AP Literature AP test Vocab

Flashcards for key vocabulary terms for the AP Literature exam.

Romanticism

Mid 19th century movement that valued feeling over reason and the individual, often including elements like the supernatural and the beauty of nature.

Transcendentalism

Mid 19th century movement focused on self-reliance and nonconformity, aiming for self-perfection.

Realism

Mid to late 19th century movement focused on representing truth and real experiences.

Regionalism

19th century movement that focuses on local settings found in real-world areas and experiences.

Naturalism

19th century movement featuring darker themes while trying to understand human behavior.

Imagism

Early 20th century movement that favored images and symbolism and a willingness to play with forms.

Lost Generation

Began in 1914, popularized by Ernest Hemingway, referring to the generation who lost relatives or friends during World War I.

The Harlem Renaissance

Throughout the 1920s, featuring African American influence and culture in Harlem, with Langston Hughes as a major figure.

Modernism

1918-1945 movement characterized by the loss of the individual to machinery and alienation.

Postmodernism

Beginning in 1945, with themes including political oppression and alienation based on race, gender, and sexual orientation.

The Beat Movement

1950s movement with Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac as major figures, embracing nonconformity.

Gonzo Journalism

Beginning in 1970, invented by Hunter S. Thompson, blending fact and fiction in writing.

Magical Realism

Beginning in the 1960s, features realistic circumstances with unrealistic elements.

Creative Nonfiction

Late 20th and early 21st centuries, blending literature and nonfiction.

Diction

The author’s choice of words, impacting the effect of the word or the overall style.

Connotation

Refers to the emotional sense or cultural meaning of a word.

Denotation

Refers to the standard definition of a word.

Style

The writer’s voice that impacts other elements like the attitude of the speaker.

Imagery

Language that has a reader utilizing their senses and feeling emotions.

Tone

The attitude of the speaker or narrator towards a specific item, person, or event.

Syntax

Refers to sentence pattern, structure, and choices of the author.

Point of View

Who is explaining or narrating the situation within the literary work.

Figurative Language

Words that do not mean exactly what they say; not literal.

Allusion

Referencing a known source.

Atmosphere

Synonymous with mood.

Extended Metaphor

Metaphor continuing throughout a piece of work.

Irony

A statement or set of words that is contrasting the normal meaning.

Metaphor

Comparing two things to provide new insight on ideas.

Mood

Emotional feeling around a scene or time; synonymous with atmosphere.

Apostrophe

Talking to something that is not alive.

Epigraph

Provides context or background information for a poem.

Meter

Rhythm of a poem.

Personification

When nonliving/living things receive human qualities.

Speaker

Who is telling the story or poem.

Stanza

How poems are split up and divided.

Structure

Outline of the poem.

Exact Rhyme

Words with “perfect” rhyme.

Slant Rhyme

Not exact rhyme but close.

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme within a line

External Rhyme

Rhyme at the end of a line.

Alliteration

Repeated beginning sounds/letters.

Assonance

Repeated vowel sounds.

Consonance

Repeated consonant sounds.