AP Literature Literary Terms Part 1 Flashcards
Alliteration
Sound device; repetition of initial consonant sounds
Allusion
Figure of speech which makes brief reference to an historical or literary figure, event, or object; a reference in one literary work to a character or theme found in another literary work
Anachronism
Something out of its place in time or history
Analogy
The comparison of two things, which are alike in several respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or object is similar to some familiar one
Anaphora
The repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases for rhetorical or poetic effect
Antagonist
The character in a narrative or play who is in conflict with another main character
Anticlimax
The intentional use of elevated language to describe the trivial or commonplace, or a sudden transition from a significant thought to a trivial one in order to achieve a humorous or satiric effect
Anti-hero
A protagonist who is the antithesis of the hero
Antithesis
Figure of speech in which a thought is balanced with a contrasting thought in parallel arrangements of words and phrases
Aphorism
Brieft statement which expresses an observation on life
Apostrophe
Addressing someone or something, usually not present, as though present
Aside
A statement delivered by a actor in such a way that the other characters on stage are presumed not to have heard him
Assonance
Similarity or repetition of a vowel sound in two or more words, especially in a line of verse
Asyndeton
The omission of conjunctions that ordinarily join coordinate words and phrases
Ballad
A form of verse to be sung or recited and characterized by a dramatic or exciting episode in fairly short narrative
Bildungsroman
A novel showing the development of its central character from childhood to maturity
Blank verse
Unrhymed iambic pentameter; metrical verse with no ending rhyme
Caesura
A pause for effect in the middle of a line of poetry
Catharsis
Aristotle’s word for the pity and fear an audience experiences upon viewing the downfall of a hero
Cause and effect relationships
A dominant technique in which the author analyzes reasons for a chain of events
Characterization
The method a writer uses to reveal the personality of a character in a literary work
Chiasmus
Repetition in successive clauses which are usually parallel in syntax
Classicism
An approach to literature which emphasizes reason, harmony, balance, proportion, clarity, and the imitation of ancient writer and philosophers
Colloquial
Informal, not always grammatically correct expression that find acceptance in certain geographical areas and within certain groups of people
Comic relief
Something of humor interrupts an otherwise serious, often tragic, literary work; a humorous scene or incident that alleviates tension in an otherwise serious work
Complication
The part of a plot in which the entanglement caused by the conflict is developed
Conceit
An extended metaphor–two unlike things are compared in several different ways
Connotation
Emotional implications that a word may carry; implied or associated meaning for a particular word
Consonance
The repetition of consonant sounds with differing vowel sounds in words near each other in a line or lines of poetry
Couplet
A pair of rhyming lines written in the same meter
