AP LIT VOCAB

Aestheticism

Belief that art exists only for beauty no other purpose or need matters morality of arts is immaterial.

Assuage

To soothe/lessen

August

Respected/revered

Banal

Lacking originality/common place

Blandishment

Flattery intended to persuade

Cacophony

Combination of harsh/unpleasant sounds

Cadence

Rhythm or flow

Caprice

Whim; impulsive change of mind/action

Cursory

Superficial

Didactic

Intended to instruct/teach

Dowager

Elderly woman of high social standing, often a widow who holds property title

Egregarious

Conspicuously bad/offensive

Ennui

Listless/dissatisfaction caused by boredom/lack of activity

Incongruous

Not in harmony with surrounding

Paradox

1) 2 doctors

2) seemingly contradictory statement with a hint of truth to it

Tremulous

Shaking; quivering

Languid

Lacking physical/mental energy

Truculent

Aggressive; defiant

Précis

Summary

Petulant

Unreasonably irritated; ill tempered (childlike)

Penitence

Regret for wrongdoing

Condor

Honesty; openness

Hedonism

Philosophy/lifestyle that pleasure is all that matters

Listless

Without energy or enthusiasm

Sanguine

1. Cheerfully, confident, optimistic

2. The color of blood

3. Reddish/Ruddy in appearance

4. Having a passionate temperant

Aversion

Digust; hatred

Base

lack of decency; contemptible

Decadence

Moral of cultural decline

Denigrate

Defame; attack somebody’s character or reputation

Dissonance

Incongruity; a harsh or unpleasant combination of sounds

Epigram

A concise, clever, often paradoxical statement

Machination

Act of scheming/plotting

Poignant

Something that is profoundly moving or touching

Steadfast

Firm

Garrulous

Talkative

Obsequious

Submissive, flattering to gain favor (wormtail)

Caesura

Punctuation that forces the reader to stop and think about the emotion or thought being conveyed

Couplet

Pair of lines that end in rhyme (Summarizing the message of the poem)

Enjambment

The continuation of a poem with no stops. (Keeps the flow of the thought moving)

Free Verse

Poetry without a regular patten of meter, rhyme, or line length

Lyric

Emotional/Personal type of poetry that explores the poet’s personal interpretation of and feelings about the world.

Sonnet

A 14-line poem in iambi pentameter

• Shakesperean/Elizabethan: 3 quatrains and ends in couplet

• Italian/Petrarchan: does not end in couplet

Alliteration

Repetitive consonant sounds that are adjacent or near each other

Ambiguity

Author makes the point unclear

Apostrophe

Speaker talks directly to something non-human

Contrasts

Comparison of similar things

Diction

Author’s choice of words

Euphony

A pleasant, harmonious combination of sounds

Juxtapositon

Two things are placed side by side with contrasting effect

Narrative Structure

Slowing down/speeding up the pace in telling a story

Setting

Time and place of a work

Syntax

Author’s ordering and structuring of the words