AP Lit Vocab 1,2,3,4

accent

Definition: a distinct emphasis given to a syllable or word in speech by stress or pitch

Example: The accent falls on the middle syllable

aesthetic

Definition: concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty

Example: the pictures give great aesthetic pleasure

antihero

Definition: a central character in a story, movie or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes

Example: John Wick

atmosphere (literary)

Definition: the pervading tone or mood of a place, situation, or work of art

Example: the hotel is famous for its friendly, welcoming atmosphere

caricature

Definition: a picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect

Example: There were a lot of caricatures of Lincoln during the Civil War

conceit

Definition: a fanciful expression in writing or speech; an elaborate metaphor; excessive pride in oneself

Example:  The idea of the wind’s singing is a prime romantic conceitdo

doggerel

Definition: a comic verse composed in irregular rhythm 

Example: Thopas was a doughty swain, White was his face as paindemain, His lippes red as roseelegy

elegy

Definition: a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead

Example: "O Captain, My Captain" by Walt Whitman

enjambment

Definition: the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza

Example: he uses enjambment less than many poets

parable

Definition: a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels

Example: The parable of the blind men and the elephant

pastoral

Definition: a work of literature portraying an idealized version of country life

Example: The story, though a pastoral, has an actual connection with the life of agricultural labor

Anachronism

a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, especially a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned

Reading a story about a caveman who microwaves his dinner.

Assonance

the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds, especially in words that are together.

His tender heir might bear his memory (the “eh” sound)

Burlesque

an absurd or comically exaggerated imitation of something, especially in a literary or dramatic work; a parody.

Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock and Samuel Butler's Hudibras.

Dirge

a lament for the dead, especially one forming part of a funeral rite

It was a funeral dirge over the whole of his party's philosophy and program.

Feminine Rhyme

a rhyme between stressed syllables followed by one or more unstressed syllables

stocking / shocking, glamorous / amorous

Interior Monologue

 a narrative technique that exhibits the thoughts, feelings, and associations passing through a character's mind

She felt very young; at the same time unspeakably aged

Metaphor

 a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things

without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles.

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Parallelism

the state of being parallel or of corresponding in some way.

I came, I saw, I conquered.

Persona

the aspect of someone's character that is presented to or perceived by others.

Example: A middle-aged author uses the persona of a teenager to tell a story set in a high school.

Stock Characters

a type of character in a narrative (e.g. a novel, play, television show, or film) whom audiences recognize across many narratives or as part of a storytelling tradition or convention.

Example: The sidekick or the mad scientist

Subjunctive Mood

used to express wishes, proposals, suggestions, imagined situations, or statements contrary to fact

Example: If I were in your place, I would not do it.

Tragic Flaw

a character trait that leads to or contributes to a character's tragic downfall

Example: Pride

allegory

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one

The book Animal Farm.

antecedent

a thing or event that existed before or logically precedes another

The Age of Enlightenment is the antecedent to the American Revolution

aphorism

A pithy observation that contains a general truth

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

archaism

a very old-fashioned thing

rotary phones

couplet

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

“I have wished a bird would fly away, and not sing by my house all day”

dramatic irony

when the audience knows something that the characters don’t

Romeo thought Juliet was dead, but the audience knows she is only pretending

euphony

the quality of being pleasing to the ear, especially through a harmonious combination of words

words like mist, mellow, sunlight, bless and vines

foreshadowing

be a warning or indication of a future event

her early interest in animals foreshadowed her later career as a veterinarian

gothic novel

an English genre of fiction popular in the 18th to early 19th centuries characterized by an atmosphere of mystery and horror and having a pseudomedieval setting

The Fall of the House of Usher

inversion

the action of inverting something or the state of being inverted

at no time were we aware of the schedule change

masculine rhyme

a rhyme of final stressed syllables

blow/flow , confess/distress

melodrama

a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions

her extreme reaction to the news would have landed her a role in a melodrama

rhetorical question

a question asked to create a dramatic effect or make a point rather than to get an answer

“If you prick us do we not bleed?”

theme

the subject of a talk, a piece of writing, a person’s thoughts, or an exhibition; a topic

the theme of the kids show was the treat others with kindness

utopia

an imagined place or state of things which everything is perfect

The garden of eden can be considered a utopia

Abstract

existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence

anticlimax

a disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events

ballad

a slow sentimental or romantic song/ a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas.

denotation

he literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests

epic

a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation

foot (poetry)

 a group of syllables constituting a metrical unit. In English poetry it consists of stressed and unstressed syllables, while in ancient classical poetry it consists of long and short syllables.

hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally

irony

the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect

nemesis

a long-standing rival

paradox

a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well-founded or true

personification

the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form

pun

a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings

simile

a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid

symbolism

the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities

travesty

a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something