ap lit midterm definitions

allegory

A narrative or description that has a second meaning beneath the surface, often relating each literal term to a fixed, corresponding abstract idea or moral principle; usually, the ulterior meanings belong to a pre-existing system of ideas or principles.

ex: fables, parables

alliteration

repetition at close intervals of the initial consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words

(for example, map-moon, kill-code, preach-approve).

allusion

A reference, explicit or implicit, to something in previous literature or history.

apostrophe

A figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and could reply.

blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

connotation

What a word suggests beyond its basic dictionary definition; a word's overtones of meaning.

couplet

Two successive lines, usually in the same meter, linked by rhyme.

denotation

The basic definition or dictionary meaning of a word.

elegy

poem written about someone who died

english sonnet

A sonnet rhyming ababcacdefefgg.

three coordinate quatrains and a concluding couplet

three coordinate quatrains and a concluding couplet

extended figure of speech

A figure of speech (usually metaphor, simile, personification, or apostrophe) sustained or developed through a considerable number of lines or through a whole poem.

figurative language

phrasing that goes beyond the literal meaning of words to get a message or point across.

iambic meter

A meter in which the majority of feet are iambs. The most common English meter.

-> When a line of verse is composed of two-syllable units that flow from unaccented beat to an accented beat,

imagery

The representation through language of sense experience.

irony

A situation or a use of language involving some kind of incongruity or discrepancy.

verbal irony

A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant.

dramatic irony

An incongruity or discrepancy between what a character says or thinks and what the reader knows to be true (or between what a character perceives and what the author intends the reader to perceive).

situational irony

situation in which there is an incongruity between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment, or between the actual situation and what would seem appropriate.

Italian sonnet

A sonnet consisting of an octave rhyming abbaabba and of a sestet using any arrangement of two or three additional rhymes, such as cdcdcd or cdecde.

metaphor

A figure of speech in which an implicit comparison is made between two things essentially unlike. It may take one of four forms:

(1) literal term and the figurative term are both named

2) literal term is named and the figurative term implied

3) literal term is implied and the figurative term named

4) both the literal and the figurative terms are implied.

meter

patterns of accent that underlie metrical verse; the measurable repetition of accented and unaccented syllables in poetry. (basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse)

metonymy

A figure of speech a significant aspect/ detail of an experience used to represent the whole experience.

uses a related word as a stand-in (e.g., calling the queen of England "the Crown"

octave

(1) an eight-line stanza. (2) the first eight lines of a sonnet, especially one structured in the manner of an Italian sonnet.

ode

celebration of someone

Onomatopoeia

The use of words that supposedly mimic their meaning in their sound (for example, boom, click, plop).

overstatement (hyperbole)

a figure of speech in which exaggeration is used in the service of truth

paradox

A statement or situation containing apparently contradictory or incompatible elements.

paradoxical situation

A situation containing apparently but not actually incompatible elements.

EX: The Christian doctrines that Christ was born of a virgin and is both God and man are, for a Christian believer, paradoxes (that is, apparently impossible but true).

paraphrase

A restatement of the content of a poem designed to make its prose meaning as clear as possible.

pentameter

A metrical line containing five feet.

personification

A figure of speech in which human attributes are given to an animal, an object, or a concept.

quatrain

(1) A four-line stanza. (2) A four-line division of a sonnet marked off by its rhyme scheme.

refrain

A repeated word, phrase, line, repeated within the lines or stanzas of the poem itself.

rhetorical pause (caesura)

natural pause, unmarked by punctuation, introduced into the reading of a line by its phrasing or syntax.

rhyme scheme

Any fixed pattern of rhymes characterizing a whole poem or its stanzas.

sarcasm

Biter or cutting speech; speech intended by its speaker to give pain to the person addressed.

satire

A kind of literature that ridicules human folly or vice with the purpose of bringing about reform or of keeping others from falling into similar folly or vice.

sestet

1) A six-line stanza.

2) The last six lines of a sonnet structuredon the Italian model.

simile

A figure of speech in which an explicit comparison is made between two things essentially unlike. The comparison is made explicit by the use of some such word or phrase as like, as, than, similar to, resembles, or seems.

sonnet

A fixed form of fourteen lines, normally iambic pentameter, with a rhyme scheme conforming to or approximating one of two main types

stanza

A group of lines whose metrical pattern (or rhyme scheme) is repeated throughout a poem.

symbol

Something that means more than what it is; an object, person, situation, or action that in addition to its literal meaning suggests other meanings as well.

synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole.

ex: I can't wait to get back out on the waves.

meaning: I can't wait to get back out on the ocean.

uses a specific component or part of its stand-in (e.g., calling a car "a set of wheels"

theme

The central idea or unifying generalization implied or stated by a literary work.

tone

speaker's attitude toward the subject, audience, himself; the emotional meaning of a work.

understatement

A figure of speech that consists of saying less than one means, or of saying what one means with less force than the occasion warrants.

villanelle

nineteen-line poem form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain

figure of speech

saying something other than the ordinary way; a way of saying one thing and meaning another.

atmosphere (mood)

The emotional aura invoked by a work,

conflict

The opposition between two characters; large groups of people; protagonists and larger forces such as natural objects, ideas, modes of behavior, public opinion; internal and psychological, the essence of plot

cosmic irony

Situational irony that is connected to a pessimistic or fatalistic view of life

outcome of a character's actions seem to be controlled by fate, the universe, or the gods.

double entendre

Deliberate ambiguity (being open to more than one interpretation), often sexual and usually humorous

dramatic POV

A third-person narration reporting speech and action (facts), but excluding commentary

dynamic character

A character who undergoes adaptation, change, or growth, unlike the static character, who remains constant.

epic

A long narrative poem elevating character, speech, and action.

first person POV

The use of an "I," or first-person, speaker or narrator who tells about things that he/she has seen, done, spoken, heard, thought, and also learned about in other ways,

flashback

A method of narration in which past events are introduced into a present action,

flat character

A character, usually minor, one-dimensional who isn't layered or deep- has one or two traits that make up their whole personality.

static character

A character who undergoes no change

hero/heroine

The major male and female protagonists in a narrative or drama. The terms are often used to describe leading characters in adventures and romances,

limited pov

A third-person narration in which the actions and thoughts of the protagonist are the focus of attention,

plot

The plan or groundwork for a story or a play, with the actions resulting from believable and authentic human responses to a conflict.

-> has causation, conflict, response, opposition, and interaction

second person POV

A narration in which ("you") are the protagonist

setting

The natural, manufactured, and cultural environment in which characters live and move, including all the artifacts they use in their lives,

speaker

The narrator of a story the point of view, often an independent character who is completely imagined and consistently maintained by the author.

- narrating the essential events of the work, introduce other aspects of his or her knowledge and may interject judgments and opinions

stereotype

A character who is so ordinary and unoriginal that he or she seems to have been cast in a mold; a representative character,

stock character

A flat character in a standard role with standard traits, such as the irate police captain, the bored hotel clerk, the sadistic criminal, etc.; a stereotype,

third person POV

method of narration (i.e., she, he, it, they, them, etc.), in which the speaker or narrator is not a part of the story

exposition

At the rise of the curtain, there is establishment of background "to set the stage" for following action.

1. Identification of characters

2. Relationship to each other

3. Character motivation

4. Reveal the past

5. Establishment environment and atmosphere

discovery

Device employed by the playwright to provide a consistent and necessary stream of information. Recognition of the truth.

ex:

1. Character motivation

2. Goals of the characters

3. Relationships

4. Emotions

inciting force/ point of attack

The first complication triggers the course of action. set in motion a chain of events which makes up the main action.

foreshadowing

Clues are carefully inserted in the early part of the drama.

1. Preparation of audience for future developments; thus, future developments are credible.

2. Creates and builds suspense and tension.

3. Creates atmosphere.

4. Builds to an entrance.

-> so that no turn of events will seem extraneous or incredible."

complication

Any new force introduced into a play which affects the direction of the course of action.

1. Point of attack is the first

2. "building blocks" of the play's construction.

3. Intensifies emotions as tension is increased.

4. "accelerate and increase the action until the play reaches its highest point."

climax

Culmination of a course of action

1. Moment of strain, tension, and maximum emotion.

2. The action of the play moves upward and forward with mounting tension attained through minor ones

3. Each small one intensifies emotion

denouement

The end of the play; the point from the major climax to the curtain.

1. Time of solution - "the unraveling of the discoveries."

2. Final placement of characters.

3. Restoration of order.

4. Completion of action.

5. Providing of ending that is the direct result of prior action.

crisis

"A time of decision, a turning point, a crossroads."

1. Character is faced with alternate courses of action which will determine his fate.

2. Sometimes a character makes a decision; sometimes it is forced upon him.

3. May lead to good fortune or catastrophe.

4. determines the ultimate outcome of the action.

protagonist

chief character

antagonist

primary opponent of protagonist

soliloquy

speech in which a dramatic character utters his or her thoughts aloud - a convention especially of (Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre)

aside

convention of theatre from ancient times to the present - remark by a character uttered in an undertone (stage whisper) which the audience hears but others on stage do not

anachronism

"out of timeness" - person or thing included from a different time period

tragic hero

basically good character who falls as a result of an error in judgment (tragic flaw)

tragic flaw

something wrong with tragic hero anyone could have leads to downfall

error in judgement

mistake made based on tragic flaw

hubris

overweening pride, arrogance that often leads to a tragic hero's downfall-traditionally 'setting oneself equal to the gods'

catharsis

feeling of unburdening an emotion, personal resolution (part of tragic effect), purged of emotion, something that makes up for sad emotions (ex: lose job and friend dies, but win lottery)

reversal of fortune

tragic hero consequence

apposotive

a phrase positioned next to a word (a noun or pronoun) that supplies defining details about the word-synonym for noun or pronoun begins (Invisible Man,[ a book by Ralph Ellison, ]is intriguing.)

participial phrase

(functions as adj.) - a group of words beginning with a present (-ing) or past (-ed or irregular) participle that modifies a noun or pronoun ([Intriguing in its complexity,] Invisible Man is a great work of literature.)

relative clause

a group of words with a subject and verb beginning with a relative pronoun (who, whose, who, which, that: the entire clause modifies a noun or pronoun in the main clause. (Invisible Man, [which was written by Ralph Ellison, ]is intriguing.)

simple sentence

one independent (main) clause that makes sense (The gardener picked a rose.)

compound sentence

more than one independent clause linked with a coordinating conjunction or a semi-colon (;) (Many critics view Invisible Man as a great work of American literature, but others do not see its merit.)

complex sentence

one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses linked with subordinating conjunctions) (after, although, as far as, as if, as long as, as though, because, before, even though, however, if, in order that, provided that, since, so that, than, that, though, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, whether, while - some of the more popular conjunctions) (The mother wept when the children suffered. (adverb clause)) (The students who did not prepare their work became restless.(adj. cl.)) (Whatever you say will be forgotten. (noun clause))

compound complex sentence

two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clause linked with subordinating and coordinating conjunctions (Whatever you say will be forgotten, and you will be forgotten before you know what has happened.)

parallelism

Single parts of speech, phrases or clauses may be repeated for effect.

cumulative (loose) sentence

grammatically complete before the period

periodic sentence

grammatically complete only at the end. (When conquering love did first my heart assail,) [Unto mine aid I summoned every sense.]

balanced statement

is a sentence with two parts balanced on either side of a semicolon.

3rd person omniscent Pov

the narrator's knowledge is limitless, full access to the thoughts and feelings of all characters