AP Literature Vocab PT.2

Antagonist

Characters or forces that oppose or create conflicts for the protagonists. They act as obstacles to hinder the protagonist's progress

Aside

a dramatic device where a character speaks directly to the audience or to themselves, revealing private thoughts or feelings that are not heard by other characters in the story

Bildungsroman

a story focusing on a protagonist's psychological and moral growth from childhood into adulthood

Caricature

a character whose personality, physical features, or both are exaggerated and simplified to highlight specific traits, often for satirical or humorous effect

Comic Relief

when the comedy takes place in a story that's dramatic, tragic, or serious overall, not comedies

Denouement

the final part of a story after the climax, where conflicts are resolved, loose ends are tied up, and the plot strands are drawn together, providing closure for the characters and the audience

Dialect

the distinct language form used by a specific social or regional group, characterized by unique vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, often conveyed through nonstandard spelling or phrasing

Dystopia

an imagined society characterized by extreme suffering, oppression, and a bleak, dehumanized existence for its inhabitants, often as a result of unchecked technological, political, or environmental forces

Flashback

a narrative device that presents a scene or event from the past to interrupt the chronological flow of a story, providing background information, revealing character motivations, or developing themes

Flat Character

a literary device for a two-dimensional, uncomplicated character defined by a single trait or a limited number of characteristics

Round Character

a literary character defined by their depth, complexity, and realistic qualities

Foil

a character (or even an object or setting) that contrasts with another character, typically the protagonist, to highlight specific traits of that other character

Foreshadowing

a literary device in which an author provides hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in the story, creating suspense and building tension

Frame Story

a literary device where a primary story serves as a framework or background for one or more subordinate, inner stories

Hyperbole

a figure of speech involving deliberate and obvious exaggeration for emphasis or effect, not meant to be taken literally

Interior Monologue

a literary technique where a character's inner thoughts, feelings, and reflections are presented directly to the reader, mimicking the natural flow of consciousness without an external narrator's filter

In Medias Res

a narrative that begins in the middle of the action, rather than at the beginning

Invocation of the Muse

a formal appeal, usually at the beginning of an epic poem, where the poet asks a muse or divine entity for inspiration, guidance, and assistance in telling the story

Local Color

the specific, often picturesque, characteristics of a particular place, its people, and their culture, including their dialect, customs, traditions, and environment, depicted to create a vivid sense of place and authenticity

Metaphor

a literary device and figure of speech that makes a non-literal, implicit comparison between two fundamentally unlike things by stating or implying that one thing is the other

Monologue

an extended speech delivered by a single character, serving to reveal their thoughts, feelings, and motivations to other characters, the audience, or themselves

Personification

a literary device that attributes human characteristics, actions, or emotions to non-human things, such as inanimate objects, animals, or abstract concepts

Rhythm

the patterned recurrence of sound in verse, created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables, which gives a poem its beat or "measured motion"

Simile

a literary device that makes a direct comparison between two dissimilar things to create a more vivid and engaging description, always using the words "like" or "as"

Soliloquy

a dramatic speech where a character expresses their private thoughts and feelings aloud, typically while alone on stage or with other characters remaining silent