Ap Literature Terms

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metaphor

Back 1

comparison of two seemingly unlike things

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simile

Back 2

comparison using like or as

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personification

Back 3

characteristics of humans given to non-humans

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synechdoche

Back 4

a part is used to represent a whole (heads of cattle)

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metonymy

Back 5

substitution of associated word for word itself (skirts = girls)

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allusion

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reference to well-known being or event

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symbol

Back 7

something that represents a larger idea or image

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image

Back 8

sensory detail

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archetype

Back 9

recurrent image that touches collective subconscious

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abstract/concrete imagery

Back 10

classifications of imagery

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motif

Back 11

recurrent image, idea, or theme in specific piece of literature

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verbal irony

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say one thing, mean another

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dramatic irony

Back 13

audience knows what character doesn't

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situational irony

Back 14

unexpected result

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understatement

Back 15

making big things seem small

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hyperbole

Back 16

exaggeration

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paradox

Back 17

seeming contradiction- long style

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oxymoron

Back 18

seeming contradiction - short style

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litotes

Back 19

affirmation from negative (student gets 100 on test = "you really should have studied more")

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ambiguity

Back 20

purposeful multiple meanings as in pun and double entendre

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diction

Back 21

word choice

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syntax

Back 22

sentence and phrase structure

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antithesis

Back 23

balancing of contrasting ideas

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polysyndeton

Back 24

stringing a sentence out with conjunctions

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anacoluthon

Back 25

breaking off a sentence...

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prallelism

Back 26

repetition of similar synatical structure

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point of view

Back 27

narrative perspective-- 1st, 2nd, 3rd person

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apostrophe

Back 28

addressing a person/entity not present

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analogy

Back 29

extended comparason of similar things

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colloquialism

Back 30

informal diction (written accents)

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alliteration

Back 31

repetition of consonant sound in initial position

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assonance

Back 32

repetition of a vowel sound

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consonance

Back 33

repetition of consonant sound in any position

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euphony

Back 34

soft, peasing sounds

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cacophony

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harsh sounds

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onomatopoeia

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word whose sound suggests meaning (bam!)

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metric feet

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iamb- a short syllable followed by a long syllable

anapest - two short syllables followed by a long one

spondee- two long syllables, occur as variants within a poem

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amphibrach

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a long syllable between two short syllables

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metric lines

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tetrameter- a line consisting of four iambic feet

pentameter- a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet.

hexameter- a literary and poetic form, consisting of six metrical feet per line

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stanzas

Back 40

divisions of poetry into groups of lines

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ballad stanza

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consists of alternating four- and three-stress lines. Usually only the second and fourth lines rhyme (an abcb pattern)

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rhyme scheme

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end rhyme expressed alphabetically (abbacdcd)

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blank verse

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unrhymed iambic pentameter

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free verse

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poetry with no regular rhyme or rhythm

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heroic couplet

Back 45

two rhymed lines in iambic pentameter; a complete thought

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lyric poetry

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short verse stressing emotional over story

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narrative poetry

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verse that tells a story

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epic poetry

Back 48

long story in verse

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canto

Back 49

division of a long poem (like chapter to a novel)

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english sonnet

Back 50

fourteen line poem with three quatrains and a couplet

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italian sonnet

Back 51

fourteen line poem with octave and sestet

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epigram

Back 52

witty poem or saying

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epitaph

Back 53

memorial poem

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enjambment

Back 54

running over of a sentence from one line or stanza to another

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refrain

Back 55

repetition of line or phrase at regular intervals

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atmosphere

Back 56

effect of physical environment

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tone

Back 57

author or speaker's attitude

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conflict

Back 58

interplay of opposing forces

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comic relief

Back 59

a character or event that lightens the narrative

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complication

Back 60

plot reversals

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deus ex machina

Back 61

contrived ending (cop-out end where all conflicts are solved miraculously)

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epiphany

Back 62

sudden awareness or realization

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flashback

Back 63

device to supply background

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foreshadowing

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hints and coming events

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stream of consciousness

Back 65

thoughts and feelings recorded as they occur

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theme

Back 66

central idea

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motif

Back 67

often-repeated idea or theme

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plot

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exposition, rising action, climax, falling action

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denouement

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resolution, outcome replicating thought

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in medias res

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"in the middle of things" -- when story begins in the middle of an action/conflict/event

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round character

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complex, multi-faceted, not predictable

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flat character

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recognizable type, lacks complexity

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confidant

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protagonist's intimate

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foil

Back 74

character's illuminator through contrast

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protagonist

Back 75

character around which the action is centered