AP english summer flashcards
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49 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Alliteration | use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse -Sally sell sea shells |
| Allusion | a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize -"Chocolate was her Achilles' heel." |
| Anachronism | something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred -Brutus was interrupted by the sound of a clock in "Julius Caesar" but they didn't exist then |
| Aphorism | a concise statement of a truth or principle -"Lost time is never found again" Ben Franklin |
| Apostrophe | address to an absent or imaginary person -"Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky." |
| Archetype | an original model on which something is patterned -vampires |
| Assonance | the repetition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words -Strips of tinfoil winking like people |
| Asyndeton | a construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions -"He was a bag of bones, a floppy doll, a broken stick, a maniac." (Jack Kerouac, On the Road, 1957) |
| Ballad | a type of poem that is meant to be sung and is both lyric and narrative in nature -"Ballata 5" Guido Cavalcanti |
| Blank Verse | poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter -"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing." Macbeth |
| Carpe Diem | seize the day |
| Colloquial | characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation -If I must be sold, or all the people on the place, and everything go to rack, why, let me be sold. I s'pose I can b'ar it as well as any on 'em "Uncle Tom's Cabin" |
| Conceit | A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects -All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances |
| Connotation | the feelings or emotions surrounding a word -Childlike, Youthful, Childish, Young |
| Couplet | a stanza consisting of two successive lines of verse -"How like Eve's apple doth thy beauty grow,/If thy sweet virtue answer not thy show" Shakespeare |
| Denotation | the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression -Door: a movable structure used to open and close an entrance |
| Dialect | A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation -Brooklyn accent |
| Diction | A writer's or speaker's choice of words -"One of our defects as a nation is a tendency to use what have been called 'weasel words.' When a weasel sucks eggs the meat is sucked out of the egg. If you use a 'weasel word' after another, there is nothing left of the other." Theodore Roosevelt |
| Elegy | a mournful poem, esp. one lamenting the dead -"O Captain! My Captain!" Walt Whitman |
| Euphemism | an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive -adult entertainment instead of pornography |
| Frame Story | a secondary story or stories embedded in the main story -"Ethan Frome" Edith Wharton |
| Free verse | Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme -"Fog" by Carl Sandburg |
| Hyperbole | a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor -I told you a million times |
| Iambic pentameter | a poetic meter that is made up of 5 stressed syllables each followed by an unstressed syllable -"Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, ...." |
| In medias res | in the middle of things -the odyssey |
| Irony | incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs -fire station burning down |
| Loose sentence | a complex sentence in which the main clause comes first and the subordinate clause follows -He went into town to buy groceries, visit his friends and go to the bookstore |
| Lyric poem | a highly musical verse that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker -"Sonnet number 18" William Shakespeare |
| Metonymy | A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it -the pen is mightier than the sword |
| Mood | the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage -a dark and stormy night |
| Motif | a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work -Catcher in the Rye, where Holden is searching for a life partner |
| Narrative poem | A poem that tells a story. -"The Ring and the Book" Robert Browning |
| Onomatopoeia | using words that imitate the sound they denote -buzz |
| Oxymoron | a figure of speech consisting of two apparently contradictory terms -jumbo shrimp |
| Paradox | a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. -Nobody goes to that restaurant, it's too crowded |
| Parallelism | phrases or sentences of a similar construction/meaning placed side by side, balancing each other -"It is by logic we prove, but by intuition we discover." (Leonardo da Vinci) |
| Parody | a composition that imitates somebody's style in a humorous way -"Batrachomyomachia" unkown |
| Periodic sentence | a complex sentence in which the main clause comes last and is preceded by the subordinate clause -The hotel, through the addition of a state-of-the art fitness spa, extensive advertising, and weekend specials, has greatly expanded its customer base. |
| Polysyndeton | using several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted -'he ran and jumped and laughed for joy' |
| Pun | a humorous play on words -when a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds |
| Rhetorical question | a statement that is formulated as a question but that is not supposed to be answered -Does a bear live in woods? |
| Satire | witty language used to convey insults or scorn -The county could save a lot of money by requiring homeowners to repaint any fire hydrants in front of their homes |
| Soliloquy | a long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage -"O Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore Art Thou Romeo" |
| Sonnet | a verse form consisting of 14 lines with a fixed rhyme scheme -Any of Shakespeare's Sonnets |
| Synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part -his parents bought him a new set of wheels |
| Syntax | the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences -The young man carries the lady. The lady carries the young man |
| Theme | a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work -the best things in life are free |
| Tone | the quality of something (an act or a piece of writing) that reveals the attitudes and presuppositions of the author -"I can't wait to go to the dance!" |
| Imagery | Language that appeals to the senses -Her blue eyes were as bright as the sun, blue as the sky, but soft as silk. |
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