AP Literature Terms Flashcards

9692129402	utopia	a perfect society	0
9692129403	dystopia	a society characterized by human misery, oppression, disease, and overcrowding	1
9692129404	situational irony	The difference between what is expected to happen and what actually happens	2
9692129405	dramatic irony	When the audience is more aware of what is happening than a character	3
9692129406	allusion	to make a subtle reference to something	4
9692129407	satire	a technique used by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, or exaggeration; makes fun of a subject without making direct imitation (ex: A Modest Proposal)	5
9692129408	novella	a story that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel (Usually under 100 pages)	6
9692129409	allegory	a figure of speech in which abstract ideas are represented by characters; objective to teach a moral lesson	7
9692129410	dialogue	a literary technique in which writers employ two or more characters to be engaged in conversation with each other	8
9692129411	archetype	a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent universal patterns of human nature (ex: Beowulf)	9
9692129412	myth	a legendary or a traditional story that usually concerns an event, or a hero, with or without using factual or real explanations, particularly one concerning with demigods or deities, and describes some rites, practices and natural phenomenon; teach moral lessons and explain historical records	10
9692129413	parable	a figure of speech, which presents a short story typically with a moral lesson at the end	11
9692129414	polysyndeton	using multiple conjunctions to join words in a list	12
9692129415	asyndeton	to intentionally eliminate conjunctions between the phrases and in the sentence, yet maintain the grammatical accuracy	13
9692129416	Doppelganger	usually shaped as a twin, shadow or a mirror image of a protagonist; refers to a character who physically resembles the protagonist and may have the same name as well	14
9692129417	epithet	a word or phrase given to a person or thing to describe a characteristic; usually a nickname for people	15
9692129418	kenning	a two-word phrase that describes an object through metaphors; replaces the noun it describes	16
9692129419	alliteration	multiple words that repeat the same consonant sound (beginning of the word)	17
9692129420	assonance	multiple words repeat the same vowel sound	18
9692129421	caesura	a pause in a line of text	19
9692129422	elegy	a poem or song that mourns the death or loss of a person	20
9692129423	persona	the character speaking in a poem	21
9692129424	epic	a long, narrative poem that tells about the life of a hero	22
9692129425	volta	the turn in thought or feeling in a poem that often begins with words like: "but", "yet", or "and yet"	23
9692129426	hyperbole	an exaggeration	24
9692129427	mood	when the author uses words and descriptions to cause the reader to feel an emotion	25
9692129428	bildungsroman	a novel that focuses on the growth of a character from childhood to adulthood (also known as a coming-of-age novel)	26
9692129429	flat character (static character)	a character that does not change very much from the beginning to the end of a story	27
9692129430	round character (dynamic character)	like real people with strengths and weaknesses and deep feelings and thoughts	28
9692129431	personification	giving a non-human thing human characteristics in order to create imagery	29
9692129432	anthropomorphism	giving a non-human thing human characteristics in order to make an animal or object behave and appear like they are human beings	30
9692129433	first person narrator	narrator is usually a character in the story, who interacts with other characters; use of "I" or "we"; usually perspective of the protagonist	31
9692129434	second person narrator	the narrator refers to at least one character directly as "you", suggesting that the audience is a character within the story; rarely found in novels or short stories, often for music lyrics	32
9692129435	third person narrator	someone who is not involved in the story is telling the story	33
9692129436	third person limited	the person telling the story only knows the point of view of one or two characters	34
9692129437	third person omniscient	the person telling the story knows everything	35
9692129438	frame tale	a story within a story	36
9692129439	ballad	a type of poetry that is accompanied by song and dance; a folk story that is passed down from generation to generation with each generation adding their own revisions to the common story	37
9692129440	anecdote	a short and interesting story that is used to make a point or get readers interested in a topic	38
9692129441	appositive	a noun that describes another noun that comes directly before it (ex: the insect, a large cockroach)	39
9692129442	prologue	an opening of a story that establishes setting and gives background details	40
9692129443	couplet	two lines that have end rhyme, have the same meter and form a complete thought	41
9692129444	exposition	the first part of a plot. The beginning of a story where characters, setting, and conflict are introduced	42
9692129445	slant rhyme (half rhyme)	words have similar but not identical sounds (ex: world and word)	43
9692129446	internal rhyme	a word in the middle of a line rhymes with a word at the end of that same line	44
9692129447	inversion or anastrophe	a literary technique in which the normal order of words is reversed in order to emphasize something or to keep meter/rhythm/rhyme (ex: powerful you have become)	45
9692129448	Early Romance Genre	romance originated in medieval France; includes love, chivalry, knights, quests of courtly love, etc.	46
9692129449	soliloquy	a speech given by a character alone on the stage	47
9692129450	act	a main division of a play	48
9692129451	scene	division of a play that make up an act; no shift in location or time	49
9692129452	aside	a comment that is made by a character that is meant to be heard by the audience or one other character but not by the other characters	50
9692129453	tragedy	a play that ends in suffering or defeat; meant to teach a lesson about humanity	51
9692129454	comedy	a play that ends well, usually with a wedding; unpleasant circumstances are overcome in the end to make a happy resolution	52
9692129455	paradox	a statement that seems to be contradictory but might be true when considered from a different perspective (ex: fair is foul and foul is fair)	53
9692129456	tragic flaw	a character flaw such as ambition, pride, weakness or poor judgment that causes the downfall of a character	54
9692129457	tragic hero	a protagonist who is involved in events and actions that lead to his/her downfall	55
9692129458	pastoral	a poem about nature or simple country life	56
9692129459	quatrain	a four-line stanza; usually has an independent theme and a rhyme scheme	57
9692129460	enjambment	continuing a thought from one line to the next; usually no punctuation at the end of the first line to break the thought so that it continues in the second line	58
9692129461	repitition	repeating a word, phrase, or line multiple times to emphasize it	59
9692129462	consonance	repeating consonant sounds at the middle or end	60
9692129463	imagery	using the five senses, touch, sight, sound, taste and smell, to describe something (ex: hope is the thing with feathers)	61
9692129464	sonnet	a poem with fourteen lines, is written in Iambic Pentameter, each line has ten syllables, it has a specific rhyme scheme and a volta	62
9692129465	simile	makes a comparison showing similarities between two different things using "like" or "as"	63
9692129466	apostrophe	addressing a character or an idea that is not present	64
9692129467	extended metaphor	a hidden comparison that is longer than one phrase or line; often an entire stanza.	65
9692129468	synecdoche	using a part of something to refer to the whole or using the whole thing to refer to a part of something (ex: all hands (referring to people) on deck)	66
9692129469	parody	imitating something directly to make a comic effect (ex: Sonnet 130)	67
9692129470	conceit	a figure of speech in which two vastly different objects are likened together (ex: you are a snail)	68
9692129471	equivocation	the use of vague language to hide one's meaning or to avoid committing to a point of view; often used to deceive others (ex: "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth")	69
9692129472	oxymoron	two opposite words are used together to make an effect (ex: the night of the living dead)	70
9692129473	motif	a recurring word, phrase, image, object, or action that creates unity throughout a text and may also reinforce its theme; an object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work (ex: washing of hands in Macbeth)	71
9692129474	metonymy	a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it (ex: "Crown" meaning power or authority)	72
9692129475	metaphysical poetry	uses logical elements in a technique intended to express honestly, if unconventionally, the poet's sense of life's complexities through the use of elaborate conceits	73
9692129476	parallelism	examples of a writing that have the same grammar style or meaning; repeating something in order for emphasis or to have a balance (ex: easy come, easy go)	74
9692129477	English sonnet (Shakespearean Sonnet)	three four-line stanzas (quatrains) and a couplet, rhymed abab cdcd efef gg; always fourteen lines long and usually written in iambic pentameter	75
9692129478	catharsis	an emotional discharge through which one can achieve a state of moral or spiritual renewal or achieve a state of liberation from anxiety and stress	76
9692129479	Chiasmus	a rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures in order to produce an artistic effect (ex: never let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You)	77
9692129480	sarcasm	when what someone says is different than what they mean; usually intended to have a bitter, mocking, or comedic effect; often combined with irony to create satire	78
9692129481	dialect	the language used by the people of a specific area, class, district or any other group of people; involves spelling, sounds, grammar and pronunciation used by a particular group of people and it distinguishes them from other people around them	79
9692129482	anaphora	a type of repetition; repeating a word at the beginning of a sentence or the beginning of a clause	80
9692129483	euphemism	polite, indirect expressions that replace words and phrases considered harsh and impolite (ex: "kick the bucket" = death)	81
9692129484	ode	a form of lyrical poetry, in which poets use a certain metrical pattern and rhyme scheme to express their noble and lofty sentiments in serious and sometimes satirical tone; celebratory in nature	82
9692129485	lyrical poetry	focuses more on emotions than telling a story (pastoral, ode, villanelle etc.)	83
9692129486	refrain	Refrain is a poetic device that repeats, at regular intervals, in different stanzas	84
9692129487	gothic fiction	a branch of romanticism that focuses on terror and mystery in order to entertain or gain insights about a dark side to human nature	85
9692129488	science fiction	a form of fiction that focuses on the impact of science upon society or individuals; usually doesn't include supernatural elements	86
9692129489	understatement	making a situation seem less important than it really is. Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole	87
9692129490	byronic hero	a type of antihero who is usually rebellious, arrogant and an outcast or exile (ex: Dracula, Mr. Darcy, etc)	88
9692129491	juxtaposition	two or more ideas, places, characters and their actions are placed side by side for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts	89
9692129492	periodic sentence	a long sentence where the meaning isn't completed until the very end	90
9692129493	loose sentence	a sentence structure in which a main clause is followed by one or more coordinate or subordinate phrases and clauses	91
9692129494	cumulative sentence	an independent clause followed by a series of subordinate constructions; it has more than one subordinate clause	92
9692129495	antithetical sentence	a sentence that expresses two ideas that are opposed on the surface, but that can actually express another idea in its apparent contradiction	93
9692129496	balanced sentence	made up of two segments which are equal, not only in length, but also in grammatical structure and meaning (can be periodic or cumulative)	94
9692129497	epistrophe	the same word returns at the end of each sentence	95
9692129498	leitmotif	a musical piece that is associated with a character or object (Star Wars song)	96
9692129499	invocation	an appeal for aid (especially for inspiration) is made to a muse or deity, usually at or near the beginning of the work	97
9692129500	synesthesia	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 touch at a given time	98
9692129501	masculine rhyme	a rhyme that matches only one syllable, usually at the end of respective lines (wail & flail)	99
9692129502	Terza Rima	an arrangement of triplets, especially in iambs, that rhyme aba bcb cdc	100
9692129503	prolepsis	the representation or assumption of a future act or development as if presently existing or accomplished; referring to a future event as if it is already completed; aka "flash forward"; ex: "I am going to tell you about the events that led to my death"	101
9692129504	zeitgeist	the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time	102
9692129505	stream of consciousness	a narrative device that attempts to give the written equivalent of the character's thought processes, either in a loose interior monologue (see below), or in connection to his or her actions	103
9692129506	unreliable narrator	a character whose telling of the story is not completely accurate or credible due to problems with the character's mental state or maturity	104
9692129507	feminine rhyme	a rhyme that matches two or more syllables, usually at the end of respective lines, in which the final syllable or syllabication are unstressed; aka double triple rhyme	105
9692129508	syntax	the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language	106
9692129509	blank verse	unrhymed verse written in iambic pentameter	107
9692129510	homily	a usually short sermon; a lecture or discourse on or of a moral theme	108
9692129511	dirge	a song or hymn of grief or lamentation, especially one intended to accompany funeral or memorial rites	109
9692129512	limerick	a form of verse, often humorous and sometimes obscene, in five-line, predominantly anapestic meter with a strict rhyme scheme of AABBA	110
9692129513	panegyric	a lofty oration or writing in praise of a person or thing; eulogy	111
9692129514	epigram	a concise poem dealing pointedly and often satirically with a single thought or event and often ending with an ingenious turn of thought	112
9692129515	double entendre	a word or phrase open to two interpretations, one of which is usually obscene	113
9692129516	closed form	consists of poems that follow patterns of lines, meter, rhymes, and stanzas, whereas open form poetry does not	114
9692129517	villanelle	a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets (3 lines) followed by a quatrain. There are two refrains and two repeating rhymes, with the first and third line of the first tercet repeated alternately until the last stanza, which includes both repeated lines	115
9692129518	coda	the tail, tag, outro, envoi or concluding passage of a piece of writing	116
9692129519	em dash	a long dash used in punctuation to mark a pause	117
9692129520	free-verse	an open form of poetry; does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern	118
9692129521	interior monologue	the expression of a character's thoughts, feelings, and impressions in a narrative; a form of stream-of-consciousness	119
9692129522	missive	a letter, especially a long or official one: he hastily banged out electronic missives	120
9692129523	litotes	ironical understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary (ex: you won't be sorry, meaning you'll be glad; not bad)	121
9692129524	lampoon	publicly criticize (someone or something) by using ridicule, irony, or sarcasm	122
9692129525	free indirect style	a style of third-person narration which uses some of the characteristics of third-person along with the essence of first-person direct speech	123
9692129526	memoir	a record of events written by a person having intimate knowledge of them and based on personal observation	124
9692129527	burlesque	an absurd or comically exaggerated imitation of something, especially in a literary or dramatic work; a parody	125
9692129528	malapropism	the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect; ex: His capacity for hard liquor is incredulous (incredible).	126
9692129529	anachronism	a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, especially a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned	127
9692129530	exact rhyme	rhyme in which the final accented vowel and all succeeding consonants or syllables are identical, while the preceding consonants are different	128
9692129531	epanalepsis	a figure of speech in which the beginning of a clause or sentence is repeated at the end of that same clause or sentence, with words intervening; ex: "The king is dead, long live the king!"	129
9692129532	blandishment	a flattering or pleasing statement or action used to persuade someone gently to do something	130
9692129533	pontification	express one's opinions in a way considered annoyingly pompous and dogmatic	131
9692129534	admonition	warn or reprimand someone firmly	132