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AP English Literary Terms
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Gravity
Terms in this set (146)
alexandrine
a line of poetry written in iambic hexameter. The line is made up of six feet, each containing one weakly stressed syllable followed by one strongly stressed syllable.
allegory
literary work with two or more levels of meaning- one literal level and one or more symbolic levels. The events, settings, objects, or characters in an ___ stand for ideas or qualities beyond themselves.
alliteration
the repetition of initial consonant sounds.
allusion
a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art.
anapest
a foot with two weak stresses followed by one strong stress "dis-em-bark"
anecdote
a brief story about an interesting, amusing or strange event.
Anglo-Saxon poetry
rhythmic poetry composed in Old English before about A.D. 1100.
antagonist
a character or force in conflict with the main character, or protagonist.
antithesis
figure of speech in which contrasting or paradoxical ideas are presented in parallel forms
aphorism
a general truth or observation about life usually stated concisely and pointedly. Often witty or wise.
apostrophe
a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person or a personified quality, object, or idea.
argumentation
type of writing that presents and logically supports the writer's views about an issue.
aside
a statement delivered by an actor to an audience in such a way that other characters on stage are presumed not to hear what is said.
assonance
the repetition of vowel suonds in stressed syllables contatining dissimilar consonant sounds.
atmosphere
feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage (a).
autobiography
form of nonfiction in which a person tells his or her own life story.
ballad
songlike poem that tells a story often one dealing with adventure or romance.
ballad stanza
a four or six-line stanza form used in folk ballads and in literary imitations of folk ballads.
biography
form of nonfiction in which a writer tells the life story of another person.
blank verse
poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter lines. Each iambic foot has one weakly stressed syllable followed by one strongly stresed syllable.
caesura
natural pause, or break in the middle of a line of poetry
canto
section of a long poem
caricature
distorted or exaggerated portrayal of a person
carpe diem
Latin phrase meaning "seize the day"
catalog
a list included in a literary work
character
person or animal who takes part itn he action of a literary work.
characterization
act of creating and developing a character
classicism
an approach to literature and to the other arts that stresses reason, harmony, balance, proportion, clarity, and idealism in imitation of the philosphers and artist of ancient Greece and Rome.
climax
high point of interest or suspense in a literary work.
closed couplet
meaning and grammar complete within two lines
comedy
a work of literature, especially a play, that has a happy ending.
comedy of manners
satirically challenges the social costumes of a sophisticated society.
comic relief
the feeling created by a humorous action or speech that appears within a serious work of literature.
conceit
an unusual and suprising comparison between two very different things.
concrete poem
poem with a shape that suggests its subject
conflict
a struggle between opposing forces
connotation
an association that a word calls to mind in addition to its dictionary meaning.
consonance
the repetition of consonant sounds in stressed syllables.
couplet
pair of rhyming lines written in the same meter
crisis
in the plot of a story or play is the turning point for the protagonist- the point at which his or her situation or understanding is changed.
dactyl
one strong stress followed by two weaks "sol-i-tude"
dead metaphor
metaphor that has been so overused that its orginal metaphorical impact has been lost
denotation
a word's objective meaning, that to which the word refers, independent of other associations the word calls to mind.
denouement
a literary work is anything that happens after the resolution of the plot
description
is a portait, in words, of a person, place, or object.
development
conflict runs its course and intensifies
dialect
the form of language spoken by people in a particular region or group.
dialogue
is a conversation between characters.
diary
a personal record of daily events, usually written in prose.
diction
word choice
dimeter
verse written in two-foot lines
direct characterization
he/she states the characters' traits explicitly
drama
a story written to be performed by actors.
dramatic irony
contradiction between what a character thinks and what the audience/reader knows to be true
dramatic monologue
a poem in which an imaginary character speaks to a silent listener.
dramatic poetry
dramatic monologue/dialogue
dynamic character
character who changes
elegy
a solemn and formal lyric poem about death.
emblematic image
a symbolic figure or shape presented through the arrangement of the lines of a poem.
end rhyme
rhyming words at the ends of lines
end-stopped line
concludes with a break in the meter and in the meaning. Often i9s punctuated by a period, comma, dash, or semicolon
epic
a long narrative poem about the adventures of gods or of a hero.
epic convention
a traditional characteristic of epic poems
epigram
a brief, pointed statment in prose or in verse.
epigraph
a quotation that appears at the beginning of a literary work
epiphany
a term introduced by James Joyce to describe a moment of revelation or insight in which a character recognizes some truth
epitaph
an inscription written on a tomb or burial place.
epithet
word or phrase that states a characteristic quality of some person or thing.
essay
a short, nonfiction work about a particular subject
exact rhyme
use of identical rhyming sounds
exemplum
a short tale or anecdote with a moral, especially one used in a medieval sermon
exposition
writing or speech that explains, informs, or presents information
expressionism
an artistic movement early im the twentieth century that emphasized the inner experiences of individuals rather than objective external realities
extended metaphor
a metaphor that is developed over length and involves several points of comparison
fable
a brief story, usually with animal characters, that teaches a lesson, or moral
falling action
all of the action that takes places after the climax in a literary work
fantasy
highly imaginative writing that contains elements not found in real life
farce
a kind of comedy that features physical horseplay, stereotypical characters, and absurd plots, often ones involving mistaken identities and recognition scenes.
figurative language
writing or speech not meantn to be interpreted literally
figure of speech
an expression or a word used imaginatively rather than literally
first-person point of view
a character within a story tells the story
flashback
a section of a literary work that interrupts the sequence of events to relate an event from an earlier time
flat character
a simple character
foil
character who provides a contrast to another character, thus intensifying the impact of that other character
folk ballad
songs that originated from illiterate peoples and were passed from singer to singer by word of mouth
folklore
includes the stories, legends, myths, ballads, riddles, sayings, and other traditional works produced orally by illiterate or semi-literate peoples.
folktale
a story compsed orally and then passed from person to person by word of mouth
foot
weak and strong stresses are divided into vertical lines called feet
foreshadowing
the use of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur
form
a literary work's structure, shape, pattern, organization, or style- the way it is made
forms of discourse
main types of writing- description, narration, exposition, and persuasion or argumentation
free verse
poetry not written in a regular rhythmical pattern, or meter
gothic
term used to describe literary works that make extensive use of primitive, Medieval, wild, mysterious, or natural elements.
heptameter
seven-foot line
heptastich
seven-line stanza
hero/heroine
a character whose actions are inspiring or noble
heroic couplet
rhymed pair of iambic pentameter lines
hexameter
six-foot line
homeric epithet
"wide-wayed city" "clear-voiced heralds" "high-hearted princes"
hyperbole
deliberate exaggeration or overstatement
iamb
a foot with one weak stress followed by one strong stress
image
a word or a phrase that appeals to one or more of the five senses
imagery
descriptive language used in literature to re=create sensory experiences
inciting incident
introduces the central conflict
incongruity
juxtaposition of imcompatible or opposite elements
incremental repetition
used in ballads and in other oral poetry, is the technique of repeating a line or a stanza with slight but significant changes
in media res
Latin phrase for "in the middle of things"
internal rhyme
rhyming words fall withing a line
inversion
a reversal or change in the regular word order of a sentence
invocation
an appeal to a Muse or to another divine being for help in writing the poem.
irony
the general name given to literary techniques that involve surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions
irony of situation
an event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience
journal
a daily autobiographical account of events and personal reactions
kenning
a metaphorical phrase, used in Anglo-Saxon poetry to replace a conrete nounce
legend
a widely told story about the past, one that may or may not have a foundation in fact
limited point of view
knowledge of the storytell is limited to the internal states of one character
literary ballad
sophisticated poem in the style of folk ballad
literary criticism
art of analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating literary works
lyric poem
poem that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker. Unlike a narrative poem, it presents an experience or a single effect, but it does not tell a full story.
major character
plays an importatn role in the story
memento mori
a Latin phrase meaning "remember that you must die"
metaphor
figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else
metaphysical poetry
term used to describe works of such seventeenth-century poets such as John Donne
meter
rhythmical pattern of a poem
metonymy
figure of speech that substitutes something closely related for the thing actually meant
minor character
character who doesn't play an important role
miracle play
told Biblical stories
mixed metaphor
two metaphors are jumbled together
mock epic
poem about a trivial matter written in the style of a serious epic
monologue
a speech or performance given entirely by one person or by one character
mood
the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage (m)
monometer
verse written in 1-foot lines
morality play
dealt with personified vices and virtues
motif
a recurring literary convention or an element that is repeated within a literary work
motivation
a reason that explains or partially explains a character's thoughts, feelings, actions, or speech.
myth
a fictional tale, originally with religious significance, that explains the actions fo gods or heroes, the causes of natural phenomena, or both.
narration
writing that tells a story
narrative
the story itself
narrative poem
tells a story in verse
narrator
storyteller
naturalism
a literary movement among writers at the end of the nineteenth century and during the early decades of the twentieth century. Viewed people as hopeless victims of immutable natural laws
neoclassicism
a literary movement during the Restoration and the eighteenth century in which writers turned to classical Greek and Roman literary models and standards.
nonfiction
prose writing that presents and explains ideas or that tells about real people
novel
a long work of fiction
objective correlative
TS Eliot- complex emotional state suggested by images that are carefully chosen to evoke this state
octave
an 8-line stanza
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