AP Lit Drama/Poetry Terms

act

an event that contributes to the development of a plot or character in a work of literature

analogy

a literary device that compares two things that are usually thought of as different to explain or illustrate a point

apostrophe

a speech or address to a person who is not present or to a personified object

aside

a short comment, often seen as a fourth wall break, delivered while other characters are onstage

blank verse

poetry written in unrhymed but metered lines, almost always iambic pentameter

cadence

the fall in pitch of the intonation of the voice, and its modulated inflection with the rise and fall of its sound

caesura

a pause in a line of poetry that occurs when one phrase ends and another begins

colloquialism

the use of informal, everyday language in writing

conceit

the act of using two very unlikely objects in order to draw a comparison within a poem

end-stopped line

a complete thought or phrase appears on a single line followed by punctuation

enjambment

a poetic device that occurs when a sentence or phrase continues from one line to the next without punctuation

free verse

poetry that doesn't follow a consistent rhyme scheme or meter

hamartia

a character's tragic flaw or mistake that leads to their downfall

juxtaposition

a figurative language device in which contrasting elements are placed side by side to highlight their differences or create a specific emotional or thematic impact

meter

the rhythmic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of verse

monologue

a poem that presents a character's thoughts and feelings in the form of a speech

oxymoron

a figure of speech that combines contradictory words with opposing meanings

pun

a figure of speech that plays with words that have multiple meanings

rhyme scheme

the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song

scene

a specific section within a larger work where actions take place in one location at one time

soliloquy

the act of talking to oneself

stanza

a series of lines that are arranged by their rhyme or meter

syntax

the arrangement of language and order of words used to convey the poem's content