AP Lit Literary Terms

Abstract

General term referring to a broad concept or idea

Allusion

A reference to another work of literature, art, or history

Analogy

Comparison between two things that helps explain or illustrate one or both of them

Concrete

Term that refers to a more specific/particular thing or concept

Diction

Word choice whether it be abstract, literal, figurative, or formal language

Dramatic Irony

Tension created by the contrast between what a character says/thinks and what the audience actually knows to be true

Enjambment

Poetic technique where one line ends without a pause and must continue to the next line in order to complete the meaning (run on line)

Extended metaphor

Metaphor that continues over several lines or throughout an entire literary work

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic/ironic point (overstatement to make a point)

Imagery

Description of how something looks, feels, tastes, smells, or sounds. (Verbal description of a sensory experience)

Juxtaposition

Placing two things side by side for the sake of comparison

Metaphor

Figure of speech to compare or equate two things without using like or as

Mood

Feeling created for the reader by a work of literature

Personification

Figure of speech where an animal or inanimate object is given human qualities

Simile

Comparison of things using like or as

Situational Irony

Pointed discrepancy between what seems fitting or expected in a story and what actually happens

Syntax

Arrangement of words into different phrases, clauses, and sentences in a prose passage. (word order, sentence length/structure, phrases, clauses)

Tone

Speaker’s attitude or emotion

Understatement

Presentation or framing of something as less important, urgent, awful, good. (used for satirical/comic effect)

Verbal Irony

When a speaker or character says one thing but means another. (What is said is the opposite of what is expected)