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AP English Literature and Composition > AP Exam Flashcards - Glossary > Flashcards

AP Exam Flashcards - Glossary

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

gerund

A

word that acts as both a noun and a verb
ex. “swimming across the lake is fun” - swimming

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2
Q

participle

A

word that acts as both an adjective and a verb
ex. “the girl, swimming across the lake, reminds me of my sister” - swimming

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3
Q

abstract

A

complex style discussing intangibles (good, evil), usually without examples as support

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4
Q

academic

A

dry, theoretical writing (analysis)

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5
Q

accent

A

stressed portion of a word in a poem (sometimes interpretable, sometimes not)

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6
Q

aesthetic(s)

A

adj: appealing to the senses
noun: coherent sense of taste
aesthetics (pl.): study of beauty

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7
Q

allegory

A

story where each aspect has a symbolic meaning beyond the text

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8
Q

alliteration

A

repetition of initial sounds

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9
Q

allusion

A

reference to another work or famous figure
- classical: Greek, Roman mythology, literature like “The Iliad”
- topical: current event
- popular: pop culture

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10
Q

anachronism

A

“misplaced in time”
ex. if an actor in “Julius Caesar” forgets to take off his wristwatch, which doesn’t belong in that time

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11
Q

analogy

A

comparison, usually between two or more symbolic parts

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12
Q

anecdote

A

short narrative

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13
Q

antagonist

A

character, group, characteristic, entity in opposition to protagonist

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14
Q

antecedent

A

a word, phrase, or clause that a pronoun replaces or is in reference to
ex. “the principal asked the children where they were going” - they is the pronoun, children the antecedent

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15
Q

anthropomorphism

A

when inanimate objects, animals, natural phenomena are given human characteristics or motivations

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16
Q

anticlimax

A

when an action has a smaller effect than expected; usually comic

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17
Q

aphorism

A

short and witty saying

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18
Q

apostrophe

A

address to someone not present, or to a personified object/idea

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19
Q

archaism

A

deliberate use of old-fashioned language (feelings of antiquity)

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20
Q

archetypes

A

standard, cliched character types

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21
Q

aside

A

short comment made by actor to audience, as if stepping aside of the action on stage

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22
Q

ballad

A

long, narrative poem with regular meter and rhyme; naive, folk-like, distinguished from epic poetry

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23
Q

bathos

A

straining for grandiosity with no effect

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24
Q

bombast

A

pretentious, exaggerated language (use of largest and most uncommon words, maybe)

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25
Q

burlesque

A

broad parody
ex. taking on “Hamlet” and exaggerating it until ridiculous

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26
Q

cacophony

A

deliberately harsh, awkward sounds

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27
Q

canto

A

name for a section division in long poetry (think chapters)

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28
Q

catharsis

A

“cleansing” of emotion of an audience member after having lived vicariously through a performance

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29
Q

chorus

A

group of people who stand outside and comment on main action

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30
Q

classic vs. classical

A

classic: typical, or accepted masterpiece
classical: arts of ancient Greece/Rome

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31
Q

coinage (neologism)

A

word invented on the spot
ex. using someone’s name as a replacement for something bad

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32
Q

colloquialisim

A

word or phrase used in conventional English that is not “schoolbook” (formal)

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33
Q

conceit, controlling image, extended metaphor

A

poetry; startling, unusual metaphor, one developed over several lines
controlling image: metaphor that dominates the work

34
Q

denotation

A

literal meaning

35
Q

connotation

A

everything but a literal meaning; everything suggested/implied

36
Q

consonance

A

repetition of consonant sounds within words, not at beginning
ex. flock of sick black ducks

37
Q

couplet

A

pair of lines that end in rhyme

38
Q

decorum

A

when a character’s speech is modeled around social conformities or expectations

39
Q

dirge

A

a song for the dead (slow, heavy, melancholy)

40
Q

dissonance

A

incompatible sounds

41
Q

doggerel

A

crude, simplistic verse; usually presented as part of sing-song rhyme

42
Q

dramatic irony

A

when the audience knows something the character does not

43
Q

elegy

A

poem about death or mortality (serious, thoughtful); usually use recent death of famous person or family member as starting point

44
Q

enjambment

A

continuation of syntactic unit from one line or couplet to next, with no pause

45
Q

epitaph

A

lines commemorating dead at burial place; usually serious or religious, sometimes witty

46
Q

euphony

A

harmonious blend of sounds

47
Q

farce

A

today: extremely broad humor
earlier: funny play, comedy

48
Q

feminine rhyme

A

lines rhymed by final two syllables

49
Q

foot

A

basic rhythmic unit of a line of poetry (combination of stressed/unstressed syllables)

50
Q

hubris

A

excessive pride or ambition leading to downfall

51
Q

en medias res

A

“in the midst of things”; action in epic poems usually begins in medias res

52
Q

inversion

A

switching conventional order of elements in sentence, phrase

53
Q

lament

A

poem of sadness, grief over intense loss

54
Q

loose and periodic sentence

A

loose: complete before its end
periodic: not grammatically correct until its punctuation

55
Q

lyric

A

poetry focused on feelings about the world; for tone, usually sweet, emotional, and melodious

56
Q

masculine rhyme

A

regular rhyme (rhyme based on final syllable)

57
Q

melodrama

A

hero is very good; villain is very bad; heroine is very pure (archetypes)

58
Q

metonym

A

word used to stand for something that it is associated with

59
Q

onomatopoeia

A

words that imitate sounds

60
Q

opposition

A

pair of contrasting elements that make each other more vivid, informative because of their contrast

61
Q

parable

A

story that instructs (fable, allegory)

62
Q

paradox

A

situation that seems to contradict itself but actually does not

63
Q

parallelism

A

repeated syntactical similarities

64
Q

parody

A

work making fun of another work by exaggerating its qualities

65
Q

pastoral

A

poem set in tranquil nature (specifically about shepherds)

66
Q

personification

A

giving an inanimate object human qualities or form (physical shape)

67
Q

plaint

A

poem epxressing sorrow

68
Q

refrain

A

line or set of lines repeated several times throughout a poem

69
Q

protagonist

A

main character of a novel or play

70
Q

requiem

A

song of prayer for the dead

71
Q

rhapsody

A

intensely passionate verse, usually focused on love or praise

72
Q

satire

A

humor focused on making fun of society through witty, dark social commentary (raise awareness to ridiculousness)

73
Q

stanza

A

group of lines in verse, analogous to paragraph

74
Q

suspension of disbelief

A

acceptance of an audience or reader of the incidents of plot in a story

75
Q

syncope

A

contracting or shortening a word by removing internal sounds, syllables, or letters, using an apostrophe instead
ex. heav’n, ev’ry, fail’d

76
Q

synecdoche

A

figure of speech where part represents whole

77
Q

tragic flaw (hamartia)

A

weakness of a character that is otherwise good which ultimately leads to demise

78
Q

travesty

A

distortion, corruption, terribly false representation of something

79
Q

truism

A

too obvious truth

80
Q

verisimilitude

A

appearance of being real or true

81
Q

zeugma

A

use of a word to modify two or more words, but for different meanings
ex. “he closed the door and his heart on his lost love”

AP English Literature and Composition (2 decks)

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