AP Literature Terms Flashcards
Abject
expierence or or present to the maximum degree of something bad
failure
Admonition
authoritative counsel or warning.
Adversity
difficulties; misfortune.
Advocacy
public support for or recommendation of a particular cause or policy.
Alienation
loss or lack of sympathy
Altered
change or cause to change in character or composition
Altruism
the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.
Ambiguity
the quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness.
Ambivalence
the state of having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone.
Amorous
showing, feeling, or relating to sexual desire.
Amorphous
without a clearly defined shape or form.
Analogous
comparable in certain respects, typically in a way which makes clearer the nature of the things compared.
Animistic
the belief that natural objects, natural phenomena, and the universe itself have souls
Annihilation
complete destruction or obliteration.
Antiromantic
not presenting love and relationships in a romantic way, often showing life as it really is
Apologetic
defense of the faith
Arbiter
a person who settles a dispute or has ultimate authority in a matter.
Ardor
enthusiasm or passion.
Arrogant
having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance or abilities.
Artificiality
the quality of being made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally.
Apostrophe
involves a speaker addressing someone or something that is not present or cannot respond
Caricature
a picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect.
conceit, controlling image
a literary device employing repetition so as to stress the theme of a work or a particular symbol.
couplet
two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit.
diction, syntax
diction deals with the choice of words, syntax deals with the arrangement and organization of words.
dramatic irony
when the audience knows something that the characters don’t.
Literary elements
essential components that build a story, such as plot, narrator, point of view, and setting.
enjambment
(in verse) the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
foreshadowing
be a warning or indication of (a future event).
hyperbole
using exaggeration or overstatement to create emphasis or effect
irony
the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
