AP Literature Essential Vocabulary

Allusion

A reference to a well known person, play, event, or work.

Ambiguity

When a word or idea has more than one meaning.

Contrast

Clear difference between two elements.

Diction

Word choice; specifically chosen to create an intended effect.

Figurative Language

Words/Phrases that aren’t meant to be taken literally.

Imagery

Descriptive language that appeals to the senses.

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality.

Juxtaposition

Placing two things side by side to highlight differences.

Mood

The emotional atmosphere of a text; how you, the audience feel while reading.

Motif

A recurring element that has symbolic significance.

Oxymoron

2 opposite words that are paired together.

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory but reveals a truth.

Symbolism

When one thing represents something else.

Syntax

Sentence structure and word order.

Theme

The central idea or message in a text.

Tone

The author’s attitude toward the subject or audience.

Antagonist

The force or character that opposes the protagonist.

Archetype

A universal symbol or character type.

Characterization

How the author develops characters.

Characterization (Direct)

The narrator tells you what a character is like.

Characterization (Indirect)

You learn about a character through actions, dialogue, and reactions.

Climax

The turning point of the story.

Conflict

The central struggle in a story.

Conflict (Internal)

When the struggle is inside a character, or with themselves.

Conflict (External)

When the struggle is between two outside forces.

Flashback

A scene set earlier than the main story, but it happens during the main story.

Foil

A character who contrasts another, highlighting specific traits.

Foreshadowing

Purposeful hints that suggest what will happen later in the story.

Frame Narrative

A story within a story.

In media res

Starting a story in the middle of the action.

Point of View (POV)

The perspective from which a story is told.

Protagonist

Main character.

Resolution/Denouement

The final outcome/wrap up; the conclusion of the story.

Unreliable Narrator

A narrator whose credibility is questionable.

Allegory

A story where characters and events represent deeper moral or political meanings.

Aside

A brief remark to the audience not heard by others, usually in a play/script.

Bildungsroman

A coming of age story.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Comedy

A lighter story with a happy ending.

Couplet

Two lines of verse, usually rhymed.

Dramatic Monologue

A poem where a character speaks to a silent listener.

Free Verse

Poetry without regular meter of rhyme.

Iambic Pentameter

A line with ten syllables in an unstressed-stressed pattern.

Prose

Regular written or spoken language; anything that is NOT poetry.

Satire

Using humor or irony to criticize.

Soliloquy

A speech where a character speaks thoughts aloud while alone.

Sonnet

A 14 line poem with a specific rhyme scheme.

Tragedy

A serious story where the main character faces downfall, often due to a personal flaw.

Verse

Writing with meter or rhythm, most often poetry.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds.

Anaphora

Repetition at the beginning of clauses.

Antithesis

Contrasting ideas in a balanced sentence.

Apostrophe

Addressing an absent or imaginary person/thing.

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds.

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds within words.

Epiphora

Repetition at the end of clauses.

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration.

Metaphor

A comparison saying one thing IS another.

Metonymy

Substituting something closely related for the actual.

Onomatopoeia

Words that imitate sounds.

Personification

Giving human qualities to non-human things.

Simile

A comparison using 'like' or 'as'.

Synecdoche

A part that represents the whole.

Understatement (Litotes)

Saying less than what you actually mean.

Commentary

Your analysis of evidence

Complexity

Acknowledging nuance, contradiction, or multiple meanings in a text

Evidence

The quote/idea from the text you’re analyzing

Line of Reasoning

The logical flow of your argument

Literary Argument

Making a claim about a text and supporting it with evidence

Narrator

The one who tells the story in prose

Shift

A change in tone, mood, or perspective

Speaker

The voice in a poem

Thesis

Your main claim or argument in an essay