Shared Flashcard Set

Details

AP Lit
Exam Vocab
96
Literature
10th Grade
02/01/2010

Additional Literature Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
tragedy
Definition
drama that recounts the fall of an individual demonstrating human effort
Term
tragic hero
Definition
a hero who suffers from a tragic flaw that eventually causes his downfall
Term
hamartia
Definition
error or frailty
Term
hubris
Definition
arrogant disregard for the right of others
Term
anagnorisis
Definition
that point at which a dramatic character experiences increased self-knowledge and understanding
Term
peripeteia
Definition
the instant when there is a change by which the action veers around to its opposite
Term
nemesis
Definition
something causing misery or death
Term
catharsis
Definition
subsequent elimination of pity, sympathy, fear and other strong emotions
Term
stichomythia
Definition
device for arguing; line of verse dialogue that alternates b/w 2 characters
Term
epiphany
Definition
sudden realization or comprehension of the meaning of something
Term
prologue
Definition
part of play before the 1st choral ode
Term
episode
Definition
parts in mainly the middle of the play
Term
stasimon
Definition
choric odes
Term
exodus
Definition
scene that follows the last choral ode of the play
Term
strophe
Definition
one of the 3 divisions of a choral ode; means "turn"
Term
antistrophe
Definition
section of a choral ode answering a previous strophe
Term
allegory
Definition
a story that has a deeper or more general meaning in addition to its surface meaning
Term
allusion
Definition
a brief reference to a person event or place, real or ficticious, or tho a work of art
Term
amplification
Definition
the use of bare expressions, likely to be ignored or misunderstood by a hearer or reader because of bluntness
Term
anthropomorphism
Definition
the act of attributing human forms or qualities to an entities which are not human mostly gods and goddesses
Term
antithesis
Definition
opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction
Term
apostrophe
Definition
a sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group
Term
anaphora
Definition
the repitition of a word or phrase
Term
assonance
Definition
repetition of the same sound in words close to each other
Term
hyperbole
Definition
exaggeration for emphasis or for rhetorical effect
Term
aphorism
Definition
a brief saying embodyig a moral a concise statement of a principle or precept given`
Term
archetype
Definition
usage of any object or situation as it was originally made
Term
chiasmus
Definition
type of rhetoric in which the second part is syntactically balanced against the first
Term
connotation
Definition
an implied meaning of a word
Term
consonance
Definition
repetition of consonant sounds, but not vowels
Term
denotation
Definition
the literal meaning of a word, the dictionary meaning
Term
diction
Definition
style of speaking or writing as dependent upon choice of words
Term
epithet
Definition
a word which makes the reader see the object described in a clearer or sharper light
Term
flashback
Definition
action that interrupts to show an event that happened at an earlier time
Term
foil
Definition
a character that contrasts second character that highlights certain qualities of that first character
Term
inversion
Definition
changing the usual order of words
Term
juxtaposition
Definition
when one theme or idea or person is paralleled to another
Term
metonymy
Definition
substitution a word for another word closely associated with it
Term
motif
Definition
a recurrent thematic element
Term
mood
Definition
the emotional attitude the author takes towards his subject
Term
paradox
Definition
two opposing ideas
Term
pathetic fallacy
Definition
the attribution of human traits to nature or inanimate objects
Term
puns
Definition
a figure of speech which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases for rhetorical effect
Term
satire
Definition
a literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of the subject of work
Term
synecdoche or metonymy
Definition
when one uses a part to represent the whole
Term
verisimilitude
Definition
the appearance of truth
Term
plot
Definition
the series of related events that make up a story or drama
Term
conflict
Definition
A struggle of some kind between opposing characters or groups of people;may be internal or external
Term
protagonist
Definition
the principal or central character in a story; main character
Term
antagonist
Definition
any force that is in conflict with the protagonist
Term
exposition
Definition
background info in the beginning
Term
generating circumstance
Definition
the circumstance that causes a conflict to exist
Term
complication
Definition
a stage of narrative or dramatic structure in which the major conflicts are brought out
Term
climax
Definition
the high point of conflict and tension preceding the resolution of a story or drama
Term
resolution
Definition
the final stage of plot development in which the work is completed
Term
dynamic character
Definition
a character who undergoes adaptation, change or growth
Term
static character
Definition
a character who undergoes no change
Term
flat character
Definition
a character who is not individualized, but rather useful and structural, static, and unchanging
Term
round character
Definition
a character who profits from experience and undergoes a change or development
Term
theme
Definition
the central idea or insight revealed by a work of literature
Term
point of view
Definition
the vantage point from which a writer tells a story
Term
omniscient point of view
Definition
the narrator plays no part in the story but can tell us what all the characters are thinking and feeling as well as what is happening in other places
Term
first person point of view
Definition
the narrator is a character in the story
Term
limited omniscient point of view
Definition
the narrator plays no part in the story, but instead focuses on the thoughts and feelings of one character who is usually the protagonist
Term
objective/dramatic point of view
Definition
third person narration reporting speech and action, but rigorously excluding commentary on the actions and thoughts of the characters
Term
verbal irony
Definition
the speaker says one thing and means the exact opposite
Term
situational irony
Definition
what actually happens is the opposite of what is expected or appropriate
Term
dramatic irony
Definition
when the reader or the audience knows something important that a character does no know
Term
flashback
Definition
a method of narration in which past events are introduced into a present action
Term
foreshadowing
Definition
the use of clues to hint at events that will occur later in the plot
Term
style
Definition
the manipulation of language and the placement of words in the service of content
Term
tone
Definition
the attitude a writer takes toward the reader, a subject or a character
Term
mood
Definition
the emotional aura invoked by a work
Term
symbol
Definition
a specific word, idea, or object that may stand for ideas, values, persons, or ways of life
Term
ballad
Definition
fairly short narrative poem written in a songlike stanza form
Term
blank verse
Definition
unrhymed iambic pentameter
Term
cacophony
Definition
a harsh, discordant, unpleasant-sounding choice and arrangement of sounds
Term
denotation
Definition
the basic definition or dictionary meaning of a word
Term
euphony
Definition
a smooth, pleasant-sounding choice and arrangement of sounds
Term
folk ballad
Definition
a narrative poem designed to be sung
Term
caesura
Definition
a grammatical pause
Term
prose
Definition
nonmetrical language
Term
syllabic verse
Definition
verse measured by the number of syllables rather than the number of feet per line
Term
surrealism
Definition
style of art and literature stressing the subconscious or nonrational significance of imagery
Term
free verse
Definition
nonmetrical verse
Term
hyperbole
Definition
overstatement
Term
rhetorical poetry
Definition
poetry using artificiall eloquent language
Term
sentimental poetry
Definition
poetry aimed primarily at stimulating the emotions rather than communicating expericence honestly and freshly
Term
structure
Definition
the internal organization of a poem's content
Term
understatement
Definition
saying less than one means
Term
euphemism
Definition
The use of a word or phrase to replace another with one that is considered less offensive or less vulgar than the word or phrase it replaces
Term
abstraction
Definition
a general concept formed by extracting common features from specific examples
Term
rhetorical shift
Definition
a change or movement in a piece resulting from an epiphany, realization, or insight gained by the speaker, a character, or the reader
Term
sardonic
Definition
disdainfully or ironically humorous; scornful and mocking
Term
archetype
Definition
a character, action, or situation that is a prototype or pattern of human life generally
Supporting users have an ad free experience!