AP Literature: Literary Terms Midterm

**allegory**

story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other  people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities

alliteration

repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are  close together

allusion

reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature,  religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture; an indirect reference to  something

ambiguity

deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting,  meanings in a work; an event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way- - this is done on purpose by the author, when it is not done on purpose, it is vagueness,  and detracts from the work

analogy

comparison made between two things to show how they are alike

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

anastrophe

inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a  sentence; purpose is rhythm or emphasis or euphony; it is a fancy word for inversion

anecdote

brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something,  often shows character of an individual

antagonist

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

amtimetabole

repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical  order (chasmus)

antithesis

balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by  means of grammatical structure

antihero

central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with  heroes. may lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples

anthropomorphism

attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object

aphorism

brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life,  or of a principle or accepted general truth

apostrophe

calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or  thing, or a personified abstract idea; if the character is asking a god or goddess for  inspiration it is called an **invocation**

apposition

placing in immediately succeeding order of two or more coordinate  elements, the latter of which is an explanation, qualification, or modification of the first  (often set off by a colon)

assonance

the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant  sounds especially in words that are together

asyndeton

commas used without conjunction to separate a series of words, thus  emphasizing the parts equally

balance

constructing a sentence so that both halves are about the same length and  importance. Sentences can be unbalanced to serve a special effect as well

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

direct characterization

the author tells us directly what the  character is like: sneaky, generous, mean to pets and so on; romantic style  literature relied more heavily on this form

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 a real people are

chasmus

in poetry, a type of rhetorical balance in which the second part is  syntactically balanced against the first, but with the parts reversed (antimetabole)

cliche

is a word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless because  of overuse; avoid clichés like the plague

colloquialism

a word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal  writing but is inappropriate for formal situations

comedy

in general, a story that ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced by  the main character or characters

conceit

an elaborate metaphor that compares two things that are startlingly different; often an extended metaphor

confessional poetry

a twentieth century term used to describe poetry that uses  intimate material from the poet’s life

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 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

couplet

two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry

dialect

a way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the  inhabitants of a certain geographical area

diction

a speaker or writer’s choice of word

didactic

form of fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or  provides a model of correct behavior or thinking

ellegy

epanalepsis

device of repetition in which the same expression (single word or  phrase) is repeated both at the beginning and at the end of the line, clause, or sentence

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

epistrophe

device of repetition in which the same expression (single word or  phrase) is repeated at the end of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences (it is the opposite  of anaphora)

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; a **Homeric epithet** is a compound adjective used with a  person or thing: “swift-footed Achilles”; “rosy-fingered dawn.”

essay

a short piece of nonfiction prose in which the writer discusses some aspect of a  subject

argumentation

one of the four forms of discourse which uses logic,  ethics, and emotional appeals (logos, ethos, pathos) to develop an effective means  to convince the reader to think or act in a certain way

persuasion

relies more on emotional appeals than on facts

argument

form of persuasion that appeals to reason instead of   emotion to convince an audience to think or act in a certain way

casual relationship

form of argumentation in which the writer   claims that one thing results from another, often used as part of a logical   argument

description

a form of discourse that uses language to create a mood or  emotion

exposition

one of the four major forms of discourse, in which something  is explained or “set forth.”

narrative

the form of discourse that tells about a series of events

explication

act of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text, usually  involves close reading and special attention to figurative language

fable

a very short story told in prose or poetry that teaches a practical lesson about  how to succeed in life

farce

a type of comedy in which ridiculous and often stereotyped characters are involved in silly, far-fetched situations

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 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

hypotactic

sentence marked by the use of connecting words between clauses or  sentences, explicitly showing the logical or other relationships between them

imagery

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

inversion

the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase

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

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

litotes

form of understatement in which the positive form is emphasized through  the negation of a negative form

local color

a term applied to fiction or poetry which tends to place special  emphasis on a particular setting, including its customs, clothing, dialect and landscape

loose sentence

one in which the main clause comes first, followed by further  dependent grammatical units

lyric poem

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

metpahor

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

implied metaphor

does not state explicitly the two terms of the   comparison: “I like to see it lap the miles” is an implied metaphor in which the   verb lap implies a comparison between “it” and some animal that “laps” up   water

extended metaphor

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

dead metaphor

metaphor that has been used so often that the   comparison is no longer vivid

mixed metaphor

metaphor that has gotten out of control and mixes   its terms so that they are visually or imaginatively incompatible

metonymy

a figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing, is referred to by  something closely associated with it

mood

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

motif

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

motivation

the reasons for a character’s behavior

onomatopoeia

the use of words whose sounds echo their sense

oxymoron

a figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a  brief phrase

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

koan

a paradox used in Zen Buddhism to gain intuitive knowledge

parallel structure

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

paratactic sentence

simply juxtaposes clauses or sentences

parody

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

periodic

sentence that places the main idea or central complete thought at the end of  the sentence, after all introductory elements

personfication

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

exposition

introduces characters, situation, and setting

rising action

complications in conflict and situations (may introduce new  ones as well)  

climax

that point in a plot that creates the greatest intensity, suspense, or  interest; also called “turning point”

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