AP Literary Terms

Allegory

story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities. Ex. Animal Farm; Dante’s Inferno; Lord of the Flies

Alliteration

repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together.

Allusion

an indirect reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture.

ambiguity

deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work. An event or situtation that may be interpreted in more than one way, (When it is NOT done on purpose, it is vagueness and detracts from the work.)

analogy

comparison made between two things to show how they are alike. “The human heart is like a pump with blood vessels being the pipes.”

anaphora

repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row This may emphasize a point and/or contribute to rhythm

anastrophe

inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence. Its purpose is rhythm or emphasis or euphony, “The greatest teacher, failure is.” —Yoda

anecdote

brief story told to illustrate a point or serve as an example. In fiction it can reflect character

Antagonist

Opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero/protagonist in a story.

Antimetabole

Repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order. Ex. “One should eat to live, not live to eat.”

Antithesis

Balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by means of grammatical structure. “Man proposes, God disposes.” “Folks who have no vices have very few virtues.”

Antihero

Central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with heroes. May lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples.

Anthropomorphism

attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object

Aphorism

brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life, or of a principle or accepted general trust. Also called maxim, epigram

Apostrophe

calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea. If the character is asking a god or goddess for inspiration or talking it is called an invocation.

Assonance

the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds especially in words that are close together

Asyndeton

Commas used without conjunction to seperate a series of words, thus emphasizing the parts equally. “The job required patience, humor, strength.”

Bildungsroman

a novel focused on a coming-of-age story in which the protagonist matures, learning about life and himself

Characterization

the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character

Indirect Characterization

the author reveals to the reader that the character is like by describing how the character looks and dresses, by letting the reader hear what the character says, by revealing the character’s private thoughts and feelings, by revealing the characters effect on other people, showing how other characters feel or behave toward the character, or by showing the character in action, Common in modern literature.

Direct Characterization

the author tells us directly what the character is like: sneaky, generous, mean, and so on.

Static character

is one who does not change much in the course of a story.

Dynamic character

is one who changes in some important way as a result of the story’s action.

Flat character

has only one or two personality traits. They are on dimensional, like a piece of cardboard, They can be summed up in one phrase.

Round Character

has more dimensions to their personalities—-they are complex, just as real people are.

Chiasmus

a type of rhetorical balance used in poetry in which the second part is syntactically balanced against the first, but with the parts reversed. “Flowers are lovely, love is flowerlike.” —Coleridge

Cliche

is a word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless because of overuse. Avoid clichés like the plague.

Colloquialism

a word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing but is inappropriate for formal situations. Ex. “He’s out of his head if he thinks I’m gonna go for such a stupid idea”

Comedy

in general, a story that ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced by the main character or characters

Conceit

an elaborate metaphor that compares two things that are startlingly different Often an extended metaphor.

Confessional Poetry

a twentieth-century term used to describe poetry that uses intimate material from the poet life

Conflict

The struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story

External conflict

conflicts can exist between two people, between a person and nature or technology or between a person and a whole society

Internal Conflict

a conflict can be internal, involving opposing forces within a person’s mind. Often categorized thus: Man vs. Man; Man vs. Nature; Man vs. Self; Man vs. Society; Man vs Fate/the Supernatural/God; Man vs. Technology.

Connotation

the associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition.

Couplet

two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry

dialect

a way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area. May be formal or informal. “Swimmin” instead of “swimming” may be part of an American South dialect.

Diction

a speaker or writer’s choice of words. May be formal; informal; colloquial; connotative; denotative; abstract; concrete; etc.

Didactic

form of fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.

Dystopian Novel

speculative fiction that offers a vision of a future, often featuring a disastrous decline or characters who battle technology or government oppression

Elegy

a poem of mourning, usually about someone who has died. (Not to be confused with a eulogy, which is the speech delivered at a funeral)

epic

a long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society

epigraph

a quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of the theme.

epistrophe

device of repetition in which the same expression (single word of phrase) is repeated at the end of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences. The opposite of anaphora. “A government of the people, for the people, and by the people.”

Epithet

an adjective or adjective phrase applied to a person or thing that is frequently used to emphasize a characteristic quality. “Father of our country” and “the great emancipator” are examples…

Explication

act of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text, usually involves close reading and special attention to figurative language.

Fable

a very short story told in prose or poetry that teaches a practical lesson about how to succeed in life

farce

a type of comedy in which ridiculous and often stereotyped characters are involved in silly, far-fetched situations

Figurative language

words which are inaccurate if interpreted literally but are used to describe. Similies and metaphors are common forms

flashback

a scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time.

foil

a character who acts as contrast to another character. Often a funny side kick to the dashing hero, or villain that contrasts with the hero

foreshadowing

the use of hints and clues to suggest what will later happen in a plot

free verse

poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme

hyperbole

a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect. “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times…”

Imagery

the use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation in the reader of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience. Imagery may be visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, or kinesthetic

Irony

a discrepancy between appearances and reality

Verbal Irony

occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else

Situational irony

takes place when there is a discrepancy. between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen

dramatic irony

when a play or film audience knows something that the character does not

juxtaposition

poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit. Ezra Pound: “The apparition of these faces in the crowd:/Petals on a wet, black bough.”

Litotes

is a form of understatement in which the positive form is emphasized through the negation of a negative form. “A donation to Signature of one million dollars would not be unwelcome.”

lyrical poem

a poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker. A ballad tells a story

metaphor

a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles.

implied metaphor

does not state explicitly the two terms of the comparison: “I like to see it lap the miles” is an implied metaphor in which the verb lap implies a comparison between “it” and some animal that “laps” up water

extended metaphor

is a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it. (called a conceit if it is quite elaborate).

mixed metaphor

is a metaphor that has gotten out of control and mixes its terms so that they are visually or imaginatively incompatible. “The President is a lame duck who is running out of gas.”

Metonymy

a figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing, is referred to by something closely associated with it. “We requested from the crown support for our petition.” The crown is used to represent the monarch him/herself.

mood

an atmosphere created by a writer’s diction and the details selected

motif

a recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the work by trying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme. Vonnegut uses “So it goes” throughout Slaughterhouse-Five to remind the reader of the senselessness of death. The mansions, parties, and Rolls Royces in the Great Gatsby signify a motif of wealth and excess.

motivation

the reasons for a character’s behavior

onomatopoeia

the use of words whose sounds echo their sense. “pop.” “

oxymoron

a figure of speech that combines opposite or a contradictory terms in a brief phrase. “Jumbo shrimp.” “Civil War.” “Pretty Ugly.”

parable

a relatively short story that teaches a moral or lesson about how to lead a good life.

paradox

a statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of trust. EX. Hamlet says “I must be cruel to be kind.”

parallel structure

(parallelism) the repition of words or phrases that have similar gramatical structures. Julius Caesar: “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

parody

a work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer’s style

periodic

sentence that places the main idea or central complete thought at the end of the sentence, after all introductory elements. Used for suspense of emphasis. “To strive for excellence, to remain a lifelong learner, that is the Signature way.”

personification

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

plot

the series of related events in a story or play, sometimes called the storyline.

exposition

introduces characters, situation, and setting

rising action

complications in conflict and situations (may introduce new ones as well)

climax

that point in a plot that creates the greatest intensity, suspense, or interest. Also called “turning point”

falling action

when the tensionsare resolving and loose ends are wrapped up

denouement or resolution

the conclusion of a story, when all or most of the conflicts have been settled.

point of view

the vantage point from which the writer tells the story

third person limited

an unknown narrator, tells the story, but the narrator zooms in to focus on the thoughts and feelings of only one character.

third person omniscient

anomniscient or all-knowing narrator tells the story, also using the third person pronouns. This narrator, instead of focusing on one character only, often tells us everything about the thoughts and actions of many characters

objective point of view

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

first person

one of the characters tells the story

polysyndeton

sentence which uses NO commas to separate the items in a series that rather uses a repeated conjunctions. “They enjoyed pancakes and sytrup and juice and coffee.” Can create a rhythm expressing urgency or excitement

protagonist

the central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action. Usually the hero or antihero. In a tragic hero, like John Proctor of The Crucible, there is always a tragic flaw in his character which will lead to his downfall

pun

a “play on words” based on multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things. “Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.” (grave=serious and also dead.)

refrain

a word, phrase, line, or group of lines repeated, for effect, several times in a poem

rhythm

a rise and fall of the voice produced by the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language

rhetoric

art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse.

rhetorical question

a question asked for an effect and not requiring an answer

satire

a type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change

simile

a figure of speech that makes an explicitly comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as, than, or resembles.

soliloquy

a speech made by a character in a play, while no other characters are on stage, sharing that character’s thoughts and feelings with the audience. (if a very brief comment, its called an aside.)

stream of consciousness

narrative style that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character’s mind. “Having lived in Westminister - how many years now? Over twenty - one feels even in the midst of traffic, or waking at night, Clarissa was positive, a particular hush, or solemnity; an indescribable pause: a suspense (but that might be her heart, affected, they said, by influenza) before Big Ben strikes…” —Virginia Woolf