Literary Terms For Ap Eng Lit

Front 1

anachronism

Back 1

an element in a story that is out of its time frame, sometimes for humor or jarring (can also be from carelessness or bad research)

Front 2

anapest

Back 2

the poetic foot (measure) that follows the pattern unaccented, unaccented, accented. poet usually trying to convey moving rhythm with this pattern

Front 3

antihero

Back 3

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

Front 4

apostrophe

Back 4

a rhetorical figure of direct address to a person, object, or abstract entity

Front 5

apotheosis

Back 5

elevating someone to the level of a god

Front 6

archetype

Back 6

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

Front 7

assonance

Back 7

the repeated use of a vowel sound

Front 8

aubade

Back 8

a poem/song abt lovers who must leave one another in the early hrs of the morning

Front 9

ballad

Back 9

folk song or poem passed down orally that tells a story (could be real, legend, or folklore), usually in quatrains w/abcb rhyme and refrain

Front 10

blank verse

Back 10

unrhymed poetry of iambic pentameter, favorite of Shakespeare

Front 11

catharsis

Back 11

emotional cleansing or feeling of relief

Front 12

chiasmus

Back 12

inverting the second of two phrases that would otherwise be in parallel form

Front 13

colloquial

Back 13

slang/regional dialect; in writing an informal style that reflects a distinct time/place

Front 14

conceit

Back 14

far-fetched comparison between 2 seemingly unlike things; extended metaphor w/unusual/extraordinary comparison

Front 15

consonance

Back 15

same consonant sound in words with diff vowel sounds (like work, stack, ark, belong, among)