AP Lit Terms 1&2

allegory

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one

The book Animal Farm.

antecedent

a thing or event that existed before or logically precedes another

The Age of Enlightenment is the antecedent to the American Revolution

aphorism

A pithy observation that contains a general truth

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

archaism

a very old-fashioned thing

rotary phones

couplet

two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit

“I have wished a bird would fly away, and not sing by my house all day”

dramatic irony

when the audience knows something that the characters don’t

Romeo thought Juliet was dead, but the audience knows she is only pretending

euphony

the quality of being pleasing to the ear, especially through a harmonious combination of words

words like mist, mellow, sunlight, bless and vines

foreshadowing

be a warning or indication of a future event

her early interest in animals foreshadowed her later career as a veterinarian

gothic novel

an English genre of fiction popular in the 18th to early 19th centuries characterized by an atmosphere of mystery and horror and having a pseudomedieval setting

The Fall of the House of Usher

inversion

the action of inverting something or the state of being inverted

at no time were we aware of the schedule change

masculine rhyme

a rhyme of final stressed syllables

blow/flow , confess/distress

melodrama

a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions

her extreme reaction to the news would have landed her a role in a melodrama

rhetorical question

a question asked to create a dramatic effect or make a point rather than to get an answer

“If you prick us do we not bleed?”

theme

the subject of a talk, a piece of writing, a person’s thoughts, or an exhibition; a topic

the theme of the kids show was the treat others with kindness

utopia

an imagined place or state of things which everything is perfect

The garden of eden can be considered a utopia

Abstract

existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence

anticlimax

a disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events

ballad

a slow sentimental or romantic song/ a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas.

denotation

he literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests

epic

a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation

foot (poetry)

 a group of syllables constituting a metrical unit. In English poetry it consists of stressed and unstressed syllables, while in ancient classical poetry it consists of long and short syllables.

hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally

irony

the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect

nemesis

a long-standing rival

paradox

a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well-founded or true

personification

the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form

pun

a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings

simile

a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid

symbolism

the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities

travesty

a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something