AP Lit Terms - Unit 1

Allegory

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Allusion

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event

Apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.

Chiasmus

a rhetorical or literary figure in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order, in the same or a modified form

Connotation

an idea or feeling that a word invokes

Denotation

the literal meaning of a word

Diction

A writer's or speaker's choice of words

elegy

a sad or mournful poem

Epithet

an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned.

Euphamism

indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

farce

A comedy that contains an extravagant and nonsensical disregard of seriousness, although it may have a serious, scornful purpose.

Hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Imagery

language that appeals to the senses

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality

juxtaposition

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts

Metaphor

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

Mood

Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader

Simile

A comparison using "like" or "as"

metomyny

a figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated. (E.g. "suits" for "business executives."

Paradox

A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

parody

A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.

point of view

the perspective from which a story is told

First Person POV

the narrator is a character in the story

Second Person POV

The narrator tells the story using the pronouns "You", "Your," and "Yours" to address a reader or listener directly

Third Person POV

The narrator tells the story using the pronouns, "He," "She," and "It" when referring to a person, place, thing, or idea.

Personification

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

Onomonopia

The use of words or sounds which resemble the sounds they describe. (ex boom, psst)

Rhetoric question

A question asked more to produce an effect than to summon an answer.

Satire

A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies.

Sonnet

14 line poem

Elizabeth sonnet

ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

Petrarchan sonnet

8 line octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba, followed by a sestet with the rhyme pattern cdecde or cdcdcd

symbol

A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

Tone

Attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character