AP Lit literary terms

climax

the turning point in the plot/high point of action

colloquial language

informal, conversational language (colloquialisms are phrases specific to a region)

connotation

an idea implied or associated with a word

convention

an understanding between the reader and author about details that do not need to be explained

consonance

repetition of consonant sounds in any part of a word for a sentence/line

couplet

two rhyming lines in poetry

deus ex machina

“god from a machine,” a turn of events that solves characters’ problems through unlikely intervention (usually with gods’ intervention in Greek tragedies)

diction

word choice

denouement

final resolution of a dramatic plot

doppleganger

alter ego/suppressed personality