Ardelji's Ap Literature Terms

Front 1

Alliteration

Back 1

Repetition of accented consonant sounds at the beginning of wards

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Allusion

Back 2

Reference to previous literature, history, mythology, Bible...

Front 3

Ambiguity

Back 3

Quality of being intentionally unclear

Front 4

Analogy

Back 4

clarifies or explain unfamiliar concept or object which cannot be put into words by comparing it with something that is familiar

Front 5

Analysis

Back 5

process of examining the components of literary work

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Anecdote

Back 6

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

Front 7

Antagonist

Back 7

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

Front 8

Alliteration

Back 8

Repetition of accented consonant sounds at the beginning of wards

Front 9

Allusion

Back 9

Reference to previous literature, history, mythology, Bible...

Front 10

Ambiguity

Back 10

Quality of being intentionally unclear

Front 11

Analogy

Back 11

clarifies or explain unfamiliar concept or object which cannot be put into words by comparing it with something that is familiar

Front 12

Analysis

Back 12

process of examining the components of literary work

Front 13

Anecdote

Back 13

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

Front 14

Antagonist

Back 14

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

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Antihero

Back 15

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

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Antithesis

Back 16

concept that is directly opposed to a previously presented idea

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apostrophe

Back 17

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

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archetype

Back 18

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

Back 19

speech or remark made by actor to audience rather than to the characters, who do not hear

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assonance

Back 20

repeated use of a vowel sound

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attitude

Back 21

the author's feelings toward the topic he or she is writing about

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aubade

Back 22

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

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ballad

Back 23

folk song or poem passed down orally that tells story which may be derived from actual incident or legend

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blank verse

Back 24

unrhymed poetry of iambic pentameter

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cacophony

Back 25

harsh, discordant sounds, unpleasant to ear

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carpe diem

Back 26

"sieze the day". expresses idea that you only go around once

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catharsis

Back 27

emotional cleansing or feeling of relief

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colloquial

Back 28

slang or regional dialect, used in familiar everyday conversation

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conceit

Back 29

a far–fetched comparison between two seemingly unlike things

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connotation

Back 30

associations a word calls to mind

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consonance

Back 31

same consonant sound in words

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couplet

Back 32

two successive rhyming lines

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denotation

Back 33

dictionary or literal meaning of a word or phrase

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denouement

Back 34

outcome or clarification at the end of a story or play. winding down from the climax to ending

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Diction

Back 35

the deliberate choice of a style of language for a desired effect or tone

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didactic

Back 36

primary purpose is to instruct, teach, or moralize

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enjambment

Back 37

in poetry, the running over of a sentence from one verse or stranza into the next without stopping at the end of the first

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epigram

Back 38

a short, clever poem with a witty turn of thought

Front 39

epigraph

Back 39

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

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epiphany

Back 40

sudden flash of insight. startling discovery or appearance, dramatic realization

Front 41

epistolary novel

Back 41

novel in letter form written by one or more characters

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euphony

Back 42

pleasant or harmonious sound of a word or group of words

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figurative language

Back 43

uses figures of speech such as metaphor, simile, metonymy, personification, hyperbole...

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flashback

Back 44

interruption by introduction of an earlier event or image of a past experience

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flat character

Back 45

simple, one–dimensional character who remains the same and whom little or nothing is revealed

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foil

Back 46

contrasting character draws attention to characteristics of main character

Front 47

foreshadowing

Back 47

hints at what is to come

Front 48

free verse

Back 48

poetry without regular rhyme or meter

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genre

Back 49

category into which a piece of writing can be classified

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hubris

Back 50

excessive pride

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hyperbole

Back 51

an extreme exaggeration for literary effect that is not meant to be interpreted literally

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imagery

Back 52

anything that affects or appeals to the reader's senses

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in media res

Back 53

work that begins in the middle of the story

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interior monologue

Back 54

reveals character;s unspoken thoughts and feelings

Front 55

internal rhyme

Back 55

rhyme within lines

Front 56

inversion

Back 56

switch in the normal word order

Front 57

italian sonnet

Back 57

fourteen–line poem divided into two parts, first is eight lines (abbaabba) then six (cdcdcd or cdecde)

Front 58

petrarchan sonnet

Back 58

fourteen–line poem divided into two parts, first is eight lines (abbaabba) then six (cdcdcd or cdecde)

Front 59

litotes

Back 59

affirmation of an idea by using negative understatement. opposite hyperbole

Front 60

lyric poem

Back 60

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

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metaphor

Back 61

figure of speech which compares two dissimilar things, asserting that one this is another thing

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metonymy

Back 62

replaces name of something with a word of phrase closely associated with it

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myth

Back 63

story that explains the origins of gods, heroes, or natural phenomena

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narrative poem

Back 64

a poem that tells a story

Front 65

near, off, or slant rhyme

Back 65

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

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onomatopoeia

Back 66

words that imitate sound

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oxymoron

Back 67

figure of speech that combines two contradictory words

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parable

Back 68

short story illustrating a moral or religious lesson

Front 69

paradox

Back 69

statement or situation that at first seems impossible or oxymoronic, but which solves itself and reveals meaning

Front 70

parallelism

Back 70

repeated use of the same grammatical structure in a sentence or series of sentences.

Front 71

parody

Back 71

comical imitation of a serious piece with the intent of ridiculing the author or work

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pastoral

Back 72

poem, play, or story that celebrates and idealizes the simple life of shepherds and shepherdesses

Front 73

pathos

Back 73

the quality of a literary work or passage which appeals to the reader's or viewer's emotions – especially pity, compassion and sympathy

Front 74

personification

Back 74

human qualities put onto animals or objects

Front 75

point of view

Back 75

perspective of the speaker or narrator

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protagonist

Back 76

main character

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pun

Back 77

play on words, humorous

Front 78

quatrain

Back 78

four–line stanza

Front 79

refrain

Back 79

repetition of a line, stanza, or phrase

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repetition

Back 80

word or phrase used more than once to emphasize an idea

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rhetorical question

Back 81

question with an obvious answer and isn't expected to be answered

Front 82

satire

Back 82

use of humor to ridicule and expose the shortcomings and failings of society, individuals, and institutions, often in the hope that change are possible

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sestet

Back 83

six–line stanza of poetry

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shift

Back 84

movement from one thought or idea to another, change

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simile

Back 85

comparison of unlike things using like or as

Front 86

soliloquy

Back 86

character's speech to audience in which ideas or emotions are revealed

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english sonnet

Back 87

14–line poem in iambic pentameter. abab, cdcd, efef, gg. couplet sums up or resolves conflict

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shakespearean sonnet

Back 88

14–line poem in iambic pentameter. abab, cdcd, efef, gg. couplet sums up or resolves conflict

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stanza

Back 89

grouping of poetic lines, deliberate arrangement of lines of poetry

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stream of consciousness

Back 90

replicated the way the human mind works. ideas presented in random order, thoughts often unfinished

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style

Back 91

the way a writer used language. takes into account word choice, diction, figures of speech... "voice"

Front 92

symbol

Back 92

concrete object, scene, or action which has deeper significance because it is associated with something else

Front 93

synecdoche

Back 93

one part represents the entire object

Front 94

syntax

Back 94

the way in which words, phrases, and sentences are ordered and connected

Front 95

theme

Back 95

the central idea of a literary work

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tone

Back 96

author's attitude toward subject, sets mood of piece

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tragic flaw

Back 97

defect in a hero that leads to downfall

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local color

Back 98

a type of writing particularly attentive to the dialect and customs of regional cultures thought to be vanishing in the face of the modern corporation

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moral

Back 99

a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event.

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oral tradition

Back 100

a community's cultural and historical traditions passed down by word of mouth or example from one generation to another without written instruction

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irony

Back 101

(1) saying the opposite of what is meant (2) result or ending that is the opposite (3) situation in which the audience attending a dramatic presentation grasps the incongruity of a situation before the actors do

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image

Back 102

a literal and concrete representation of a sensory experience or of an object that can be known by one or more of the senses; a portion of the essence of meaning of the literary work, not just decoration; may be either literal or figurative, (a literal image being one that involves no necessary change or extension in the obvious meaning of the words, one in which the words call up a sensory representation of the literal object or sensation)

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round character

Back 103

a character in fiction whose personality, background, motives, and other features are fully delineated by the author

Front 104

prose

Back 104

the ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure, as distinguished from poetry or verse

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epic

Back 105

long narrative on a serious subject chronicling heroic deeds and important events

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ode

Back 106

a lyric poem typically of elaborate or irregular metrical form and expressive of exalted or enthusiastic emotion; lyric poem of some length, usually of a serious or meditative nature and having an elevated style and formal stanzaic structure

Front 107

conflict

Back 107

opposition between characters or forces in a work of drama or fiction, esp. opposition that motivates or shapes the action of the plot

Front 108

haiku

Back 108

a mode of Japanese poetry following a strict format of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables; traditionally invoking an aspect of nature or the seasons

Front 109

circular novel

Back 109

when the plot of a novel begins in the present and goes back in time working back up to the present, making a full circle, such as in Kite Runner

Front 110

frame narrative

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tale with a plot structure wherein an author uses two or more characters to present the action (like in Frankenstein)

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exposition

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the part of a story’s plot that introduces the setting and characters and presents the events and situations that it will focus on. It can also be an essay that informs but does not argue

Front 112

atmosphere

Back 112

the dominant mood or emotional tone of a work of art

Front 113

external conflict

Back 113

in literature, a struggle between the protagonist and another character against nature or some outside force

Front 114

allegory

Back 114

a story or narrative that teaches a moral or truth by using people, animals, events, etc. as symbols of that moral or truth

Front 115

dynamic character

Back 115

(also called developing character) in literature or drama, a character who undergoes a permanent change in outlook or character during the story

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octave

Back 116

a rhythmic group of eight lines of verse

Front 117

extended metaphor

Back 117

also called a conceit, these are a figure of speech found commonly in metaphysical poetry. An extended metaphor is a metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work

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motif

Back 118

any recurring element that has symbolic significance

Front 119

fable

Back 119

story that teaches a lesson or a rule of living; the characters are usually animals that speak and act like humans

Front 120

climax

Back 120

(in a dramatic or literary work) a decisive moment that is of maximum intensity or is a major turning point in a plot

Front 121

static character

Back 121

a literary character who remains basically unchanged throughout a work

Front 122

internal conflict

Back 122

in literature and drama, a struggle which takes place in the protagonist’s mind and through which the character reaches a new understanding or dynamic change

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harmartia

Back 123

tragic flaw

Front 124

epitaph

Back 124

an inscription on a tomb or a written work praising a dead person; a commemoration, eulogy, or remembrance

Front 125

elegy

Back 125

a somber poem or song that praises or laments the dead

Front 126

dramatic irony

Back 126

when the audience of a play knows more than the characters within the play, making the plot suspenseful and dramatic

Front 127

abstract

Back 127

Complex, discusses intangible qualities like good and evil, seldom uses examples to support its points.

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Archaism

Back 128

The use of deliberately old–fashioned language

Front 129

black humor

Back 129

The use of disturbing themes in comedy.

Front 130

Bombast

Back 130

Pretentious, exaggeratedly learned language

Front 131

Dramatic Monologue

Back 131

When a single speaker in literature says something to a silent audience.