AP Literature: Literary Terms

Allegory

story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities.

Allusion

an indirect reference to someone or something that is known from another branch of culture.

Ambiguity

deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work

Anecdote

brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something

Aphorism

brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life, or of a principle or accepted general truth.

Characterization (Indirect)

the author reveals to the reader what the character is like through appearance, dialogue, private thoughts, action, and effects on others.

Characterization (Direct)

the author tells us directly what the character is like.

Character (Static)

one who does not change much in the course of a story.

Characterization (Dynamic)

one who changes in some important way as a result of the story’s action.

Characterization (Flat)

only one or two personality traits; they are one dimensional.

Characterization (Round)

more dimensions to their personality; they are complex, just like real people are.

Conflict (External)

a conflict between two people, between a person and nature or a machine or between a person and a whole society.

Conflict (Internal)

a conflict involving opposing forces within a person’s mind.

Diction

a speaker or writer’s choice of words.

Epiphany

a sudden realization.

Euphemism

substitute words that sound less offensive or more neutral than others.

Figurative Language

words which are inaccurate if interpreted literally, but are used to describe.

Foil

a character who acts as a contrast to another character.

Foreshadowing

the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot.

Hyperbole

a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement

Imagery

the use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience.

Irony (Verbal)

when a character says one thing but really means something else.

Irony (Dramatic)

a character is unaware of something that another character or the audience knows.

Irony (Situational)

when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what really does happen.

Juxtaposition

two normally unassociated ideas, words, or things are placed next to one another to create a contrasting effect.

Metaphor

a direct comparison between two unlike things.

Mood

an atmosphere created by a writer’s diction and the details selected.

Motif

a recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work unifying the work.

Oxymoron

a combination of opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.

Pace

the rhythm of a story and how the chain of events fall into place.

Paradox

a statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth.

Personification

an object or animal is given human characteristics.

Satire

a type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change.

Stream of Consciousness

a style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character’s mind.

Symbol

an object, character, action, or idea represents more than its literal meaning.

Tone

the attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience.

Theme

the insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work.

Verisimilitude

the appearance of being true or real.