AP LIT BOCAB

Alliteration

The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words (as “she sells sea shells”). The repetition can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, and/or supply a musical sound.

Allegory

a story with two levels of meaning. First, there's the surface of the story: the characters and plot and all the obvious meaning. Then there's the symbolic level, or the deeper meaning that all the surface meaning represents.

Ambiguity

The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.

Anecdote

a brief story about an interesting, amusing, or strange event. It is generally used in literature to either entertain or, more importantly, to make a point and reinforce the author’s purpose.

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines.

Anachronism

derived from the Greek word anachronous, which means “against time.” Therefore, an anachronism is an error of chronology or timeline in a literary piece.

Antithesis

literally means “opposite,” is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect, generally set up using some form of parallelism.

Antistrophe

The repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses. (Sometimes also referred to as epistrophe).

Aphorism

a statement of truth or opinion expressed in a concise and witty manner. The term is often applied to philosophical, moral, and literary principles.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. The effect may add familiarity or emotional intensity.

Archetype

 the term applied to an image, a descriptive detail, a plot pattern, or a character type that occurs frequently in literature, myth, religion, or folklore and is, therefore, believed to evoke profound emotion because it touches the unconscious memory and thus call into play illogical but strong responses.

Archetypal character

When a character comes to represent, or stand for, and idea or concept, that character becomes symbolic; some symbolic characters have become so common they are archetypal.

Archetypal setting

 A setting may become symbolic when it is, or comes to be, associated with abstractions such as emotions, ideologies, and beliefs. Over time, some settings have developed certain associations such that they almost universally symbolize particular concepts.

Assonance

takes place when two or more words, close to one another repeat the same vowel sound, but start with different consonant sounds.

Asyndeton

This is a stylistic device used in literature to intentionally eliminate conjunctions between the phrases, and in the sentence, yet maintain grammatical accuracy. (see the opposite term - polysyndeton)

Ballad

A popular narrative song passed down orally. Folk (or traditional) ballads are anonymous and recount tragic, comic, or heroic stories with emphasis on a central dramatic event, a tragedy, an adventure, or betrayal, revenge, or jealousy.

Blank verse

verse written in unrhymed, iambic pentameter. This 10-syllable line is the predominant rhythm of traditional English dramatic and epic poetry, as it is considered the closest to English speech patterns.

Bildungsroman

this genre of literature denotes the story of a single individual's growth and development within the context of a defined social order.

Cacophony

the opposite of euphony; a harsh, unpleasant combination of sound.

Catharsis

an emotional discharge through which one can achieve a state of moral or spiritual renewal, or achieve a state of liberation from anxiety and stress.

Chiasmus

Derived from the Greek letter Chi (X); grammatical structure of the first clause or phrase is reversed in the second, sometimes repeating the same words.

Conceit

a form of extended metaphor that often appears in poetry. Conceits develop complex comparisons that present images, concepts, and associations in surprising or paradoxical ways.

Colloquial / Colloquialism / Vernacular

refers to the usage of informal or everyday language in literature.

Consonance

the repetition of a consonant sound and is typically used to refer to the repetition of sounds at the end of the word, but also refers to repeated sounds in the middle of a word.

Couplet

two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme. Heroic couplet, additionally, is in iambic pentameter.

Deus Ex Machina

refers to the circumstance where an implausible concept or a divine character is introduced into a storyline, for the purpose of resolving its conflict and procuring an interesting outcome.

Denouement

the part of a work of literature during which all the problems or mysteries of the plot are unraveled or resolved.

Dichotomy

refers to a division or contrast between two things that are represented as being opposed or entirely different.

Epitaph

an inscription on a gravestone or a commemorative poem written as if it were for that purpose.

Epithet

an adjective or other descriptive phrase that is regularly used to characterize a person, place, or thing and is often characterized with a hyphen.

Epistolary Novel

a novel in which the narrative is carried forward by letters written by one or more of the characters.

Epiphany

allows a character to see things in a new light and is often directly related to a central conflict of the narrative.

Euphemism

may be used to adhere to standards of social or political correctness or to add humor or ironic understatement.

Euphony

Opposite of cacophony; pleasing sounds.Generally, the vowels, the semi-vowels, and the nasal consonants (e.g. l, m, n, r, y) are considered to be euphonious. 

Elegy

In traditional English poetry, it is often a melancholy poem that laments its subject’s death but ends in consolation.

Enjambment

The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation; the opposite of end-stopped.

Epic

A long narrative poem in which a heroic protagonist engages in an action of great mythic or historical significance.

Epigram

a short and witty statement, usually written in verse, that conveys a single thought or observation.

Foil

a secondary character who contrasts with the major character to enhance the importance of that major character.

Free verse

Nonmetrical, non-rhyming lines that closely follow the natural rhythms of speech.

Haiku

A Japanese verse form most often composed, in English versions, of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.

In Medias Res

means narrating a story from the middle after supposing that the audiences are aware of past events.

Irony

The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant. The difference between what appears to be and what actually is true

Juxtaposition

two or more ideas, places, characters, and their actions are placed side by side in a narrative or a poem, for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts.

Malapropism

an inappropriateness of speech resulting from the use of one word for another, which resembles it.

Meter

a generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry

Motif

a unified pattern of recurring objects or images used to emphasize a significant idea in large parts of or throughout a text. 

Ode

A formal, often ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and often celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea.

Persona

Literally, a mask. The term is widely used to refer to a “second self” created by an author and through whom the narrative is told.