Barron's Terms - List Six

AP Terms List 6

myth

an imaginary story that has become an accepted part of the cultural or religious tradition of a group or society.

narrative

a form of verse or prose (both fiction and nonfiction) that tells a story. a storyteller may use any number of narrative devices, such as skipping back and forth in time, ordering events chronologically, and ordering events to lead up to a suspenseful climax. also see frame.

naturalism

a term often used as a synonym for realism; also a view of experience that is generally characterized as bleak and pessimistic.

non sequitur

a statement or idea that fails to follow logically from the one before.

objective

of or relating to facts and reality, as opposed to private and personal feeling and attitudes. its opposite is subjective.

ode

a lyric poem usually marked by serious, respectful, and exalted feeling toward the subject.

Old English

the Anglo-Saxon language spoken from approximately 450 to 1150 AD in what is now Great Britain.

omniscient narrator

a narrator with unlimited awareness, understanding, and insight of characters, setting background, and all other elements of the story.

onomatopoeia

the use of words whose sounds suggest their meaning. ex.) bubbling, murmuring brooks.

oxymoron

a term consisting of contradictory elements juxtaposed to create a paradoxical effect. ex.) loud silence, jumbo shrimp.

parable

a story consisting of events from which a moral or spiritual truth maybe derived.

paradox

a statement that seems self-contradictory but is nevertheless true.

parallel structure

the structure required for expressing two or more grammatical elements of equal rank. coordinate ideas, compared and contrasted ideas, and correlative constructions call for parallel construction. ex.) colleges favor applicants with good academic records, varied interests, and they should earn a high score on the AP exam. the underlined section lacks the same grammatical form as the italicized, to be correct, it should read high scores.

paraphrase

a version of a text put into simpler, everyday words or summarized for brevity.

parody

an imitation of a work meant to ridicule its style and subject.

pastoral

a work of literature dealing with rural life.

pathetic fallacy

faulty reasoning that inappropriately ascribes human feelings to nature or nonhuman objects.

pathos

that element in literature that stimulates pity or sorrow. also, the emotional appeal used to persuade an audience to accept a certain point of view or opinion.

pedantic

narrowly academic instead of broad and humane; excessively petty and meticulous.

periodic sentence

a sentence that departs from the usual word order of English sentences by expressing its main thought only at the end. in other words, the particulars in the sentence are presented before the idea they support. see also loose sentence.

persona

the role or facade that a character assumes or depicts to a reader or other audience.