AP English Lit Terms to Know

Allusion

A reference in a work of literature to something outside the work, especially to a well-known historical or literary event, person, or work.

Devices of sound

Techniques of deploying the sound of words (rhyme, alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia) to create effect, imitate sounds, or reflect meaning.

Attitude

A speaker’s, author’s, or character’s disposition toward or opinion of a subject.

Details (choice of details)

Items or parts that make up a larger picture or story; small pieces that bring characters/events to life.

Diction

Word choice; important for meaning, effect, and tone.

Figurative language

Writing that uses figures of speech (metaphor, simile, irony) instead of literal language.

Imagery

Sensory details and figurative language that evoke visual, auditory, tactile images.

Irony

A figure of speech where intent and actual meaning differ (verbal irony, understatement, sarcasm).

Metaphor

A comparison without “like” or “as.” (“Juliet is the sun.”)

Narrative techniques

The methods used to tell a story (point of view, dialogue, time manipulation, etc.).

Omniscient point of view

Narrator knows all, can describe any character’s thoughts and move freely in time/place.

Point of view

Vantage point from which a story is told (first person, third person limited/omniscient, multiple perspectives).

Resources of language

General term for linguistic devices (diction, syntax, figurative language, imagery, etc.).

Rhetorical techniques

Devices of effective/persuasive language (contrast, repetition, paradox, sarcasm, rhetorical questions).

Satire

Writing that ridicules human folly or vice to inspire reform (often comic).

Structure

Arrangement of materials within a work (series, contrast, repetition).

Setting

Time and place of a story.

Style

The mode of expression in language; an author’s characteristic manner of writing.

Simile

A directly expressed comparison using “like,” “as,” or “than.”

Strategy (rhetorical strategy)

Planned arrangement of elements for effect in a work.

Symbol

Something that is itself and also represents something else (e.g., a skull as mortality).

Syntax

The arrangement of words in a sentence; sentence structure.

Theme

The main thought or meaning expressed in a work.

Tone

The author’s attitude toward subject or audience, expressed through diction, imagery, figurative language, and style.

Allegory

A story where characters/events have symbolic meaning.

Ambiguity

Multiple meanings, often conflicting, in a work.

Apostrophe

Direct address to an absent person or abstract concept.

Connotation

The implied or associated meaning of a word, as opposed to its dictionary definition.

Denotation

The dictionary meaning of a word.

Digression

Material in a work that strays from the main subject.

Epigram

A brief, witty saying or poem with contrast.

Euphemism

Indirect or mild expression used instead of something harsh/blunt.

Grotesque

Characterized by distortions, incongruities, or bizarre elements.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration for effect.

Convention

A commonly used device or subject in literature (e.g., the lovesick lover).

Jargon

Specialized language of a profession or group.

Literal

Not figurative; accurate to the letter.

Didactic

Explicitly instructive writing.

Lyrical

Songlike; characterized by emotion, subjectivity, imagination.

Oxymoron

Union of contradictory terms (e.g., “cold fire”).

Paradox

A seemingly contradictory statement that reveals a truth.

Parable

A simple story illustrating a moral or principle.

Parody

An imitation of a style for comic effect.

Personification

Giving human qualities to nonhuman things.

Reliability

Trustworthiness of a narrator’s account.

Rhetorical question

A question asked for effect, not expecting an answer.

Soliloquy

A speech where a character speaks their thoughts aloud, usually alone.

Stereotype

Conventional, oversimplified character or idea.

Syllogism

A logical form of reasoning with a major premise, minor premise, and conclusion.

Thesis

The main position or argument a writer undertakes to prove.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds.

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds.

Ballad meter

Four-line stanza (abcb rhyme scheme).

Blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Free verse

Poetry without traditional meter but with rhythm.

Heroic couplet

Two rhymed iambic pentameter lines forming a unit.

Hexameter

Line of six metrical feet.

Iamb

A metrical foot of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable.

Internal rhyme

Rhyme within a single line of poetry.

Onomatopoeia

Words whose sounds suggest their meaning (buzz, hiss).

Sonnet

A 14-line iambic pentameter poem (Italian or Shakespearean).

Stanza

A repeated grouping of lines in a poem.

Terza rima

Three-line stanza rhymed aba, bcb, cdc, etc.

Pentameter

A line of five feet (most common in English poetry).

Tetrameter

A line of four feet.

Antecedent

The word a pronoun refers to.

Clause

A group of words with a subject and verb (independent or dependent).

Ellipsis

Omission of necessary words for conciseness.

Imperative

A verb mood giving a command.

Modify

To limit or qualify meaning.

Parallel structure

Repetition of similar grammatical structures.

Periodic sentence

A sentence complete only at the end.

Loose sentence

A sentence complete before its end, followed by additional detail.