AP Seminar Vocabulary List 4

Malapropism

A confused use of words in which the appropriate word is replaced by one with a similar sound but inappropriate meaning

Maxim

A saying or proverb expressing common wisdom or truth (adage, aphorism)

Melodrama

A literary form in which events are exaggerated to create an extreme emotional response

Metaphor

Figure of speech, compares two unlike objects

Metaphysical

Describes poetry that uses elaborate conceits, expresses complexities of love and life, and is highly intellectual

Metonymy

Figure of speech that uses the name of one thing to represent something else with which it is associated

Middle English

The language spoken in England roughly between 1150 and 1500 AD

Mock Epic

A parody of traditional epic form

Mock Solemnity

Feigned or deliberately artificial seriousness, often for satirical purposes

Mode

The general form, pattern, and manner of expression of a piece of discourse

Montage

A quick succession of images or impressions used to express an idea

Mood

The emotional tone or prevailing atmosphere in a work of literature or other discourse

Moral

A brief and often simplistic lesson that a reader may infer from a work of literature

Motif

A phrase, idea, or event that through repetition serves to unify or convey a theme in an essay or other discourse

Muse

One of the ancient Greek goddesses presiding over the arts; the imaginary source of inspiration for an artist or writer

Myth

An imaginary story that has become an accepted part of the cultural or religious tradition of a group or society

Narrative

A form of verse or prose (both fiction and nonfiction) that tells a story

Naturalism

A term often used as a synonym for realism; also a view of experience that is characterized as bleak and pessimistic

Non sequitur

A statement or idea that fails to follow logically from the one before

Objective

Of or relating to facts and reality, as opposed to private and personal feelings and attitudes

Ode

A lyric poem usually marked by serious, respectful, and exalted feelings toward the subject

Omniscient narrator

A narrator with unlimited awareness, understanding, and insight of characters, setting, background, etc.

Onomatopoeia

The use of words whose sounds suggest their meaning

Oxymoron

A term consisting of contradictory elements juxtaposed to create a paradoxical effect

Parable

A story consisting of events from which a moral or spiritual truth may be derived

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory but is nevertheless true

Parallel structure

The structure required for expressing two or more grammatical elements of equal rank

Parody

An imitation of a work meant to ridicule its style and subject

Paraphrase

A version of a text put into simpler, everyday words

Pastoral

A work of literature dealing with rural life

Pathetic fallacy

Faulty reasoning that inappropriately ascribes human feelings to nature or nonhuman objects

Pathos

That element in literature that stimulate pity or sorrow