AP Lit Terms

Vocabulary flashcards generated strictly from the provided lecture transcript.

Allegory

Narrative in which the characters, setting, and events are all symbolic

Alliteration

Device in which the initial sound of a word is repeated at least twice in a line of poetry or in a sentence

Allusion

In a literary work, a reference to something appearing elsewhere in history, culture, or literature

Ambiguity

Stylistic approach in a literary work, whereby the text’s lack of clarity allows for multiple, even conflicting interpretations

Analogy

A resemblance drawn between two items

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase for rhetorical effect

Antagonist

The opponent of a narrative’s protagonist or hero

Antecedent

The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun

Anticlimax

A sudden decline, intention, especially with comic effect or ironic disappointment

Antihero

A protagonist with villainous qualities who nevertheless can be relatively sympathetic in a narrative

Antithesis

Statement in which two opposites are prepared to make a point

Antonym

A word that has the opposite meaning of another

Aphorism

A clear, brief observation about some aspect of life, also called a maxim or a saying

Apostrophe

And address to something as if it were human, or an address to someone not present

Atmosphere

The emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work, established, partly by the setting, and partly by the author’s choice of objects that are described

Archetype

A symbol so ancient and fundamental that its meaning is understood by the unconscious mind, even without contextual explanation

Assonance

The repetition of a vowel sound in a sentence or line of poetry

Ballad

First taking shape in the later middle ages, the ballad was a sung poem that recounted a dramatic story

Bildungsroman

A novel that explores the maturation of the protagonist with the narrative usually moving the main character from childhood into adulthood

Blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter verse — formal, but still conversational

Cadence

Quality of spoken text formed from combing the text’s rhythm with the rise and fall in the inflection of the speaker’s voice

Caesura

A pause in the middle of a line of poetry

Canto

Long section of an epic poem

Caricature

A representation, especially pictorial or literary, in which the subject’s distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque effect

Catharsis

According to Aristotle, the audience’s release of pity and fear once the tragic hero of a play has experienced a downfall

Character

An agent committing action in a narrative, usually human, but not necessarily so, a seen in Orwell’s Animal Farm

Dynamic

A character that experiences a change in personality, attitude, or behavior during the course of the narrative

Flat

Underdeveloped character, one-dimensional and predictable

Round

More developed, complex character

Static

Character that remains the same throughout a work

Stock

A type of flat character based on a stereotype; one who falls into an immediately recognizable category or type — such as the absent minded professor or the town drunk — and thus resists unique characterization

Characterization

The method by which the author builds, or reveals, a character; it can be direct or indirect

Climax

In a narrative, the point of irreversible action, when what is done cannot be undone

Colloquial language / Colloquialism

And expression or language, construction, appropriate, only for casual, informal, speaking, or writing

Comedy

A play in which a temporarily unstable situation is restored to order by the end

Comedy of manners

A satiric dramatic form that lampoon, social conventions; the highest level of comedy

Conceit

An extended metaphor continuing from an initial comparison

Connotation

The implied, rather than direct meaning of a word

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds in a sentence or line of poetry

Couplet

In a poem, two consecutive rhyming lines

Denotation

The literal definition of a word, often referred to as the “dictionary definition”

Denouement

French for “unknotting,“ this final segment of a negative follows the climax and “winds things up“ in the story

Dialect

Dialogue or narration written to simulate regional or cultural speech patterns

Dialogue

The written depiction of conversation between characters

Diction

Word choice; the most basic element of a text

Dissonance

Harsh, unpleasant sounds, especially in poetry

Dramatic monologue

Poem in which a character speaks as if delivering a soliloquy

Elegy

A contemplative poem, on death or mortality, often written for someone who has died

Enjambment

A line of poetry that continues a sentence into the next line without a break

Epic poem

Long narrative poem, usually featuring a larger-than-life hero who takes a journey during which he receives divine intervention