AP lit Terms

Ambiguity

A word, phrase, or situation that has more than one possible meaning or interpretation

Anachronism

Something that is out of its proper historical time period

Archetype

A recurring character, image, symbol, situation or pattern that appears across many works and cultures

Connotation

The emotional, cultural, or implied meaning associated with a word

Denotation

The literal or dictionary definition of a wordD

Details

Specific pieces of information an author includes to develop characters, setting, tone, theme, or meaning

Epigraph

A short quotation or passage placed before a work or section that helps establish its meaning or theme

Flashback

A scene or passage that returns to an earlier event in the story

Foreshadowing

Hints or clues that suggest something that will happen later

Imagery

Descriptive language that appeals to the senses

Tactile

Imagery involving touch

Gustatory

Imagery involving taste

Visual

Imagery involving taste

Olfactory

Imagery involving smell

Auditory

Imagery involving sound/hearing

In media res

Beginning a story in the middle of the action rather than at the beginning

Mood

The emotional atmosphere or feeling created for the reader

Moral

A lesson about right and wrong or how one should behave

Motif

A recurring element, such as an image, idea, symbol, word, situation, that contributes to a work’s meaning

Parable

A short story that teaches a moral, religious, or philosophical lesson, often through symbolism

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases in sentences

Theme

A central idea or message about life, humanity, or society explored by a work

Tone

The author’s or speaker’s attitude toward the subject, audience, or situation

Allegory

A story in which characters, events, and settings symbolically represent larger ideas, often moral, political, or philosophical ones.

Allusion

An indirect reference to a well-known person, event, text, myth, place, or idea

Apostrophe

Directly addressing an absent person, dead person, object, or abstract ideas

Euphemism

A milder or indirect expression used instead of something harsh unpleasant or offensive

Hyperbole

Deliverate exaggeration used for emphasis or effect

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality, appearance and truth, or literal and intended meaning

Dramatic irony

The audience knows something that a character does not know

Verbal irony

A speaker says something but means something different, often the opposite

Situational irony

The outcome is different from what is expected

Romantic irony

the procedure by which apparently significant gestures/assertions/decisions are made only to immediately collapse

Metaphor

A comparison between unlike things without using “like” or “as”

Direct metaphor

Directly states that one thing is another

Indirect metaphor

Implies the comparison without directly stating it.

Extended metaphor

A metaphor that is developed over several lines, sentences, or throughout a work

Metonymy

Replacing something with closely related concept or object

Oxymoron

Two contradictory words placed together

Paradox

A seemingly contradictory statement or idea that reveals a deeper truth

Personification

Giving human qualities to nonhuman things

Pun

Wordplay based on multiple meanings or similar sounds of words

Simile

A comparison between unlike things using “like” or “as”

Epic simile

A long, elaborate simile developed over several lines

Symbol

A person, object, place, image, or action that represents a larger idea

Synecdoche

Using a part to represent the whole or the whole to represent a part

Understatement

Deliberately making something seem less important, serious, or intense than it really is

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consnant sounds in nearby words

Antecedent

The noun or phrase that a pronoun refers to

Conceit

An extended and often unusual metaphor or comparison

Contrast

Placing two things together to emphasixe their differences

Metaphysical conceit

An elaborate, intellectualm and often suprising comparison between seemingly unrelated things

Meter

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry

Referent

The actual person, object, idea, or thing to which a word refers

Rhyme

The repetition of similar sounds, usually at the ends of lines

Masculine rhyme

Rhyme involving one stressed syllable, usually the final syllable

Feminine rhyme

Rhyme involving two or more syllables, with the final syllable unstressed

Shift

A noticeable change in tone, perspective, subject, attitude, setting, or structure

Stanza

A group of lines in a poem, similar to a paragraph in prose

Structure

The way a literary work is organized and arranged

Bildungsroman

A coming-of-age story in which a character develops psychologically, morally, or intellectually

Climax

The point of greatest tension and/or the major turning point of the story

Conflict

A struggle between opposing forces

Internal conflict

A struggle within a character’s mind or emotions.

External conflict

A struggle between a character and an outside force

Denouement

The final part of the story in which remaining complications are resolved

Epiphany

A sudden moment of realization or insight

Epistolary

A work told through letters, diary entries, emails, or other documents

Exposition

Information introducing the characters, setting, background, and inital situation

Fallin action

Events after the climax that shows the consequences of the major turning point

Gothic romance

A genre involving mystery, fear, darkness, supernatural elements, threatening settings, and psychological tension

Inciting incident/event

The event that sets the main conflict or plot into motion

Metafiction

Fiction that draws attention to its own status as a fictional or constructed work

Motivation

The reason or force that causes a character to act

Narrative pace

The speed at which a story’s events are presented

Plot

The sequence of events and conflicts that make up a story

Resolution

The point at which the central conflict reaches its final outcome

Rising action

Events that develop the conflict and build tension before the climax

Setting

The time, place, and circumstances in which a story occurs

Stream of consciousness

A technique that attempts to represent the continuous flow of a character’s thoughts and perceptions

Quixotic

Idealistic, romantic, and impractical, especially when pursuing unrealistic goals

Antagonist

The character or force that opposes the protagonist

Agency

A character’s ability to make choices and take actions that influence events.

Catharisis

An emotional release or purification, especially exxperienced by an audience through tragedy

Characterization

The methods an author uses to develop and reveal a character

Direct characterization

The author directly tells the reader what a character is like

Indirect characterization

The author reveals character through action, speech, thoughts, appearance, relationships, and reactions

Dynamic character

A character who undergoes a significant internal change

Foil character

A character whose traits contrast with another character in order to highlight those traits

Hamartia/Tragic flaw

A character error, weakness, or mistake that contributes to their downfall

Hubris

Excessive pride or self-confidence, often causing a character to ignore warnings or limitations

Perspective

A character’s or narrator’s particular way of viewing and interpreting events

Protagonist

The central character whose goals and conflicts drive the story

First Person POV

The narrator uses I, me, we, our, etc

First Person Primary

The narrator is the main character of the story

First Person Secondary

The narrator is a minor character who tells the story of the main character

Second Person POV

The narrator addresses the reader or character using “you”

Third Person POV

The narrator refers to characters using he, she, they, etc.

Third Person Limited

The narractor has access to the thoughts and experiences of one character or a limited number of characters

Third Person Omniscient

The narrator knows the thoughts, feeling, and experiences of multiple characters.