AP Lit Quiz

Foil

Foil

Contrasting or complementing character to a main character

Setting

who, what, where, when in a story

Imagery

the use of descriptive language that appeals to the reader's senses

Dynamic Character

one who changes as the story progresses

Antagonist

opposing character to the protagonist in a piece of literature

Archetype

a detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the subconscious and to evoke a response

Narrator

a fictional character or voice that tells a story from a specific point of view

Juxtaposition

placing two things closely together to emphasize comparison or contrast

Irony

a literary device that occurs when there is a contrast between what is expected and what actually happens

Catharsis

emotional release for or with the character as the story progresses

Motif

recurring ideas, images, and actions that tend to unify a work

Dialogue

a written or spoken exchange between two or more characters in a work, such as a book, play, or poem

Denouement

falling action; resolution

In Medias Res

“in the middle” -- the story begins in the middle of a conflict or situation, instead of the beginning

Theme

symbol can lead the reader to a greater understanding of a life lesson or truth the reader can apply in life

Epiphany

a moment of clarty for a character that helps lead to a theme or character development

Flashback

when a story moves from present to past in narration and tense to bring light to an event in the past

Falling Action

plot events that bring us to the resolution or denouement

Foreshadowing

a literary device that hints at events that will happen later in a story

Symbol

deeper meaning to an object in a story

Allusion

a brief reference to a person, place, event, or other work of literature that is used to deepen the reader's understanding of the text

Cliche

a word, phrase, or idea that has become so overused that it has lost its original meaning or effect

Paradox

a literary device that appears to be contradictory but contains some truth or deeper meaning

Hyperbole

exaggerated statements

Anecdote

Story or quote about an incident to explain relevance or connection

Euphemism

a word or phrase that softens an uncomfortable topic

Anaphora

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row

Personification

a literary device where a non-human object, animal, or idea is given human qualities or traits

Analogy

the comparison of two similar things so as to suggest that if they are alike in some respects, there are probably other similarities as well

Denotation vs. Connotation

literal meaning of a word vs. figurative meaning or emotional associations of a word