AP Lit Vocab Test

Internal Conflict

psychological conflict that takes place within a character

Juxtaposition

Two concepts or objects next to each other for contrasting effect

Metaphor

comparison of two things that are unrelated

Motif

repeated pattern (object, sound, image, word) that comes back within the story

Paradox

a statement that seems to predict itself, but has a deeper meaning or joke or truth

Personification

type of metaphor that gives non-living objects human characteristics

Protagonist

character whose fate matters most

Referent

the thing to which a word refers (ex: the “evening star” is the planet Venus)

Resolution

end of story, after climax

Shift in verb tense

change in time frame in the text

Simile

compares unlike things using “like” or “as”

Situational irony

the opposite of what is expected to happen happens

Speaker or narrator

voice of the piece

Stanza

division of a poem that contains more than two lines arranged in a unit

Steam of consciousness

narrative style that tries to capture a character’s thought process in a realistic way

Symbol

idea or things that represents other meanings

Syntax

set of rules that determine the arrangement of words in a sentence

third person narration

and over-voice

Tone

attitude that a character or author uses takes towards a given subject

Unreliable narrator

not trustworthy

Verbal irony

when someone say sone thing but means something else