Studied by 8 people
Abstract (Style)
Intangible qualities, ideas, and concepts
Academic (style)
Presents and evaluates issues and arrives at an objective position
Dry theoretical writing
Accent
A stress or emphasis on a particular part of something, usually a word
Aesthetic(s)
Appealing to the (5) senses
Allegory
Story in which each aspect of the story has symbolic meaning
There is a hidden meaning!!!!
Alliteration
Repetition of initial consonant sounds
Allusion
Reference to another work or famous figure
Analogy
A comparison
Ancedote
A short narrative, personal story
Antecedent
The word, phrase, or clause that a pronoun refers to or replaces
ex. Tammy asked Riley when he has work (‘he’ is the pronoun and Riley is the antecedent)
Anthropomorphism
When inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena are given human characteristics, behavior, or motivation (not personification which takes up human shapes)
Anticlimax
Occurs when an action produces far smaller results than one had been led to expect
Antihero
The protagonist who is markedly unheroic, does not have the typical qualities of a hero
ex. riley haha
Aphorism
A short and witty saying
ex. grass is greener on the other side
Apostrophe
An address to someone not present or to a personified object or idea
Archaism
Use of deliberately old-fashioned language
Aside
A speech made by an actor to the audience
Assonance
The repeated use of vowel sounds
Atmosphere
The emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene
Ballad
A long, narrative poem, usually in a very regular meter and rhyme
Black Humor
The use of disturbing themes in comedy
ex. joking about death, sensitive topics, etc
Bombast
A pretentious, exaggeratedly learned language
ex. “that was indeed a spectacle to lay my eyes on” vs “that was super cool to watch”
Burlesque
A broad parody, one that takes a style or a form such as tragic drama and exaggerates it into ridiculousness (basically a parody)
ex. think snl skit
Cacophony
Using deliberately harsh, awkward sounds
ex. krrrrrrt
Cadence
The beat or rhythm of poetry in a general sense
Canto
The name for a section division in a long work of poetry
ex. like chapters in a novel
Caricature
A portrait that exaggerates a facet of personality
ex. when riley got that super duper defined chin on winter formal
Catharsis
Refers to the ‘cleansing’ of emotion an audience member experiences having lived through the experiences presented on stage
Chorus
Often a group of citizens who stand outside the main action on stage and comments on it
Colloquialism
Word or phrase used in everyday conversational English that isn’t a part of accepted ‘schoolbook’ English
ex. I’m pooped!!! or That’s wicked
Conceit
Startling or unusual metaphor, or one developed and expanded upon over several lines
Connotation
What a word or phrase is suggesting or implying, opposite to denotation
Consonance
Repetition of consonant sounds within words (not at the beginning like alliteration)
Couplet
A pair of lines that end in rhyme
ex. Nhi has a shopping addiction, she does it without restriction :(
Decorum
A characters speech should be styled according to her social station and with the occasion
ex. because Joe Biden is president he will talk about America
Denotation
A word’s literal meaning
Diction
The authors choice of words (why did they chose that??!!!)
Dirge
A song for the dead, typically slow song
Dissonance
The grating of incompatible sounds
Doggerel
Crude, simplistic verse, often in sing-song rhyme
ex. limericks!
Dramatic Irony
When the audience knows something that the characters in the drama do not
ex. when nate was sleeping with cassie but maddy didn’t know
Dramatic Monologue
When a single speaker in literature says something to a silent audience
Elegy
A type of poem that meditates on death or mortality in a serious, thoughtful manner
ex. salva randomly
Enjambent
the continuation of a syntactic unity from one line or couplet of a poem to the next with no pause
Epic
A super long narrative poem on a serious theme and in a dignified style, typically has a profound subject matter
ex. the odyssey where he spends like trillions of years getting back to his wife awwww and kills a bunch of people
Epitaph
Lines that commemorate the dead at their burial place (can be serious or witty)
Euphemism
A word or phrase that takes the place of a harsh, unpleasant, or impolite reality
ex. saying ‘passed away’ instead of ‘died’
Euphony
When sounds blend harmioniously
Farce
Extremely broad humor (used to refer to just something funny)
Feminine Rhyme
Lines that rhymed by their final two syllables (typically the first syllable is stressed and the final syllable is unstressed)
ex. running, gunning
Foil
A secondary character whose purpose is to highlight the characteristics of a main character
ex. a independent, confident main character will often have a quiet or weak friend
Foot
The basic rhythmic unit of line of poetry
Foreshadowing
An event or statement in a narrative that suggests a larger event that comes later
Free verse
Poetry written without a regular rhyme or metrical pattern
Gothic Novel
Aptmoshere of mystery and horror
ex. nevermore! nevermore!
Hubris
Excessive pride that leads to downfall
ex. classic greek myths lol
Hyperbole
Exaggeration or deliberate overstatement
ex. Naomi is the best driver I have ever seen in my life
Interior monologue
Writing the records the mental talking that goes on inside a character’s head
It tends to be more coherent than a ‘stream of consciousness’, almost like they are actually speaking rather than thinking
Inversion
Switching the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase
ex. ‘Brandon needs to get headphones that don’t need wires’ vs ‘Headphones don’t need wires, Brandon needs to get’
Irony
Comes in various forms, but a main definition is a statement that means the opposite of what it means (irony insinuates)
Lampoon
A satire
Lyric
A type of poetry that explores the poet’s personal interpretation of and feelings about the world
Masculine Rhyme
A rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable
Melodrama
Cheesy theater that has clear boundaries of role, hero is super heroic, villian is super evil (basically sterotypes)
ex. think rom coms, single white lady who is giving up on romance meets white buff lumberjack with an aussie accent in the countryside who makes her fall in love with love
Metaphor
comparison or analogy that states one thing is another
Metonym
A word that is used to stand for something else that it has attributes of or is associated with
ex. saying dish instead of a full plate
Nemesis
The protagonists archenemy
ex. nhi
Objectivity
Impersonal or outside view of events
Onomatopoeia
Words that sound like what they mean
ex. SPLAT!!
Oxymoron
A phrase composed of opposites
ex. jumbo shrimp
Parable
A story that instructs (like a fable)
Paradox
A situation or statement that seems to contradict itself but on closer inspection does not
Parallelism
Repeated syntactical similarities used for effect
Parody
A work that makes fun of another work by exaggeration many of it’s qualities
Pastoral
A poem set in tranquil nature
Pathos
Sad
Persona
The narrator in a non-first person novel. In a third person novel this is the author and their persona
Personaification
Giving an inanimate object object human qualities or form
Plaint
A poem or speech expressing sorrow
Protagonist
The main character of a novel or play
ex. me
Pun
The usually humorous use of a word in such a way to suggest two or more meanings
Refrain
A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem
Requiem
A song of prayer for the dead
Rhapsody
An intense passionate verse, usually of love or praise
ex. me when i talk about naomi
Rhetorical Question
A question that suggests an answer
Satire
Exposes common character flaws through humor, irony, exaggeration
Simile
Comparison using like or as
Soliloquy
A speech spoken alone by a character alone on stage
Supposed to make the audience think they are listening to the characters thoughts
Stanza
Group of lines in verse
Stock Characters
Standard or cliched character types
ex. gay best friend, token black friend
Subjectivity
Interior or personal view of a singer observer
Subjunctive mood
A verb form used to refer to a hypothetical scenario or to express a wish, suggestion, or command
ex. "‘If I were you, I’d be Tammy’s bff’ (‘if’ creates a hypothetical senario)
Summary
A simple retelling of what you’d just read
ex. a bunch of AP lit terms
Symbolism
A device in literature where an object represents an idea
ex. Skull = death
Theme
The main idea of the overall work
ex. the theme of these flashcards is to win ap lit
Tragic Flaw
Typically in a tragedy, a weakness of a character (usually a hero) that ultimately leads to demise :(
Travesty
A grotesque parody
Truism
A way-too-obvious truth
ex. i am a senior
Utopia
An idealized place
ex. brandons house
Zeugma
The use of a word to modify two or more words but used for different meanings
ex. He closed the door and his heart on his love (sad!)
Note 
Flashcard (53)