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AP Lit Terms > AP Important Terminology > Flashcards

AP Important Terminology Flashcards

1
Q

a text that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, usually a political or moral issue; example: Animal Farm

A

allegory

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2
Q

a reference to person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political importance; example: He is certainly no Scrooge, but he doesn’t like to spend any money.

A

allusion

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3
Q

repetition of the beginning consonant sound or letter; slithering snake slide

A

alliteration

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4
Q

either a statement that has two possible meanings or statement whose meaning is unclear

A

ambiguity

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5
Q

the character (or thing, idea) that opposes the protagonist (more complex than the bad guy)

A

antagonist

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6
Q

a figure of speech; opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are opposites of, or strongly contrasted with each other; example: hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins

A

antithesis

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7
Q

direct reference to person (or thing, idea) in a poem; example: O’Elizabeth, you stole my heart

A

apostrophe

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8
Q

repetition of the first part of a sentence for emphasis or artistic effect; example: O’Lord…..O’Lord…

A

anaphora

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9
Q

in a play where a character is speaking to himself- the audience hears the thoughts but the other characters on the stage do not

A

aside

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10
Q

repetition of a vowel sound but have different consonant sounds; example: men sell the wedding bells

A

assonance

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11
Q

the nonuse of a conjunction (uses commas to link but never a conjunction)

A

asyndeton

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12
Q

a coming of age novel

A

bildungsroman

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13
Q

a pause in a line of poetry (changes the meter)

A

caesura

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14
Q

the process in which a character’s personality is revealed through their speech, thoughts, actions, looks, and effect on other characters; we use this to “judge” a character’s character

A

characterization

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15
Q

characterization that is told directly or directly stated within the text

A

explicit characterization

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16
Q

characterization that is inferred conclusion based on information with the test

A

implicit characterization

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17
Q

tension is at the highest moment in the plot

A

climax

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18
Q

struggle between two opposing forces

A

conflict

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19
Q

personal, cultural, societal definition of a word

A

connotation

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20
Q

repetition of consonant sounds

A

consonance

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21
Q

dictionary definition of a word

A

denotation

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22
Q

the word choice and the significance of the selection

A

diction

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23
Q

in poetry where the line continues to the next line without a punctuation mark

A

enjambment

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24
Q

moment a character realizes or is more aware of a situation within the plot (often when we see the protagonist change)

A

epiphany

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25
Q

appeal to ethics

A

ethos

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26
Q

words or expressions that has a meaning beyond its literal meaning

A

figurative language

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27
Q

interruption in the text to a prior moment; usually provides insight or shows a memory

A

flashback

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28
Q

Their qualities contrast the protagonist’s qualities in order to highlight that trait

A

Foil

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29
Q

Hint of what will happen later in the story

A

Foreshadowing

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30
Q

Protagonist’s personality or character trait that ultimately causes his downfall (usually death) - the tragic flaw

A

Hamartia

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31
Q

Pride or arrogance that ultimately causes the characters downfall

A

Hubris

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32
Q

Extreme exaggeration

A

Hyperbole

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33
Q

Description that utilizes the five senses

A

Imagery

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34
Q

Contradiction of an expectation

A

Irony

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35
Q

Irony that contrasts between what is said and what is meant - also used with puns and words with multiple meanings

A

Verbal irony

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36
Q

Irony that contacts between what the characters know and what the audience members know

A

Dramatic irony

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37
Q

Irony that contrasts between what is expected to occur and what days

A

Situational irony

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38
Q

Two or more ideas, places, characters, or actions are placed side by side in order to develop comparisons and contrasts

A

Juxtaposition

39
Q

Appeal to logic

A

Logos

40
Q

Comparison between two unlike items; often uses the be form verbs ( is, was, are, were )

A

Metaphor

41
Q

The measures beats of a line of poetry

A

Meter

42
Q

A word substituted to represent something closely related using a part of it; example: saying crown to represent the kong or queen

A

Metonymy

43
Q

Feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions

A

Mood

44
Q

Object or idea that repeats itself throughout a text

A

Motif

45
Q

The reasons for characters actions and author’s purpose

A

Motivation

46
Q

Free from bias

A

Objective

47
Q

Words that represent the sound; example: buzz, swoosh

A

Onomatopoeia

48
Q

Two opposite items joined together; example: jumbo shrimp

A

Oxymoron

49
Q

appeal to emotion

A

pathos

50
Q

components of a sentence are similar in structure (also sound and meter)

A

parallelism

51
Q

statement that appears contradictory but is used to illustrate an opinion or statement; example: wise fool; your enemy’s friend is your enemy

A

paradox

52
Q

genre that uses imitation and exageration to produce a comic relief

A

parody

53
Q

giving of human-like characterstics - this is more than a talking bear as the main characters; example: the wind whispered to the tree; the tree waved to the passing by cars

A

personification

54
Q

the order of events that occur in a text

A

plot

55
Q

the viewpoint of whose the story is told from

A

point of view

56
Q

“I” perspective

A

first person

57
Q

“you” perspective

A

second person

58
Q

outside narrator who does not “see” into the character’s minds

A

third objective

59
Q

outside narrator who can “see” into one character’s mind

A

third limited

60
Q

outside narrator who can “see” into all characters’ minds

A

omniscient

61
Q

repetition of conjunctions within a sentence (and, but, or)

A

polysyndeton

62
Q

the main character in a story- must change in some way (more complex than a good guy)

A

protagonist

63
Q

the trustworthiness of the narrator, author, and/or text

A

reliability

64
Q

several types- all designed to make an idea clearer of for emphasis

A

repetition

65
Q

the repeated use of words that rhyme in a set pattern

A

rhyme scheme

66
Q

device used to mock someone- meant to both amuse and hurt that person at the same time

A

sarcasm

67
Q

used to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption through humor, irony, exaggeration, and/or ridicule - used to try to improve humanity through the criticism

A

satire

68
Q

time, place a story takes place; takes into cultural, historical, and political issues and expectations of that time

A

setting

69
Q

a change in a text; in poetry often indicated by words such as “and, but, yet”

A

shift

70
Q

comparison using like or as

A

simile

71
Q

the events or background for a poem (like setting)

A

situation

72
Q

in plays- used to show a character’s innermost thoughts

A

soliloquy

73
Q

the voice or person/thing speaking in the poem; speaker in not the author

A

speaker

74
Q

unit of lines within a poem

A

stanza

75
Q

two paired lines

A

couplet

76
Q

four paired/ grouped lines

A

quatrain

77
Q

characteristic given;used to identify a group of people; authors use them to bot set-up agreed characteristic ( common knowledge/assumption) and to break them

A

stereotype

78
Q

organization of text and its componets

A

structure

79
Q

the way an author used diction, sentence structure figurative language, and syntax to establish mood, imagery, and meaning

A

style

80
Q

a bias perspective

A

subjective

81
Q

an item/thing/person/idea that represents something beyond itself

A

symbol

82
Q

a word substituted to represent something closely related using the whole of it : example: saying crown to represent the monarch government

A

synecdoche

83
Q

the ordering of the words in a sentence

A

syntax

84
Q

the main idea or underlying meaning of a text- it is more than a singular word- the topic plus them opinion on the topic; example: war affects both those away and at home

A

theme

85
Q

how the reader should feel when reading a text

A

tone

86
Q

the moment of significant change

A

turning point

87
Q

intentionally making something seem less important

A

understatement

88
Q

author’s use of syntax, diction, character development, etc. within a text or multiple text

A

voice

89
Q

introductory material, background, beginning of the story

A

exposition

90
Q

events that move the plot forwards to the climax

A

rising action

91
Q

point of highest emotion

A

climax

92
Q

events that occur after the climax that moves the plot towards the denouement

A

falling action

93
Q

the conclusion, ending of the story

A

denouement

94
Q

includes exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, demouement

A

Freytag’s Pyramid

AP Lit Terms (3 decks)

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