AP English Terms
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58 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 theater of the absurd | plays stressing the irrational or illogical aspects of life, usually to show that modern life is pointless |
| ambiguity | unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning |
| ambivalence | mixed feelings or emotions |
| anachronism | something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred |
| anaphora | repetition of a word or phrase as the beginning of successive clauses |
| antecedent | the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers. |
| antihero | a protagonist who lacks the characteristics that would make him a hero (or her a heroine) |
| apostrophe | address to an absent or imaginary person |
| archetype | an original model on which something is patterned |
| ballad stanza | A four-line stanza, known as a quatrain, consisting of alternating eight- and six-syllable lines. |
| byronic hero | a self tormented outcast who is cynical and contemptuous of societal norms and is suffering from some unnamed or mysterious sin |
| romantic hero | a person who is perfect in every way and can complete very difficult tasks, with a reward of the love of a woman (or, if a girl, the love of a man) |
| cacophony | loud confusing disagreeable sounds |
| cadence | a recurrent rhythmical series |
| caesura | a break or pause (usually for sense) in the middle of a verse line |
| catharsis | a release of emotional tension |
| denotation | the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression |
| denouement | the final resolution of the main complication of a literary or dramatic work |
| didactic | instructive (especially excessively) |
| elegy | a mournful poem |
| ellipsis | the omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced for the context ("Some people prefer cats; others, dogs.") |
| enjambment | the continuation of a syntactic unit from one line of verse into the next line without a pause |
| epigram | a witty saying |
| epiphany | a divine manifestation |
| episodic structure | plot construction in which a string of separate actions takes place, perhaps involving the same main character, each action concluded as the next one begins |
| epistolary | written in the form of or carried on by letters or correspondence |
| euphemism | an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive |
| euphony | any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds |
| expressionism | emphasizes the life of the mind and feelings rather than the realistic external details of everyday life |
| feminine rhyme | latter two syllables of first word rhyme with latter two syllables of second word (ceiling appealing) |
| fixed form | any form of poem in which the length and pattern are prescribed by previous usage or tradition |
| foil | anything that serves by contrast to call attention to another thing's good qualities |
| foot | a group of 2 or 3 syllables forming the basic unit of poetic rhythm |
| generic conventions | the traditions for each genre. These conventions help to define each genre; for example they differentiate between and essay and journalistic writing. |
| impressionism | a movement in 19th century painting, in which artists reacted against realism by seeking to convey their impressions of subjects or moments in time |
| inversion | the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase |
| jargon | specialized technical terminology characteristic of a particular subject |
| local color | writing which presents the mannerisms, dress, speech and customs of a particular geographical region |
| masculine rhyme | a rhyme of but a single stressed syllable |
| metaphysical | highly abstract and over-theoretical |
| metonymy | substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in 'they counted heads') |
| naturalism | (philosophy) the doctrine that the world can be understood in scientific terms without recourse to spiritual or supernatural explanations |
| neologism | the act of inventing a word or phrase |
| panegyric | a formal expression of praise |
| pastoral | a literary work idealizing the rural life (especially the life of shepherds) |
| picaresque | involving clever rogues or adventurers especially as in a type of fiction |
| persona | an actor's portrayal of someone in a play |
| poetic justice | an outcome in which virtue triumphs over vice (often ironically) |
| realism | (philosophy) the philosophical doctrine that abstract concepts exist independent of their names |
| refrain | a regularly repeated line or group of lines in a poem or song |
| slant rhyme | Rhyme in which the vowel sounds are nearly, but not exactly the same (i.e. the words "stress" and "kiss"); sometimes called half-rhyme, near rhyme, or partial rhyme |
| sprung rhythm | a poetic rhythm that imitates the rhythm of speech |
| synaesthesia | describing one kind of sensation in terms of another, thus mixing senses. "How sweet the sound." |
| synecdoche | using a part of something to represent the whole thing |
| tercet | three line stanza |
| trochee | a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable |
| understatement | a statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said |
| villanelle | a short poem of fixed form, written in tercets, usually five in number, followed by a final quatrain, all being based on two rhymes. |
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