AP Lit Terms

Tone

Author's implicit attitude towards the reader or the people, places, and events in a work (Mood created by all the elements in a poem)

Syntax

Ordering of words into meaningful verbal patterns (phrases, clauses, and sentences) *Helps convey meanings in poems*

Persona

Speaker created by a writer to tell a story or to speak in a poem

Speaker

Voice used by an author to tell a story or speak a poem (Creates identity)

Free Verse (Open Form Poetry)

Characterized by their nonconformity to establish patterns of meter, rhyme, and stanza (Derive rhythmic qualities from repetition and word arrangement)

Stanza

Grouping of lines, set off by a space, that usually has a set pattern of meter and rhyme

Rhyme Scheme

Describes the pattern of end rhymes and are mapped out by noting patterns of rhyme with small letters

Couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry that usually rhyme and have the same meter

Heroic Couplet

Couplet written in rhymed iambic pentameter

Quatrain

Four-line stanza that is the most common stanzaic form in the English language

Sonnet

Fixed form of lyric poetry that consists of fourteen lines, usually written in iambic pentameter (Popular in poetry)

Petrarchan (Italian) Sonnet

Sonnet that is divided into an octave (situation/problem) and sestet (resolution) and typically rhymes abbaabba

Octave

Poetic stanza of eight lines, usually forming one part of a sonnet

Sestet

Stanza consisting of exact six lines

Shakespearean (English) Sonnet

Sonnet organized into three quatrains and a couplet that typically rhyme abab, cdcd, efef, gg

Villanelle

Type of fixed form poetry consisting of nineteen lines of any length, divided into six stanzas: five tercets and a quatrain (can create a haunting echo)

Elegy

Mournful, contemplative lyric poem written to commemorate someone who is dead (Tone is mournfully contemplative)

Ode

Relatively lengthy lyric poem that often expresses lofty emotions (No formal pattern)

Pastoral

Work of literature that focuses on the relationship between humanity and nature in a rural environment

End Rhyme

Most common form of rhyme in poetry that comes at the end of the lines

Internal Rhyme

Places at least one of the rhymed words within the line
(Dividing and gliding and sliding)

Masculine Rhyme

Describes the rhyming of single-syllable words (grade or shade)
Also occurs when rhyming words of more than one syllable, when the same sound occurs in a final stressed syllable (defend and contend)

Feminine Rhyme

Consists of a rhymed stressed syllable followed by one or more identical unstressed syllables (butter and clutter)

Near Rhyme (Slant Rhyme)

Sounds are almost but not exactly alike

Onomatopoeia

Use of a word that resembles the sound it denotes (buzz, rattle, bang, and sizzle)

Alliteration

Repetition of the same consonant sounds in a sequence of words at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable (descending dew drops) *Based on sound rather than spelling*

Assonance

Repetition of internal vowel sounds in nearby words that do not end the same
(each evening)

Consonance

Common type of near rhyme that consists of identical consonant sounds preceded by different vowel sounds (home and same)

Euphony

Language that is smooth and musically pleasant to the ear

Cacophony

Language that is discordant and difficult to pronounce

Metaphor

Figure of speech that makes a comparison without using the words, like or as (Asserts identity)

Simile

Figure of speech that makes a comparison by using the words, like and as (Alters tone)

Implied Metaphor

More subtle comparison, the terms being compared are not so specifically explained

Extended Metaphor

Sustained comparison where part or all of a poem consists of a series of related metaphors

Personification

Metaphor where human characteristics are attributed to nonhuman things

Synecdoche

Metaphor where a part of something is used to signify the whole
(ten ships are called “ten sails”)

Metonymy

Metaphor where something closely associated with a subject is substituted for it

Hyperbole

Boldly exaggerated statement that adds emphasis without intending to be literally true

Understatement

Figure of speech that says less than is intended

Paradox

Statement that initially appears to be contradictory but then, on closer inspection, turns out to make sense

Oxymoron

Condensed form of paradox where two contradictory words are used together
(original copy)

Diction

Writer’s choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language

Formal Diction

Consists of a dignified, impersonal, and elevated use of language

Informal Diction

Represents the plain language of everyday use

Denotation

Dictionary meaning of a word

Connotation

Associations and implications that go beyond the literal meaning of a word

Rhythm

Recurrence of stressed and unstressed sounds in poetry (Used to create sound patterns and enforce meanings)

Stress/Accent

Emphasis, or accent, given in a syllable in pronunciation

Meter

Rhythmic pattern of stresses recurs in a poem (Determined by the type and number of feet in a line of verse)

Foot

Metrical unit where a line of poetry is measured (Consists of one stressed and one or two unstressed syllables)

Line

Sequence of words printed as a separate entity on a page

Iamb

One unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (Most common in english poetry)

Trochee

One stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable

Anapest

Two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed one (Light and rapid)

Dactyl

One stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones (Light and rapid)

Spondee

Two stressed syllables but is not a sustained metrical foot and is used mainly for variety or emphasis (Slow in rhythm)

Iambic Pentameter

Metrical pattern in poetry which consists of five iambic feet per line

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter

Caesura

Pause within a line of poetry that contributes to the rhythm of the line

End-Stopped Line

Poetic line that has a pause at the end

Enjambment/Run-On Line

One line ends without a pause and continues into the next line for its meaning