English Ap Lit Terms

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ad misericordiam

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an appeal to the audience's sympathy; an attempt to persuade another, using a hard luck story rather than logic or reason.

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alliteration

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the repetition of accented consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close to each other.

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allusion

Back 3

a reference in literature or in art to previous literature, history, mythology, pop culture/current events, or the bible

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ambiguity

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quality of being intentionaly unclear

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anachronism

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an element in a story that is out of its time

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analogy

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clarifies or explains an unfamiliar concept or object that cannot be put into words by comparing it to something which is familiar

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analysis

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the process of examining the components of a literary work

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anapest

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poetic foot measure unaccented accented unaccented

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anecdote

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a short and often personal story

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antagonist

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

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antecedent

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word or phrase to which a pronoun refers.

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anticlimax

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an often dissapointing sudden end to an intense situation

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antihero

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not your classic hero protagonist.

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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 terse statement that expresses a general truth or moral...folk proverb

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apotheosis

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elevating someone 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

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assonance

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the repeated use of a vowel sound

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aubade

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

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ballad

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folk song that tells a story passed down orally

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blank verse

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unrhymed poetry of iambic pentameter

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shakespeare

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cacophony

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harsh discordant sounds unpleasant to the ears

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catharsis

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emotional cleansing or feeling of releif

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chiasmus

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reversing of parallel construction so that its no longer parallel

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colloquial

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local slang

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conceit

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a far fetched comparison between 2 things

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connotation

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associations a word brings to mind

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consonance

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same consonant sound in words with different vowels

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couplet

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two succesive rhyming lines of the same number of syllables with matching cadence

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dactyl

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foot of poetry with 3 sylables one stressed two short

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denotation

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actual meaning without any connotation

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deus ex machina

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when gods intervene at a story's end

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didactic

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author's purpose is to instruct

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distortion

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exaggeration or stretching of truth to achieve a desired effect

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enjambment

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and...and...and...

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epigram

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short clever poem

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epigraph

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brief quotation found at beginning of a literary work

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epiphany

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eureka

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epistolary novel

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novel in letter form

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euphemism

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substitution of an inoffensive word for an offensive one

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euphony

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pleasant sound

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figurative language

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uses figures of speech such as metaphor, simile...not straight forward and literal

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heroic couplet

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rhymed couplet written in iambic pentameter

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hubris

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tragic flaw