AP vocab by kyle

Aliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds.

Apostrophe

Rhetorical device in which speaker addresses dead/ imaginary person or object.

Couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry with same rhyme and meter (heroic couplet: in iambic pentameter)

Tercet

Three-lined stanza (terza rima refers to poetry comprimised of series of tercets).

end rhyme

Rhyming words that occur at ends of poetic lines.I

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme within a line, not just at end.

Enjambment

When words from one poetic line run into the next because of lack of punctuation at end of line.

Meter

Pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables in poetic line.

Free Verse

Verse with no rhyme or meter.

Blank Verse

Verse with no rhyme but with meter, usual jambic pentameter (Shakesphere).

Foot

The basic unite of meter consisting of a set group of stressed and unstressed syllables.

jamb

Metrical foot with one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed, like heartbeat (re-PORT).

Idyll

Simple descriptive work that presents peaceful rustic life of pastoral scenes.

Ode

Lyric poem using exalted emotions on specific subject.

Quatrain

Four-line stanza.

sonnet

Poem of 14 lines with fixed rhyme scheme (*Elizabethan, Petrachan or Spenserian).

Archetype

In art, a pattern, character, or idea that recurs and conveys a universal symbolic meaning.

Carciture

Exaggerated depiction of character or incident, often using distortion of parts of characteristics.

Dynamic/Round Character

A character whose personality changes or evolves through a work.

Static/Flat character

Simple character who does not change or evolve/develop during course of a narrative

Stock Character

Simple literary character who remains undeveloped; one who is a stereotype (i.e the sidekick)

Foil

Character that serves as contrast to highlight opposing traits in another character.

Bildungsroman

Novel that traces the moral, psychological and intellectual development of youthful protagonist.

Pastoral

A poem that draws on the natural world and rustic human society.

Satire

Writing which ridicules its subject to provoke or prevent social change.

Classical Age

Era of Ancient Greeks/Romans (-6th C BCE to 5th C CE), referring to art, architecture, and lit.

Medieval/Middle Ages

Period extending from end of the Wester Roman Empire (5th Century) until the Renaissance.

Renaissance.

Euro history starting rise of the modern world; cultural rebirth from 14th through mid 17th centuries.

Elizabethan Age

Period associated with reign of Elizabeth 1 of England (1558-1603): Part of the Renaissance.

humanism

Renaissance movement emphasizing importance of human/earthly existence & knowledge.

Enlightenment

18 C era that valued reason, progress, science, democracy; also called Age of Reason

Romanticism

Movement at late 18th C/early 19th C; interest in nature, emotion,/imagination; break from 18C

Gothic

Works with taste for medieval or morbid; 19C gothic novels explore horror, supernatural, violence.

Realism/Naturalism

19C movement advocating the literal, objective portrayal of reality.

Modernism

First half of 20 C; deliberate break from tradition in favor of innovations in aart, music, dance, and lit.

Lost Generation

Post-WW I generation of American writers haunted by betrayal and emptiness after war.

Surrealism

Early 20thC movement; explores subconscious mind; characterized by unreal/dreamlike imagery.

Harlem Renaissance

Era (1920s-1930s) When African American literature, art & music flourished in New York City.

Existentialism

20C philosophy concerned with perception of human existence; believe the individual is alone in a godless and meaningless universe Nevertheless, individuals can create their own meaning.

Theater of the Absurd

Drama that emphasizes absurdity of existence by employing disjointed, repetitious, and meaningless dialogue, purposeless situations, and plots without realism/logic.

Postmodernism

Period/movement (~1945 to present) which carries modernist styles or practices to extremes.

Beat Poets

Group of writers from 1950s interested in jazz, improv writing, challenging status quo.

Magical Realism

Fiction with magical elements appear in realist setting; esp popular in Latin American lit.

Tragic Hero

Hero in tragedy who experiences downfall due to error in judgment and fate/external forces.

denouement

The final outcome of literary work, often including the resolution of main dramatic complication.

Montage

Composition made by juxtaposing/superimposing images; cascade of images in cinema/literature.

Aside

Brief moment in play in which character speaks “under their breath” only for audience to hear.

Colloquialism

A local regional dialect expression.

Monologue

A dramatic soliloquy or long speech.

Internal Monologue

A type of narration in which the author depicts the interior thoughts of a single individual.

Stream-of-Consciousness

Narrative style like internal monologue, with little order or coherence to convey jumble of thoughts.

Soliloquy

In drama, a section in which a character reveals thoughts without addressing a listener; usually poses a dilemma and weighs the pros/cons, declaring a final decision at the end.

Omniscient Narrator

A third-person narrator who knows all the characters’ thoughts and motivations; limited omniscient narration indicates the narrator has knowledge of one character or more. but not all.

1st, 2nd, or 3rd person narrator

The different forms of narration that indicate grammatically the vantage point of the speaker (1st person - “i”’; 2nd person - “you”'; 3rd person - “they, he, she”).

Point of View

The attitude or outlook of a narrator or character in literary work (not necessarily the narrator).

Avant-garde

Referring to an innovative group in the arts; “cutting edge” of an artistic field.

Comedy

A dramatic work that is light and humorous; usually ends on a happy note.

Comedy of Manners

Dramatic work that satirizes the manners/behaviors of a social class.

Epic

a narrative poem of the life of a heroic or mythological person or group.

epistle/epistolary lit

Literature written in letter format

Fable

A short tale with moral lesson at the end.

Farce

A light dramatic work marked by satiric comedy and an improbable plot.

Frame Story

Narrative technique of a story within a story.

Hymn

Song of praise, usually religious.

Novel of Manners

Novel depicting a social world, conveying customs, values and morals of the society.

Novella

A short novel.