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AP English > Lit Terms 3rd Term > Flashcards

Lit Terms 3rd Term Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

alliteration

A

repetition of initial consonant sounds

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2
Q

allusion

A

referencing another work of literature/historical event/etc within another work

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3
Q

alter ego

A

a secondary or alternative personality

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4
Q

ambiguity

A

capable of having multiple meanings

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5
Q

anadiplosis

A

repetition of word in the clause that follows

ex. “Anger leads to fear, fear leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.”

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6
Q

anaphora

A

repetition at the beginnings of phrases or clauses

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7
Q

antagonist

A

character in opposition to the protagonist

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8
Q

anthimeria

A

“verbing” a noun

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9
Q

anit-hero

A

a hero lacking one or more attributes that are associated with a hero

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10
Q

antithesis

A

opposing ideas in parallel structure

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11
Q

apostrophe

A

directly addressing someone dead or not present, or something that is not human

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12
Q

aside

A

line spoken onstage directly to the audience while other characters are present but do not hear (a behind-the-hand comment)

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13
Q

assonance

A

repeated vowel sounds that are NOT rhyming

ex. rowing slowly over oceans

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14
Q

asyndeton

A

no conjunctions in a series

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15
Q

bildungsroman

A

a coming-of-age story

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16
Q

blank verse

A

unrhymed iambic pentameter

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17
Q

cacophonous sounds

A

grating or harsh sounds

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18
Q

charaterization

A

the portrayal/attributes given to a character in a work

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19
Q

chiasmus

A

two or more clauses that balance against each other by reversing structure

ex. Never let a fool kiss you or you kiss a fool.

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20
Q

cliche

A

a trite, overused expression that has lost its original impact

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21
Q

comic relief

A

a scene placed in the midst of tragedy to lighten the mood

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22
Q

commercial fiction

A

thrillers, money makers, inventive plots, thin on literary merit

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23
Q

connotation

A

meanings ASSOCIATED with a word, not found in its dictionary definition

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24
Q

consonance

A

words that involve the same consonant sound anywhere EXCEPT the beginning of the word

ex. struts and frets

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25
Q

couplet

A

two lines of poetry

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26
Q

denotation

A

the dictionary definition of a word

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27
Q

Deus ex machina

A

an improbable device/event brought into a story to resolve all of the plot’s entanglements

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28
Q

diction

A

word choice

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29
Q

doppleganger

A

literally–doublewalker, a look alike, an alter ego, or two characters who walk similar paths

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30
Q

dumb show

A

a pantomime occurring before a play begins that gives a brief summary of the play’s contents

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31
Q

elegy

A

a poem written for someone who has died

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32
Q

ellipsis

A

the omission from speech or writing of a word or words that are superfluous or able to be understood from contextual clues

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33
Q

epistolary

A

using letters or other documents to tell a story

ex. Frankenstein

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34
Q

epistrophe

A

repetition at the ends of phrases or clauses

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35
Q

eternizing conceit

A

the final 2 lines of a Shakespearean sonnet (ending couplet)

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36
Q

eulogy

A

a speech for someone that has died

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37
Q

euphonious sounds

A

pleasing to the ear

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38
Q

extended metaphor

A

a metaphor which extends through the entire work (poem or novel)

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39
Q

figurative language

A

not literal language, standing for more than itself

40
Q

foil/character foil

A

a character who contrasts with another, most likely the protagonist

41
Q

frame story

A

a story within a story

42
Q

genre

A

categories within literature

43
Q

heroic couplet

A

rhyming couplet in iambic pentameter

44
Q

hubris

A

excessive pride, arrogance

45
Q

iambic pentameter

A

unstressed, stressed syllable repeated 5 times per line

46
Q

imagery

A

sensory language

47
Q

implied mataphor

A

a comparison HINTED at but not explicitly stated

48
Q

in media res

A

in the middle of things, beginning in the middle of the action

49
Q

dramatic irony

A

reader or audience understands/knows more than the characters

50
Q

verbal irony

A

saying the opposite of what is meant

51
Q

situational irony

A

the outcome is significantly different from what is expected

52
Q

juxtaposition

A

things set up side by side for the purpose of comparison

53
Q

literary analysis

A

the study of various techniques or devices and their contribution to the larger literary work

54
Q

literary criticism

A

the study, analysis, and EVALUATION of a literary work

55
Q

literary ficiton

A

serious fiction, works that hold high literary merit

56
Q

litotes

A

understatement by using double negatives

ex. not too bad instead of good or not as young as i was instead of I am old

57
Q

lyric

A

poetry which expresses emotions

58
Q

malapropism

A

using an incorrect word that is similar in sound to the word you MEANT to use, usually creating humor

59
Q

metaphor

A

direct comparison of two things

60
Q

metonymy

A

a thing or concept is called not by its own name but by the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or concept

61
Q

microcosm

A

a “a small world,” a miniature version of the world at large

62
Q

mood

A

the prevailing emotion or atmosphere in a scene

63
Q

motif

A

a repeated word, object, image, etc.–unifies the work and contributes to theme

64
Q

narrative poem

A

tells a story

65
Q

non sequitur

A

a statement or conclusion which does not follow any logic

66
Q

octave

A

8 lines of poetry

67
Q

onomatopoeia

A

a word that imitates the sound it is associated with

68
Q

oxymoron

A

two opposing ideas are joined to create an effect (cruel kindness, jumbo shrimp)

69
Q

paradox

A

a statement that seems to be untrue, yet it is true–it opposes itself

70
Q

parallelism

A

words, phrases, or clauses that are grammatically parallel

71
Q

paraphrase

A

to rewrite in your own words

72
Q

personification

A

giving human qualities to non-human things

73
Q

poetic justice

A

the good characters are rewarded and the bad are punished by the end of the work

74
Q

point of view

A

the perspective through which the story is told

75
Q

polysyndeton

A

many conjunctions in a series

76
Q

prose

A

not verse

77
Q

protagonist

A

the main character

78
Q

pun

A

a play on words using a word that suggests two or more meanings creating a humorous effect

79
Q

quatrain

A

four lines of poetry

80
Q

satire

A

criticizing and exposing foolishness corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule

81
Q

sestet

A

six lines of poetry

82
Q

setting

A

the place and time in which a story occurs

83
Q

simile

A

comparison using like or as

84
Q

soliloquy

A

speech by a character alone on stage, generally giving the audience an idea of his/her inner thoughts

85
Q

sonnet

A

14 line poem with specific rhyme scheme

ex. Shakespearean/English: ababcdcdefefgg
Petrarchan/Italian: abbaabba/cdecde (last 6 lines are combo of c, d, e rhymes)

86
Q

stream-of-consciousness

A

type of writing where character’s thoughts or perceptions are presented as occurring in random from, without regard for logical sequences, syntactic structure, or grammatical rules

87
Q

symbol

A

something which is both literal and figurative; stands for more than itself

88
Q

synecdoche

A

a figure of speech in which part is made to represent the whole

89
Q

syntax

A

sentence structure

90
Q

theme

A

the meaning of the work, a truth about the human condition, FULL sentence

91
Q

tone

A

the speaker’s or author’s attitude toward the work

92
Q

tragic hero

A

a hero destined for downfall or defeat

93
Q

tragic flaw

A

a trait/flaw that leads to the downfall of a character

94
Q

tricolon

A

a series of three parallel phrase or clauses

95
Q

tropes

A
  1. figures of speech

2. overused, familiar plot device

96
Q

unreliable narrator

A

a narrator who sees things less clearly than the reader

97
Q

verse

A

written like poetry, not prose

AP English (2 decks)

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