Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

AP Lit > AP Test Terms > Flashcards

AP Test Terms Flashcards

1
Q

Abstract

A

Complex style, discusses intangible qualities, rarely uses examples

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Academic

A

Dry + theoretical writing

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Accent

A

Stressed portion of a word

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Aesthetic

A

Appealing to senses or coherent sense of taste

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Allegory

A

Story in which each aspect has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Alliteration

A

Repetition of initial consonant sounds

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Allusion

A

Reference to another work or famous figure

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Anachronism

A

Misplaced in time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Analogy

A

Comparison usually involving 2+ symbolic parts used to clarify an action or relationship

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Anecdote

A

Short narrative

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Anthropomorphism

A

Inanimate objects having human characteristics (doesn’t require object to take on human shape like personification)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Anticlimax

A

Action produces far smaller results than one had been led to expect, frequently comedic

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Antihero

A

Protagonist who is markedly unheroic

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Aphorism

A

Short + usually witty saying

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Apostrophe

A

Speaker talks directly to something nonhuman

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Archaism

A

Use of deliberately old-fashioned language

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Aside

A

Speech made by an actor to an audience, usually short

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Assonance

A

Repeated use of vowel sounds

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Atmosphere

A

Emotional tone or background surrounding a scene

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Ballad

A

Long narrative poem, usually regular in meter + rhyme, has naive folksy quality

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Bathos

A

Abrupt + ridiculous transition from elevated to ordinary (form of anticlimax) or excessively sentimental pathos

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Black humor

A

Use of disturbing themes in comedy

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Bombast

A

Pretentious, exaggeratedly learned language

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Burlesque

A

Broad parody, takes a style or form and exaggerates it

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Cacophony

A

Use of deliberately harsh + awkward sounds

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Cadence

A

Beat or rhythm of poetry

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Canto

A

Section division in long work of poetry

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Caricature

A

Portrait exaggerating a facet of personality

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Catharsis

A

Cleansing of emotion experienced by audience member after living vicariously through experiences of theater

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

Chorus

A

Group of citizens standing outside the main action on stage + provide commentary, part of Greek theater

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

Classic

A

Accepted masterpiece

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

Coinage

A

New word, usually invented on the spot

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

Colloquialism

A

Word or phrase used in everyday conversational English that is not formally accepted

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

Conceit

A

Startling + unusual metaphor or metaphor expanded on over course of several lines, called controlling image when it dominates the work

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

Connotation

A

Things that a word suggests or implies

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

Consonance

A

Repetition of consonant sounds within words (unlike alliteration at beginnings of words)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

Couplet

A

Pair of lines that end in rhyme

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

Decorum

A

Character’s speech styled according to social station + occasion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
39
Q

Denotation

A

Literal meaning of word

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
40
Q

Diction

A

Author’s choice of words

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
41
Q

Dirge

A

Song for dead, typically slow, heavy, depressed, + melancholy

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
42
Q

Dissonance

A

Grating of incompatible sounds

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
43
Q

Doggerel

A

Crude + simplistic verse, often in sing-song rhyme

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
44
Q

Dramatic irony

A

When the audience knows something characters in a drama do not

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
45
Q

Dramatic monologue

A

When a single speaker in literature says something to a silent audience

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
46
Q

Elegy

A

Type of poem that meditates on death or mortality in a serious + thoughtful manner

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
47
Q

Epic

A

Long narrative poem on a serious theme in a dignified style, typically deal with glorious or profound subject matter

48
Q

Epitaph

A

Lines that commemorate the dead at their burial place, usually one or several lines, often serious + religious but sometimes witty + irrelevant

49
Q

Euphemism

A

Word or phrase taking place of harsh, unpleasant, or impolite reality

50
Q

Euphony

A

Sounds blend harmoniously

51
Q

Farce

A

Extremely broad humor, funny play or comedy

52
Q

Feminine rhyme

A

Lines rhymed by their final 2 syllables

53
Q

First person narrator

A

Narrator who is a character in the story + tells it from their point of view

54
Q

Foil

A

Secondary character whose purpose is to highlight the characteristics of the main character, usually by contrast

55
Q

Foot

A

Basic rhythmic unit of poetry, composed of combination of 2 or 3 syllables

56
Q

Foreshadowing

A

Event or statement in a narrative in miniature that suggests a larger event coming later

57
Q

Free verse

A

Poetry written w/o regular rhyme scheme or metrical pattern

58
Q

Genre

A

Sub-category of literature

59
Q

Gothic

A

Sensibility derived from gothic novels

60
Q

Hubris

A

Excessive pride or ambition leading to main character’s downfall

61
Q

Hyperbole

A

Exaggeration or deliberate overstatement

62
Q

In medias res

A

In the midst of things

63
Q

Interior monologue

A

Writing recording mental talking going on inside of a character’s head (more coherent than stream of consciousness)

64
Q

Inversion

A

Switching customary order of elements in sentence or phrase

65
Q

Irony

A

Statement that means opposite of what it seems to mean

66
Q

Lament

A

Poem of sadness or grief over death of a loved one or intense loss

67
Q

Lampoon

A

Satire

68
Q

Loose sentence

A

Complete before its end

69
Q

Lyric

A

Type of poetry that explores personal interpretation of + feelings about the world

70
Q

Masculine rhyme

A

Rhyme ending on final stressed syllable

71
Q

Melodrama

A

Form of cheesy theater

72
Q

Metaphor

A

Comparison or analogy stating that one thing is another

73
Q

Metaphysical conceit

A

Form of metaphor used in metaphysical poems

74
Q

Metonym

A

Word used to stand for something else that it has attributes of or is associated w/

75
Q

Nemesis

A

Protagonist’s arch enemy or supreme + persistent difficulty

76
Q

Neologism

A

Formal term for coinage

77
Q

Objectivity

A

Impersonal or outside view of events, have objective point of view

78
Q

Omniscient Narrator

A

Third person narrator who sees into each character’s mind + understands all actions going on, limited can only report on one character

79
Q

Onomatopoeia

A

Words that sound like what they mean

80
Q

Oxymoron

A

Phrase composed of opposites

81
Q

Parable

A

Story that instructs

82
Q

Paradox

A

Situation or statement that seems to contradict itself but does not upon closer inspection

83
Q

Parallelism

A

Repeated syntactical similarities used for effect

84
Q

Parenthetical phrase

A

Phrase set off by commas that interrupt the flow of sentence to add commentary or detail

85
Q

Parody

A

Work that results when a specific work is exaggerated to ridiculousness

86
Q

Pastoral

A

Poem set in tranquil nature or one about shepherds

87
Q

Pathos

A

Scene evokes feelings of dignified pity + sympathy

88
Q

Periodic sentence

A

Not grammatically complete until it has reached its final phrase

89
Q

Persona

A

Narrator in non first-person novel, gives aspect of author’s personality

90
Q

Personification

A

Inanimate object takes human shape

91
Q

Plaint

A

Poem or speech expressing sorrow

92
Q

Point of view

A

Perspective from which the action of a novel is presented

93
Q

Prelude

A

Introductory poem to longer work of verse

94
Q

Protagonist

A

Main character of novel or play

95
Q

Pun

A

Usually humorous use of word to suggest 2+ meanings

96
Q

Refrain

A

Line or set of lines repeated several times over course of poem

97
Q

Requiem

A

Song of prayer for dead

98
Q

Rhapsody

A

Intensely passionate verse or section of verse, usually of love or praise

99
Q

Rhetorical question

A

Question that suggests an answer

100
Q

Satire

A

Exposes common character flaws to humor, attempts to improve things by pointing out mistakes

101
Q

Simile

A

Comparison using like or as

102
Q

Soliloquy

A

Speech spoken by character alone on stage (unlike aside in that it isn’t meant to imply that the actor acknowledges audience’s presence)

103
Q

Stanza

A

Group of lines roughly analogous in function in verse to paragraph’s function in prose

104
Q

Stock characters

A

Standard or chliched character types

105
Q

Stream of consciousness

A

Method like first person narration showing all of character’s thoughts as they arise

106
Q

Subjectivity

A

Using interior or personal view of single observer, typically colored with observer’s emotional responses

107
Q

Suspension of disbelief

A

Demand made of theater audience to accept limitations of staging + supply detials with imagination, acceptance on audience’s or reader’s part of incidents of plot in play or story

108
Q

Symbolism

A

Object represents idea

109
Q

Syntax

A

Ordering + structuring of words

110
Q

Thesis

A

Main position of argument, central contention that will be supported

111
Q

Tragic flaw

A

Weakness of character in otherwise good individual leading to their demise in tragedy

112
Q

Travesty

A

Grotesque parody

113
Q

Truism

A

Way-too obvious truth

114
Q

Unreliable narrator

A

First person narrator that isn’t entirely credible

115
Q

Utopia

A

Idealized place

116
Q

Zeugma

A

Use of word to modify 2+ words for different meanings

AP Lit (3 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions