AP Lit Terms

General terms

Allegory

Abstract ideas in characters or events in the story; a short story.

Allusion

Reference to another work outside of the narrative

Anecdote

Captures the audience at the beginning of a sentence with a short story/joke

Antagonist

Usually the villain

Apostrophe

Character speaks to another character when they are not there

Anagnorisis

Important moment in the story when a character discovers something

Anadiplosis

Repetition of words between sentences, clauses, etc.

Anastrophe

A figure of speech that reverses the normal meaning

Antecedent

The complete opposite

Aphorism

Implies the truth, but does not address it

Aubade

Song that greets the sun in the morning

Bildungsroman

Novel that focuses on the growth of a young protagonist

Ex. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Blank verse

Poetic lines that don’t rhyme

Ballade

Poetry verses that end with the same line

Carpe Diem

Idea to seize the day

Caesura

A brief pause within in a line of poetry

Climax

The turning point in the plot

Colloquialism

Informal language; words native to a specific region

Connotation

An idea that has double meaning

Convention

understanding between a reader and author that does not need to be explained.

Consonance

Repetition of sounds in a line of poetry.

Couplet

Pair of lines that rhyme in poetry

Deus ex machina

A character/God that appears to help resolve conflict

Denouement

The final resolution of a plot

Doppelganger

A double of a character

Double Entendre

Phrase that is open to two interpretations, one of which is usually sexual

Elegy

A sad poem/song for a dead person

Elision

Leaving out certain letters for effect and maintain rhythm

Emotive language

Language that instills a feeling in the reader

Enjambment

Run on sentences with no pause

Epic

Extended narrative poem celebrating a hero

Epigraph

Introductory quote at the beginning of a novel

Epilogue

Short ending at the end of a book

Epiphany

Sudden moment of realization

Epistolary

Novel that tells its story through letters

Ex. Frankenstein beginning

Epistrophe

Repetition of a word at the end of a sentence

Euphemism

Substituting a harsh comment for a more morally accepted one

Fable

Short fictional story with animals, nature etc. to teach a certain lesson

Feminine ending

Unstressed extra sixth syllable at the end of a line of poetry

Figurative language

Writing that departs from literal meaning for further effect

Flashback

Character remembers something from their past

Flat (static) character

Character that does not have many traits and does not change much during the story

Foil

Character that contrasts with the protagonist

Folklore

Beliefs, myths, tales

Foreshadowing

Small moments throughout the story that are clues for later on in the plot

Free verse

Poetry verse that is unrhymed

Foot

Stressed syllables in a line of poetry

(Lamb, Trochee, Dactyl, Anapest, Spondee)

Genre

What category a literary work falls under

Gothic novel

Genre of literary fiction that usually has horror/mystery

Hamartia

Flaws in a character that could lead to their downfall; comes from Greece

Heroine

Female protagonist

Homonym

Two different words that sound similar but have different meanings

Hubris

Greek word that describes the pride of a hero that can lead to their downfall

Hyperbole

Overemphasized speech for dramatic effect

Illocution

Words that do not reveal their true meaning

Imagery

Vivid or figurative language for objects

In medias res

Story that begins at the middle of a plot

Inversion

Sentences in poetry set up as “subject-verb-object”

Irony

Opposite happens in a situation to make humor

(Dramatic Irony, Verbal Irony, Cosmic Irony)

Metonymy

Replaces a word with a symbol that’s associated with it, creating vivid imagery

Masculine ending

Stressed syllable at the end of a line

Memoir

Book about the author’s personal experiences over a short period of time

Metaphor

Figure of speech to make an implicit comparison

Motif

Central theme in a story

Narrator

Main voice of the story

(first person, 3rd person,etc)

Novella

Novel that is only 100 pages

Ode

Elevated and formal poem

Paradox

Contradicted statement

Parody

Skit that imitates the characteristic of another work using comedy

Personification

Inanimate objects are given human qualities

Poetic justice

The characters get what they deserve in the end to find resolution in the plot

Polysyndeton

Multiple conjoining conjunctions when not needed for emphasis

Prequel

Work that takes place before a preexisting work

Prologue

Introduction chapter or scene to a story

Prose

Written in paragraph format with ordinary writing

Protagonist

Main character

Repetition

Repeating a word for emphasis

Rising action

Events leading up to the main point of the story

Round (dynamic) character

Characters with many different characteristics and changing over time

Resolution

Solution to a conflict

Soliloquy

Character talks to themselves when alone and reveals their true feelings

Sonnet

Poem with fourteen lines with two styles: Italian Petrarchan and English Shakespeare

Style

Parts of a book that characterizes its literary group, genre, etc.

Symbol

Object that represents an idea

Synecdoche

Figure of speech when someone uses part of an object instead of an entire object

Tragedy

Ending where main character is brought to ruins as a consequence