Literary Terms-Williams-Ap Lit

Front 1

A story in which people, things,and events have another symbolic meaning

Back 1

allegory

Front 2

multiple meanings a literary work may communicate, especially two meanings that are incompatible

Back 2

ambiguity

Front 3

direct address, usually to someone or something that is not present

Back 3

apostrophe

Front 4

implications of a word or phrase, as opposed to its exact meaning (denotation)

Back 4

connotation

Front 5

a device of style or subject matter so often used that it becomes a recognized means of expression. for example, a lover observing the literacy love conventions cannot eat or sleep and grows pale and lean

Back 5

convention

Front 6

the dictionary meaning of a word, as opposed to connotation

Back 6

denotation

Front 7

explicitly instructive

Back 7

didactic

Front 8

the use of material unrelated to the subject of the work

Back 8

digression

Front 9

a pithy saying, often using contrast. the epigram is also a verse form, usually brief and pointed.

Back 9

epigram

Front 10

a figure of speech using indirection to avoid bluntness

Back 10

euphemism

Front 11

characterized by distortion or incongruities

Back 11

grotesque

Front 12

deliberate exaggeration, overstatement. as a rule, hyperbole is self-conscious, without the intention of being accepted literally

Back 12

hyperbole

Front 13

the special language of a profession or group

Back 13

jargon

Front 14

not figurative; accurate to the letter; matter of fact or concrete

Back 14

literal

Front 15

songlike; characterized by emotion, subjectivity and imagination

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lyrical

Front 16

a combination of opposites; the union of contradictory terms.

Back 16

oxymoron

Front 17

a story designed to suggest a principle, illustrate a moral, or answer a question; allegorical stories

Back 17

parable

Front 18

a statement that seems to be self-contradicting but, in fact, true

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paradox

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a figurative use of language which endows the nonhuman with human characteristics

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personification

Front 20

a quality of some fictional narrators whose word the reader can trust. there are both reliable and unreliable narrators, that is, tellers of a story who should or should not be trusted.

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reliablity

Front 21

a question asked for effect, not in expectation of reply.

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rhetorical question

Front 22

a speech in which a character who is alone speaks his or her thoughts aloud. a monologue also has a single speaker but the monologuist speaks to others who do not interrupt

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soliloquy

Front 23

a conventional pattern, expression, character or idea

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stereotype

Front 24

a form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them. A syllogism begins with a major premise ("all tragedies end unhappily") followed by a minor premise ("Hamlet is a tragedy") and a conclusion (Therefore, "Hamlet ends unhappily")

Back 24

syllogism

Front 25

the theme, meaning, or position that a writer undertakes to prove or support

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thesis