AP Lit Literary Terms

Allegory

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

Allusion

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

Ambiguity

The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.

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

Anaphora

the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

Anastrophe

a specific type of inversion that rearranges words for emphasis or poetic effect

Anecdote

a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person

Antimetabole

repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order

Antithesis

the direct opposite, a sharp contrast

Anti-hero

a central character in a story, movie, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes.

Antagonist

A character or force in conflict with the main character

Aphorism

A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life.

Apostrophe

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

Assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity

Blank Verse

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

Cacophony

A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds

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.

Chiasmus

A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed

Cliché

a worn-out idea or overused expression

Comic Relief

A humorous scene or speech intended to lighten the mood

Conceit

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

External Conflict

A struggle between a character and an outside force

Internal Conflict

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

Connotation

an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

Consonance

Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.

Couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word

Deus Ex Machina

an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel.

Dynamic Character

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

Static Character

A character that does not change from the beginning of the story to the end

Direct Characterization

Author directly describes character

Indirect Characterization

Author subtly reveals the character through actions and interactions.

Elegy

a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.

Enjambment

A run-on line of poetry in which logical and grammatical sense carries over from one line into the next.

Epiphany

A moment of sudden revelation or insight

Epithet

an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned.

Epistrophe

the repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences

Euphemism

An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

Euphony

pleasant, harmonious sound

Falling Action

Events after the climax, leading to the resolution

Figurative Language

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

Flat Character

A character who embodies a single quality a

Round Character

A character who demonstrates some complexity

Flashback

a scene in a movie, novel, etc., set in a time earlier than the main story.

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.

Hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Imagery

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

Internal Rhyme

A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line

Inversion

general reversal of normal word order (variation of the subject-verb-object order)

Verbal Irony

A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant

Situtational Irony

something happens that isn't what was expected

Dramatic Irony

when a reader is aware of something that a character isn't

Litotes

A form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite

Lyrics (poem)

speaker telling about thoughts and feelings, not telling a story

Implied Metaphor

Implies or suggests the comparison between the two thing without stating it directly

Extended Metaphor

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

Dead Metaphor

a metaphor that has been used so often that the comparison is no longer vivid

Mixed Metaphor

a combination of two or more incompatible metaphors, which produces a ridiculous effect

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it

Mood

Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader

Motif

A recurring theme, subject or idea

Motivation (of a character)

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

Objective Point Of View

a narrator who is totally impersonal and objective tells the story, with no comment on any characters or events.

Omniscient Point Of View

The point of view where the narrator knows everything about the characters and their problems - told in the 3rd person.

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.

Paradox

A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

Parallelism

similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses

Paraphrase

to restate in other words

Personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

exposition

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

rising action

Events leading up to the climax

climax

Most exciting moment of the story; turning point

resolution

End of the story where loose ends are tied up

denouement

an outcome; result

1st person Point of View

The narrator is a character in the story. ( I, me, my, we, our )

2nd person Point of View

when the narrator refers to one of the characters (or the reader) as "You"

3rd person Point of View

narrator is NOT involved in the story; uses "he," "she," "they

Pun

A play on words

Quatrain

A four line stanza

Refrain

A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem.

Repetition

Repeated use of sounds, words, or ideas for effect and emphasis

Rhetorical Question

A question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer

Satire

A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies.

Setting

The time and place of a story

Simile

A comparison using "like" or "as"

Soliloquy

A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage

Stanza

a group of lines forming the basic recurring metrical unit in a poem; a verse.

Stream of Consciousness

a style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character's mind.

Symbol

A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

Theme

the subject of a talk, a piece of writing, a person's thoughts, or an exhibition; a topic.

Tone

A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter

Tragedy

A serious form of drama dealing with the downfall of a heroic or noble character

Understatement

the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.