AP Vocab Flashcards

14763963809	Abstract (style)	(in writing) this is typically complex, discusses intangible qualities like good and evil, and seldom uses examples to support its points.	0
14763963810	Academic (style)	Dry and theoretical writing. When a piece of writing seems to be sucking all the life out of its subject with analysis.	1
14763963811	Accent	In poetry, refers to the stressed portion of a word.	2
14763963812	Aesthetic	Used as an adjective meaning "appealing to the senses."	3
14763963813	Allegory	a literary work in which the characters represent abstract ideas; a symbolic representation	4
14763963814	Alliteration	repetition of initial consonant sounds	5
14763963815	Allusion	a reference to another work of literature, person, or event	6
14763963816	Anachronism	something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred	7
14763963817	Analogy	a comparison of two different things that are similar in some way	8
14763963818	Anecdote	a short narrative	9
14763963819	Antecedent	the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers.	10
14763963820	Anthropomorphism	the attribution of human characteristics to animals or inanimate objects	11
14763963821	Anticlimax	A disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events	12
14763963822	Antihero	a protagonist who lacks the characteristics that would make him a hero (or her a heroine)	13
14763963823	Aphorism	A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life.	14
14763963824	Apostrophe	address to an absent or imaginary person	15
14763963825	Archaism	The use of deliberately old-fashioned language.	16
14763963826	Aside	a line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage	17
14763963827	Assonance	the repetition of vowel sounds	18
14763963828	Atmosphere	The emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene.	19
14763963829	Ballad	Any popular narrative poem, often with epic subject and usually in lyric form.	20
14763963830	Black humor	The use of disturbing themes in comedy.	21
14763963831	Bombast	speech or writing that sounds grand or important but has little meaning	22
14763963832	Burlesque	a theatrical entertainment of broad and earthy humor	23
14763963833	Cacophony	harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance	24
14763963834	Cadence	rhythmic flow of a sequence of sounds or words	25
14763963911	Caesura	A pause within a line of poetry	26
14763963835	Canto	a major division of a long poem	27
14763963836	Caricature	drawing, imitation, or description that ridiculously exaggerates peculiarities or defects	28
14763963837	Catharsis	an emotional or psychological cleansing that brings relief or renewal	29
14763963838	Chorus	In Greek drama, the group of citizens who stand outside the main action on stage and comment on it.	30
14763963839	Colloquialism	informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing	31
14763963840	Conceit	a fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects	32
14763963841	Connotation	the implied or associative meaning of a word	33
14763963842	Consonance	Repetition of consonant sounds	34
14763963843	Couplet	two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme	35
14763963844	Decorum	conformity to accepted standards of conduct; proper behavior	36
14763963845	Denotation	The dictionary definition of a word	37
14763963846	Diction	a writer's or speaker's choice of words	38
14763963847	Dirge	a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person	39
14763963848	Dissonance	harsh or grating sounds that do not go together	40
14763963849	Doggerel	badly written or trivial verse, often with a singsong rhythm	41
14763963850	Dramatic Irony	(theater) irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play	42
14763963851	Dramatic monologue	When a single speaker in literature says something to a silent audience.	43
14763963852	Elegy	a formal poem presenting a meditation on death or another solemn theme	44
14763963853	Enjambment	the continuation of a syntactic unit from one line of verse into the next line without a pause	45
14763963854	Epic	a long narrative poem written in elevated style which present the adventures of characters of high position and episodes that are important to the history of a race or nation	46
14763963855	Epitaph	a brief statement written on a tomb or gravestone	47
14763963856	Euphemism	a mild, indirect, or vague term substituting for a harsh, blunt, or offensive term	48
14763963857	Euphony	any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds	49
14763963858	Farce	a comedy that contains an extravagant and nonsensical disregard of seriousness, although it may have a serious, scornful purpose	50
14763963859	Feminine Rhyme	latter two syllables of first word rhyme with latter two syllables of second word (ceiling appealing)	51
14763963860	Foil	a character whose personality and attitude contrast sharply with those of another	52
14763963861	Foot	the basic unit of rhythmic measurement in a line of poetry	53
14763963862	Foreshadowing	the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot	54
14763963863	Free Verse	unrhymed verse without a consistent metrical pattern	55
14763963864	Gothic Novel	a novel in which supernatural horrors and an atmosphere of unknown terrors pervades the action	56
14763963865	Hubris	Excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy	57
14763963866	Hyperbole	a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor	58
14763963867	Interior Monologue	a narrative technique that records a character's internal flow of thoughts, memories, and ideas; a longish passage of uninterrupted thought	59
14763963868	Inversion	the reversal of the normal order of words	60
14763963869	Irony	a contrast between what is expected and what actually exists or happens	61
14763963870	Lampoon	ridicule with satire	62
14763963871	Lyric	of or relating to a category of poetry that expresses emotion (often in a songlike way)	63
14763963872	Masculine Rhyme	final syllable of first word rhymes with final syllable of second word (scald recalled)	64
14763963873	Melodrama	A form of cheesy theater in which the hero is very, very good, the villain mean and rotten, and the heroine oh-so-pure.	65
14763963874	Metaphor	a figure of speech comparing to unlike things without using like or as	66
14763963875	Metonym	a word that is used to stand for something else that it has attributes of or is associated with	67
14763963876	Nemesis	The protagonist's arch enemy or supreme and persistent difficulty.	68
14763963877	Objectivity	an impersonal presentation of events and characters	69
14763963878	Onomatopoeia	The use of words that imitate sounds	70
14763963879	Oxymoron	a figure of speech consisting of two apparently contradictory terms	71
14763963880	Parable	a simple story that illustrates a moral or religious lesson	72
14763963881	Paradox	a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.	73
14763963882	Parallelism	the use of a series of words, phrases, or sentences that have similar grammatical form	74
14763963883	Parody	a work which imitates another in a ridiculous manner	75
14763963884	Pastoral	a literary work idealizing the rural life (especially the life of shepherds)	76
14763963885	Pathos	a quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow)	77
14763963886	Persona	the speaker, voice, or character assumed by the author of a piece of writing	78
14763963887	Personification	the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas etc.	79
14763963888	Plaint	A poem or speech expressing sorrow	80
14763963889	Protagonist	the main character in a literary work	81
14763963890	Pun	a play on words, often achieved through the use of words with similar sounds but different meanings	82
14763963891	Refrain	the repetition of one or more phrases or lines at definite intervals in a poem, usually at the end of a stanza	83
14763963892	Requiem	a song of prayer for the dead	84
14763963893	Rhapsody	An intensely passionate verse or section of verse, usually of love or praise.	85
14763963894	Rhetorical Question	a statement that is formulated as a question but that is not supposed to be answered	86
14763963895	Satire	a literary work that ridicules or criticizes a human vice through humor or derision	87
14763963896	Simile	a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with 'like' or 'as')	88
14763963897	Soliloquy	in drama, a character speaks alone on stage to allow his/her thoughts and ideas to be conveyed to the audience	89
14763963898	Stanza	a fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem	90
14763963899	Stock Characters	standard or cliched character types: the drunk, the miser, the foolish girl, etc.	91
14763963900	Subjectivity	a personal presentation of events and characters, influenced by the author's feelings and opinions	92
14763963901	Subjunctive Mood	A grammatical situation involving the words "if" and "were," setting up a hypothetical situation.	93
14763963902	Summary	a brief statement that presents the main points in a concise form	94
14763963903	Symbolism	a device in literature where an object represents an idea.	95
14763963904	Theme	The main idea and universal message of the story	96
14763963905	Thesis	The primary position taken by a writer or speaker	97
14763963906	Tragic Flaw	the character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall	98
14763963907	Travesty	a grotesque or grossly inferior imitation	99
14763963908	Truism	an obvious truth	100
14763963909	Utopia	an imaginary place considered to be perfect or ideal	101
14763963910	Zeugma	When a word is used with two adjacent words in the same construction, but only makes literal sense with one of them	102