AP Lit: Literary Terms

Allusion

A reference to a canonical work of literature, usually the Bible, Shakespeare, or mythology

Alliteration

The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of several words

Ambiguity

When an author leaves out details/information or is unclear about an event so the reader will use their imagination to fill in the blanks

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines or phrases

Anecdote

A short story or joke told at the beginning of a speech to gain the audience’s attention and illustrate an intended moral

Antagonist

The protagonist’s adversary, not always “the bad guy or the villain” but typically so

Antithesis

Literally means “opposite” is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect

Apostrophe

When a character speaks to a character or object that is not present or is unable to respond. This can mean addressing inanimate objects or the natural world. Often involves use of exclamation “O!” Found in a majority of Romantic poetry and lyric poetry

Assonance

The repetition of the same vowel sound in a phrase or line of poetry

Asyndeton

The omission of conjoining conjunctions when not grammatically necessary for emphasis or to maintain meter

Bildungsroman

A novel of coming-of-age, formation, growth, change. The story follows a young protagonist as they grow and develop

Blank verse

Poetic lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter. An iamb is a metrical foot in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable. In iambic pentameter there are five iambs per line making ten syllables

Caesura

A brief pause in a line of poetry. This can be used by enjambment at the end of a line or punctuation anywhere in the line. Based on a poet’s understanding of breath and the natural rhythm of speech and language

Catharsis

Greek word translated as “a cleansing,” this is the emotional release of the audience by experiencing vicariously the suffering of the characters. First theorized by Aristotle in 335 BCE

Climax

The turning point in the plot or the high point of action

Colloquialism

Informal, conversational language. Can also be phrases or sayings that are indicative of a specific region

Connotation

An idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing, but not necessarily in the objective dictionary definition

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds in a phrase or line of poetry

Couplet

Two rhyming lines in poetry

Diction

Specific word choice or the use of words in speech or writing. Words are chosen to reflect and change the tone of the text, thus changing the intended response from the audience

Enjambment

The continuation of reading one line of a poem to the next with no pause, a run-on line.

Epigraph

The introductory quote at the beginning of a novel or play. Literally means “the writing before.” Often serves to introduce or supplement important themes in the work

Epiphany

Sudden enlightenment or realization, a profound new outlook or understanding about the world usually attained while doing everyday mundane activities

Epistrophe

The repetition of a word or phrase at the end of a sentence or clause to emphasize or create rhetorical rhythm “Where now? Who now? When now?”

Euphemism

The act of substituting a harsh, blunt, or offensive comment for a more politically accepted or positive one

Figurative language

Speech or writing that departs from literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect or meaning using “figures of speech.” This is an extremely broad term, encompassing almost all literary terms, such as imagery, metaphor, etc

Foil

A character that by contrast underscores or enhances the distinctive characteristics of another. Not necessarily the antagonist (Ron and Harry)

Free verse

Type of verse that contains a variety of line lengths, is unrhymed, and lacks traditional meter

Hyperbole

A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or comic/dramatic effect

Imagery

The use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas

Inversion

In poetry, it is an intentional digression from the ordinary word order, which is used to maintain regular meters (could manifest as passive voice)

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates on thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison; this comparison does not use like or as

Metonymy

The use of a word or phrase to stand in for something else which it is often associated (the Crown means the monarchy’s power and authority)

Motif

A dominant theme or central idea that occurs in the story. Can change throughout the story/chapters

Narrator

The teller of the story, the voice of a story

Onomatopoeia

The formation or use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to

Paradox

Statement which seems to contradict itself

Personification

A figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions are endowed with human qualities or are represented as possessing human form

Polysyndeton

The use of multiple conjoining conjunctions when not grammatically necessary for emphasis or to maintain meter (and again and again and again)

Prose

Ordinary speech or writing without metrical structure, written in paragraph form

Protagonist

The main character in a drama or literary work

Quatrain

A four-line stanza, or a grouping of four lines of verse

Repetition

The successive use of a word or phrase for emphasis or to create a specific sound in the reader’s mind. This is the broadest word possible for using similar words or sounds successively

Rhyme

The repetition of sounds in words

Rhyme scheme

The pattern of end rhyme in a poem. To analyze the scheme, you should assign letters to each end rhyme to demonstrate the rhyming lines in a poem

Satire

A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit; the goal is to change the behavior/issue

Simile

A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as

Sonnet

Traditionally, a poem of fourteen lines of rhyming iambic pentameter

Stanza forms

The names given to describe the number of lines in a stanzaic unit

Style

The combination of distinctive features of literary or artistic expression, execution, or performance characterizing a particular person, group, school, or era

Symbol

Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part is referred to by the whole or the whole refers to a part (check out my new wheels - wheels = car)

Syntax

The way in which linguistic elements are arranged to form grammatical structure

Tercet

A unit or group of three lines of verse which are rhymed together or have a rhyme scheme that interlaces with an adjoining tercet

Tone

Reflects how the author feels about the subject matter or the feeling the author wants to instill in the reader through the use of specific word choices