AP Literature Terms Flashcards

10852060292	Allegory	The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning; usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human exsistence	0
10852060293	Alliteration	The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words; can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of the passage	1
10852060294	Allusion	A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art; can be historical, literary, religious, topical, or mythical; there are many more possibilities, and a work may simultaneously use multiple layers of allusion	2
10852062722	Ambiguity	The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage	3
10852062723	Analogy	A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them; can also make writing more vivid, imaginative, or intellectually engaging	4
10852062724	Antecedent	The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun	5
10852065465	Antithesis	the opposition or contrast of ideas; the direct opposite.	6
10852065466	Aphorism	A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle; can be a memorable summation of the author's point	7
10852067952	Apostrophe	A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love; many imply a personification of the object adressed	8
10852067953	Atmosphere	The emotional nod created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author's choice of objects that are described.; even such elements as a description of the weather can contribute to the atmosphere; frequently atmosphere foreshadows events. Perhaps it can create a mood.	9
10852070978	Caricature	a verbal description, the purpose of which is to exaggerate or distort, for comic effect, a person's distinctive physical features or other characteristics	10
10852070979	Clause	A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb	11
10852074264	Colloquial/Colloquialism	The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing; not generally acceptable for formal writing, they give a work a conversational, familiar tone; these expressions in writing include local or regional dialects.	12
10852074265	Conceit	A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects; displays intellectual cleverness as a result of the unusual comparison being made	13
10852076270	Connotation	The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning.	14
10852076271	Denotation	The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color.	15
10852076272	Diction	Related to style, refers to the writer's word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness.	16
10852076273	Didactic	"teaching"; have the primary aim of teaching or instructing especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles	17
10852078442	Euphemism	"good speech"; are a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept; may be used to adhere to standards of social or political correctness or to add humor or ironic understatement	18
10852078443	Extended Metaphor	A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.	19
10852078444	Figurative Language	Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid.	20
10852081641	Figure of Speech	A device used to produce figurate language; many compare dissimilar things; include apostrophe, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron, paradox, personification, simile, synecdoche, and understatement.	21
10852081642	Generic Conventions	This term describes traditions for each genre; these conventions help to define each genre; for example, they differentiate an essay and journalistic writing or an autobiography and political writing; on the AP language exam, try to distinguish the unique features of a writer's work from those dictated by convention.	22
10852085053	Genre	The major category into which a literary work fits; the basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry, and drama.	23
10852085054	Homily	"sermon"; can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice	24
10852085055	Hyperbole	A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement; have comic effect but serious effect is also possible; often produces irony	25
10852085056	Imagery	The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions.	26
10852088932	Interference/Infer	to draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented	27
10852088933	Invective	An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language.	28
10852093615	Irony/Ironic	the contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant, or the difference between what appears to be and what is actually true; often use to create poignancy or humor	29
10872320027	Verbal Irony	when the words literally state the opposite of the writer's meaning	30
10872320028	Situational Irony	when events turn out the opposite of what was expected; when what the characters and readers think ought to happen is not what does happen	31
10872323375	Dramatic Irony	when facts or events are unknown to a character in a play or piece of fiction but known to the reader, audience, or other characters in the work.	32
10852093616	Litotes	A form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite	33
10852096110	Loose Sentence/Non-Periodic Sentence	A type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses; generally create loose style.	34
10852096111	Metaphor	A figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity.	35
10852096112	Metonymy	"changed label" or "substitute name"; is a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it	36
10852098318	Mood	The prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work; setting, tone, and events can affect this; is similar to tone and atmosphere.	37
10852098319	Narrative	The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events.	38
10852098320	Onomatopoeia	A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words.	39
10852098321	Oxymoron	"pointedly foolish"; is a figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox	40
10852100920	Paradox	A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity.	41
10852100921	Parallelism	"beside one another"; refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity	42
10871436412	Anaphora	A sub-type of parallelism, when the exact repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive lines or sentences	43
10871436413	Parody	A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.	44
10871436414	Pedantic	An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish.	45
10871439822	Periodic Sentence	A sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end; effect is to add emphasis and structural variety	46
10871439823	Personification	A figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions; used to make these abstractions, animals, or objects appear more vivid to the reader	47
10871439824	Point of View (POV)	the perspective from which a story is told	48
10871442791	Prose	One of the major divisions of genre; refers to fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms.	49
10871442792	Repetition	The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern.	50
10871442793	Rhetoric	"orator"; describes the principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively	51
10871450157	Rhetorical Modes	describes the variety, the conventions, and the purposes of the major kinds of writing; four most common include exposition, argumentation, description and narration	52
10872453383	Exposition	The purpose of this rhetorical mode is to explain and analyze information by presenting an idea, relevant evidence, and appropriate discussion.	53
10872453384	Argumentation	The purpose of this rhetorical mode is to prove the validity of an idea, or point of view, by presenting sound reasoning, discussion, and argument that thoroughly convince the reader.	54
10872455847	Description	The purpose of this rhetorical mode is to re-create, invent, or visually present a person, place, event, or action so that the reader can picture that being described. Sometimes an author engages all five senses.	55
10872455848	Narration	The purpose of this type of rhetorical mode is to tell the story or narrate an event or series of events.	56
10871450158	Sarcasm	"to tear flesh"; involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something; when done well, this can be witty and insightful	57
10871450159	Satire	A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule.	58
10871450160	Semantics	The branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, their historical and psychological development, their connotations, and their relation to one another.	59
10871452848	Style	has two purposes: (1) an evaluation of the sum of the choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary devices. (2) classification of authors to a group and comparison of an author to similar authors	60
10871452849	Subject Complement	The word (with any accompanying phrases) or clause that follows a linking verb and complements, or completes, the subject of the sentence by either (1) renaming it (the predicate nominative) or (2) describing it (the predicate adjective).	61
10872518465	Predicate Nominative	a noun, group of nouns, or noun clause that renames the subject. It, like the predicate adjective, follows a linking verb and is located in the predicate of the sentence.	62
10872524582	Predicate Adjective	an adjective, a group of adjectives, or adjective clause that follows a linking verb. It is in the predicate of the sentence, and modifies, or describes, the subject.	63
10871457190	Subordinate Clause	this word group contains both a subject and a verb, but unlike the independent clause, ti cannot stand alone; it does not express a complete thought; depends on a main clause to complete its meaning	64
10871457191	Syllogism	"reckoning together"; is a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises (first one called "major" and the second called "minor") that inevitably lead to a sound collection	65
10871461084	Symbol/Symbolism	Generally, anything that represents itself and stands for something else.	66
10872580719	Natural Symbols	objects and occurrences from nature to symbolize ideas commonly associated with them	67
10872584441	Conventional Symbols	those that have been invested with meaning by a group	68
10872584442	Literary Symbols	sometimes also conventional in the sense that they are found in a variety of works and are more generally recognized	69
10871461085	Synecdoche	A figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole or, occasionally, the whole is used to represent a part.	70
10871465308	Synesthesia	when one kind of sensory stimulus evokes the subjective experience of another	71
10871465309	Syntax	The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences.	72
10871465310	Theme	The central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers into life	73
10871465311	Thesis	is the sentence or group of sentences that directly expressed the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or position	74
10871468713	Tone	describes the author's attitude toward his material, the audience, or both	75
10871468714	Transition	a word or phrase that links different ideas	76
10871468715	Understatement	the ironic minimalizing of fact; presents something as less significant than it is; the effect can frequently be humorous and emphatic.	77
10871473391	Wit	intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights	78