AP Literature Final Exam Vocabulary

Allegory

A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one

Aside

A speech or short comment that a character delivers directly to an audience

Archetype

A universal, recurring symbol, character type, theme, or plot pattern found across different cultures or texts

Caesura

A small break or pause in words within a metrical foot

Connotation

An idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning

Couplet

Two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit

Denotation

The literal, dictionary definition of a word, stripped of emotional associations, providing the objective baseline meaning

Elegy

A poem or song of serious reflection, death, sorrow

Epic Poem

A long, narrative poem celebratory heroic deeds and significant cultural events

Foil

A character whose contrasting qualities highlight the distinctive traits of another character

Foot

The basic rhythmic unit in a line of poetry, one stressed syllable or two un-stressed syllables

Juxtaposition

The foot of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect

Conceit

An elaborate, extended metaphor that draws a surprising and complex comparison between 2 very different things

Meter

The rhythmic pattern or stressed and unstressed syllables, like Foot

Paradox

Images or descriptions that appear self-contradictory but reveal a deeper truth

Stop

An old, English poet who composed and recited epic poems specifically Anglo-Saxon Era

Soliloquy

Dramatic speech where a character, alone, speaks their innermost thoughts and feelings, longer than an aside