Ap Lit Terms Test

Front 1

abstract v. contrete

Back 1

Something expressed as an idea v. something that can be experienced by the senses

Front 2

allegory

Back 2

a story with two or more meanings, one literal and the other symbolic

Front 3

alliteration

Back 3

the repetition of the initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words

Front 4

allusion

Back 4

a brief reference to another work of media

Front 5

analogy

Back 5

a comparison of two things which are alike in several aspects for clarification

Front 6

anaphora

Back 6

same phrase repeated at the beginning of two or more lines

Front 7

apostrophe

Back 7

directly addresses an abstent or imaginary person or thing

Front 8

assonance

Back 8

repetition of vowel sounds

Front 9

cacophony

Back 9

sounds which sound discordant or harsh

Front 10

caesura

Back 10

an audible pause in a line or verse

Front 11

chiasmus

Back 11

inversion in the second of two parallel phrases

Front 12

cliche

Back 12

overused phrase

Front 13

colloquial

Back 13

the use of slang and in formalities in speech

Front 14

connotation

Back 14

implied or suggested meaning of a word

Front 15

consonance

Back 15

repetiton of consonant sounds

Front 16

couplet

Back 16

two line grouping in poetry

Front 17

denotation

Back 17

the strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word

Front 18

dialect

Back 18

the use of diction to capture every-day language

Front 19

diction

Back 19

word choice

Front 20

elegy

Back 20

song or poem expressing sorrow or lamentation

Front 21

enjambment

Back 21

continuation of one syntactic unit from one line of verse to the next

Front 22

euphemism

Back 22

a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a harsh word or concept

Front 23

euphony

Back 23

sounds which are harminous or pleasant

Front 24

figurative language

Back 24

language that goes beyond the meaning of the words used; not literally meant

Front 25

foot

Back 25

a unit of rhythm within a poem

Front 26

form

Back 26

general term for structure of a work or poetry

Front 27

hyperbole

Back 27

exaggeration for emphasis or humor

Front 28

iambic pentameter

Back 28

five foot line of poetry

Front 29

imagery

Back 29

the use of language to represent objects, actions, feelings, etc.

Front 30

irony

Back 30

the contrast between what is stated and what is really meant

Front 31

juxtaposition

Back 31

arrangement of two ideas side-by-side to compare, contrast, emphasise, etc.

Front 32

metaphor

Back 32

one thing is spoken as though it is something else

Front 33

meter

Back 33

the number and type of feet in a line of poetry

Front 34

metonymy

Back 34

a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another object

Front 35

mixed metaphor

Back 35

metaphors which are incongruous or inconsistent are mixed together

Front 36

narrator

Back 36

really? you know this!

Front 37

ode

Back 37

a poem of appreciation

Front 38

oxymoron

Back 38

a combination of contradictory words and meanings

Front 39

onomatopoeia

Back 39

words imitate the natural sounds they name

Front 40

paradox

Back 40

a statement that appears self-contradictory or opposed to common sense, but upon closer examination reveals some truth

Front 41

parody

Back 41

a work that closely imitates the style or content of another work for comedic affect

Front 42

parallelism

Back 42

the repetition of patterns of grammatical structure or length

Front 43

pastoral

Back 43

a work which generally idealizes a simple, rural existence

Front 44

personification

Back 44

giving inatimate objects or things human-like qualitites

Front 45

point of view

Back 45

the perspective from which the story is told

Front 46

pun

Back 46

play on words

Front 47

repetition

Back 47

words, phrases, ideas, and actions that appear over and over again throughout a work

Front 48

quatrain

Back 48

a four-line stanza of group of lines in a poem

Front 49

rhetoric

Back 49

the art of writing and speaking effectively and persuasively

Front 50

sarcasm

Back 50

biting, caustic language meant to hurt or ridicule

Front 51

satire

Back 51

a work that uses wit, irony, parody, etc. to target human vices and follies for reform or ridicule

Front 52

sentimentality

Back 52

an attempt to evoke an emotional response beyond bounds of reason

Front 53

shift

Back 53

a change in verb tense, location, speaker, narrative method, setting or tone

Front 54

simile

Back 54

a comparison between two things that are not alike, but which share at least one common element

Front 55

stanza

Back 55

grouping of lines in a poem

Front 56

style

Back 56

the sum of choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary and rhetorical devices

Front 57

symbolism

Back 57

the use of words or objects to stand for other words or objects

Front 58

synecdoche

Back 58

a part used to stand for the whole

Front 59

synesthesia

Back 59

figure of speech where one sense experience is used to describe the other

Front 60

text

Back 60

something written or spoken considered as an object to be examined

Front 61

theme

Back 61

the central idea

Front 62

thesis

Back 62

sentence or group of sentences that directly expresses a writers purpose

Front 63

tone

Back 63

the author's attitude

Front 64

transition

Back 64

something that provides a connection from one section of a text to another

Front 65

understantement

Back 65

the minimalization of fact or presentation of something as less significant than it is