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A.P. Literary Terms
N/A
37
English
12th Grade
08/05/2010

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Term
Alliteration
Definition

The repetition of accented consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close to each other, usually to create an effect, rhythm, or emphasis.

(Ex. Big, Bad, Barking dog.)

Term
*Allusion
Definition
A reference in literature or in art to previous literature, history, mythology, pop culture/current events, or the Bible.
Term
Ambiguity
Definition

Quality of being intentionally unclear.  Events can be interpreted in more than one way.

(Ex. "Thou still unravished bride of quietness." -Keats, Ode to a Grecian Urn)

Term
Anachronism
Definition
Element in a story that is out of its time frame.
Term
*Analogy
Definition

Clarifies or explains an unfamiliar concept or object, or one that cannot be put into words, by comparing it with one which is familiar.

 

Similes and Metaphors

Term
Analysis
Definition
The process of examining  the components of literary work.
Term
Anapest
Definition

The poetic foot (measure) that follows the pattern unaccented, unaccented, accented.

 

Gives poem a moving rhythm

Term
Anecdote
Definition
A short and often personal story used to emphasize a point, to develop a character or a theme, or to inject humor.
Term
Antagonist
Definition

A character who functions as a resisting force to the goals of the protagonist. 

(Tends to be the villain, though if the protagonist is evil, the antagonist is virtuous

Ex. Macbeth and Macduff)

Term
Antecedent
Definition

The word or phrase to which a pronoun refers.  It often precedes a pronoun in prose (but not necessarily in poetry).

 

(Ex. "O that this too, too solid flesh would melt,

Thaw and resolve itself into dew." -Shakespeare, Hamlet)

Term
Anticlimax
Definition
An often disappointing, sudden end to an intense situation.
Term
Antihero
Definition

A protagonist who carries the action of the literary piece but does not embody the classic characteristics of courage, strength, and nobility.

(Ex. Holden Caulfield)

Term
*Antithesis
Definition
A concept that is directly opposed to a previously presented idea.
Term
*Apostrophe
Definition

A rhetorical figure of direct address to a person, object, or abstract entity.

 

Term
*Archetype
Definition

A character, situation, or symbol that is familiar to people from all cultures because it occurs frequently in literature, myth, religion, or folklore.

Ex.) Symbol:

Dove of Peace

Term
*Assonance
Definition

The repeated use of a vowel sound.

 

Ex.) How now brown cow.

Twice five miles in a mazy motion.

Term
*Catharsis
Definition

Emotional cleansing or feeling of relief.

 

(from the audience)

Term
*Connotation
Definition

Associations a word calls to mind.

 

House and Home

Light, Fire, Mother, Father, Rose, Water

 

(Can reveal authors intent)

Term
*Denotation
Definition

The dictionary or literal meaning of a word or phrase.

 

-Different from Connotation-

Term
* Deus Ex Machina
Definition

Literally, when the god's intervene at a story's end to resolve a seemingly impossible conflict.  A cop-out ending.

 

Ex.) Sleeping beauty, Greek Mythology

Term
*Diction
Definition

The deliberate choice of a style of language for a desired effect or tone.  The effect of

 

formal, informal, or colloquial

 

Hawthorne                    Mark Twain

Term
* Euphemism
Definition

Substitution of an inoffensive word or phrase for another that would be harsh, offensive, or embarrassing. 

Usually wordier than the original.

Term
* Heroic Couplet
Definition

In poetry, a rhymed couplet written in iambic pentameter

(5 ft., each w/ one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.)

Term
* Hyperbole
Definition
An extreme exaggeration for literary effect that is not meant to be interpreted literally.
Term
* Metaphor
Definition

A figure of speech which compares 2 dissimilar things, asserting that one is another thing, not just that one is like another. 

(Compare w/ analogy & similie)

Term
* Metonymy
Definition

Figure of speech that replaces the name of something w/ a word or phrase closely associated to it. 

Similar to Synecdoche

Ex.) "the White House" "the President" "The Presidency"

Term
*Onomatopoeia
Definition
Imitate Sounds
Term
* Oxymoron
Definition

A figure of speech that combines 2 contradictory words.

 

Ex.) Wisefool, bittersweet

Term
* Paradox
Definition

A statment or situation that at first seems impossible or oxymoronic, but which solves itself and reveals meaning.

 

Ex.) "Fair is foul and foul is fair" (Shakespeare, Macbeth).

Term
* Personification
Definition
Attribution of human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object.
Term
Pun
Definition

Humorous play on words that have several meanings or words that sound the same but have different meanings.

 

Ex.) "You will find me a graver man", Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio

Term
* Shift
Definition
In writing, a movement from one thought or idea to another; a change.
Term
* Similie
Definition
A comparison of unlike things using the word like, as, or so.
Term
* Symbol
Definition
A concrete object, or action which has deeper significance because it is associated w/ something else, often an important idea or theme.
Term
* Synecdoche
Definition

A figure of speech where one part represents the entire object, or vice versa.

Ex.) All hands on deck; lend me you ears.

Term
* Syntax
Definition
The way in which words, phrases, and sentences are ordered and connected.
Term
* Tone
Definition
Refers to the author's attitude toward the subject, and often sets the mood of the piece.
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