AP English: Terms to Know

Allegory

A story told on 2 levels intended to teach a moral lesson

Anaseptic

2 unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable

Anecdote

A very short story told to make a point

Antagonist

goes against the protagonist

Blank verse

Verse without rhyme

Antithesis

a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else.

Apostrophe

Addresses a person, indicates possession

Archetype

Symbol that crosses many cultures

Auditory imagery

Language/ words appealing to the sense of sound and hearing

Choleric

Bad tempered irratible

Conceit

Excessive pride in oneself

Dactylic

Long syllable followed by 2 short syllables

Didactic

Intended to teach something with having moral instruction as a motive

Dramatic irony

Audience knows more about the situation than the character does

Elegy

Poem/song of lament for a lose of a person

Enjabment

Run on line poetry, one line is not complete and has to be read on the second line

End-stopped line

Line of poetry ending in a period, question mark, exclamation point, and semicolon

Epigram

Short, witty saying

Exposition

Background information provided in the story

Epiphany

Moment of understanding and sudden insight into reality or the truth

Euphemism

A polite word used to replace a more direct one

Farce

Type of comedy that has improbable situations for and entertaining effect

Flashback

Recollection of a image or scene from the past

Genre

A form a text has

Gustory imagery

Language/ imagery appealing to sense of taste

Hubris

Dangerous pride that leads a person to ignore divine warning or moral law

Hyperbole

Exaggerated for emphasis

Iambic

A unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

Iambic pentameter

Ten syllable line where even number syllables are stressed

Internal rhyme

Rhyming 2 words with a single syllable

Irony

The opposite of what one expects to happen actually happens

Litotes or understatement

Double negative to emphasize a point ironically

Malapropism

Mistaken use of words In place of a similar sounding one

Melancholy

State of deep sadness

Meter

Rhythm of a poem - how many syllables(beats) it has

Metonymy

Words to substitute another word

Myth

Story that seeks to explain the process of nature

Narrative viewpoint

Stance from which the story was told

Olfactory imagery

Language/ imagery appearing to sense of smell

Oxymoron

Two opposite words together forming a compound word

Parable

Short story with a moral meaning

Paradox

Statement that is illogical or contradictory but is true

Parody

A humorous imitation of a serious literary work

Pastoral

A literary piece that idealizes life in a country

Phlegmatic

Calm, composed, not easily excited

Protagonist

Hero of the story

Rhetorical

Style and approach intended to persuade

Rhymed couplet

Two rhymed iambic perimeter line forming a unit

Sanguine

Optimist, confident, cheerful in difficult situations

Satire

Humor directed at making a point about human nature

Shakespearean sonnet

A 14-line poem written in specific structure

Stanza

Line of poetry forming a unit

Symbolism

Having one thing stand for another

Synecdoche

Figure of speech in which a part of the object is used to represent the whole

Syntax

Sentence structure, the phrases and clauses that make up the sentence

Tactile imagery

Language/ images which appear to sense or touch

Tone

The attitude the author expresses towards his audience

Trochaic

Stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable

Verbal irony

Speaker says one thing but means the other

Verse

Single line of poetry