AP LIT TERMS

The process where revealing the character's traits can be direct and indirect

Characterization

shared rules and expectations that members of society adhere to

Cultural norms

the struggle between opposing forces (external/internal)

Conflicts

The most neutral and broadly applicable term for the main character in a work, whether heroic or not heroic.

Protagonist

Character or a nonhuman force that opposes or is in conflict with the protagonist

Antagonist

character that serves as a contrast to another

Foil

(1): a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something

(2): an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking

(3): an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure

(4): a revealing scene or moment

Epiphany

Specific facts or descriptions that the author includes.

Selection of detail

fictional past is inserted into the fictional present

Flashback

fictional future is inserted into the fictional present

Flashforward

refers to opening a plot in the middle of the action

In medias res

narrative that recounts and thus "frames" the telling of another narrative or story

Frame narrative

The structure that goes exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution

Plot structure

Narration by a character using "I" or "we."

First-person point of view

Narration outside the story using "he," "she," or "they."

Third-person point of view

Narrator whose credibility is compromised

Unreliable narrator

The voice that "speaks" a poem or narrative

Speaker

A story within another story

frame story

Word choice

Diction

Contrast between expectation and reality

Irony

Sentence structure

Syntax

the attitude a literary work takes toward its subject or that a character in the work conveys, especially as revealed through diction.

Tone

word's literal meaning

Denotation

what is suggested by a word

Connotation

the repetition of an initial consonant sound

Alliteration

exaggerated language

Hyperbole

language that makes a point by self-consciously downplaying its real emphasis

Understatement

Object representing something beyond itself

Symbol

Repeated element with thematic significance.

Motif

Time and place of a story

Setting

Central message or insight

Theme

Descriptive language appealing to senses

Imagery

Comparison using "like" or "as."

Simile

Direct comparison without "like" or "as."

Metaphor

Giving human traits to nonhuman things

Personification

Indirect reference to another work or idea

Allusion

Placement of contrasting elements side by side

Juxtaposition

Figure of speech involving the repetition of the same word or phrase (and especially at the beginning of) successive lines, clauses, or sentences, as in "We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain--/We passed the Setting Sun---" (Emily Dickenson, "Because I could not stop for Death---")

Anaphora

in poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel

Assonance

short pause within a line of poetry

caesura

epetition of harsh sounds such as p, b, k, etc.

Cacophony

repetition of pleasant sounds such as l,m, r, n

Euphony

recurrence or repetition of consonants especially at the end of stressed syllables without the similar correspondence of vowels (as in the final sounds of "stroke" and "luck")

Consonance

metrical line ending at a grammatical boundary or break—such as a dash or closing parenthesis—or with punctuation such as a colon, a semicolon, or a period.

End-stopped line

in poetry, the technique of running over from one line to the next without stop. Ex. Pat Mora writes: "I live in a doorway/between two rooms". These lines, and please take notice of the "/" that divides them, would be described as enjambed. Another example is "I walked my doggy/to the park" (Rauch 1-2).

Enjambment

the turn of thought or argument

shift/volta/turn

repetition of an s or sh sound, as in sash

Sibilance