AP Lit Vocab #1-4

Diction

word choice

Syntax

Word Order

Tone

Author’s/speaker’s (implied) attitude toward the subject of the text

Mood

The emotions/feelings/atmosphere a text produces in a reader

Stanza

Group of lines in a poem

Incongruous

Out of place; inappropriate; incompatiable

Opulence

Great wealth or luxuriousness

Fleeting

Vanishing quickly; lasting a very short time

Premonition

A strong feeling that something (especially something bad) is going to happen

Obsolete

Out of date; no longer used or needed

Enjambment

the continuation of a sentence from one poetic line to another without punctuation

end stopped

when a poetic line concludes in a grammatical pause

caesura

a grammatical pause in the middle of a poetic line

rhyming couplet

a pair of successive rhyming lines

refrain

phrase, line, or group of lines repeated at regular intervals

secular

not religious or spiritual

laudable

deserving praise

erstwhile

formerly; in the past

summons

orders to come/appear

penitent

remorseful; sorry; full of regret

pastoral

portrayals of retreating from modern cities to unrealistically charming rural life

meditation

reflection

elegy

memorial; mourning

lament

expression of grief for a loss

ode

poem that praises a specific person, place, thing, or event

conceptualize

form/develop an idea

spurned

rejected with disdain/contempt

sensuous

appealing to the senses, especially sexually

assuage

relieve; ease; make (something unpleasant) less severe

novice

beginner; inexperienced person

apostrophe

a situation in which a speaker directly address an object, idea, or a person who is dead/nonexistent/not present as if they could actually respond.

anaphora

repetition of a wordphrase at the beginning of successive clauses/sentences

alliteration

similar sound used at the beginning of words that are close together

hyperbole

intentional exaggeration not to be taken literally

understatement

an intentional representation of something as less important or intense than it actually is

vacillate

to waver back and forth

fervor

intense and passionate feeling

illicit

forbidden by laws, morals, or customs

repose

rest, relax

piety

religious devotion