ap lit terms

Ambiguity

A word, phrase, or situation having multiple meanings or interpretations.

Anticlimax

A disappointing or trivial turn of events after a build-up of suspense.

Aphorism

A short, witty statement expressing a general truth or principle.

Apostrophe

A literary device where a speaker directly addresses an absent person, an abstract idea, or a non-human entity.

Antihero

A protagonist who lacks traditional heroic qualities like bravery or morality.

Antithesis

The juxtaposition of opposite ideas for contrast.

Analogy

A comparison between two things to clarify an idea.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds within words in close proximity.

Anecdote

A short, personal story used to illustrate a point.

Allegory

A narrative where characters and events symbolically represent abstract concepts or moral lessons.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Free Verse

A type of poetry that has no fixed meter or rhyme.

Authorial Intrusion

When the author directly addresses the reader within a story.

Pastoral Poem

A poem idealizing rural life and nature.

Chorus (drama)

A group of performers who comment on the main action of a play.

Anachronism

Something placed in the wrong historical period.

Atmosphere/Mood

The emotional feeling or tone of a literary work.

Anaphora

The repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses.

Epiphora

The repetition of words at the end of successive clauses.

Bathos

An unintentional shift from the serious to the trivial, creating an absurd or comedic effect.

Asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions for a fast-paced effect.

Polysyndeton

The use of excessive conjunctions for emphasis.

Anagram

A word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of another word.

Antonomasia

The use of a descriptive phrase instead of a proper name.

Aubade

A poem or song about lovers parting at dawn.

Antimetabole

A phrase repeated in reverse order.

Anastrophe

The inversion of normal word order for effect.

Medieval Romance

A genre of literature featuring chivalry and adventure, set in medieval times.

Catharsis

The emotional release experienced by the audience after a tragic event.

Comedy

A literary genre that aims to entertain and often ends in a happy resolution.

Local Color

The use of specific details, dialects, and customs to depict a particular region.

Deus Ex Machina

A sudden, unexpected resolution to a conflict.

Fabliau

A short, humorous medieval tale, typically satirical.

Enjambment

The continuation of a sentence beyond the end of a poetic line without a pause.

Gothic Fiction

A genre that combines horror, death, and romance.

Elegy

A poem mourning a person’s death.

Chiasmus

A rhetorical device in which words or concepts are repeated in reverse order.

Melodrama

A highly emotional and exaggerated form of drama.

Couplet

A pair of rhyming lines of poetry.

Quatrain

A four-line stanza.

Caricature

A character portrayal that exaggerates specific traits.

Carpe Diem

A theme meaning "seize the day," encouraging one to live in the moment.

Conceit

An extended metaphor with a complex comparison.

Cacophony

The use of harsh, discordant sounds in writing.

Caesura

A deliberate pause in a line of poetry.

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds within words.

Denouement

The final resolution or outcome of a story after the climax.

Metaphysical Poetry

17th-century poetry using intellectual and philosophical themes.

Colloquialism

Informal, everyday language or slang.

Rhetoric

The art of persuasive writing or speech.

Frame Story

A narrative that contains another story within it.

Doppelgänger

A character’s double representing an alternate self.

Bildungsroman

A coming-of-age novel following a character’s growth.

Circumlocution

Using excessive words to say something simply.

Macaronic

A literary style mixing words from multiple languages.

Euphony

The use of harmonious, pleasant-sounding words.

Periodic Sentence

A sentence with the main idea at the end.

Loose Sentence

A sentence that starts with the main idea and adds details.

Foil

A character who contrasts with another to highlight specific traits.

Meter

The rhythmic structure of a poem based on syllables.

Appositive

A noun or phrase that renames another noun.

Epigram

A short, witty statement, often satirical.

Polyptoton

The repetition of the same root word with different endings.

Fable

A short story with a moral lesson, often featuring animals.

Hyperbole

An extreme exaggeration for effect.

Iamb

A metrical foot that is unstressed followed by a stressed syllable.

Trochee

A metrical foot that is stressed followed by an unstressed syllable.

Anapest

A metrical foot that has two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one.

Dactyl

A metrical foot that has one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed.

In Media Res

Starting a story in the middle of the action.

Synesthesia

Describing one sense in terms of another.

Litotes

An understatement that uses negation for emphasis.

Euphemism

A mild phrase replacing a harsh one.

Epizeuxis

Repetition of a word in immediate succession for emphasis.

Epiphany

A sudden realization or insight.

Epistolary

A novel written in letters.

Juxtaposition

Placing two contrasting ideas side by side for effect.

Farce

A comedic work that relies on exaggerated situations.

Heroic Couplet

A pair of rhymed lines in iambic pentameter.

Jargon

Specialized language used by a specific group.

Kenning

A metaphorical compound word used in Old English poetry.

Tragicomedy

A play or story that blends tragic and comedic elements.

Epithet

A descriptive phrase that characterizes a person or thing.

Ethos

An appeal to credibility or ethics.

Pathos

An appeal to emotions.

Logos

An appeal to logic and reasoning.

Picaresque Novel

A novel featuring a rogue protagonist who survives by wits.

Motif

A recurring symbol, idea, or theme in a literary work.

Hypophora

A rhetorical device where the writer poses a question and answers it.

Lyric Poem

A short poem expressing personal emotions or thoughts.

Metonymy

Substituting the name of one thing with something closely related.

Pun

A play on words that exploits multiple meanings.

Oxymoron

A phrase that combines contradictory terms.

Ballad

A narrative poem, often set to music.

Anthropomorphism

Giving human characteristics to animals or objects.

Zoomorphism

Giving animal traits to humans or objects.

Parable

A short story that teaches a moral lesson.

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory but reveals a deeper truth.

Persona

The voice or character that a writer adopts in a work.

Erotema

A rhetorical question that implies its own answer.