AP Literature Literary Terms

act

a division of a play used to signal changes in time, setting, characters, mood, and other shifts during the course of a drama

agency

the autonomy given to literary characters that allows them to exert their will or make meaningful decisions in a play or story

allegory

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

Alliteration

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

Allusion

A reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art

Ambiguity

a word, phrase, action, or situation in a literary work that allows for two or more simultaneous interpretations supported by the text

anachronism

a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, especially a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned.

Analogy

A comparison of two different things that are similar in some way

Antagonist

A character or force in conflict with the main character

antecedent action

Events that preceded the starting point of the piece of literature.

Antithesis

the direct opposite, a sharp contrast

Apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.

Archetype

A detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and to evoke a response

Aside

a line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage

association

a relationship between the reader and the text when the reader recognizes the connotations and implications of words or the figurative meaning of objectives

atmosphere

a mood or emotional tone evoked by the description of the setting within a literary work

attitude

a narrator or speaker's feelings about a subject, character, setting, event, or other element within a literary work

Bias

A particular preference or point of view that is personal, rather than scientific.

Caesura

A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.

Catharsis

the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions.

character

A person in a story

Characterization

A method an author uses to let readers know more about the characters and their personal traits.

Chorus

A group of characters in Greek tragedy (and in later forms of drama), who comment on the action of a play without participation in it.

circumstance

the cultural, historical, and social setting in which characters find themselves

clause

A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. An independent, or main, clause expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent, or subordinate clause, cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent clause. The point that you want to consider is the question of what or why the author subordinates one element should also become aware of making effective use of subordination in your own writing.

Climax

the most intense, exciting, or important point of something; a culmination or apex.

closed form poetry

has an established pattern, whether with length, meter, rhyme, imagery, syntax, or stanzas

comparison

a literary and rhetorical device that uses similarities between people, places, things, and/or idea to help the reader recognize figurative meaning or an abstract concept

complexity

the ambiguous, inconsistent, or contradictory aspects of a character, theme, or other literary elements that suggest layered meanings and multiple interpretations

Conceit

A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects.

Conflict

a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas

Connotation

the implied or associative meaning of a word

context

The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text.

contrast

the opposition of two literary elements or events of plot, usually presented to highlight the differences between them

convention

an element, aspect, or technique used so frequently that it becomes a defining and identifiable feature of the genre

Couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme

cultural context

The values, attitudes, beliefs, orientations, and underlying assumptions prevalent among people in a society

denotations

literal, dictionary meanings of a word

description

a spoken or written representation or account of a person, object, or event

detail

Facts revealed by the author or speaker that support the attitude or tone in the work

deus ex machina

In literature, the use of an artificial device or gimmick to solve a problem.

Dialect

a particular form of a language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group.

Dialogue

Conversation between characters

Diction

A writer's or speaker's choice of words

dramatic irony

Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play.

dramatic situation

the problem, conflict, or tension resulting form the arrangement of events in narrative

dynamic character

A character who grows, learns, or changes as a result of the story's action

empathy

the reader's or audience's emotional identification with a character in a story

Epiphany

A moment of sudden revelation or insight

episode

a brief event that is part of a larger sequence of scenes in a play or story

exaggeration

a statement that represents something as better or worse than it really is.

Exposition

A narrative device, often used at the beginning of a work that provides necessary background information about the characters and their circumstances.

extended metaphor

A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.

external conflict

A struggle between a character and an outside force

falling action

the part of a literary plot that occurs after the climax has been reached and the conflict has been resolved

figurative language

Language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling.

first person point of view

a character in the story is actually telling the story himself/herself

Flashabck

When the character remembers something significant from the past.

Foil

A character who acts as a contrast to another character

Foreshadowing

A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader.

form

the shape, structure, and arrangement of a poem or other work

frame narrative or frame story

a story that has another story or stories within it

genre

a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.

goal

a character's objective during the course of a narrative

group character

a collection of people who function as a single character within a narrative or drama

Hamartia

a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine

historical context

the historical period that shapes a work of literature and allows the reader to understand important issues in a given time period

Hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

idea

an abstract concept or thought that in literature often captures an aspect of the human experience

image

a literary device that appeals to the reader's senses and sensory experiences, especially the creation of visual pictures in the minds of the audiences

Imagery

Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste)

in medias res

in the middle of things

incongruity

an often deliberate inconsistency in a literary work that juxtaposes unrelated ideas, events, or circumstances; they usually subvert, clash with, or otherwise unsettle the audience's expectations

inconsistency

a contradiction within the dramatic situation, such as irony or incongruity, that contributes to a tension or complexity

internal conflict

A struggle between opposing needs, desires, or emotions within a single character

Intertextuality

the relationship between texts, especially literary ones.

invisible character

a character who is referred to but not directly observed by the audience, but who advances the plot in a significant way

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality

Juxtaposition

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts

limited third person point of view

the narrator relates the inner thoughts and feelings of only one character, and everything is viewed from this character's perspective

literal

taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory

message

an author's perspective about universal concepts, which create meaning in a narrative, play, or poem

Metaphor

A comparison without using like or as

meter

A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

minor character

character who plays a lesser role

moment

a single, significant part of a narrative's plot that is important to the dramatic situation

Mood

Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader

Motif

A recurring theme, subject or idea

Motivation

A character's incentive or reason for behaving in a certain manner; that which impels a character to act

Narration

writing that tells a story

narrative arc

the shape that a story takes as it moves from its beginning to its end

Narrative Distance

narrator's proximity in relation to the other characters

Narrative Hook

the part of the story that catches the reader's interest & makes them want to go on

narrative pacing

The speed at which a narrative moves

narrative perspective

the point of view from which a story is told

narrative techniques

the methods involved in telling a story; the procedures used by a writer of stories or accounts

Narrator

Person telling the story

Nonlinear structure

is when the plot is presented in a non-causal order, with events presented in a random series jumping to and from the main plot with flashbacks or flashforwards; or in any other manner that is either not chronological or not cause and effect, for example, in medias res.

omnicient narrator

a narrator who has the ability to move freely through the consciousness of any character

Onomonopia

The use of words or sounds which resemble the sounds they describe. (ex boom, psst)