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AP Lit - Literary Terms
Chapter 3 - The AP English Language and Composition Exam
40
English
12th Grade
05/12/2009

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Term
Allegory
Definition
A narrative in which the haracters, behavior, and even the setting demonstrate multiple levels of meaning and significance.
Term
Alliteration
Definition
The sequential repetition of a similar initial sound, usually applied to consonants. (She sells sea shells by the sea shore)
Term
Allusion
Definition
A literary, historical, religious, or mythological reference.
Term
Anaphora
Definition
The regular repetition of the same words or phrases at the beginning of successive phrases of clauses.
Term
Antithesis
Definition
The juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced or parallel words, phrases, grammatical structure, or ideas. (To err is human, to forgive divine.)
Term
Aphorism
Definition
A concise statement designed to make a point or illustrate a commonly held belief.
Term
Apostrophe
Definition
An address or invocation to something inanimate.
Term
Assonance
Definition
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, usually in successive or proximate words.
Term
Asyndeton
Definition
A syntactical structure in which conjunctions are omitted in a series, usually producing more rapid prose. (Veni, vidi, vici - I came, I saw, I conquered)
Term
Attitude
Definition
The sense expressed by the tone of voice or the mood of a piece of writing.
Term
Begging the Question
Definition
an argumentative ploy where the arguer sidesteps the question or the conflict, evades or ignores the real question.
Term
Canon
Definition
that which has been accepted as authentic.
Term
Chiasmus
Definition
A figure of speech and generally a syntactical structure wherein the order of the terms in the first half of a parallel clause is reversed in the second.
Term
Claim
Definition
In argumentation, an assertion of something as fact.
Term
Colloquial
Definition
A term identifying the diction of the common, ordinary folks, especially in a specific region or area (Y'all)
Term
Conceit
Definition
A comparison of two unlikely things that is drawn out within a piece of literature, in particular an extended metaphor in a poem.
Term
Connotation
Definition
The implied, suggested, or underlying meaning of a word or phrase.
Term
Consonance
Definition
The repetition of two or more consonants with a change in the intervening vowels (pitter-patter, splish-splash, click-clack)
Term
Convention
Definition
An accepted manner, model or tradition
Term
Critique
Definition
An assessment or analysis of something
Term
Dialect
Definition
the language and speech idiosyncrasies or a specific area
Term
Diction
Definition
word choice
Term
Didactic
Definition
Writing or speech is ______ when it has an instructive purpose or a lesson
Term
Elegy
Definition
A poem or prose work that laments, or meditates upon the death of, a person or persons.
Term
Epistrophe
Definition
In rhetoric, the repetition of a phrase at the end of successive sentences.
Term
Epitaph
Definition
Writing in praise of a dead person, most often inscribed upon a headstone
Term
Ethos
Definition
In rhetoric, the appeal of a text to the credibility and character of the speaker, writer, or narrator
Term
Eulogy
Definition
A speech or written passage in praise of a person; an oration in honor of a deceased person
Term
Euphemism
Definition
An indirect, kinder, or less harsh or hurtful way of expressing unpleasant information.
Term
Exposition
Definition
The interpretation or analysis of a text
Term
Homily
Definition
A sermon, but more contemporary uses include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual life.
Term
Hyperbole
Definition
An overstatement characterized by exaggerated language, usually to make a point or draw attention.
Term
Isocolon
Definition
Parallel structure in which the parallel elements are similar not only in grammatical structure, but also in length.
Term
Juxtaposition
Definition
The location of one thing adjacent to or juxtaposed with another to create an effect, reveal an attitude, or accomplish some other purpose.
Term
Litote
Definition
A figure of speech that emphasizes its subject by conscious understatement
Term
Metonymy
Definition
A figure or speech in which an attribute or commonly associated feature is used to name or designate something
Term
Onomatopoeia
Definition
sound words
Term
Paradox
Definition
A statement that seems contradictory but may probably be true.
Term
Pathos
Definition
That element in literature that stimulates pity or sorrow
Term
Synecdoche
Definition
A figure or speech in which a part signifies the whole (50 head of steer)
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