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AP Lit Summer Terms
N/A
132
Literature
11th Grade
08/06/2009

Additional Literature Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Objectivity
Definition
Treatment of a subject matter that is impersonal or outside view of events.
Term
Stream of Consciousness Technique
Definition
Method where the author places the reader inside the main character's head & makes the reader privy to all of the character's thoughts as they scroll through his/her consciousness.
Term
Parenthetical Phrase
Definition
A phrase set off by commas that interrupts the flow of a sentence with some commentary or added detail.
Term
Subjectivity
Definition
Treatment of subject matter that uses the interior or personal view of a single observer and is typically colored with that observer's emotional responses.
Term
Lament
Definition
A poem of sadness or grief over the death of a loved one or over some other intense loss.
Term
Nemesis
Definition
The protagonist's archenemy or supreme and persistent difficulty.
Term
Irony
Definition
A statement that means the opposite of what it seems to mean.

An undertow of meaning, sliding against the literal meaning of the words.
Term
Parallelism
Definition
Repeated syntactical similarities used for effect.
Term
Diction/Syntax
Definition
The author's choice of words.
Ex: Wept or cried.

The ordering & structure of the words.
Ex: I devoured it greedily.
OR
Greedily, I devoured it.
Term
Canto
Definition
The name for a section division in a long work of poetry.

Divides a long poem into parts the way chapters divide a novel.
Term
Accent
Definition
Refers to the stressed portion of a word in poetry. Stressed words can often be a matter of opinion and can be open to a variety of interpretations.
Term
Elegy
Definition
A type of poem that mediates on death or mortality in a serious, thoughtful manner.

Memorializes specific dead people.
Term
Chorus
Definition
In drama, it is the group of citizens who stand outside the main action on stage and comment on it.
Term
Catharsis
Definition
A term drawn from Aristotle's writings on tragedy.

Refers to the "cleansing" of emotion an audience member experiences, having lived (vicariously) through the experiences presented on stage.
Term
Dramatic Monologue
Definition
When a single speaker in literature says something to a silent audience.
Term
Dramatic Irony
Definition
When the audiences knows something that the characters in the drama do not.
Term
Persona
Definition
The narrator in a non-first-person novel. Even though the author isn't a character, the reader gets some idea of the author's personality.
Term
Objective/Camera Eye Narrator
Definition
The third-person narrator who only reports on what would be visible to a camera. Doesn't know what the character is thinking unless the character speaks of it.
Term
Pathos
Definition
When the writing of a scene evokes feelings of dignified pity and sympathy.
Term
Aesthetic(s)
Definition
As an adjective, it means "appealing to the senses" Synonymous with artistic judgment.

As a noun, it means "A coherent sense of taste."

When plural, it is the study of beauty.
Term
Conceit
Definition
A startling or unusual metaphor.

A metaphor developed & expanded over several lines.
Term
Controlling Image
Definition
An images is considered this if it dominates or shapes the entire work.
Term
Complex/Dense
Definition
Suggests that there is more than one possibility in the meaning of words. There a subtleties & variations, multiple layers of interpretation.

Meaning is both explicit & implicit.
Term
Antihero
Definition
A protagonist who is markedly unheroic, morally weak, cowardly, etc.
Term
Anthropomorphism
Definition
This is at work in literature when inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena are given human characteristics, behavior, or motivation.

Often confused with personification, but personification requires that the non-human quality or thing take on human shape.
Term
Decorum
Definition
In order to observe this, a character's speech must be styled according to his/her social status, & in accordance w/ the occasion.
Term
Doggerel
Definition
Crude, simplistic verse, often in sing-song rhyme.

Limericks are a type of this.
Term
Aspect
Definition
A trait or characteristic.
Term
Caricature
Definition
A portrait (verbal or otherwise) that exaggerates a facet of personality.
Term
Bathos
Definition
This is at work when writing strains for grandeur it can't support & tried to jerk tears.
Term
Apostrophe
Definition
A figure of speech where the speaker talks directly to something that is not human.
Term
Dissonance
Definition
The grating of incompatible sounds.
Term
Anecdote
Definition
A short narrative.
Term
Anachronism
Definition
Derived from Greek. Means "displaced in time."
Term
Hubris
Definition
Excessive pride or ambition that leads to the main character's downfall.
Term
Foil
Definition
A secondary character whose purpose is to highlight the characteristics of a main character often by contrast.
Term
Feminine Rhyme
Definition
Lines rhymed by their final two syllables.

Penultimate syllables are stressed & final syllables are unstressed.
Term
Euphony
Definition
Results from sounds blending harmoniously.
Term
Euphemism
Definition
A word or phrase that takes the place of a harsh, unpleasant, or impolite reality.

Ex: Passed away instead of died.
Term
Epitaph
Definition
Lines that commemorate the dead at their burial place.

Usually a line or a handful of lines, often serious or religious, but sometimes witty & even irreverent.
Term
Cadence
Definition
The beat or rhythm of poetry in a general sense.

Ex: pulsing, gentle, conversational, vigorous.
Term
Cacophony
Definition
Using deliberately harsh, awkward sounds in poetry.
Term
Enjambment
Definition
The continuation of a syntactic unit from one line or couplet of a poem to the next without a pause.
Term
Bombast
Definition
Pretentious, exaggeratedly learned language.

One falls into this when one tries to be eloquent by using the largest, most uncommon words.
Term
Ballad
Definition
A long, narrative poem, usually in regular meter & rhyme.

Typically has a native folksy quality, a characteristic that distinguishes it from epic poetry.
Term
Allegory
Definition
A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself.
Term
Academic
Definition
An adjective describing style which means dry & theoretical writing.

A work can be described as this if the piece seems to be sucking all the life out of its subject with analysis.
Term
Rhapsody
Definition
An intensely passionate verse or section of verse, usually of love or praise.
Term
Limited Omniscient Narrator
Definition
The third-person narrator who generally reports only what one character sees & who only reports the thoughts of that character.
Term
Satire
Definition
Exposes common character flaws to the cold light of humor. Attempts to improve things by pointing out people's mistakes in the hope that once exposed, such behavior will become less common.
Term
Stanza
Definition
A group of lines roughly analogous in function in verse to the paragraph's function in prose.
Term
Subjunctive Mood
Definition
Set up with a hypothetical situation, a kind of wishful thinking.

Ex: If I were you...
Term
Suggest
Definition
To imply, indicate, or infer.

Goes along with implicit.
Term
Suspension of Disbelief
Definition
The demand made of a theater audience to accept the limitations of staging and supply the details with imagination.
Term
Symbolism
Definition
A device in literature where an object represents an idea.
Term
Technique
Definition
The methods, tools, "how-he-does-it" ways of the author.

Ex: Tone, opposition, onomatopoeia.
Term
Theme
Definition
The main idea of the overall work, the central idea.

The topic of discourse or discussion.
Term
Thesis
Definition
The main position of an argument. The central contention that will be supported.
Term
Tragic Flaw
Definition
In a tragedy, this is the weakness of character in an otherwise good individual that ultimately leads to his/her demise.
Term
Travesty
Definition
A grotesque parody.
Term
Truism
Definition
A way-too-obvious truth.
Term
Utopia
Definition
A idealized place. Imaginary communities in which people are able to live in peace, happiness, and prosperity.
Term
Zeugma
Definition
The use of a word to modify two or more words, but used for different meanings.

Ex: He closed the door and his heart on his lost love.
Term
Dirge
Definition
A song for the dead.

The tone in typically slow, heavy, & melancholy.
Term
Aphorism
Definition
A short & usually witty saying.

Ex: "'Classic'? A book which people praise and don't read." -Mark Twain
Term
Coinage (neologism)
Definition
A new word, usually invented on the spot.
Term
Abstract
Definition
A style in writing that is typically complex & discusses intangible qualities like good & evil, & seldom uses examples to support its points.
Term
Stock Characters
Definition
Standard or clichéd character types.

Ex: The drunk, the miser, the foolish girl.
Term
Rhetorical Question
Definition
A question that suggests an answer.

Ex: We can fight it out, or we can run. So, are we cowards?
Term
Requiem
Definition
A song of prayer for the dead.
Term
Onomatopoeia
Definition
Words that sound like the mean.

Ex: Boom, splat, babble, gargle.
Term
Unreliable Narrator
Definition
A narrator is this if they are very young, crazy, a liar, or for some reason not entirely credible.
Term
Anticlimax
Definition
Occurs when an action produces far smaller results than one had expected & is frequently comic.
Term
Colloquialism
Definition
A word or phrase used in everyday conversational English that isn't a part of accepted "schoolbook" English.

Ex: I'm toasted. I'm a crispy-critter man, & now I've got this wicked headache.
Term
Atmosphere
Definition
The emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene.
Term
Assonance
Definition
The repeated use of vowel sounds.

Ex: The o's in "Old King Cole was a merry old soul."
Term
Aside
Definition
A speech (usually just a short comment) made by an actor to the audience, as though momentarily stepping outside of the action on stage.

Similar to a soliloquy.
Term
Loose Sentence
Definition
A sentence that is complete before its end.

Ex: Jack loved the girl despite her irritating laugh.
Term
Archaism
Definition
The use of deliberately old-fashioned language. Used to create a feeling of antiquity.

Ex: "Ye Olde Candle Shoppe."
Term
Alliteration
Definition
Repetition of initial consonant sounds.
Term
Black Humor
Definition
The use of disturbing themes in comedy.
Term
Burlesque
Definition
A broad parody, one that takes a style or a form, such as tragic drama & exaggerates it into ridiculousness.
Term
Couplet
Definition
A pair of lines that end in rhyme.

Ex: But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near.
Term
Epic
Definition
A very long narrative poem on a serious theme in a dignified style.

Typically deal with glorious or profound subject matter.
Term
Consonance
Definition
The repetition of consonant sounds within words.

Ex: The "ck" in "A flock of sick, black-checkered ducks."
Term
Foot
Definition
The basic rhythmic unit of a line in poetry.

Formed by a combination of two or three syllables, either stressed or unstressed.
Term
Explicit
Definition
To say/write something directly & clearly.

Rare in literature!
Term
Analogy
Definition
A comparison usually involving two or more symbolic parts. Clarifies an action or a relationship.
Term
Denotation
Definition
A word's literal meaning.
Term
Connotation
Definition
Everything a word suggests other than its literal meaning.
Term
Hyperbole
Definition
Exaggeration or deliberate overstatement.
Term
Allusion
Definition
Reference to another work or famous figure. There are two types, topical (refers to a current event) & popular (refers to something from popular culture).
Term
Antecedent
Definition
The word, phrase, or clause that determines what a pronoun refers to.

In "The principal asked the children where they were going", they is the pronoun that refers to children.
Term
Genre
Definition
A subcategory of literature.

Ex: Science fiction & detective stories are subcategories of fiction.
Term
Free Verse
Definition
Poetry written without a regular rhyme scheme or metrical pattern.
Term
Foreshadowing
Definition
An event or statement in a narrative that in miniature suggests a larger event that comes later.
Term
Soliloquy
Definition
A speech spoken by a character alone on stage. Meant to convey the impression that the audience is listening to the character's thoughts.
Term
Farce
Definition
Modern day- An extremely broad humor.
Earlier times- A funny play/a comedy.
Term
Gothic Novel
Definition
Form that first showed up in the mid 18th century & was popular for about 60 years.

Ex: Mysterious, gloomy castles. Eyes that follow you around a room.
Term
First Person Narrator
Definition
The narrator who is a character in the story & tells the tale from his/her point of view.

This narrator may be unreliable if he/she is very young, a liar, crazy, etc.
Term
Elements
Definition
The basic techniques of each genre of literature.

In a short story- Characters, irony, theme, symbol, & setting.
In poetry- Figurative language, symbol, imagery, rhythm, & rhyme.
In drama- Conflict, characters, climax, conclusion, exposition, rising action, falling action, & sets/props.
In nonfiction- Argument, evidence, reason, appeals, fallacies, & thesis.
Term
Inversion
Definition
Switching the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase.
Term
Classic
Definition
Typical. An accepted masterpiece.
Term
Omniscient Narrator
Definition
A third-person narrator who sees like God, into each character's mind & understands all the action going on.
Term
Personification
Definition
Giving an inanimate object human qualities or form.
Term
Pastoral
Definition
A poem set in tranquil nature or even more specifically, one about shepherds.
Term
Parody
Definition
The work that results when a specific work is exaggerated to ridiculousness.
Term
Lampoon
Definition
A satire.
Term
Plaint
Definition
A poem or speech expressing sorrow.
Term
Simile
Definition
Similar to a metaphor, but often softens things, usually using like or as.
Term
Metaphor
Definition
A comparison or analogy that states one thing is another.
Term
Paraphrase
Definition
To restate phrases in your own words. Rephrase. It is not an analysis or interpretation.
Term
Point of View
Definition
The perspective from which the action of a novel is presented.
Term
Metaphysical Conceit
Definition
A type of conceit reserved for metaphysical poems only.
Term
Metonym
Definition
A word that is used to stand for something else that it has attributes of or is associated with.

Ex: A herd of 50 cows could be called 50 head of cattle.
Term
In Medias Res
Definition
Latin for "in the midst of things"

Ex: When "The Illiad" begins, the Trojan war has already been going on for seven years.
Term
Interior Monologue
Definition
A term for novels & poetry, not dramatic literature. Refers to writing that records the mental talking that goes on inside a character's head. Tends to be coherent, as though the character was actually talking.
Term
Opposition
Definition
Having a pair of elements that contrast sharply. Not necessarily "conflict" but rather a pairing of images that are placed in contrast to each other.
Term
Protagonist
Definition
The main character of a novel or play.
Term
Masculine Rhyme
Definition
A rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable. A regular rhyme.
Term
Pun
Definition
The usually humorous use of a word in such a way to suggest two or more meanings.
Term
Means/Meaning
Definition
What makes sense/what's important. Literal or emotional.
Term
Oxymoron
Definition
A phrase composed of opposites. A contradiction.

Ex: A calm frenzy. A truthful lie.
Term
Parable
Definition
A story that instructs, like a fable or an allegory.
Term
Paradox
Definition
A situation or statement that seems to contradict itself, but on closer inspection, does not.
Term
Implicit
Definition
To say or write something that suggests and implies something but never says it directly or clearly.
Term
Periodic Sentence
Definition
A sentence that is not grammatically complete until it has reached its final phrase.

Ex: Despite her irritating laugh, Jack loved the girl.
Term
Prelude
Definition
An introductory poem to a longer work of verse.
Term
Melodrama
Definition
A form of theater in which the hero is very, very good, the villain is mean & rotten, & the heroine is oh-so-pure.
Term
Lyric
Definition
A type of poetry that explores the poet's personal interpretation of and feelings about the world (or the part that his poem is about).

When used to describe tone, it refers to a sweet, emotional melodiousness.
Term
Neologism
Definition
The technical term for coinage.
Term
Refrain
Definition
A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem.
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