AP Lit Literary Terms

point of view

the vantage point from which events are presented; perspective refers to how narrators, characters, or speakers see their circumstances, while point of view refers to the position from which a narrator or speaker relates the events of a narrative. Possible points of view are first person, 3rd person omniscient, 3rd person limited.

omniscient narrator

narrator who is free to reveal or comment on any character’s thoughts; such a narrator knows the actions and internal realities of everyone in the story

limited narrator

a narrator type that focuses on only what a single character experiences

unreliable narrator

narrator who misrepresents events or misdirects readers; untrustworthy for a variety of reasons including the narrator’s stupidity or lack of morality

naive narrator

unreliable because she doesn’t understand the story she’s telling

objective narrator

a narrator who remains entirely outside the characters’ minds; this perspective is the same that one would get by simply watching the action unfold on a stage

observer

narrator type who plays a relatively small part in the action and reports events experienced by others

dialogue

conversation between two or more characters

stream of consciousness

form of narration controlled not by external events but by the thoughts and subjective impressions of the narrator, commonly found in modern English and American Literature; readers participate in the thoughts processes of narrator in this type of narration

tone

attitude of narrator (or author) toward the subject

plot

the way in which the events of the story are arranged

subplot

a secondary series of events in a narrative; a secondary string of events that is clearly less significant than the primary series of events

exposition

basic information needed to understand the events of the narrative

conflict

struggle between opposing forces; often created by forces that oppose the protagonist or chief character

foreshadowing

hints of events to come

flashback

departure from chronological order that presents an event or situation that occurred before the time in which the story’s action takes place; a narrative element that communicates events out of sequence

crisis

a peak in the story’s action; a moment of considerable tension but not the climactic moment

climax

the point of greatest tension or importance

denouement

drawing the action of a narrative to a close and accounting for all loose ends

atmosphere

the emotional or psychological aspects of setting

major character

individual who is the focus of the story; protagonist; chief character

antagonist

the character, or force, in conflict with the main character, or protagonist.

round character

a complex and fully developed character; a character who is closely involved in the action of the plot and responsive to it

flat charactrer

a stereotypical character known only for a certain trait or set of characteristics

foil

a supporting character who highlights the qualities of major characters through contrast; this word is NOT a verb in this context—in other words, one character cannot foil another

dynamic character

a character who grows or changes over the course of the narrative

static character

a character who remains essentially unchanged throughout the narrative

caricature

individuals characterized by a single, dominant, often exaggerated trait

stock characters

easily identifiable character types that behave predictably

characterization

way in which writers develop their characters and reveal those characters’ traits to readers

motivation

reasons behind a character’s actions that make the reader accept or believe the character

myth

story central to a culture; embodies the religious and social values of a culture, often explaining natural phenomenon; often involving gods and heroes

allegory

story with two parallel and consistent levels of meaning, one literal and one figurative, in which the figurative level offers a moral or political lesson

style

constituted of elements such as word choice, syntax, imagery

formal diction

language characterized by complex sentences, a learned vocabulary, and an objective tone

informal diction

language characterized by slang, colloquial expressions, and/or sentence fragments

understatement

a figure of speech that minimizes or trivializes its subject

symbol

a person, object, place, or event that suggest a more complex meaning or range of meanings in addition to its literal significance

allegorical figure

a character or object in a story that has only one meaning (i.e. good or evil); differs from a symbol in that a symbol can represent several concepts or a complex network of meanings

similie

figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between dissimilar items (using like or as)

imagery

words and phrases that describe what is seen, heard, smelled, tasted or touched

allusion

references to cultural, biblical, literary texts or events

bildungsroman

the combination of two German words: Bildung, meaning “education,” and Roman, meaning “novel;” fittingly, a bildungsroman is a novel that deals with the formative years of the main character - in particular, his or her psychological development and moral education

conflict

a struggle between opposing forces; it is usually the main problem presented within the story.

There are two kinds:

Internal: when a character is in conflict with himself or herself.

External: when the main character struggles against an outside force. This force may be another character, the standards or expectations of a group (society), nature, or the supernatural

irony

portrays differences between appearance and reality or expectation and result.

verbal irony

words are used to suggest the opposite of what is meant (what is said is the opposite of what is meant)

dramatic irony

there is a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader or audience knows to be true (the reader or audience knows more about the state of affairs than the character)

situational irony

an event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, reader, or audience (when what occurs is the opposite of what is expected)

ambiguity

device in which authors intentionally evoke a number of possible meanings of a word or grammatical structure by leaving unclear which meaning they intend

antihero

a modern character who possess the opposite attributes of a hero. Rather than being dignified and powerful, the antihero tends to be passive and ineffectual.

archetype

image or symbol that is so common or important that it seems to have universal significance. Many archetypes appear in classical myths (for example, a journey to the underworld).

cliche

overused phrase or expression

comedy

any literary work, but especially a play, in which events end happily, a character’s forturns are reversed for the better, and a community is drawn more closely together, often by the marriage of one or more protagonists at the end

comedy of manners

satiric comedy that achieved great popularity in the nineteenth century. This form focuses on the manners and customs of society and directs its satire against the characters who violate its social conventions and norms.

connotation

meaning that a word suggests beyond its literal, dictionary meaning; its emotional associations, judgements, or opinions. Connotations can be positive, neutral, or negative.

denotation

dictionary meaning of a word; its explicit, literal meaning

euphemism

word consciously chosen for its pleasant connotations; often used for subjects such as sex and death, whose frank discussion is somewhat taboo in our society. For example, a euphemism for die is pass away.

tragedy

literary work, especially a play, that recounts the downfall of an individual