AP Literary Terms

Allegory

A story or poem in which characters, settings or events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities.

Alliteration

The repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together.

Allusion

A reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some other branch of culture.

Analogy

A comparison between two things that helps to explain or illustrate one or both of them.

Anaphora

Repetition of an initial word or words to add emphasis.

Antagonist

The opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist, in a story.

Anthropomorphism

The attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object.

Apostrophe

An absent person, an abstract concept, or an important object is directly addressed.

Assonance

The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds.

Consonance

The repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds on accented syllables or in important words.

Epithet

A descriptive word or phrase that is frequently used to characterize a person or thing.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration, or overstatement, for effect.

Imagery

The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience. (appeals to 5 senses)

Irony

In general, a discrepancy between appearances and reality.

Verbal Irony

Occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else.

Situational Irony

Takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what does happen.

Dramatic Irony

Involves a contrast between what a character knows and what the audience knows.

Litotes

Ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary (e.g., you won't be sorry, meaning you'll be glad).

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.

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which something is represented by another thing that is related to it. (e.g., “sword” for the military)

Mood

The overall emotion created by a work of literature.

Motif

A recurring object, concept, or structure in a work of literature.

Onomatopoeia

Use of words that refer to sound and whose pronunciations mimic those sounds.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect.

Parallelism

The repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures.

Paradox

A statement that appears self-contradictory that reveals a kind of truth

Personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human thoughts, feelings, or attitudes.

Point of View

The vantage point from which a writer tells a story. (e.g., first

Protagonist

The central character in a story; the one who initiates or drives the action.

Satire

A type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about change.

Simile

A figure of speech that compares two unlike things using like, as, than, or resembles.

Symbol

A person, place, thing or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something else.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which part of something is used to represent the whole. (e.g., “hired hands” for workers)

Theme

The insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work.

Tone

The attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience.

Vernacular

The language spoken by the people who live in a particular locality.