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AP Lit Terms and Definitions active voice: subject performs the action denoted by the verb (EX: Jane mailed the letter) aesthetic: study of/focus on beauty and nature allegory: story that is an extended metaphor intended to teach alliteration: repeating beginning consonant sounds allusion: reference to another work or historical event within a story/book ambiguity: containing/open to multiple meanings ambivalence: uncertainty; wanting to do 2 conflicting things; + and – towards same idea anachronism: something historically out of context or time analogy: comparing 2 things with the same relationship (hot is to cold as fire is to ice) analyze: examine critically and carefully anaphora: repetition at the first part of each line in a poem anecdote: short story used to support or illustrate an idea antagonist: character who works against the protagonist antecedent: preceding; in grammar, the word replaced by a pronoun anti-climax: event much less important than expected anti-hero: main character lacking in one or more heroic qualities antithesis: opposition/contrast of ideas or words antonym: opposite apostrophe: addressing someone who isn’t there archetype: original pattern from which things are copied or modeled from (EX: Frankenstein is the archetype for modern horror stories) artistic fault: literature that tries too hard to be overly flowery in its details (and by doing so, fails) aside: speech directed to the audience, not meant to be heard by other characters on stage assonance: repetition of vowel sounds atmosphere: dominant mood that permeates a work of literature autobiography: story about yourself written by YOU ballad: song-like poem that tells a story, usually passed down through generations bathos: unintentional lapse from beautiful/important to the trivial black humor: humor focusing on dark/morbid subjects blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter cacophony: discordant, harsh sound caesura: strong pause within a line of poetry caricature: artistic depiction that exaggerates the dominant aspects of a person or thing carpe diem: seize the day catharsis: a cleansing or purging, meant to heal or help catalyst: force the causes a change or starts an event character foil: character that contrasts another to further highlight their similarities and differences characterization: representation of a person in a literary work chorus (Greek): group of characters on the stage who comment on the action, impart wisdom, and act as narrators throughout the play chronological: in order of time circumlocution: roundabout way of getting to the subject/idea; talking AROUND things classic: a work of the highest class that stands the test of time cliché: trite, overused expression that has lost its originality climax: moment of great intensity, the high point in the plot line colloquial: use of informal language; conversational speech comic relief: interruption in a serious work by a short, humorous episode comparison: showing the similarities in two or more things connotation: suggested meanings attached to a word, associated meanings consonance: repeated consonant sounds anywhere but the beginning of a word context: text surrounding a passage that further informs the piece contrast: showing the differences in two of more things couplet: 2 lines of verse (poetry) denotation: dictionary definition of a word denouement: the untying of the plot, unwinding of the story’s complication, completes the action dialect: distinctive variety of language spoken by a regional group, nation, or social class dialogue: spoken exchanges between or among characters dichotomy: division into 2 opposing groups diction: word choice didactic: instructive; intended to teach digression: deviating from the topic at hand dramatic monologue: a speech by a character alone on stage that reveals his/her inner thoughts or plans dramatis personae: list of characters in a play dumb show: a quick version of the play acted out by mimes before the actual play begins dynamic character: character who grows or changes in significant ways throughout the book or play editorial: writing that shows the author’s opinion/ideas on a certain issue effect: overall impression of a piece; producing results elegy: poem of lament written for a death or a solemn occasion ellipsis: three dots to show either omission of words in a sentence or quote OR to mean a lengthy pause end rhyme: rhyme that occurs at the end of the line end stopped: line of poetry that stops at the end of the line (opposite of enjambment) enjambment: a line of poetry that continues on to the middle of the next line before it stops (opposite of end stopped) epic: a long narrative poem that tells the adventures of a hero (ex: The Odyssey) epigram: two line poem ending in a witty turn of thought epithet: word of phrase firmly associated with a person or thing and used in place of the actual name (example: “man’s best friend” used for “dog”) epilogue: concluding section of a work epiphany: sudden moment of realization or insight epitomize: set up as the perfect example of something ethos: moral or ethical element of an argument or work eulogy: speech in praise of a person who has died euphemism: a kind or tactful word to substitute for a more harsh/blunt word euphony: pleasing smoothness of sound existentialism: a philosophy that stressed the individual’s position as determining his/her choices; this life is all we have and nothing matters beyond this life explication: a very thorough analysis that goes through all the exact details of a poem explicit: stated outright leaving no room for question; blunt; detailed exposition: the events of the plot leading up to the climax of the story extended metaphor: a metaphor that extends through the entire work (usually in a poem) external conflict: conflict that happens outside of the character (society, nature, other people, etc.) eye rhyme: words that appear to rhyme to the eye but do not when said aloud (ex: love, prove or laughter, daughter) fable: a story told to illustrate a moral where animals are often the characters fate: something that is unavoidable for a person; fortune; lot figurative language: language that contains more than just a literal meaning (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, etc.) figure of speech: an expression that uses language in a nonliteral way (example: it’s raining cats and dogs) fixed form: a poem that follows a specific, strict format (sonnet, haiku, villanelle, etc.) – given specific rhythms, rhymes, line count, syllable count, etc. flashback: looking back to a previous part of the story foot: basic unit of measurement in poetry foreshadowing: to show or indicate beforehand; hint at things to come free verse: poetry with no specific meter or rhyme scheme (opposite of fixed form) genre: specific type or category of literature haiku: 3 line poem with syllables 5-7-5 that is usually about nature hamartia: mistake committed in ignorance and therefore the person is free of blame (Ex: Oedipus doesn’t KNOW that he’s marrying his mother and killed his father) hero/heroine: main character in a novel or play that exhibits strong qualities for good heroic couplet: a couplet (2 rhyming lines of poetry) written in iambic pentameter hubris: overarching pride hyperbole: overstatement or exaggeration for effect iamb: an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (ex: toDAY) iambic pentameter: five iambs (unstressed, stressed) in a line; the meter which Shakespeare wrote in (ex: to BE or NOT to BE that IS the QUEStion) imagery: strong details that appeal to the senses; word pictures implicit: hinted at, not vocally stated; implied implied metaphor: metaphor that is hinted at but not stated outright (Ex: “the petals of your love” – implied that love is a rose) in medias res: “in the middle of things” – a story or poem that begins in the middle of the action inference: to make an educated guess based on the information that you have interjection: to insert; words expressing an emotion (ex: Hey!) internal conflict: conflict that happens within the character, in his/her mind internal rhyme: rhyme that occurs in the middle of the lines of a poem rather than the end interrogatory: questioning irony: dramatic: where the audience knows more than the characters know verbal: what is said is the opposite of what is meant situational: the outcome that is different from what is expected; difference between what is expected to happen and what actually happens juxtaposition: placing close together or side by side to compare and contrast limerick: 5 line poem, usually comical rhymes aabba litotes: understatement local color: distinctive peculiarities of a place or period (cowboy hats are part of the local color of Texas) logical fallacy: flaw in an argument that renders the entire argument invalid lyric: poem where feelings and emotions are emphasized metaphor: comparing 2 unlike things using “is” (Ex: She is a star) meter: rhyming pattern of a poem metonymy: using an object or idea of a person that is closely related to that individual and stands for the thing itself (Ex: The “crown” represents the king/queen) microcosm: a little world; a world in miniature minor character: a character who plays a small role in the overall plot of the story/book mixed metaphor: using two or more metaphors that are illogical when combined (Ex: I felt like I was singing to the choir and it was all water under the dam) monologue: a lengthy talk given by single speaker OR part of a play when a single actor speaks alone mood: the overall emotional tone or feeling of a work motif: element/idea that recurs significantly in a work motivation: the reasons that an author provides for a character’s actions myth: a narrative that comes from a culture’s oral traditions; portrays gods and heroes engaged in important actions and decisions; often explain the origin of the culture, the creation, the beginnings of certain traditions, etc. narrative poem: a poem that tells a story; two common forms of narrative poems are ballads and epics narrative pace: the rate at which the events of a story unfold narrator’s voice: the voice that speaks or tells the story near/slant rhyme: a rhyme where the final consonant sounds are the same but the vowel sounds are different (ex: letter and litter) non-fiction: writing that is true novel: an extended work of fictional prose novella: a work of fiction which is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel objectivity: looked at without bias or emotional influence octave: eight lines of poetry ode: poem of praise onomatopoeia: a thing or action represented by the word that imitates the sound associated with it (Ex: crash, buzz, bang, pitter-patter) oratory: the art of public speaking, particularly in a formal and eloquent manner oxymoron: contradiction of two words right by one another (Ex: jumbo shrimp) parable: story that teaches a moral paradox: contradictory statement parallel construction: similarly constructed clauses or sentences where the lines show correspondence paraphrase: restating something in your own words parody: mocking imitation of a literary or other serious piece of work or style for comic purposes passive voice: sentence where the subject is being acted upon (Ex: The ball was thrown by Billy.) pastoral: idealized telling of country or rural life pathos: emotional quality to an argument or piece of writing pedantic: arrogant in one’s learning; scholarly, book learning persona: figure imagined by the author to be the speaker of the work personification: giving a thing, animal or abstract idea human characteristics perspective: the viewpoint of a person regarding a topic persuasion: to convince to believe by appealing to reason or understanding picaresque hero: a daring individual involved in a series of usually humorous or satiric adventures that show the everyday life of common people (Ex: Candide, Don Quixote) plot: pattern of events in a story poetic justice: an outcome in which virtue is rewarded and evil punished, often in an especially appropriate or ironic manner poetic license: liberties taken by a writer (breaking the rules) to achieve an effect point-of-view: the perspective from which a story/book is told prologue: introductory section of a work prose: a piece of writing that doesn’t follow verse form (anything that isn’t poetry) prosody: the study of meter and rhyme structures in poetry protagonist: the main character in a literary work that initiates the main action of the story proverb: short saying with unknown authorship psychological novel: a novel that focuses on the mental and emotional lives of its characters and explores the various levels of mental activity pun: play on words where 2 similar sounding words are used quatrain: four lines of poetry realism: writing that is true to life reductio ad absurdum: taking something to the absurd, ridiculous level refrain: line or group of lines repeated at regular intervals in a poem renaissance: a rebirth of literature, art, and learning in the mid 17th century repetition: repeating certain words or phrases; used to emphasize a point or idea resolution: the concluding action that follows the climax where the tensions of the plot have been settled rhetoric: exploitation of eloquence for the most persuasive effect in speaking or writing rhetorical question: statement with an obvious answer; raised for the sake to persuade or to prove a point rhyme scheme: the pattern of rhyme that occurs in a poem rising action: the plot developments that lead to the climax romanticism: literature with a main emphasis on individual expression and emotion sarcasm: bitter form of irony; mocking, often by exaggerating or understating things satire: derisive humor meant to mock human vices Horatian satire: satire that uses gentle mockery Juvenalian satire: satire that is bitter and biting; harsh scansion: marking a poem according to its meter and rhyme structures sentimentality: a work that tries to convey the finer emotions but fails to provide sufficient grounds for those emotions and thus creating a falsity in the work; “Sentimentality is the failure of feeling” – Wallace Stevens sestet: six lines of verse setting: the place and time in which a work takes place simile: comparing two unlike things using “like” or “as” (Ex: She is like a star) slang: a kind of language that occurs mostly in casual and playful speech; nonstandard language used for humor or irreverence soliloquy: a speech by a character along on the stage Shakespearean sonnet: 14 line poem with the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg Petrarchan sonnet: 14 line poem with the rhyme scheme of the first 8 lines abba abba and the last 6 lines being a combination of two or three rhymes (cdcdcd or cdecdecde etc.) stanza: group of lines forming a section of a poem; a poem paragraph static character: a character who remains the same through the course of the play/book – doesn’t change or learn from his/her experiences stereotype: an often oversimplified or biased mental picture used to characterize the typical individual of a group stream-of-consciousness: a type of writing that captures the “stream” of ideas, memories, and thoughts of the character (as if the reader is reading everything the character thinks and does) structure: the organization of the parts of a work style: distinctive forms and uses of language in a work subplot: a second story or plotline that is complete and interesting in its own right that branches off from the main plot summarize: to state or express/explain something in an abbreviated form surrealism: a style of art and literature stressing the subconscious or nonrational significance of imagery; writing that breaks the boundaries of rationality and irrationality; often having a dream-like quality or fantasy-like quality suspense: a state of uncertainty or excitement caused by waiting for a decision or outcome which is usually accompanied by anxiety syllogism: a logical argument using deductive reasoning where the x is y and y is z therefore x is z (Ex: Professors are strange. Billy is a professor. Therefore Billy is strange.) symbol: a person, place or thing that has meanings beyond its literal sense synecdoche: where a part of the item stands for the whole (Ex: “wheels” standing for car or “he rules with a heavy hand” standing for the entire king) syntax: sentence structure synthesize: form by combining parts tercet: three lines of verse theme: the prevailing/main idea or topic running through a literary work thesis: the main argument or proposition set forth in an essay which must be proved through the writing tone: attitude toward a subject in a work tragedy: story of serious actions which lead to a terrible end tragic hero: a character who makes an error in judgment or has a fatal flaw that ultimately brings on a tragedy tragic flaw: flaw that ultimately leads to the downfall of the hero transcendentalism: a philosophy as well as a literary movement that states the existence of the ideal spiritual reality transcends scientific knowledge and is known through intuition; focus is much on nature unreliable narrator: narrator who cannot be trusted because of incredibly strong bias or mental incapacity vernacular: the native speech or language of a place; local language or dialect verse form: any type of poetry villain: a character in a play or novel who creates an evil tension and agency in the plot villanelle: 19 line poem, only 2 rhymes employed, certain lines repeated at specific places in the poem voice: characteristics displayed by the narrator “A willing suspension of disbelief”: defined by Samuel Taylor Coleridge – the willingness of the reader to overlook certain unbelievable or impossible elements of a story for the sake of a good story