AP Literature Vocab weeks 1-4

Allegory

A narrative in which many aspects represents abstract concepts, apart from the literal meaning of the story

Ex: Animal Farm

Alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words

Ex: Trails and Tribulations

Allusion

A brief reference to a person event or place in history or to a work of art/literature

Ex: He was Romeo

Analogy

A comparison made between two unlike concepts

Colts are to Patriots: Pacers are to Nicks

Anaphora

Figure of repetition that occurs when the first word in the sentence is repeated

Ex: I have a dream

Antagonist

A character in a story who opposes the protagonist

Ex: Voldemort

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person or feeling

Ex: Love, where have you gone?

Archetype

A character in action or situation that seems to represent common patterns of human life

Ex: Light v. Dark → Good v. Evil

Aside

In drama, a short passage, spoken by one character to the audience while the other actors on stage, pretend their characters cannot hear

Ex: Breaking the 4th wall

Assonance

The repetition of similar vowel sounds in the middle of words

Ex: the boat floats by a goat

Asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions

Apples, oranges, and grapes

Atmosphere (mood)

The mood or feeling of the literary work created for the reader by the writer

Ex: Depressing mood

Ballad

A narrative poem that usually includes a repeated refrain

Ex: Barbra Allen

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter

Ex: Shakespeare’s Comon Style

Cacophony

The use of words on poetry that are hard sounds

Ex: Car Crash

Caesura

A pause within a line of poetry

Ex: She smiles. (Pause) Then she…

Catharsis

Purifications or purging of emotion

Ex: Scrooge (Character)

Character

An imaginary person represented in work of fiction

Ex: Harry Potter

Characterization

The method and author uses to acquaint the reader with characters

Ex: Jack yells at Piggy → Jack is a bully