Ap Lit - So Lit

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ad misercordiam

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an appeal to the audience's sympathy - an attempt to persuade using hard-luck rather than reason

"Oh, mom everyone in the class is going to the party. Do you want me to be left out?"

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alliteration

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the repetition of accented consonant sounds to create an effect, rhythm, or emphasis

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allusion

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a reference in literature to another work, history, mythology, pop culture, current events, or the Bible

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ambiguity

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being facetious and intentionally unclear

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anachronism

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an element in the story that is out of its time frame - can be used to create humor, or can be done due to lack of research on the author's part

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analogy

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a comparison done with one confusing idea to one that is familiar in order to explain or clarify a concept or object or something that cannot be put into words

two examples are similes and metaphors

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analysis

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the process of examining the components of a literary work

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anecdote

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a short often personal story used to emphasize a point, or to develop a character, theme, or inject humor

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antagonist

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a character who functions as the resisting force to the goals of the protagonist

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antecedent

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the word or phrase to which a pronoun refers

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anticlimax

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an often disappointing and sudden end to an intense situation - "anticlimactic"

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antihero

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a protagonist who carries the action of the literary piece but does not embody the classical characteristics of courage, strength and nobility

ex: Holden Caulfield in The Catcher and the Rye

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antithesis

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a concept that is directly opposed to a previously presented idea

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aphorism

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a statement that expresses a general truth or moral principle

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apostrophe

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a rhetorical figure of direct address to someone or something

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apotheosis

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elevating someone or something to the level of a god

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archetype

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a character, situation, or symbol that is familiar to people from all cultures because it occurs frequently in literature, myth, religion, or folklore

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aside

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a short speech or remark made to the audience rather than to the other characters

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assonance

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the repeated use of a vowel sound

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attitude

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the author's feelings toward a topic he/she is writing about; often interchangeable with tone

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aubade

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a poem or song about lovers who must leave one another in the early hours of the morning

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ballad

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a song or poem passed down orally that tells a story that may be traced back to an incident from a legend or folklore; usually composed of quatrains and an "ABCB" rhyme scheme and a refrain

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blank verse

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unrhymed poetry in iambic pentameter

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cacophony

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harsh and discordant sounds, used for effect

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carpe diem

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"seize the day", used in 16th and 17th century court poetry

expresses the idea that you only go around once; refers to the modern saying that "life is not a dress rehearsal"

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cartharsis

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emotional cleansing or feeling of relief

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chiasmus

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the opposite of parallelism: "I like the idea; its execution, I don't"

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colloquial

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of or relating to regional dialect

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comic relief

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humor that provides a release of tension

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conceit

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a far-fetched comparison between two seemingly unlike things: "Love is like an oil change"

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connotation

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associations a word calls to mind - the more connotative the work is, the less objective its interpretation becomes

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consonance

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same consonant sounds in words with different vowel sounds

ex: work, stark, ark

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conventional characters

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a character with traditional and expected traits

ex: heroes are expected to be strong, brave, and adventurous

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couplet

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two successive rhyming lines of the same number of syllables and matching cadence

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denotation

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the dictionary or literal meaning of something

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denoument

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the outcome or clarification at the end of a plot; the winding down from the climax to end

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deus ex machina

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when the gods intervene at the end to resolve a seemingly impossible conflict; a cop-out ending

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diction

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word choice intended for effect

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didactic

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a piece that is intended to teach or moralize

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distortion

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a exaggeration or stretching of the truth to achieve a desired effect

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enjambment

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the running over of a sentence from one verse or stanza into the next

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epigram

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a short, clever poem with a witty turn of thought

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epigraph

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a brief quotation found at the beginning of a literary work, reflective of theme

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epiphany

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a sudden flash of insight

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epistolary novel

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a novel written in letter form - the writer does this to present varying first-person points of view and does not need a narrator

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essay

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a short composition on a single topic expressing the view or interpretation of the writer on that topic; one of the oldest forms of prose

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euphemism

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a nicer way to say something mean or offensive

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euphony

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pleasant and harmonious sounds often achieved through the use of long vowels and some consonants

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farce

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a kind of comedy that depends on exaggeration or improbable situations, physical disasters, and sexual inuendo

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figurative language

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opposite of literal expression - uses figures of speech, appealing to one's senses

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first person

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uses "I" and is a limited point of view since the character can relate only events that he/she is told about or experiences

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flashback

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interruption of a narrative by the introduction of an earlier event by an image of a past experience

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flat character

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a simple, one-dimensional character who remains the same; not much is revealed about this character and he/she may serve as symbols for stereotypes

ex: Tom Buchanan

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foil

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a character whose contrasting personal characteristics draw attention to, enhance, or contrast with those of the main character

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foreshadowing

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hinting at what is to come; sometimes noticeable only in hindsight, but usually obvious enough to make the audience wonder

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free-verse

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poetry that has no regular rhyme or rhythm

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genre

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the category into which a piece of writing is classified

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heroic couplet

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a couplet written in iambic pentameter

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hubris

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excessive pride, insolence, or arrogance

in Greek mythology, hubris is usually the tragic flaw that leads to the protagonist's downfall

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hyperbole

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an extreme exaggeration that is not meant to be interpreted literally

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iambic petameter

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five-foot line made up of unaccented, accented syllable - also the most common foot found in English-language poetry

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imagery

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anything that affects or appeals to the readers senses

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in media res

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in the middle of things

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interior monologue

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reveals a character's unspoken thoughts and feelings; may be presented directly by the character or through a narrator

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internal rhyme

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a rhyme that is within the line, rather than at the end; it may also be within two lines

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litotes

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affirmation of an idea by using a negative understatement - it is the opposite of hyperbole

ex: "she is no saint"

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lyric poem

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a fairly short, emotionally expressive poem that expresses the feelings of a single speaker

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metamorphosis

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a radical change in a character, either physical or emotional

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metaphor

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a figure of speech which compares two dissimilar things asserting one IS another thing

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meter

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the rhythmical pattern of a poem

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meter - iamb

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unstressed, stressed

opposite of trochee

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meter - trochee

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stressed, unstressed

opposite of iamb

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meter - anapest

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unstressed, unstressed, stressed

opposite of dactyl

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meter - dactyl

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stressed, unstressed, unstressed - like a waltz

opposite of anapest

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metonymy

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figure of speech that replaces the name of something closely associated with it

ex: "the White House" instead of "the president"

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myth

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a story, usually with supernatural significance, that explains the origins of gods, heroes, or natural phenomena.

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narrative poem

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a poem that tells a story

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near, off, or slant rhyme

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a rhyme based on an imperfect or incomplete correspondence of end syllable sounds

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onomatopoeia

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words that imitate sounds

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refrain

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repetition of a line, stanza, or phrase

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repetition

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a word or phrase used more than once to emphasize an idea

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rhetorical question

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a question with an obvious answer so no response is expected

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satire

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the use of humor to ridicule and expose the shortcomings and failings of society

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sestet

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a six-line stanza of poetry

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shift

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in writing, a movement from one thought or idea to another

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simile

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a comparison of unlike things using "like", "as", or "so"

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soliloquy

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a character's speech to the audience, in which emotions and ideas are revealed; a monologue is only a soliloquy if the character is alone on stage

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Shakespearean Sonnet

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(also English and Elizabethan sonnet)

-14 line poem

-iambic pentameter

-abab, cdcd, efef, gg

-three quatrains and one heroic couplet

-four stanzas

-the last two lines usually sum up the poem or resolves the situation

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Petrarchan Sonnet

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(also Italian Sonnet, which was invented by the Petrarchans)

- 14 line poem

- abba abba, cdecde (or cdcdcd)

- two stanzas

- one octave and one sestet

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stanza

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a grouping of poetic lines

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stock character

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a stereotypical character, similar to conventional character and flat character

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stream of consciousness

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a form of writing which replicates the way the human mind works - ideas are often presented in a random order and thoughts are often unfinished

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structure

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the particular way in which parts of a written work are combined

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style

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the way a writer uses language - the writer's voice

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symbol

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a concrete object, scene, or action which has a deeper significance due to its association with something else

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synecdoche

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a figure of speech where one part represents the whole or vice versa

ex: "All hands on deck", "Lend me you ears"

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syntax

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word order

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theme

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the central idea of a literary work

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tone

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refers to the author's attitude toward the subject, and often sets the mood for the piece

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tongue in cheek

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expressing a thought in a way that appears to be sincere but is actually joking