AP English 12 Vocabulary Quarter 1, Vocabulary 2

These flashcards cover key literary terms and concepts from AP English 12 Vocabulary Quarter 1, Vocabulary 2.

Allegory

A story in which events, settings, characters, etc. stand for abstract or moral concepts.

Analogy

A comparison to show similarities between disparate ideas, issues, etc.

Anaphora

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

Antithesis

Contrasting ideas.

Aphorism

A witty or concise saying that expresses a truth or principle.

Apostrophe

A writer or speaker speaks directly to someone who is not present or is dead, or speaks to an inanimate object.

Canto

A subdivision of a long poem.

Conceit

An elaborate figure of speech making a surprising connection between dissimilar items.

Deus Ex Machina

A contrived device used to inexplicably resolve a plot point, unexpected resolution.

Elegy

A text, poem or narrative that laments or mourns a loss of someone or something.

Enjambment

The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.

Epigram

A clever, usually memorable statement, meaningful to the following text.

Epilogue

A section or speech at the end of a book or play that serves as a comment on or a conclusion to what has happened.

Epiphany

Sudden insight or awareness, often experienced by a character after a dramatic situation.

Epitaph

Commemorative poem, inscription for a deceased (dead) individual.

Epithet

A descriptive phrase or adjective used to characterize a person.

Farce

A narrative that stereotypes characters as ridiculous, includes far-fetched events.

In Media Res

Beginning a narrative in the middle.

Kenning

A type of Anglo-Saxon metaphor used to name a person, place, or thing directly.

Lament

A poem or song expressing grief.

Litote

Ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary.

Lyric

Emotional, music-like poetry or narrative.

Motif

Refers to a word, object, image, character, etc. that repeatedly occurs within a text.

Neoclassicism

A revival of classical standards and forms during the late 17th and 18th centuries.

Ode

Lyrical stanza, poem, text in praise of, or dedicated to, someone or something.

Onomatopoeia

The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech combining contradictory ideas or terms.

Parable

An allegorical, usually short, text that teaches a moral or religious lesson.

Parody

Imitation of music, literature, etc. for amusement or to make a point.

Pun

A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of words that sound alike but are different.

Realism

The attempt to depict people and things as they really are, without idealizations.

Refrain

A repetition of a phrase or series of phrases for emphasis.

Romance

A medieval verse narrative chronicling the adventures of brave knights or heroes.

Satire

Texts that criticize or ridicule human actions, weaknesses.

Stream of Consciousness

A narrative device that reflects the inner thoughts of the narrator.

Alliteration

A repetition of beginning consonant sounds.

Allusion

A Biblical, historical, literary, mythological, etc reference.

Antagonist

The character or issue that creates conflict for the protagonist.

Aside

Words spoken by a character to the audience, not to be overheard by other characters.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words.

Atmosphere

The mood or feeling in a literary work.

Autobiography

An individual’s account of his or her life.

Biography

An account of a person’s life as told by another writer.

Climax

The highest point of the plot arc, the height of emotion or drama.

Conflict

Internal or external struggles faced by characters in a narrative.

Connotations

Emotions, meanings, associations associated with a specific word.

Couplet

Two lines of verse that form a unit, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme.

Denotation

The definition of a term as determined by a dictionary.

Denouement

The resolution or conclusion of a narrative.

Dialect

Type of speaking characteristic to a specific region or environment.

Diction

Word choices made by an author.

Epic

A lengthy poem reflecting the values of a society through the hero’s actions.

Essay

A text reflecting the ideas, values, research, etc. of a writer.

Fable

A narrative that features animals to reflect a moral message.

Flashback

A portion of a text that flashes back to a previous event.

Foil

One character developed as a contrast to another to highlight specific characteristics.

Foreshadowing

Clues included in a text to hint at future events.

Irony

A discrepancy between the expected and the reality.

Novel

A long narrative, fictional, generally more than 50,000 words.

Paradox

Terms or ideas that appear contradictory but are actually both true.

Parallelism

Repetition of structure, phrases, words.

Personification

A figure of speech that gives human qualities to inhuman objects.

Plot

The development of a narrative, sequence of events over a period of time.

Point of view

Narrator’s perspective (1st, 2nd, 3rd – Limited, omniscient, subjective).

Protagonist

The main character in a text, generally involved in conflict.

Soliloquy

A long speech spoken by a character alone on the stage.

Suspense

The uncertainty or anxiety we feel about what is going to happen next in a story.

Symbol

A figure of speech where an object, person, or situation has another meaning other than its literal meaning.

Theme

The central topic a text treats.