AP Literature Terms Lecture Notes

Flashcards covering literary, syntactical, and poetic terms with definitions and examples from the provided lecture transcript.

Cacophony (poetic)

The use of words and phrases that imply strong, harsh sounds within the phrase; these jarring and dissonant sounds create a disturbing, objectionable atmosphere.

Caesura (poetic)

A pause in a line or sentence formed by the rhythms of natural speech rather than by metrics, creating a fracture where two parts are distinguishable yet intrinsically linked. It is denoted by a period, semicolon, dash, or exclamation within the sentence, but punctuation at the end of a line of poetry is not a caesura.

Allusion (literary)

A reference to another work, concept, or situation which generally enhances the meaning of the work that is citing it; types include mythological, biblical, historical, literary, political, and contemporary.

Mythological allusions

References to specific mythological characters or events, such as referring to the power of Zeus or the beauty of Aphrodite, or Hamlet's reference "She followed like Niobe, all tears."

Biblical allusions

References to biblical circumstances or characters, such as "the mark of Cain," "the tribulations of Job," or having the "loyalty of Ruth."

Historical allusions

References to major historical events, such as Napoleon meeting his Waterloo or Nixon dealing with Watergate.

Literary allusions

References to other well-known pieces of literature, such as West Side Story referencing Romeo and Juliet, or describing a character as "quixotic" in reference to Don Quixote.

Political allusions

Sustained or brief references to political events or figures; for example, The Crucible is a historical allusion to the Salem witch trials and a statement about McCarthyism in the 1950s.

Contemporary allusions

References to current popular culture that may lose effectiveness when the context is no longer in the public eye, such as "May the odds be ever in your favor" from Hunger Games.

Anadiplosis (syntactical)

Repetition of a prominent last word in one phrase or clause at the beginning of the next, such as "Rely on honor- honor such as his."

Anaphora (syntactical)

Repetition where the same expression is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines.

Anastrophe (syntactical)

A figure of speech involving an inversion of the natural syntax of a sentence for the sake of emphasis or effect.

Apostrophe (literary)

A figure of speech where an absent person, abstract quality, or non-existent personage is addressed as if capable of understanding and responding.

Assonance (poetic)

The repetition of vowel sounds, such as "She sang in a low tone."

Asyndeton (syntactical)

The omission of conjunctions that ordinarily join successive words or clauses, such as "I burn. I pine. I perish."

Colloquialism

A word or phrase used in ordinary or familiar conversation that is not formal or literary.

Conceit (poetic)

An elaborate or unusual comparison in which two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of a simile, metaphor, hyperbole and/or contradiction.

Connotation (literary)

The cultural and emotional implications and associations that words carry beyond their literal definitions.

Consonance (poetic)

A literary device in which a consonant sound is repeated in words that are in close proximity, appearing anywhere in the words.

Couplet (poetic)

In poetry, a pair of lines that end in rhyme.

Cumulative (loose) Sentence (syntactical)

An independent clause followed by a series of subordinate constructions (phrases or clauses) that gather details about a person, place, event, or idea.

Denotation (literary)

The basic meaning of a word, independent of its emotional associations; the dictionary definition.

Doppelgänger (literary)

A German term meaning the "double" of a character, usually depicted as a dark double or "evil twin."

Enjambment (syntactical)

The running over of a sentence from one line of verse into another so that closely related words fall in different lines.

Epanalepsis (syntactical)

Repetition at the end of a clause of a word that occurred at the beginning, such as "Year chases year" or "Common sense is not so common."

Epanorthosis (syntactical)

Rephrasing of an immediately preceding word or statement for emphasis by retracting a word/phrase to substitute a stronger or more specific one.

Epistrophe (syntactical)

Repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive clauses, phrases, sentences, or verses, such as Lincoln's "Of the people. By the people. For the people."

Euphemism (literary)

The substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt, such as using "passed away" instead of "died."

Euphony (poetic)

Derived from the Greek "euphonos" (sweet-voiced), it is the use of words and phrases distinguished as having melody or loveliness, creating pleasing and soothing effects due to repeated vowels and smooth consonants.

Foil (literary)

A character used as a source of contrast to the protagonist to highlight their moral, emotional, or intellectual qualities; they can be friends or enemies.

Hyperbole (literary)

A literary device used for exaggeration, such as "I’ve heard that a million times."

Juxtaposition (literary)

Placing two images, symbols, or ideas close together for the purpose of comparison or contrast.

Litotes (literary)

An understatement in which a thing is affirmed by stating the negative of its opposite, such as "He was not displeased."

Metonymy (literary)

Substitution of a term for one thing by something closely associated with it, such as using "the press" for media or "suits" for business people.

Mood (literary)

The atmosphere of a literary piece that evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through setting, theme, tone, and diction.

Motif (literary)

A conspicuous recurring element such as an incident, device, reference, object, idea, or verbal formula that appears frequently in a work.

Onomatopoeia (poetic)

The use of words whose sounds reinforce their meaning, such as "pop" or "splash."

Oxymoron (literary)

From the Greek for "pointedly foolish," it is a figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms together, such as "cruel kindness."

Paradox (literary)

A statement that appears contradictory but in fact has some truth, such as "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

Periodic Sentence (syntactical)

A sentence that contains the main or independent clause at the end, with additional grammatical units leading up to it, so it does not make sense until the end.

Polysyndeton (syntactical)

The use of many conjunctions in close succession.

Slant Rhyme (poetic)

A type of rhyme (also called imperfect or near rhyme) where two words at the end of a line of poetry end in similar but not identical consonant sounds.

Syllepsis (literary)

A grammatically correct construction in which one word is placed in the same grammatical relationship to two words but in different senses, often one literal and one figurative.

Synecdoche (literary)

The use of a part to signify the whole, such as "hired hands" for workers or "mouths to feed" for people.

Synesthesia (literary)

The practice of associating two or more different senses in the same image, or when one sensory stimulus evokes the subjective experience of another.

Tone (literary)

The author’s attitude toward their material, the audience, or both, which can be identified by considering how a work would sound if read aloud.