Copy of AP Lit terms, student list

Satire

________: A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies.

Synesthesia

________: Writing that uses human senses to describe objects.

Polysyndeton

________: the use, for rhetorical effect, of more conjunctions than is necessary or natural.

Allegory

________: A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself.

Periodic structure

________: A sentence in which the main clause or predicate is withheld until the end.

Metonymy

________: A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it.

Litote

________: understatement by denying a negative.

Periphrasis

________: substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name or of a proper name for a quality associated with the name (wordy)

Malapropism

________: a word humorously misused by replacing with similar sounding words.

Rhythm

________ and Rhyme: A pattern that is created by using words that produce the same, or similar, sounds.

Synecdoche

________: Figure of speech where a part represents a whole or vice versa.

Pathetic fallacy

________: The attribution of human emotions or characteristics to inanimate objects or to nature.

Verisimilitude

________: the appearance of being true or real.

Hubris

________: excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy.

Caesura

________: A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.

Asyndeton

________: the omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence.

Inversion

________: inverted order of words in a sentence.

Anastrophe

________: Inversion of the natural or usual word order.

Negative capability

________: accepting uncertainty and the unresolved.

Idiom

________: A common, often used expression that doesn't make sense if you take it literally.

Stanza

________: a group of lines in a poem.

Motif

________: a principal idea, feature, theme, or element.

Hyperbaton

________: reversal of normal word order.

Assonance

________: Repetition of vowel sounds.

Tragedy

________: a story where things are tragic for the main character.

Anthropomorphism

________: the attribution of human characteristics to animals or inanimate objects.

Cacophony

________: a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.

Spoonerism

________: An accidental but humorous distortion of words in a phrase formed by interchanging the initial sounds.

Verse

________: a single line of poetry.

Chiasmus

________: a reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases.

Consonance

________: repetition of ________ sounds.

Faulty parallelism

________: Lack of balance in grammatical forms.

Deus ex machina

________: an unexpected event saving a seemingly hopeless situation.

Ekphrastic

________: a poem in response to visual works of art.

Authorial intrusion

________: Discussions directed to the reader and constituting a substantial break in the narrative illusion of reality.

Stream of Consciousness

________: writing where you can can see the inner workings of the characters mind.

Rhyme scheme

________: the pattern of rhyme in a poem.

Internal rhyme

________: a rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another at the end of the line or in the middle of the next.

Allegory

A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself

Anastrophe

Inversion of the natural or usual word order

Anthropomorphism

the attribution of human characteristics to animals or inanimate objects

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds

Asyndeton

the omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence

Authorial intrusion

Discussions directed to the reader and constituting a substantial break in the narrative illusion of reality

Bildungstrom

a coming of age story

Cacophony

a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds

Caesura

A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line

Chiasmus

a reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases

Consonance

repetition of consonant sounds

Deus ex machina

an unexpected event saving a seemingly hopeless situation

Ekphrastic

a poem in response to visual works of art

Euphony

pleasing to the ear

Faulty parallelism

Lack of balance in grammatical forms

Hubris

excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy

Hyperbaton

reversal of normal word order

Idiom

A common, often used expression that doesn't make sense if you take it literally

Internal rhyme

a rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another at the end of the line or in the middle of the next

Inversion

inverted order of words in a sentence

Kenning

metaphorical phrases or compound words used to name a person, place, things or event indirectly

Litote

understatement by denying a negative

Malapropism

a word humorously misused by replacing with similar sounding words

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it

Motif

a principal idea, feature, theme, or element

Negative capability

accepting uncertainty and the unresolved

Pathetic fallacy

The attribution of human emotions or characteristics to inanimate objects or to nature

Periodic structure

A sentence in which the main clause or predicate is withheld until the end

Periphrasis

substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name or of a proper name for a quality associated with the name (wordy)

Polysyndeton

the use, for rhetorical effect, of more conjunctions than is necessary or natural

Rhyme scheme

the pattern of rhyme in a poem

Rhythm and Rhyme

A pattern that is created by using words that produce the same, or similar, sounds

Satire

A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies

Spoonerism

An accidental but humorous distortion of words in a phrase formed by interchanging the initial sounds

Stanza

a group of lines in a poem

Stream of Consciousness

writing where you can can see the inner workings of the characters mind

Synecdoche

Figure of speech where a part represents a whole or vice versa

Synesthesia

Writing that uses human senses to describe objects

Syntax

the structure of a sentence

Tragedy

a story where things are tragic for the main character

The Iliad

Homer

Verisimilitude

the appearance of being true or real

Verse

a single line of poetry