AP Lit Vocab ALL

foreshadowing

hints or signs of what’s to come

foreboding

fearful apprehension

motiff

recurring element; patter

juxtaposition

side by side placement for emphasis

allegory

extended metaphor about society and/or human nature

homely

plain, unattractive

dappled

marked with spots or rounded patches

demure

reserved, modest, shy

lowly

lacking in status, importance, sophistication

starveling

undernourished person or animal

assonance

repetition of similar vowel sounds

consonance

repetition of consonant sounds

dynamic

changing; active; progressing

static

unchanging; inactive; stationary

vainly

unsuccessfully; producing no result

fickle

wavering frequently; inconstant; unpredictable

incensed

very angry; enraged

imploring

begging; making an emotional request

onerous

burdensome; intolerable;causing great difficulty or trouble

idyllic

extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque

apostrophe

a situation in which a speaker directly address an object, idea, or a person who is dead/ nonexistent/ not present as if they could actually respond

anaphora

repetition of a word/phrase at the beginning of successive clauses/senteces

alliteration

similar sound used at the beginning of words that are close together

hyperbole

intentional exaggeration not to be taken literally

understatement

an intentional representation of something as less important or intense than it actually is

vacillate

to waver back and forth

fervor

intense and passionate feeling

illicit

forbidden by laws, morals, or customs

repose

rest, relax

piety

religious devotion

pastoral

(noun/adjective) portrayal of retreating from modern cities to unrealistically charming rural life

meditation

(noun) reflection

elegy

(noun) momorial; mourning

lament

(noun/verb) expression of grief for a loss

ode

(noun) poem that praises a specific person, place, thing, or event

conceptualize

(verb) from/develop an idea

spurned

(verb) rejected with disdain/contempt

sensuous

(adjective) appealing to the senses, especially sexually

assuage

(verb) relieve; ease; make (something unpleasant) less severe

novice

(noun) beginner; inexperienced person

enjambment

(noun) (in verse) the continuation of a sentence from one poetic line to another without punctuation

end stopped

(adjective) when a poetic line concludes in a grammatical pause

caesura

(Noun) a grammatical pause in the middle of a poetic line

rhyming couplet

(noun) a pair of successive rhyming lines

refrain

(noun) phrase, line, or group of lines repeated at regular intervals

secular

(adjective) not religious or spiritual

laudable

(adjective) deserving praise

erstwhile

(adverb) formerly; in the past

summons

(noun/verb) orders to come/appear

penitent

(adjective) remorseful; sorry; full of regret

diction

(noun) word choice

syntax

(noun) word order

tone

(noun) author’s/speaker’s (implied) attitude toward the subject of the text

Mood

(noun) the emotions/feelings/atmosphere a text produces in a reader

stanza

(noun) a group of lines in a poem

incongruous

(adjective) Out of place; inappropriate; incompatible

opulence

(noun) great wealth or luxuriousness

fleeting

(adjective) vanishing quickly; lasting a very short time

premonition

(noun) a strong feeling that something (especially something bad) is going to happen

obsolete

(adjective) out of date; no longer used or needed