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AP Literary Terms
Set of literary terms bound to appear on the AP test.
56
English
12th Grade
02/02/2011

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Term
abstract
Definition
typically complex, discusses intangible qualities, seldom uses examples to support its points
Term
academic
Definition
dry and theoretical writing, sucks all the life out of its subject with analysis
Term
aesthetic
Definition
appealing to the senses; artistic judgement
Term
allegory
Definition
story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside of the tale itself; fables
Term
alliteration
Definition
repetition of initial consonant sounds
Term
allusion
Definition
a reference to another work or famous figure
Term
anachronism
Definition
means "misplaced in time"
Term
anthropomorphism
Definition
when inanimate objects, animals or natural phenomena are given human characteristics. not to be confused with personification.
Term
antihero
Definition
a protagonist who is unheroic, morally weak, cowardly, dishonest
Term
apostrophe
Definition
an address to someone not present or to a personified object or idea
Term
aside
Definition
a speech made by an actor to the audience as though momentarily stepping outside of the action on stage
Term
assonance
Definition
repeated use of vowel sounds
Term
atmosphere
Definition
emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene
Term
bathos
Definition
when writing strains for grandeur it can't support and tries to elicit tears from every little hiccup
Term
pathos
Definition
when the writing of a scene evokes feelings of dignified pity and sympathy
Term
black humor
Definition
use of disturbing themes in comedy
Term
bombast
Definition
pretentious, exaggeratedly learned language
Term
cacophony
Definition
using deliberately harsh, awkward sounds
Term
catharsis
Definition
"cleansing" of emotion
Term
chorus
Definition
the group of citizens who stand outside the main action on stage and comment on it
Term
conceit; controlling image
Definition
startling or unusual metaphor
Term
denotation
Definition
a word's literal meaning
CONNOTATION is everything else that the word suggests or implies
Term
consonance
Definition
the repetition of consonant sounds
(floCK of siCK, blaCK cheCKered duCKs)
Term
couplet
Definition
a pair of lines that end in rhyme
Term
diction/syntax
Definition
authors choice of words. diction is whether to use one word or another, syntax is the ordering and structuring of words.
Term
dissonance
Definition
grating of incompatible sounds
Term
dramatic irony
Definition
when the audience knows something that the characters do not
Term
elegy
Definition
a type of poem that meditates on death or mortality in a serious, thoughtful manner
Term
epitaph
Definition
lines that commemorate the dead at their burial place
Term
euphony
Definition
when sounds blend harmoniously
Term
feminine rhyme
Definition
lines rhymed by their final two syllables
Term
foil
Definition
secondary character whose purpose is to highlight the characteristics of a main character, usually by contrast
Term
foot
Definition
basic rhythmic unit of a line of poetry. formed by a combination of two or three syllables, either stressed or unstressed
Term
gothic
Definition
sensibility derived from gothic novels
Term
hubris
Definition
the excessive pride or ambition that leads to the main character's downfall
Term
in medias res
Definition
"in the midst of things"
Term
interior monolouge
Definition
it refers to writing that records the mental talking that goes on inside a character's head.
Term
irony
Definition
a statement that means the opposite of what it seems to mean
Term
loose sentence
Definition
complete before its end
Term
periodic sentence
Definition
a sentence that is not grammatically complete until it has reached its final phrase
Term
masculine rhyme
Definition
a rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable
Term
metonym
Definition
a word used to stand for something else that it has attributes of or is associated with.
Term
omniscient narrator
Definition
point of view
Term
parody
Definition
the work that results when a specific work is exaggerated to ridiculousness
Term
persona
Definition
the narrator in a non-first-person novel.
Term
personification
Definition
giving an inanimate object human qualities or form
Term
point of view
Definition
perspective from which the action of a novel is presented
Term
protagonist
Definition
main character
Term
rhetorical question
Definition
a question that suggests an answer
Term
satire
Definition
exposes common character flaws to the cold light of humor
Term
rhetorical question
Definition
a question that suggests an answer
Term
soliloquy
Definition
speech spoken by a character alone on stage
Term
satire
Definition
exposes common character flaws to the cold light of humor
Term
suspension of disbelief
Definition
demand made of a theater audience to accept limitations of staging and supply details with imagination
Term
symbolism
Definition
a device in literature where an object represents an idea
Term
zeugma
Definition
the use of a word to modify two or more words, but used for different meanings.
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