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AP Literature Vocab > Allusion and Explanations > Flashcards

Allusion and Explanations Flashcards

1
Q

Adonis

A
  • handsome
  • greek
  • fertility
  • Persephone vs Aphrodite (Love Triangle)
  • man turned into bull and killed
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2
Q

“All the World’s a Stage”

A
  • Shakespeare
  • Richard Edward’s “Damon and Pithius”
  • everyone has a role for something
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3
Q

Alpha and Omega

A
  • First and Last
  • greek
  • Biblical - Jesus Christ
  • juxtaposition
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4
Q

Apocalypse

A
  • Biblical
  • revealing something that was previously hidden (heaven)
  • world’s end
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5
Q

Armageddon

A
  • final battle between good and evil

- place final battle takes place

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6
Q

Byronic

A
  • characteristic of Lord Byron

- satirical, romantic, paradoxic poems

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7
Q

Cain and Abel

A
  • Biblical
  • brother kills brother because brother’s gifts to God are better
  • killer branded as first murderer
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8
Q

Camelot

A
  • Arthurian

- rich, wealthy kingdom with young ruler

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9
Q

Cyrano

A
  • play

- military, talented but not attractive

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10
Q

David and Bathsheba

A
  • Biblical

- King sees Bathsheba bathing and falls in love so he puts her husband (Uriah) on the frontlines in war to kill him

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11
Q

David and Goliath

A
  • Biblical

- kid kills giant to win war

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12
Q

Don Quixote

A
  • pretends to be a hero

- looks foolish

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13
Q

Don Juan

A
  • womanizer
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14
Q

Dorian Gray

A
  • novel in which main character is narcissistic

- fatal flaw

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15
Q

Excalibur

A
  • Arthurian
  • magic sword in stone
  • only the true King can pull it out
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16
Q

Eye of the Needle

A
  • easier to fit a camel in the eye of a needle than a rich man into heaven
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17
Q

“Face That Launched a Thousand Ships”

A
  • mythology
  • Helen of Troy
  • power of a woman’s beauty
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18
Q

Four Horsemen

A
  • Biblical
  • 4 of 7 seals brought to four horsemen
  • apocalypse, famine, war, death
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19
Q

Galahad

A
  • Arthurian
  • son of Lancelot - Holy Grail - perfect knight
  • purity, virginity, only knight to attain Grail
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20
Q

Gauntlet

thrown down

A
  • medieval method of challenging someone to a duel

- to accept, pick up the glove

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21
Q

Good Samaritan

A
  • Biblical
  • rival helps severely injured rival
  • enemy to friend
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22
Q

Handwriting on the Wall

A
  • impending misfortune
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23
Q

Harpy

A
  • mythology

- creature that eats people

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24
Q

Hatfields and McCoys

A
  • two families at war
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25
Q

Hector

A
  • mythology
  • Prince of Troy who is bullied
  • killed by Achilles
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26
Q

Icarus

A
  • mythology
  • son of Daedalus
  • both prisoners in Labyrinth in Crëte
  • Daedalus builds wings to escape but son dies
27
Q

Ishmael

A
  • Biblical
  • Abraham’s first son (adopted)
  • banished and raised by God
  • father of Islam
28
Q

Jezebel

A
  • Biblical
  • Queen of Israel, evil sorceress
  • falsely accused a commoner of theft
  • seduces would-be killer
29
Q

Job

A
  • Biblical
  • deal between Devil and God
  • God tests Job’s faith by taking his stuff
  • Job’s faith in God never falters
30
Q

Judas

A
  • Biblical
  • betrays Jesus with a kiss for 30 pieces of silver
  • ticket to hell
31
Q

Immaculate Conception

A
  • Biblical
  • Mary, Mother of Jesus
  • without original sin = perfect mother of Jesus
32
Q

Lemmings

A
  • rodents
  • mass, undesired inhabitation
  • run off cliffs (suicidal) because they follow the crowd
33
Q

Lilliputians

A
  • a trivial pr very small person or thing

- Gulliver’s Travels

34
Q

Lothario

A
  • man who behaves selfishly and irresponsibly in his sexual relationships with women
  • Rowe’s Fair Penitent
35
Q

Machiavellian

A
  • to be cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous especially in politics or in advancing one’s own career
  • Niccolo Machiavelli
36
Q

Malaprop

A
  • Literary
  • The Rivals, Mrs. Malaprop
  • replaces words with words of different meaning but similar sound
  • comedic affect
37
Q

“Marriage of True Minds”

A
  • Shakespeare
  • Sonnet 16
  • love connection or soul mates
38
Q

Mercurial

A
  • Roman god Mercury (Hermes)

- mood swings, temper, changeable

39
Q

Modest Proposal

A
  • essay
  • ironic, not modest
  • to survive famine, eat babies
40
Q

Muse

A
  • mythology
  • greek
  • story tellers (art, music, etc)
41
Q

Narcissism

A
  • mythology
  • greek
  • Narcissus - cursed to love himself devoutly
  • overbearing pride, arrogance, selfish
42
Q

Olympian

A
  • mythology
  • greek gods (12) from Mount Olympus
  • superiority, greatness
43
Q

“Out, Damned Spot”

A
  • Shakespeare
  • MacBeth
  • blood on hands
  • guilt
44
Q

Pandora’s Box

A
  • mythology
  • greek
  • curiosity, temptation, things that shouldn’t be seen but are
  • Pandora opens box and releases everything bad to humanity but hope stays
45
Q

Pavlovian

A
  • learning procedure

- ring the bell before feeding dogs, dogs learn to expect food

46
Q

Pericles

A
  • greek
  • ruler of Athens
  • great and influential leader
47
Q

Poetic Justice

A
  • a fitting or deserved retribution for one’s actions
48
Q

“Pound of Flesh”

A
  • someone’s insistance of being repaid even if it ruins the debtor
49
Q

Primrose Path

A
  • a facade of niceness
50
Q

Prodigal Son

A
  • Biblical
  • son takes his inheritance early, spends it all, and returns to his father for aid. The father is so happy to see him that he throws a party
51
Q

Pyrrhic Victory

A
  • victory so devastating not an actual victory
  • huge cost of winning
  • greek
52
Q

Samson and Delilah

A
  • Biblical

- Delilah is paid to betray her husband. She takes his strength and turns him in to people who hate him.

53
Q

Sodom and Gomorrah

A
  • Biblical
  • two cities of pure evil and sinners
  • angels go down to test them and they fail so God destroys them
  • Pillar of Salt
54
Q

Solomon

A
  • Biblical

- God talks to Solomon. Solomon will be wise if he follows God. He fails.

55
Q

“Sound and Fury”

A
  • Shakespeare
  • uproar and drama over a small matter
  • MacBeth
56
Q

Svengali

A
  • Trilby
  • seduces Jewish and then takes advantage of her fame
  • a manipulator
57
Q

Tantalize

A
  • greek
  • mythology
  • Tantalus - punished by never eating or drinking but in a pond under a fruit tree
  • to tease with something unattainable
58
Q

“The best of all possible worlds”

A
  • series of letters from essays
  • Earth is the best of all world’s
  • battle with God
59
Q

The phoenix

A
  • greek
  • mythology
  • bird dies in fire and is reborn from the ashes
  • rebirth
60
Q

Titanic

A
  • greek
  • mythology
  • strong, powerful being before the gods
61
Q

Uncle Tom

A
  • Uncle Tom’s Cabin
  • derogatory term for a subservient, low-class person
  • kiss-up
62
Q

Valhalla

A
  • viking/ Norse
  • mythology
  • special heaven for warriors and heros
63
Q

Waterloo

A
  • Napoleon Bonaparte
  • huge defeat/ absolute destruction
  • to have a goal but fail epically
64
Q

Yahoo

A
  • Gulliver’s Travels
  • crude British person searching for jewels and money’
  • savage, uncivilized humans

AP Literature Vocab (3 decks)

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