group of people; involves the spelling, sounds, grammar and pronunciation used by a particular group of people.	23
14431925364	Euphemism	polite, indirect expressions that replace words and phrases considered harsh and impolite, or which suggest something unpleasant; and idiomatic expression which loses its literal meanings and refers to something else.	24
14431926242	Monologue	a literary device that is the speech or verbal presentation given by a single character in order to express his or her collection of thoughts and ideas aloud; often spoken directly to the audience or another character.	25
14431927026	Soliloquy	a popular literary device often used in drama to reveal the innermost thoughts of a character; used to convey the progress or action of the play.	26
14431927371	Stage Directions	an instruction in the text of a play, especially one indicating the movement, position, or tone of an actor, of the sound effects and lighting.	27
14431928789	Anaphora	the deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect.	28
14431929926	Asyndeton	used to intentionally eliminate conjunctions between the phrases, and in the sentence, yet maintain grammatical accuracy.	29
14431930430	Chiasmus	two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures in order to produce an artistic effect.	30
14431931460	Epigraph	a literary device in the form of a poem, quotation, or sentence--usually placed at the beginning of a document of a simple piece--having a few sentences, but which belongs to another writer.	31
14431931461	Epistrophe	the same word returning at the end of each sentence; "epiphora."	32
14431931849	In media res	narrating a story from the middle after supposing that the audiences are aware of past events.	33
14431932277	Juxtaposition	a literary technique in which two or more ideas, places, characters, and their actions are placed side by side in a narrative or a poem, for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts.	34
14431932736	Litotes	a figure of speech that employs an understatement by using double negatives or a positive statement expressed by negating its opposite expressions.	35
14431933401	Periodic Sentence	made up of two segments which are equal, not only in length, but also in grammatical structure and meaning.	36
14431933402	Peripeteia	a sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances, especially in reference to fictional narrative.	37
14431934639	Polysyndeton	a stylistic device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect.	38
14431935199	Telegraphic Sentence	speech during the two-word stage of language acquisition in children which is laconic and efficient.	39
14431935879	Apostrophe	a figure of speech sometimes represented by an exclamation, such as "oh"; addresses a non-existent person or an abstract idea in such a way as if it were present and capable of understanding feelings.	40
14431935880	Conceit	two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of similes or metaphors; develops a comparison which is exceedingly unlikely but is imaginative.	41
14431936417	Hyperbole	involves an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis.	42
14431937849	Metonymy	replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated.	43
14431938181	Synecdoche	part of something represents the whole, or it may use a whole to represent a part; may also use larger groups to refer to smaller groups, or vice versa; may also call a thing by the name of the material it is made of it refer to a thing in a container or packaging by the name of that container or packaging.	44
14431938586	Synesthesia	refers to a technique adopted by writers to present ideas, characters, or places in such a manner that they appeal to more than one sense, like hearing, sight, smell, and tough at a given time.	45
14431945399	Assonance	takes place when two or more words, close to one another repeat the same vowel sound, but start with different consonant sounds.	46
14431945400	Ballad	a type of poetry or verse that was used in dance songs in ancient France; commonly have easy-to-understand language and are about romance or tragedy.	47
14431946722	Blank Verse	an un-rhyming verse written in iambic pentameter; consistent meter with 10 syllables in each line 9pentameter).	48
14431947685	Consonance	repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase; repetition often takes place in quick succession	49
14431947686	Heroic Couplet	a pair of rhyming iambic pentameters commonly used in epic and narrative poetry.	50
14431948191	Iambic Pentameter	uses 10 syllables in each line; a rhythmic pattern comprising five iambs in each line, like five heartbeats.	51
14431949210	Elegy	can be defined as a poem or song in the form of elegiac couplets, written in honor of someone deceased.	52
14431951470	Enjambment	a line of poetry that does not come to an end at the line break, but moves over to the next line; the running on of a sense from one couplet or line to the next without a major pause.	53
14431952074	Epic Poetry	something that refers to a heroic story of something that is heroic or grand.	54
14431952075	Feminine Rhyme	an unstressed two syllable rhyme followed by another unstressed syllable rhyme used to create a rhythm; a double rhyme.	55
14431953713	Free Verse	can be defined as poetry that is free from limitations of regular meter or rhythm, and does not rhyme with fixed forms; do not follow regular rhyme scheme rules.	56
14431953714	Lyric Poetry	a poem in which the poet either expresses his feelings and emotions; presents a character in the first person to express his emotions; combination of lyrics and poetry where a piece of poetry is written as a lyric.	57
14431954352	Ode	a form of poetry such as a sonnet or elegy that is lyrical in nature but not very lengthy; highly solemn and serious in tone and subject matter; formal tone.	58
14431954921	Masculine Rhyme	occurs when the rhyme is on the final syllable of the two rhyming words.	59
14431956336	Slant Rhyme	"imperfect rhyme" the stressed syllables of ending consonants match, however the preceding vowel sounds do not match.	60
14431956962	Terza Rima	an arrangement of triplents, especially in iambs, that rhymed aba bcb cdc, etc.	61
14431956963	Villanelle	derived from the Italian word villano, which means "peasant;" a dance song coupled with pastoral themes; defined as a poetic device which requires a poem to have 19 lines and a fixed form.	62
14431957602	Allegory	a figure of speech in which abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of characters, figures, and events; can be used to tell a story with the purpose of teaching an idea of principle/moral lesson.	63
14431959005	Bildungsroman	a special kind of novel that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of its main character, from his or her youth to adulthood.	64
14431959583	Epistolary Novel	comes from a Greek word that means "letter;" a literary genre pertaining to letters in which writers use letters, journals, and diary entries in their works, or tell their stories or deliver messages through a series of letters.	65
14431960460	Picaresque Novel	a genre of prose fiction that depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", of low social class who lives by his wits in a corrupt society.	66
14431960461	Gothic	refers to a style of writing that is characterized by elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom, as well as romantic elements, such as nature, individuality, and very high emotion (fear and suspense.)	67
14431962069	Impressionism	seeks to capture a feeling or experience rather than to achieve accurate depiction.	68
14432075848	Modernism	aims to break with classical and traditional forms.	69
14432076511	Naturalism	a style and theory of representation based on the accurate depiction of detail.	70
14432076825	Puritanism	censorious moral beliefs, especially about self-indulgence and sex.	71
14432111742	Postmodernism	style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism that represents a departure from modernisms and has at its heart a general distrust of grand theories and ideologies as well as a problematical relationship with any notion of "art."	72
14432111743	Realism	attempts to represent familiar things as they are.	73
14432112339	Magical Realism	a literary or artistic genre in which realistic narrative and naturalistic technique are combined with surreal elements of dream or fantasy.	74
14432113442	Romanticism	a movement in the arts and literature that emphasized inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual.	75
14432114381	Dark Romanticism	reflecting a popular fascination with the irrational, the demonic and the grotesque.	76
14432115146	Transcendentalism	reaction to rationalism; taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity, and its members held progressive views on feminism and communal living.	77