Lit Terms (Unit I)
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Created by:
e_sendra on January 23, 2012
Subjects:
AP Literature, Composition, English
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20 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Anachronism | an element in a story that is out of its time frame; sometimes used to create a humorous or jarring effect. Beware: This can also occur because of careless or poor research on the author's part. |
| Anaphora | a specific type of repetition; word, phrase, or clause repeated at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. |
| Apostrophe | a rhetorical (not expecting an answer) figure of direct address to a person, object, or abstract entity. |
| Apotheosis | elevating someone to the level of a god |
| Cacophony | Harsh, discordant sounds, unpleasant to the ear; the sound of nails scratching a chalkboard is cacophonous. Cacophony is used by poets for effect. |
| Caesura | a break or pause within a line of poetry indicated by punctuation and used to emphasize meaning. |
| Catharsis | In his Poetics, Aristotle wrote that a tragedy should "arouse pity and fear in such a way to accomplish a catharsis of such emotions in the audience." The term refers to emotional cleansing or feeling of relief. |
| Conceit | A far-fetched comparison between two seemingly unlike things; an extended metaphor that gains appeal from its unusual or extraordinary comparison. |
| Conundrum | a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun; it may also be a paradox or difficult problem. |
| Deus ex machina | Literally, when the gods intervene at a story's end to resolve a seemingly impossible conflict. Refers to an unlikely or improbable coincidence; a cop-out ending |
| Dissonance | harsh or grating sounds that do not go together |
| Euphony | The quality of a pleasant or harmonious sound of a word or group of words as an intended effect. Often achieved through long vowels and consonants, such as "sh." |
| Hubris | Insolence, arrogance, or pride. In Greek tragedy, the protagonist's hubris is usually the tragic flaw that leads to his or her downfall. |
| Inversion | A switch in the normal word order, often used for emphasis or rhyme scheme. |
| Metonymy | A figure of speech that replaces the name of something with a word or phrase closely associated with it. ("the White House" = "the president"; "brass" = "military officers") |
| Mood | Refers to the author's or the speaker's attitude toward the subject or theme of work. Mood is created by the attitude of the author or speaker to the subject, whereas tone is more nearly the attitude of the author to the audience. Atmosphere differs from mood in the sense that it is usually created by the physical or emotional setting rather than the author's attitude toward the subject. |
| Motif | The main theme or subject of a work that is elaborated on in the development of the piece; a repeated pattern or idea. |
| Parallel plot | A secondary story line that mimics and reinforces the main plot. |
| Persona | A fictional voice that a writer adopts to tell a story, determined by subject matter and audience (Mark Twain) |
| Synecdoche | A figure of speech where one part represents the entire part, or vice versa (all hands on deck; lend me your ears) |
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