AP Lit summer words

Allegory

Story or poem in which characters, setting, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities

Alliteration

Repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together

Allusion

reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture. An indirect reference to something

Ambiguity

Deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting meanings in a work. An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way and detracts from the work

Analogy

comparison made between two things to show how they are alike

Anaphora

Repetition of a work, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer’s point more coherent

Anastrophe

Inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence. Purpose is rhythm or emphasis or euphony. It is a fancy word for inversion

Anecdote

Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something often shows character of an individual

Antagonist

Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something often shows character of an individual

Antimetabole

Repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order. Moliere: “One should eat to live, not live to eat”

Antithesis

Balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by means of grammatical structure

Antihero

Central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with heroes. May lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples

Anthropomorphism (personification)

attributing human attributes to an animal or inanimate object

Aphorism

Brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life or of a principle or accepted general truth. Also called maxim, epigram

Apostrophe

Calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea. If the character is asking a god/goddess for inspiration it is called invocation

Apposition

Placing in immediately succeeding order of two or more coordinate elements, the later of which is an explanation, qualification, or modification of the first

Assonance

The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds especially in words that are together

Asyndeton

Commas used without conjunction to separate a series of words, thus emphasizing the parts equally: instead of X, Y, and Z, the writer uses X,Y,Z

Balance

Constructing a sentence so that both halves are about the same length and importance. Sentences can be unbalanced to serve a special effect as well

Characterization

The process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character

Indirect characterization

the author tells us directly what the character is like. Romantic style relied heavily on this.

static character

one who does not change much in the context of the story

dynamic character

one who changes in some important way as a result of the story’s action

flat character

has only one or two personality traits. They are one dimensional, like a piece of cardboard.

round character

more dimensions to their personalities, are just as complex as real people.

chiasmus

A type of poetic rhetorical balance in which the second part is syntactically balanced against the first, but with the parts reversed. “Flowers are lovely, love is flowerlike.

cliche

a word or phrase, often a figure of speech that has become lifeless

colloquialism

a word or phrase used in everyday use in conversation and informal due to overuse.

comedy

in general, a story that ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced by the main character/s

conceit

an elaborate metaphor that compares two things that are startlingly different

confessional poetry

a 20th century term used to describe poetry that uses intimate material from the poet’s life.

conflict

the struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story

external conflict

conflicts can exist between two people, between a person and nature or a machine or between a person and a whole society

internal conflict

conflict that involves two opposing within a person’s mind

connotation

the associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase in addition to its strict dictionary definition

couplet

two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry

dialect

a way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a geographic area

diction

a speaker’s choice of words

didactic

form of fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior of thinking

Elegy

a poem of mourning, usually about someone who dies. Great praise or commendation

epanalepsis

device of repetition in which the same expression is repeated at the end of two+ lines, clauses, or sentences

epithet

an adjective phrase applied to a person or thing that is frequently used to emphasize a characteristic quality

essay

a short piece of nonfiction prose in which the writer discusses some aspect of a subject

argumentation

one of the four forms of discourse which uses logic, ethics,and emotional appeals to develop an effective means to convince the reader to act or think in a certain way

persuasion

relies more on emotional appeals then facts

casual relationship

form of argumentation in which the writer claims that one thing results from another, often used as part of a logical argument

description

a form of discourse that uses language to create a mood or emotion

exposition

one of the four major forms of discourse in which something is explained/set forth

narrative

the form of discourse that tells about a series of event

explication

act of interpreting or discovering the meaning of the text, usually involves close reading and special to figurative language

fabe

a very short story told in prose or poetry that teaches a practical lesson about how to succeed in life

farce

a type of comedy in which ridiculous and often stereotyped characters are involved in silly, far-fetched situations

figurative language

words that are inaccurate if interpreted literally, but are used to describe. Similar forms are metaphors and similies.

flashback

a scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time

foil

a character who acts in contrast to another character. Often a funny sidekick to the dashing hero, or the villain contrasting the hero

foreshadowing

the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot.

free verse

poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme

hyperbole

a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement for effect

hypotactic

sentence marked by the use of connecting words between clauses or sentences, explicitly showing the logical or other relationships between them

imagery

the use of language to evoke a picture or concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience.

inversion

the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence in the phrase.

irony

a discrepancy between appearances and reality

verbal irony

occurs when someone says something but means something else

situational irony

takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen or what would be appropriate to happen and what really happens

dramatic irony

is so called because it is often used on stage. A character in the play or story thinks one thing is true but audience/reader knows better

juxtaposition

poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to each other, creating an effect of surprise and wit. Also forms contrast

litnotes

a form

local color

a term applied to fiction or poetry which tends to place special emphasis on a particular setting, including its customs, clothing, dialect and landscape.

loose sentance

one in which the main clause comes first, followed by further dependent grammatical units.

Lyric poem

a poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker

Metaphor

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of specific comparison words

implied metaphor

does not state explicitly the two terms of the comparison (ex: “I like to see it lap the miles”)

Extended metaphor

a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it

dead metaphor

a metaphor that has been used so often it is no longer vivid

Mixed metaphor

A metaphor that has gotten out of control and mixes its terms so they are incomparable

Metonymy

a figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing is referred to by something closely associated with it

mood

an atmosphere created by a writer’s diction and the details selected

motif

a recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work, unifying the work by trying the current situation to the previous ones

motivation

reasons behind a character’s behavior

onomatopoeia

words that are supposed to represent sounds

oxymoron

figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase “bittersweet”

parable

relatively short story that teaches a moral

paradox

a statement that appears self-contradictory but kinda reveals a truth

koan

a paradox used in zen buddhism to gain intuitive knowledge

parallel structure

the repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures

paratactic sentence

juxtaposes clauses and sentences

parody

a work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer’s style

periodic

sentence that places the main idea or central complete thought at the end of the sentence, after all introductory elements

personification

a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts or attitudes

plot

the series of related events in a story or play, sometimes called the storyline

exposition

introducing characters, situation, setting

rising action

complications in conflict and situation

climax

that point in a plot that creates the greatest intensity, suspense, or interest

resolution

the conclusion of a story, when all or most conflicts have been settled

point of view

the vantage point from which the writer tells the story

first person POV

One of the characters tells the story, uses I

third person POV

an unknown narrator, tells the story, but this narrator zooms in to focus on the thoughts and feelings of certain, if not one, character

omniscient POV

an omniscient or all knowing narrator tells the story, with no comment on the characters or plot

Objective POV

A narrator who is totally impersonal and objective tells the story, with no comment on any characters or event

Polysyndeton

sentence which uses a conjugation with no commas to separate the items in a series