AP Lit Terms to Memorize

Alexandrine

An iambic hexameter line—that is a poetic line consisting of six iambic feet. The last line of a Spenserian stanza is an _____.

Allegory

A tale in verse or prose in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities. Thus, an ____ is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.

Alliteration

The repetition of similar sounds, usually consonants or consonant clusters, in a group of words. A poetic device: serves the purpose of pleasing the ear and it emphasizes the words in which it occurs.

Initial Alliteration

Alliteration that occurs at the beginning of words

Internal/Hidden Alliteration

Alliteration that occurs within a words; usually occurs on stressed syllables

Allusion

A reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer expects the reader to recognize and respond to. An ____ may be drawn from history, geography, Literature, or religion.

Analogy

A comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them. An ___ is often used for illustration (to explain something unfamiliar by comparing it to something familiar) or for argument (to persuade that what holds true for one thing holds true for the thing to which it is compared).

Antagonist

A person or force opposing the protagonist in a narrative; a rival of the hero or heroine.

Antipastoral

See Pastoral

Anti-Petrarchan

See Sonnet

Antistrophe

See Ode

Antithesis

The balancing of two contrasting ideas, words, phrases, or sentences. An antithesis is often expressed in a balanced sentence, that is, a sentence in which identical or similar grammatical structure is used to express contrasting ideas.

Aphorism

A concise, pointed statement expressing a wise or clever observation about life.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which an absent or a dead person, an abstract quality, or something nonhuman is addressed directly.

Aside

In drama, lines spoken by a character in an undertone or directly to the audience. An ___ is meant to be heard by the audience, but it is supposedly not heard by the other characters onstage.

Assonance

The repetition of similar vowel sounds, especially in poetry

Atmosphere

The prevailing mood or feeling of a literary work. ____ is often developed, at least in part, through descriptions of setting. Such descriptions help to create an emotional climate for the work that serves to establish the reader’s expectations and attitudes.

Autobiography

A person’s account of his or her own life. An autobiography is generally written in narrative form and includes some introspection. _____ are distinct from diaries, journals, and letters which are not unified life stories written for publication. ____are also different from memoirs, which often deal, at least in part, with public events and important persons other than the author.

Ballad

A story told in verse and usually meant to be sung. In many countries, the folk ___ was one of the earliest forms of literature.

Folk Ballad

____were transmitted orally from generation to generation and were not set down in writing until centuries after they were first sung. The subject matter of ____ stems from the everyday life of the common people. The most popular subjects, often tragic, are disappointed love, jealousy, revenge, sudden disaster, and deeds of adventure and daring. Devices commonly used in ballads are the refrain, incremental repetition, and code language. Another later form is the literary ___, which imitaties the _____.

Ballad Stanza

A type of four-line stanza. The first and third lines have four stressed words or syllables; the second and fourth lines have three stresses. ____ meter is usually iambic. The number of unstressed syllables in each line may vary. The second and fourth lines rhyme.

Biography

A detailed account for a person’s life written by another person. ___in English have taken many different forms since they were first written in medieval times to praise the virtue of saints and to celebrate the feats of heros. The modern biographer aims at accuracy and usually makes an attempt to interpret the personality of the subject. Details of the social and historical circumstances in which the subject lived are often included.

Blank Verse

Verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. ____ is the verse form used in some of the greatest English poetry, including that of William Shakespeare and John Milton.

Caesura

A break or pause in a line of poetry.

Canto

A section or division of a long poem.

Caricature

The use of exaggeration or distortion to make a figure appear comic or ridiculous. A physical characteristic, an eccentricity, a personality trait, or an act may be exaggerated

Carpe Diem Tradition

A tradition dating back to classical Greek and Latin poetry and particularly popular among English Cavalier poets. Phrase means to, “seize the day”—that is, “live for today.”

Characterization

The personality a character displays; also, the means by which a writer reveals that personality. Generally, a writer develops a character in one or more of the following way: 1) through the character’s actions; 2) through the character’s thoughts and speeches; 3) through a physical description of the character; 4) through the opinions others have about the character; 5) through a direct statement about the character telling what the writer thinks of him or her.

Classicism

A movement or tendency in art, literature, or music that reflects the principles manifested in the art of ancient Greece and Rome. ____ emphasizes the traditional and the universal, and places value on reason, clarity, balance, and order. ____, with its concern for reason and universal themes, is traditionally opposed to Romanticism, which is concerned with emotions and personal themes.

Climax

The point of greatest intensity, interest, or suspense in a narrative. The _____ usually marks a story’s turning point. The action leading to the ____ and the simultaneous increase of tension in the plot are known as the rising action. All action after the ___ is referred to as the falling action or resolution. The term “crisis” is sometimes used interchangeably with ____.

Comedy

A literary work that ends happily with a healthy, amicable armistice between the protagonist and society. ____ is distinct from tragedy, which is generally concerned with a protagonist who meets an unhappy or disastrous end. Also, the ____ protagonist may be a person of ordinary character and ability, and need not achieve the heroic stature of the protagonist in a tragedy. ____ are often concerned, at least in part, with exposing human folly, and frequently depict the overthrow of rigid social fashions and customs. Wit, humor, and sense of festivity are found in many ____.

Conceit

A kind of metaphor that makes a comparison between two startlingly different things. A conceit may be a brief metaphor, but it usually provides the framework for an entire poem.

Conflict

A struggle between two opposing forces or characters in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem. ____ can be external or internal, and it can take one of these forms: 1) a person against another person; 2) a person against society; 3) a person against nature; 4) two elements within a person struggling for mastery. ____ is an important element for plot development and provides the basis for suspense.