AP Literature Terms

ALLEGORY

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

Example: Animal Farm; Dante’s Inferno; Lord of the Flies

ALLITERATION

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

Example: “When the two youths turned with the flag they saw that much of the regiment had crumbled away, and the dejected remnant was coming slowly back.” – Stephen Crane

ALLUSION

Reference to someone or something known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or culture. An indirect reference.

AMBIGUITY

Deliberately suggesting two or more different meanings in a work. When not intentional, it’s vagueness.

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.

ANASTROPHE

Inversion of the normal or logical order of parts of a sentence (for rhythm or emphasis).

ANECDOTE

Brief story told to illustrate a point or serve as an example, often showing character.

ANTAGONIST

Opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero or protagonist.

ANTIMETABOLE

Repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse order.

Moliere: “One should eat to live, not live to eat.” In poetry, this is called chiasmus.

ANTITHESIS

Balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by grammatical structure.

ANTIHERO

Central character who lacks traditional heroic qualities (courage, grace, intelligence, morals).

ANTHROPOMORPHISM

Attributing human characteristics to an animal or object (same as personification).

APHORISM

Brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life (also called maxim or epigram).

APOSTROPHE

Calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person or abstract idea.

Example: “Loacöon! Thou great embodiment of human life and human history!”

APPOSITION

Placing two coordinate elements side by side, the second explaining or modifying the first.

Example: “These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot…”

ASSONANCE

Repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in words close together.

ASYNDETON

Commas used without conjunctions to separate a series of words: X, Y, Z instead of X, Y, and Z.

BALANCE

Constructing a sentence so that both halves are of equal length and importance.

CHARACTERIZATION

The process by which a writer reveals a character's personality.

Indirect: shown through actions, thoughts, speech, or effects on others.

Direct: told directly by the author.

Static: does not change.

Dynamic: changes during story.

Flat: one-dimensional.

Round: complex and realistic.

CHIASMUS

Rhetorical balance where the second part reverses the first.

Example: “Flowers are lovely, love is flowerlike.”

CLICHE

Overused expression that has lost originality.

Example: “Avoid clichés like the plague.”

COLLOQUIALISM

Informal word or phrase used in everyday speech but inappropriate in formal writing.

Example: “He’s out of his head if he thinks I’ll go for that.”

COMEDY

Story that ends happily, resolving conflicts of the main characters.

CONCEIT

Elaborate or surprising metaphor comparing two vastly different things.

CONFESSIONAL POETRY

Poetry that draws on personal, often intimate, material from the poet’s life.

CONFLICT

Struggle between opposing forces.

External: person vs. person, nature, machine, or society.

Internal: within a character’s mind.

CONNOTATION

Emotional or cultural associations attached to a word beyond its dictionary definition.

COUPLET

Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry.

DIALECT

Way of speaking characteristic of a particular group or region.

DICTION

Writer’s or speaker’s choice of words.

DIDACTIC

Writing that teaches a lesson or moral or provides a correct model of behavior.

ELEGY

Poem of mourning about someone who has died.

EPANALEPSIS

Repetition of a word or phrase at both the beginning and end of a sentence.

Example: “Common sense is not so common.”

EPIC

Long narrative poem recounting deeds of a heroic figure embodying societal values.

EPIGRAPH

Quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a work suggesting its theme.

EPISTROPHE

Repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses or sentences (opposite of anaphora).

EPITHET

Adjective or phrase highlighting a characteristic quality.

Examples: “Father of our country”; “swift-footed Achilles.”

ESSAY

Short nonfiction work discussing some aspect of a subject.

Argumentation: uses logic and appeals (logos, ethos, pathos).

Persuasion: relies more on emotion.

Argument: appeals to reason.

Causal Relationship: claims one thing results from another.

DESCRIPTION

Writing that uses language to create mood or emotion.

EXPOSITION

Writing that explains or sets forth information.

NARRATIVE

Writing that tells about events or a story.

EXPLICATION

Interpreting or analyzing meaning in a text through close reading.

FABLE

Very short story teaching a moral lesson.

FARCE

Comedy with ridiculous, exaggerated characters in silly situations.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Nonliteral language, such as simile and metaphor.

FLASHBACK

Scene that interrupts a story to show an earlier event.

FOIL

Character who contrasts another (often the hero).

FORESHADOWING

Hints or clues suggesting future events.

FREE VERSE

Poetry without regular meter or rhyme scheme.

HYPERBOLE

Extreme exaggeration for effect.

Example: “I’ve told you a million times!”

IMAGERY

Language that appeals to the senses to create a picture or sensation.

IRONY

Contrast between appearance and reality.

Verbal: say one thing, mean another.

Situational: opposite of what’s expected occurs.

Dramatic: audience knows something a character doesn’t.

JUXTAPOSITION

Placing dissimilar ideas or images side by side for contrast or surprise.

Martin Luther King Jr. Example: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

LITOTES

Understatement using a negative to express a positive.

Example: “Not bad” meaning “good.”

LOCAL COLOR

Emphasis on a specific region’s customs, dialect, and setting.

LYRIC POEM

Poem expressing personal feelings rather than telling a story.

METAPHOR

Direct comparison between two unlike things without like or as.

Implied: comparison suggested.

Extended: developed throughout a work.

Dead: overused and no longer vivid.

Mixed: inconsistent or conflicting comparison.

METONYMY

Substituting the name of something closely related for the thing itself.

Example: “The crown” for the monarchy.

MOOD

Atmosphere or emotional feeling created by the author.

MOTIF

Recurring image, phrase, or idea that unifies a work.

ONOMATOPOEIA

Word whose sound imitates its meaning (buzz, pop).

OXYMORON

Combination of contradictory terms (jumbo shrimp, bitter-sweet).

PARABLE

Short story that teaches a moral or lesson.

PARADOX

Statement that seems self-contradictory but reveals truth.

PARALLEL STRUCTURE

Repetition of similar grammatical forms.

PARODY

Work that humorously imitates another work’s style.

PERSONIFICATION

Giving human qualities to animals or objects.

PLOT

Sequence of related events in a story.

Exposition: introduces characters and setting.

Rising Action: builds conflict.

Climax: turning point.

Resolution: conclusion and conflict resolution.

POINT OF VIEW

Perspective from which a story is told.

First Person: character tells the story. 

Third Person Limited: focuses on one character’s thoughts.

Omniscient: all-knowing narrator.

Objective: narrator reports without comment.

POLYSYNDETON

Using multiple conjunctions (and, or) without commas for rhythm or emphasis.

PROTAGONIST

Main character who drives the action.

PUN

Play on words with multiple meanings or similar sounds.

QUATRAIN

Four-line stanza or poem section.

REFRAIN

Repeated line or phrase in a poem.

RHYTHM

Pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.

RHETORIC

Art of effective or persuasive communication.

RHETORICAL QUESTION

Question asked for effect, not an answer.

ROMANCE

Story of an idealized hero or quest with a happy outcome.

SATIRE

Writing that ridicules human flaws or institutions to promote change.

SIMILE

Comparison using like, as, than, or resembles.

SOLILOQUY

Long speech by a character alone on stage revealing thoughts.

STEREOTYPE

Oversimplified, fixed idea about a group or concept.

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Writing style portraying a character’s inner thoughts and feelings.

STYLE

Distinctive way a writer uses diction, tone, and syntax.

SUSPENSE

Feeling of uncertainty or curiosity about what happens next.

SYMBOL

Object, person, or event that represents something more.

SYNECDOCHE

Using a part to represent the whole.

“If you don’t drive properly, you will lose your wheels.” The wheels represent the entire car.

THEME

Insight about life revealed in a literary work.

TONE

The writer’s attitude toward the subject or audience.

TRAGEDY

Story where a heroic character meets an unhappy end.

UNDERSTATEMENT

Saying less than what is meant.

Example: Calling a storm “a bit breezy.”

VERNACULAR

Everyday spoken language of a region or group.

IMPRESSIONISM

A nineteenth-century movement in literature and art that emphasized recording the artist’s personal impressions of the world rather than providing a strict representation of reality.

MODERNISM

Bold new experimental styles and forms that swept the arts during the first third of the twentieth century.

NATURALISM

A nineteenth-century literary movement that was an extension of realism, portraying life exactly as it was without idealization.

PLAIN STYLE

Writing style emphasizing simplicity and clarity of expression. Used by Puritan writers; still includes allusions and metaphors but avoids ornate language.

PURITANISM

Writing style of early American colonists. Emphasizes obedience to God and consists mainly of journals, sermons, and poems.

RATIONALISM (also called Neoclassicism or Age of Reason)

A seventeenth-century European movement holding that truth can be discovered through reason rather than relying on the authority of the past or the Church.

REALISM

A nineteenth-century writing style that aims to depict life accurately without idealizing or romanticizing it.