Ap English

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Allegory

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a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one

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Alliteration

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the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

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Allusion

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an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.

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Ambiguity

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a word, phrase, or statement which contains more than one meaning.

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Antagonist

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a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary.

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Aphorism

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a pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, “if it ain't broke, don't fix it.”

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Apostrophe

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when a speaker directly addresses someone or something that isn't present

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Aside

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A term used in drama and theater, an aside happens when a character's dialogue is spoken but not heard by the other actors on the stage.

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Assonance

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the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in nonrhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible

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Attitude

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behavior a person adopts toward other people, things, incidents or happenings.

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Cliche

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expression that has been overused to the extent that it loses its original meaning or novelty.

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Climax

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the highest or most intense point in the development or resolution of somethin

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Colloquial

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the use of informal words, phrases or even slang in a piece of writing

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Conflict

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any struggle between opposing forces

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Connotation

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meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly

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Consonance

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repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase.

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Denotation

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literal or dictionary meanings of a word

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Denoument

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resolution of the issue of a complicated plot

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Dialect

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A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary

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Dialogue

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written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people

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Diction

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style of speaking or writing determined by the choice of words by a speaker or a writer

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Euphemism

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idiomatic expression which loses its literal meanings and refers to something else in order to hide its unpleasantness

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Exposition

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literary device used to introduce background information about events, settings, characters etc. to the audience or readers

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Falling Action

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the part of a literary plot that occurs after the climax has been reached and the conflict has been resolved

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Figure of speech

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word or phrase that has a meaning something different than its literal meaning

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Flashback

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an interruption of the chronological sequence (as of a film or literary work) of an event of earlier occurrence

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Foreshadowing

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literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story

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Hyperbole

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extreme exaggeration used to make a point.

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Irony

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figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. It may also be a situation that may end up in quite a different way than what is generally anticipated

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Metaphor

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The comparison of one thing to another without the use of like or as

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Onomatopoeia

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word, which imitates the natural sounds of a thing

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Oxymoron

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two contradictory words are together in one phrase

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Paradox

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statement that contradicts itself and still seems true somehow

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Paraphrase

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restatement of speech or writing that retains the basic meaning while changing the words

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Parody

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a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing

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Personification

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figure of speech in which a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes

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Point of view

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the position of the narrator in relation to the story

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Prologue

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opening of a story that establishes the setting and gives background details

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Protagonist

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central character or leading figure in poetry, narrative, novel or any other story

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Rhyme

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repetition of similar sounding words occurring at the end of lines in poems or songs

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Rhythm

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literary device which demonstrates the long and short patterns through stressed and unstressed syllables particularly in verse form.

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Rising Action

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series of relevant incidents that create suspense, interest and tension in a narrative

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Satire

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technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule

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Setting

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includes the historical moment in time and geographic location in which a story takes place

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Simile

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figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different things

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Symbol

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figure of speech where an object, person, or situation has another meaning other than its literal meaning

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Syntax

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how the chosen words are used to form a sentence

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Theme

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central topic a text treats.

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Thesis

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a short statement, usually one sentence, that summarizes the main point or claim of an essay

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Tone

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shows the attitudes toward the subject and toward the audience implied in a literary work

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Antithesis

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Juxtaposition of contrasting words or idea

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Parallelism

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Similarity of structure in a pair or series of words, phrases, or clauses

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Isocolon

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A series of similarly structured elements having the same length

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Polysyndeton

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Employing many conjunctions between clauses

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Asyndeton

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The omission of conjunctions between clauses

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Anadiplosis

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The repetition from the end of one phrase to the beginning of the next

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Anaphora

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Repetition –beginning of phrasesUsed with parallelismThe opposite of epistrophe

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Epistrophe

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Repetition—end of phrasesThe opposite of anaphora

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Ellipsis

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Omission of a word or short phrase easily understood in context

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Zeugma

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One part of speech (most often the main verb, but sometimes a noun) governs two or more other parts of a sentence (often in a series

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Parenthesis

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Insertion of a verbal unit—a phrase or a whole sentence—that interrupts normal syntactical flow

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Parenthesis

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Insertion of a verbal unit—a phrase or a whole sentence—that interrupts normal syntactical flow

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Anastrophe

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Departure from normal word order for the sake of emphasis

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Antimetabole

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Repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order

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Chiasmus

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Repetition of ideas in inverted order OR Repetition of grammatical structures in inverted order

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Erotema

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The rhetorical question.

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Epiplexis

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Asking questions in order to chide, to express grief, or to inveigh.A kind of rhetorical question

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Hypophera

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Ask and then immediately answer one's own questions

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Metonymy

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Something is called not by its own name, but by something associated with itThe King is referred to as “the crown

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Synecdoche

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A part of something that represents the whole

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Analogy

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Comparison of two things; shows how they are similar

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Anecdote

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Short story meant to illustrate a point or act as an example

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Litotes

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Understatement that expresses an idea by affirming that idea’s negativeShe’s not bad looking = she’s pretty

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Understatement

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Speaking casually about something serious

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Juxtaposition

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Two opposing things or ideas placed close together to create a contrasting effect