AP Lit Terms Quiz #6

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which a representative term is used for a larger idea, ("The pen is mightier than the sword.")

Replacing a word with a closely related, associated concept, instead of a real part. ex. All hands on deck (hands are a part of people) vs. Lend me your ears (ears represent listening).

ex. "the Crown" for a monarch. or the press, the White House, the law.

Monologue

A speech given by one character.

(Hamlet's "To be or not to be ...")

ex.

Atticus Finch’s closing argument in To Kill a Mockingbird (persuasion) and Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” (soliloquy/interior thought). Robert Browning’s "My Last Duchess" or T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". King Henry V’s “St. Crispin’s Day speech” in Henry V by Shakespeare.

Motif

The repetition or variations of an image of idea in a work which is used to develop theme or characters.

Ex.

• Blood in Macbeth (Shakespeare): Recurring references to blood and handwashing symbolize the inescapable guilt and moral decay resulting from ambition.

• Light and Dark in Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare): The constant juxtaposition of light (Juliet as the sun) and dark (night) highlights the intensity and secrecy of their love.

• The Green Light in The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald): Represents Gatsby's unattainable desires and the corruption of the American Dream.

• Fire and Ice in Jane Eyre (Brontë): Used throughout the novel to symbolize Jane's passion and spirit (fire) contrasted with the cold, restrictive, and emotionless forces (ice).

• Decay in The Cask of Amontillado (Poe): The recurring imagery of niter (mineral deposits) and catacombs reinforces the theme of moral and physical decay.

• The Mockingbird in To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee): Represents the theme of innocent victims destroyed by evil.

• Eyes in The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald): The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg serve as a recurring, watchful symbol of the loss of spiritual values and the inability of characters to see reality

Narrative Poem

A poem that tells a story.

A narrative poem tells a story using poetic devices like rhyme, meter, and imagery to create a dramatic, structured narrative arc

• Plot Structure: The poem follows a chronological or structured story arc (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution).

• Characterization: Development of characters through dialogue, actions, and descriptions.

• Imagery: Vivid sensory details that immerse the reader in the scene (e.g., in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner).

• Repetition/Refrain: Used to emphasize thematic points or heighten dramatic tension (e.g., "nevermore" in The Raven).

• Meter and Rhyme: Rhythmic, musical structure that aids the narrative pacing

ex.

• "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe: Features a clear, descending narrative arc of madness, utilizing heavy repetition ("tapping," "rapping") to create musicality and tension.

• "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge: A ballad that uses vivid imagery of a "blessed ghost" to convey mystery and danger.

• "The Song of Hiawatha" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Employs a specific, rhythmic meter to recount folklore and legends

Narrator

The speaker of a literary work.

A narrator is a fictional persona constructed by an author to control the story's perspective, tone, and information flow.

Example:

Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby

The narrator in "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe

Octave

An eight-line stanza, usually combined with a sestet in a Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet.

Sestet (a six-line stanza or the final six lines of a 14-line Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet) usually follows the initial eight-line octave and functions as the resolution, turn, or commentary on the poem's central problem. Thus, the octave is usually used to establish a problem, situation, or argument before a turn (volta).

ex. "The world is too much with us" by William Wordsworth

• Octave (Lines 1-8):

  The world is too much with us; late and soon, (A)
  Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; (B)
  Little we see in Nature that is ours; (B)
  We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! (A)
  This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; (A)
  The winds that will be howling at all hours, (B)
  And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; (B)
  For this, for everything, we are out of tune; (A)

• Analysis: Wordsworth uses this octave to establish the central problem: humanity's destructive disconnection from nature due to consumerism ("Getting and spending").

• Volta (The Turn): Following line 8, the poem shifts (volta) to a personal desire to be a pagan, offering a resolution or counter-perspective in the following sestet

• Other examples: "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" by John Keats: The octave describes the speaker's wonder at discovering new poetic worlds.

• "How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning: Uses the octave to list the ways she loves her partner before expanding on them.

Ode

A formal, lengthy poem that celebrates a particular subject.

ex.

• John Keats: "Ode on a Grecian Urn," "Ode to a Nightingale".

• Percy Bysshe Shelley: "Ode to the West Wind".

• William Wordsworth: "Ode: Intimations of Immortality".

• Pablo Neruda: "Ode to My Socks" (example of a modern/irregular ode)

Onomatopocia

Words that sound like the sound they represent (hiss, gurgle, bang).

ex. Edgar Allan Poe, "The Bells": "How they clang, and clash, and roar!" — These words mimic the harsh, loud sound of metal bells, creating a sense of panic and chaos.

• Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven": "While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, / As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door" — The repetition of "tapping" and "rapping" mimics the sound of a knock, creating a quiet, eerie suspense.

• Lewis Carroll, "Jabberwocky": "Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, / And burbled as it came!" — "Whiffling" and "burbled" imitate the sound of wind or a strange creature, creating a vivid, fantastical atmosphere.

• Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Come Down, O Maid": "The moan of doves in immemorial elms, / And murmuring of innumerable bees." — The soft "m" and "ur" sounds mimic the low, gentle sound of bees, creating a tranquil, sleepy tone.

Oxymoron

An image of contradictory terms (bittersweet, pretty ugly, giant economy size).

ex.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow" (Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare): Highlights the duality of love and pain.

"O brawling love! O loving hate!" (Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare): Emphasizes Romeo's confused, intense emotions.

"A terrible beauty is born" (Easter 1916, W.B. Yeats): Captures the tragic yet necessary violence of revolution.

"Honour rooted in dishonour stood" (Idylls of the King, Tennyson): Explores moral complexity and paradox.

"Deafening silence" (General literature): Illustrates an overwhelming lack of sound.

Parable

A story that operates on more than one level and usually teaches a moral lesson. (The Pearl by John Steinbeck is a fine example. See Allegory.)

ex.

• "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson: A seemingly normal village holds an annual, barbaric ritual of stoning a person to death. This functions as a modern parable warning against blindly following tradition and the danger of conformist mob mentality.

• The Boy Who Cried Wolf (Aesop): A shepherd boy lies about a wolf, causing villagers to ignore him when a real wolf appears. This teaches the importance of honesty and the long-term consequences of lying.

• The Good Samaritan (Biblical): A traveler is ignored by religious leaders but helped by a despised outsider. This teaches that true morality is acting with compassion toward anyone in need.

• "The Emperor's New Clothes" (Hans Christian Andersen): A vain emperor parades in "invisible" clothes because no one wants to appear stupid. This acts as a parable about pride, truth, and the danger of groupthink.