AP LIT - LITERARY TERMS

Allegory

story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities (ex. Animal farm)

Alliteration

repetition of the same or similar consonants sounds that are close together (beginning of the word)

Allusion

refers to someone or something that is known form history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture (ex. Romeo like)

Analogy

comparison made btw two things to show how they are alike, explanation with comparison of something more familiar

Anaphora

repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer's point more coherent. (ex. I have a dream, i have a dream, i have a dream)

Antagonist

opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist, in a story.

Antithesis

balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by means of grammatical structure. (ex. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times)

Aphorism

brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life, or of a principle or accepted general truth. (ex. Actions speak louder than words)

Apostrophe

calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea.

INVOCATION

If the character is asking a god or goddess for inspiration. (oh goddess athena please help me)

Assonance

the repetition of similar vowel sounds. (Shut vowel, long vowe

Blank Verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter, and the meter used in most of Shakespeare's plays. (5 meter, 10 syllables, unstressed - stressed (da-DUM))

Characterization

the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character.

Indirect Characterization

the author reveals to the reader what the character is like by describing how the character looks and dresses, by letting the reader hear what the character says, by revealing the character's private thoughts and feelings, by revealing the characters effect on other people (showing how other characters feel or behave toward the character), or by showing the character in action. Common in modern literature

Direct Characterization

the author tells us directly what the character is like

Static Character

is one who does not change much in the course of a story.

Dynamic Character

is one who changes in some important way as a result of the story's action.

Flat Character

has only one or two personality traits. They are one dimensional, like a piece of cardboard. They can be summed up in one phrase.

Round Character

has more dimensions to their personalities--they are complex, just as real people are.

Cliche

is a word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless because of overuse.

Conceit

an elaborate metaphor that compares two things that are startlingly different. Often an extended metaphor.

Conflict

the struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story.

External Conflict

conflicts can exist between two people, between a person and nature or a machine or between a person and a whole society.

Internal Conflict

a conflict can be internal, involving opposing forces within a person's mind

Connotation

the associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition.

Consonance

the repetition of similar consonant sounds. (alteration included)

Couplet

two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry.

HEROIC COUPLET

is a couplet written in iambic pentameter.

Diction

a speaker or writer's choice of words.

Elegy

a poem of mourning, usually about someone who has died.

Enjambment

the continuation of the sense and grammatical construction from one line of poetry to the next.

Epic

a long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society.

Epigraph

a quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of the theme.

Euphemism

figurative language designed to replace phrasing that would otherwise be considered harsh, impolite, or unpleasant.

Epithet

an adjective or adjective phrase applied to a person or thing that is frequently used to emphasize a characteristic quality. "Father of our country" and "the great Emancipator" are examples.

HOMERIC EPITHET

is a compound adjective used with a person or thing: "swift-footed Achilles"; "rosy-fingered dawn."

Figurative Language

words which are inaccurate if interpreted literally, but are used to describe. Similes and metaphors are common forms.

Flashback

a scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time.

Foil

a character who acts as a contrast to another character. Often a funny side kick to the dashing hero, or a villain contrasting the hero.

Foreshadowing

the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot.

Free verse

poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme.

Hyperbole

a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect.

Iambic Pentameter

a line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable.

Imagery

the use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience.

Irony

a discrepancy between appearances and reality.

Verbal Irony

occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else.

Situational Irony

takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen.

Dramatic Irony

is so called because it is often used on stage. A character in the play or story thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better.

Juxtaposition

poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit. (mansion and a hut next to each other, night and day reference)

Lament

a non-narrative poem expressing grief or sorrow over a personal loss.

Lyric Poem

a poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker.

BALLAD

tells a story, quatrain with ABCB rhyme scheme

Malapropism

an incorrect word used accidentally in the place of another word with a similar sound. ————— are typically humorous because they give rise to nonsensical statements.

Metaphor

a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles.

EXTENDED METAPHOR

is a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it. (conceit if it is quite elaborate).

Metonymy

a figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing, is referred to by something closely associated with it. "We requested from the crown support for our petition." The crown is used to represent the monarch.

Mood

an atmosphere created by a writer's diction and the details selected.

Motif

a recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the work by tying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme.

Ode

a relatively long, serious, and usually meditative lyric poem that treats a noble or otherwise elevated subject in a dignified and calm manner.

Onomatopoeia

the use of words whose sounds echo their sense. "Pop." "Zap."

Oxymoron

a figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. "jumbo shrimp." "pretty ugly." "bitter-sweet"

Parable

a relatively short story that teaches a moral, or lesson about how to lead a good life.

Paradox

a statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth.

Parallel Structure

(parallelism) the repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures.

Parody

a work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer’s style

Pastoral

a literary work dealing with shepherds and or rural life.

Personification

a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.

Plot

the series of related events in a story or play, sometimes called the storyline.

Point of View

the vantage point from which the writer tells the story.

First Person Point of View

one of the characters tells the story.

Third Person Point of View

an unknown narrator, tells the story, but this narrator zooms in to focus on the thoughts and feelings of only one character.

Omniscient Point of View

an omniscient or all knowing narrator tells the story, also using the third person pronouns. This narrator, instead of focusing on one character only, often tells us everything about many characters.

Objective Point of View

a narrator who is totally impersonal and objective tells the story, with no comment on any characters or events.

Protagonist

the central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action.

Pun

a "play on words" based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things.

Quatrain

a poem consisting of four lines, or four lines of a poem that can be considered as a unit.

Refrain

a word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated, for effect, several times in a poem. (chorus of a song?)

Rhyme

a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words.

End Rhyme

rhyme that occurs at the end of two or more lines of poetry. (i love to sing/ im dressed in bling)

Internal Rhyme

rhyme that occurs within a line of poetry.

Perfect Rhyme

rhyming sounds which match exactly. (cat, hat)

SLANT RHYME

rhyming sounds which are partial rather than perfect. (love, remove)

RHYME SCHEME

the pattern of rhyme in a poem or stanza, typically described by assigning a lower case letter to each new rhyming sound.

RHYMED VERSE

poetry which contains rhyming words at the ends of certain lines.

RHETORIC

art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse.

RHETORICAL QUESTION

a question asked for an effect, and not actually requiring an answer.

SATIRE

a type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change.

SIMILE

a figure of speech that makes an explicitly comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as, than, or resembles.

SOLILOQUY

a long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are on stage. (opposite of monologue)

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

a style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic workings of a character's mind.

SYMBOL

a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself.

SYNECDOCHE

a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole. "If you don't drive properly, you will lose your wheels." The wheels represent the entire car.

THEME

the insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work.

TONE

the attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience, revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization.

UNDERSTATEMENT

a statement that says less than what is meant.