APL literary terms Flashcards
Act
A major unit of action in a drama or play. Each act can be further divided into smaller sections called scenes.
Allegory
A story in which people, things, and actions represent an idea about life; allegories often have a strong moral or lesson
Alliteration
Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words (tounge twisters).
Allusion
A reference in literary work to a person, place, or thing in history or another work of literature. Allusions are often indirect or brief references to well-known characters or events.
Analogy
A comparison of 2 or more like objects that suggests if they are alike in certain respects, they will probably be alike in other ways as well.
Anecdote
Account of interesting incidents or events that is intended to entertain or make a point.
Antagonist
Charactor who deceives, fustrates, or works against the main character. Doesnt have to be a person, it could be death, the devil, an illness or any challenge.
Aside
An actor’s speech, directed to the audience, that is not supposed to be heard by other actors on stage. It is used to let the audience know what a character is about to do or what he or she is thinking.
Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds within a line of poetry.
Audience
Particular group of readers or viewers that the writer is addressing. A writer considers his or her audience when deciding on a subject, a purpose for writing and the tone style to write.
Author
The writer of a book, article or other text.
Author’s Purpose
His or her reason for creating a particular work. The purpose can be to entertain, explain or inform, express an opinion, or to pursuade.
Autobiography
A form of nonfiction in which a person tells the story of his or her life.
Ballad
A poem that tells a story and is meant to be sung or recited.
Biography
The story of a person’s life that is written by someone else.
Blank Verse
Unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Caesura
A pause or a sudden break in a line of poetry.
Cause and Effect
2 events related as cause and effect when 1 event brings about or causes the other. The event that happens 1st is the cause; the one that follows is the effect.
Character
Person who is responsible for the thoughts and actions within a story, poem or other literature. Are extremely important b/c they are the medium through whic a reader interacts of lit. they all have his or her own personality.
Caricature
a picture or imitation of a person’s habits, physical appearance or mannerisms exaggerated in a comic or absurd way.
Foil
A character who serves as a contrast or a conflict to another character.
Hero/Heroine
A character whose actions are inspiring or noble; often the main character in a story.
Chonological Order
The order in which events happen in time.
Clarifying
The reader’s process of of pausing occasionally while reading to quickly review what he or she understands. Good readers are able to draw conclusions about what is suggested but not stated directly.
Cliche
A type of figurative language containing an overused expressioin or a saying that is no longer considered original.
Comedy
A dramatic work that is light and often humorous in tone and usually ends happily with a peaceful resolution of the main conflict.
Comparison
The process of identifying similarities.
Concrete Poetry
A type of poetry that uses its physical or visual form to present its message.
Main Character
Central to plot of story; are usually dynamic and round.
Minor Characters
Less important who interacts with the main characters, helping to move the plot and providing background for the story, usually static and flat.
Character Trait
Character’s personalitiy; trait is not a physical description of a character.
Direct Characterization
Author directly states a character’s traits about a character’s nature.
Dynamic Character
Character who changes throughoutthe course of a story.
Flat Character
Character about whom little into is provided.
Indirect Characterization
Author doesn’t directly state character’s traits, instead the reader draws conclusions and discovers a character’s traits based upon clues provided by the author.
Round Character
Fully described by the author.
Static Character
Does not change or who changes very little in the course of a story.
Conflict
The tension or problem in a story; a struggle between opposing forces.
Central Conflict
The dominant or most important conflict in the story.
External Conflict
The problem or struggle that exists between the main character and an outside force.
Internal Conflict
The problem or struggle that takes place in the characters mind.
Connecting
A readers process of relating the content of a literary work to his or her own knowledge and experience.
Consonance
The repetition of consonant sounds anywhere within a line of poetry. Alliteration is a specific type.
Context Clues
Hints or suggestions that may surround unfamiliar words or phrases and clarify their meaning.
contrast
The process of pointing out differences between things.
Couplet
A rhymed pair of lines in a poem. One of William Shakespeare’s trademarks was to end a sonnet with a couplet, as in the poem “ Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s Day”. So long as men can breath or eyes can see so long as lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Denotation
Is the opposite of connotation in that it is the exact or dictionary meaning of a word.
Denouement
see plot
Dialect
A form of language that is spoken in a particular place or by a particular group of people.
Dialouge
The conversation between characters in a drama or narrative. A dialogue occurs in most works of lit.
Drama
A drama or play is a form of lit meant to be performed by actors before an audience. In a drama, the characters dialogue and actions tell the story. The written form of a play is known as a script.
Drawing conclusions
Combining several pieces of info to make an interferance.
Drawing Monolouge
A literary device that is used when a character reveals his or her innermost thoughts and feeling, those that are hidden throughout the course of the story line, through a poem or speech. This speech, where only 1 character speaks, is recited while other characters are present onstage. This monologue often comes during a climatic moment in a work and often reveals hidden truths about a character, their history and their relationships.
Elegy
A type of literature defined as a song or poem that expresses sorrow or lamentation, usually for one who has died.
Enjambment
In poetry incomplete syntax as the end of a line, the meaning running over into the next line without terminal punctuation.
Epigram
A short poem or verse that seeks ridicule a thought or event, usually with witticism or sarcasm.
External Conflict
See Conflict
Fable
A brief tale that teaches a lesson about human nature. Fables often feature animals as characters.
Fact and opinion
A fact is a statement that can be proved. An opinion, in contrast is a statement that reflects the writers or speakers belief, but which cannot be supported by proof or evidence.
Falling Action
See plot
Fantasy
A work of lit that contains at least one fantastic or unreal element.
Foil
See Character
Folklore
Traditions customs and stories that are passed down within a culture. Folklore contains various types of lit such as legends, folktales, myths, and fables.
Folktale
A simple story that has been passed generation to generation by word of mouth. Folktales are told primarily to entertain rather than to explain or teach a lesson.
Foot
A unit of meter within a line of poetry.
Foreshadowing
When the writer provides clues or hints that suggest or predict future events in a story.
Free Verse
Poetry without regular patterns of rhyme and rhythm. Often used to capture the sounds and rhythms of ordinary speech.
Generalization
A broad statement about an entire group.
Genre
A type or category of lit. The 4 main literary genres include: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
Haiku
A traditional form of Japanese poetry, usually dealing with nature. Has 3 lines and describes a single moment, feeling or thing. The 1st and 3rd lines contain 5 syllables a the 2nd line contains 7 syllables.
Hero/Heroine
See character
Heroic Couplet or Closed Couplet
A couplet consisting of 2 successive rhyming lines that contain a complete thought.
Historical Fiction
Fiction that explores a past time period and may contain references to actual people and events of the past.
Horror Fiction
Fiction that contains mysterious and often supernatural events to create a sense of terror.
Humor
The quality that provokes laughter or amusement. Writers create humor through exaggeration, sarcasm, amusing descriptions, irony, and witty dialogue.
Hyperbole
A figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or humorous effect.
Iambic Pentameter
See Meter
Idiom
A phrase or expression that means something different from what the words actually say ( ex, using the phrase “over his head” instead of he doesn’t understand.”)
Imagery
The use of words or phrases that appeal to the 5 senses. Writers use sensory details to help readers imagine how things look, feel, smell, sound, and taste.
Inference
Logical guess based on evidence in the text.
Internal Conflict
See conflict
Anadiplosis
Exhibits repetition of words.
