AP Lit. Literary Terms

allegory

allegory

a complete narrative that may also be applied to a parallel set of moral, philosophical, political, religious, or social situations

allusion

unacknowledged references and quotations that authors make while assuming that readers will recognize the original sources and relate their meanings to a new context. Allusions are hence compliments that the author pays to readers for their perceptiveness, knowledge, and awareness

antithesis

a rhetorical device of opposition in which one idea or word is established, and then the opposite idea or word is expressed, as in "I burn and freeze" and "I love and hate"

archetype

a character, action, or situation that is a prototype or pattern of human life generally; a situation that occurs over and over again in literature, such as a quest, an initiation, or an attempt to overcome evil. Many myths are archetypes

connotation

the meanings that words suggest; the overtones of words beyond their bare dictionary definitions or denotations, as with "leave", "get away," "depart," etc, which have the same meaning but differing connotations

denotation

the standard, minimal meaning of a word, without implications or connotations

formal/high diction

proper, elevated, elaborate, and often polysyllabic language

informal/low diction

relaxed, conversational, and familiar language, utilizing contractions and elisions, and sometimes employing slang and grammatical errors

neutral/middle diction

correct language characterized by directness and simplicity

foil

a character, usually minor, designed to highlight qualities of a major character

figurative language/figures of speech

an organized pattern of comparison that deepens, broadens, extends, illuminates, and emphasizes meaning, and also that conforms to particular patterns or forms such as metaphor, simile, and parallelism

hyperbole

a rhetorical figure of speech in which emphasis is achieved through exaggeration

image, imagery (visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, tactile, kinesthetic)

references that trigger the mind to fuse together memories of sights (visual), sounds (auditory), tastes (gustatory), smells (olfactory), sensations of touch (tactile), and perceptions off motion (kinesthetic). "Image" refers to a single mental creation, "imagery" to images throughout a work or works of a writer or group of writers. Images may be literal (descriptive and pictorial) and metaphorical (figurative and suggestive).

irony (cosmic, dramatic, verbal, situational)

Broadly, a means of indirection. Verbal irony is language that states the opposite of what is intended. Dramatic irony describes the condition of characters who do not know the nature, seriousness, and extent of their circumstances. Situational irony is a type of irony emphasizing that human beings are enmeshed in forces beyond their comprehesion and control.

malapropism

the comic use of an improperly pronounced word , so that what comes out is a real but also incorrect word. Examples are odorous for odious (Shakespeare) or pineapple for pinnacle (Sheridan). The new word must be close enough to the correct word so that the resemblance is immediately recognized, along with the error.

metaphor

a figure of speech that describes something as though it actually were something else, thereby enhancing understanding and insight. One of the major qualities of poetic language.

motif

Sometimes used in reference to a main idea or theme in a single work or in many works, such as a carpe diem theme, or a comparison of lovers to little worlds.

parallelism

a figure of speech in which the same grammatical forms are repeated

paradox

a figure of speech embodying a contradiction that is nevertheless true.

personification

a figure of speech in which human characteristics are attributed to nonhuman things or abstractions

static character

a character who undergoes no change, a flat character; contrasted with a dynamic character

symbolism

a specific word, idea, or object that may stand for ideas, values, persons, or ways of life.

syntax

word order and sentence structure. A mark of style is a writer's syntactical patterning (regular patterns and variations), depending on the rhetorical needs of the literary work

style

the manipulation of language; the placement of words in the service of content

tone

the techniques and modes of presentation that reveal or create attitudes

verisimilitude

a characteristic whereby the setting, circumstances, characters, dialogue, actions, and outcomes in a work are designed to seem true, lifelike, real, plausible, and probable.