AP English Literature and Composition List Terms

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Closed Form Poetry

Closed Form Poetry

Follows a pattern or set of rules

Open Form Poetry

Follows no rules but the poet’s own

Enjambment

Continuation of one line of a poem to another without pause

End-stopped line

the opposite of enjambment, when there is a period or natural break at the end of a line

Hyperbole

extreme exaggeration for purpose of description (“I have been waiting for you for an eternity.”)

Explicit

Something said or written directly or clearly

Implicit

Suggesting/implying

Synecdoche

using a part to substitute for the whole (“all hands on desk”)

Metonymy

referring to something not by its name but by something clearly related (“The white house has no comment”)

Antithesis

Juxtaposition of two opposites (“to err is human; to forgive is divine.”)

Chiasmus

When two clauses are balanced against each other with their structures inverted (“never let a fool kiss you, or a kiss fool you.”)

Anaphora

repetition of word/phrases at the beginning of sentences or clauses

Epistrophe

repetition of words/phases at end of structures or clauses

Apostrophe

an address to someone not present or to a personified idea (“curse, you public education system!”)

Stanza

unit of poetry whose form is repeated throughout a poem

couplet

pair of rhymed lines

tercet

three lines

quatrain

four lines

quintain/quintet

five lines

sestet

six lines

septet

seven lines

octave

eight lines

sonnet

14 line, iambic pantameter poem

volta

change in thought in a sonnet (a new realization/perspective), usually indicated by “but” or “yet”

Shakespearean sonnet

3 quatrains terminated by a rhyming couplet.

• first quatrain: introduces a question/idea

• second/third quatrain: develop the question further

• couplet: answers the question

• volta (“turn”) before final couplet

Petrarchan sonnet

octave/sestet, with a volta between octave/sestet. Typically features high praise/scorn or extended metaphor

Simile

comparison using like or as

Metaphor

comparison in which you call one thing something it is not

imagery

fig. language appealing to the reader’s five senses

Mood

emotional response that the writer wishes to evoke in a reader through a story

Tone

Write’s attitude toward subject matter/audience of a literary work

Indirect characterization

process of describing character through that character’s thoughts, actions, speech, and dialogue

Direct characterization

Explicit characterization, consists of author telling audience what a character is like

Static/flat character

character who stays mostly the same throughout a narrative (typically are minor characters)

Dynamic/round character

character who changes throughout a narrative

Aphorism

Short saying of truth/wisdom (“if the shoe fits, wear it)

Polemic

A short, passionate arguement or attack against someone/something

Allusion

reference to another work or famous figure

Foreshadowing

an event/statement that suggests on a smale scale a larger event that comes later

Perspective

how the narrator percieves the story (affected by identity, life experiences)

Point of View

position from which a narrator tells the story; must have a number (1st, 2nd, 3rd)

Personification

Giving inanimate object/natural phenomenon human qualities

Anthropomorphism

Giving non human things literal human traits/behaviors

Zoomorphism

Giving humans animal like traits/behaviors (ex spiderman)

Archetypes

Standard/clichéd character roles such as the mentor, the hero, campanion, etc

Tropes

Standard/clichéd characters, personal ties of specific cultures such as class clown (requires a class) or nerd (requires dumb jocks)

Incongruity

Something noticeably out of place - can be comical

Double Entendre

Double meanings, when one is indecent or risque

Ambiguity

Open to multiple (often opposing ) interpretations

Euphenism

A mild, polite word in place of a harsher word

Zeugma

Used primarily in classical poetry when verb is used only one time but means two different objects (ex. she broke his car and his heart)

Sound devices

techniques of deploying sound of words, including rhyme, alliteration, assonance, consonance, and onomatopoeia.

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds within words

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds within words

Internal rhyme

When words in middle of lines of poetry rhyme (not only at end of lines) ex. while I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping

Near or slant rhyme

When words are similar looking/sounding but not true rhymes ex. bait/paid, swarm/worm

Elision

Replacing a syllable or a sound in line of poetry with an apostrophe (or dropping it altogether) to help the words fit the rhythm of the poem (“o’er”, “ere”, “t’ward)

Euphony

Style in which combinations of words are pleasant to the ear. Opposite of cacophony.

Cacophony

Style in which combinations of words are harsh/jarring to the ear

Elegy

A lyric poem that reflects on someone’s death

Conceit

Fanciful expression comparing unlikely objects (simile/metaphor); shakespeare mocks the use of those in Sonnet 130

Blazon

Poetic mode wherein speaker uses conceits and hyperbole to describe the parts of his/her lover’s body.

Caesura

Pause within a line of verse that interrupts the flow of speech. Features predominantly in verses of John Donne.

Epigram

Short poem infused with wit. Could be written to patrons/passed around in literary circles. Renaissance poets.

Metaphysical

Poem/poet that utilises strong conceit/metaphor to elaborate upon a central emotion or non-physical idea. Prime example of style of John Donne.

Canto

Section division in a long work of poetry (like a chapter of a novel)

Low comedy

physical

High comedy

intellectual

Comedy of morals

high comedy that covers moral dilemmas

Situational Comedy (Comedy of Intrigues)

Characters put through a series of plot twists

Comedy of Ideas

High comedy where differing ideas are represented through different personalities (typically a clash)

Slapstick

Low comedy dependent on physical humor (falls, crashes)

Farce

Suspended reality - bizarre situations/people that are humorous (can be both high/low comedy)

Satire

Things, ideas, and situations are criticized in a cynical tone (high comedy)

Black comedy (dark humor)

Making light of serious situations (high comedy)

Parody

Humorous imitation (can be both low or high comedy)

Induction

An explanatory scene offering critical information to understand a “play within a play”