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AP English Vocab
na
98
English
12th Grade
01/22/2013

Additional English Flashcards

 


 

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Term
abstract
Definition
typically complex style of writing, discusses intangible qualities like good and evil
seldom uses examples
Term
academic
Definition
adjective describing style, dry and theoretical writing
sucking life out of subject with analysis
Term
accent
Definition
in poetry, refers to the stressed portion of a word
Term
aesthetic
Definition
can be used as an adjective meaning "appealing to the senses"
artistic judgement
study of beauty
Term
allegory
Definition
a story which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself
fables
Term
alliteration
Definition
the repetition of initial consonant sounds
Term
allusion
Definition
a reference to another work or famous figure
topical allusion - current event
popular allusion - something of pop culture
classical allusion - famous older text
Term
anachronism
Definition
misplaced in time
probably comic
brutus having a wristwatch
Term
analogy
Definition
a comparison involving 2 or more symbolic parts and employed to clarify an action or relationship
Term
anecdote
Definition
a short narrative
Term
anthropomorphism
Definition
when an inanimate object is given human characteristics
Term
anticlimax
Definition
occurs when an action produces far smaller results than one had been led to expect
Term
antihero
Definition
a protagonist who is markedly unheroic, morally weak, cowardly, dishonest
Term
aphorism
Definition
a short usually witty saying
Term
archaism
Definition
to use deliberately old-fashioned language
Term
aside
Definition
a usually short speech/comment made by an actor to the audience
Term
assonance
Definition
the repeated use of vowel sounds "cole old soul"
Term
atmosphere
Definition
the emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene
Term
ballad
Definition
a long, narrative poem, usually in very regular meter and rhyme
typically has naive folksy quality, a characteristic that distinguishes it from epic poetry
Term
bathos, pathos
Definition
pathos - scene evokes feelings of dignified pity and sympathy
bathos - writing strains for grandeur it can't support and tries to jerk tears from every little hiccup
Term
black humor
Definition
use of disturbing themes in comedy
Term
bombast
Definition
pretentious, exaggeratedly learned language, when when tries to sound eloquent by using the largest most uncommon words
Term
burlesque
Definition
a broad parody
Term
cacophony
Definition
in poetry, it uses deliberately harsh, awkward sounds
Term
cadence
Definition
the beat of rhythm of poetry in general sense
Term
canto
Definition
divides a poem like chapters in a novel
the name for a section division in a long work of poetry
Term
caricature
Definition
a portait (verbal or otherwise) that exaggerates a facet of personality
Term
catharsis
Definition
refers to the cleansing of emotion an audience member experiences, having lived vicariously through the experiences presented on stage
Term
chorus
Definition
in greek drama, the group of citizens who stand outside the main action on stage and comment on it
Term
classic
Definition
- typical
- accepted masterpiece
- classical describes arts of ancient greece and rome
Term
coinage
Definition
a new word usually invented on the spot
Term
colloquialism
Definition
used in everyday conversational english that isn't part of schoolbook english
Term
conceit
Definition
refers to the startling or unusual metaphor, or to a metaphor developed or expanded over several lines
Term
connotation
denotation
Definition
connotation - every other meaning the word suggests or implies
denotation - word's literal meaning
Term
consonances
Definition
repetition of consonant sounds within words
duck, sick, black
Term
couplet
Definition
pair of lines that end in rhyme
Term
decorum
Definition
character's speech must be styled according to her social station and with the occasion
Term
diction, syntax
Definition
diction - author's choice of words
syntax - author's ordering and structure of words
Term
dirge
Definition
song of the dead
Term
dissonance
Definition
refers to the grating of incompatible sounds
Term
doggerel
Definition
a type of poem that meditates on death or mortality in a serious thoughtful manner
Term
elegy
Definition
a type of poem that meditates on the death or mortality in a serious, thoughtful manner
often use the recent death of a noted person or loved one as a starting point
Term
epic
Definition
a ver long narrative poem on a serious theme in a dignified style
Term
epitaph
Definition
lines that commemorate the dead at their burial place
Term
euphemism
Definition
a word or phrase that takes the place of a harsh unpleasant or impolite reality
passed away for died
Term
euphony
Definition
when sounds blend harmoniously
Term
farce
Definition
extremely broad humor
(comedy used to apply to all plays in general and did not imply humor)
Term
feminine rhyme
Definition
lines that rhyme by their final two syllables
running and gunning
Term
foil
Definition
a secondary character whose purpose is to highlight the characteristics of a main character, usually by contrast
Term
foot
Definition
basic rhythmic unit of a line of poetry
Term
foreshadowing
Definition
event or statement that suggests a larger event to come later
Term
free verse
Definition
poetry written without a regular rhyme scheme or metrical pattern
Term
genre
Definition
a sub-category of literature
Term
gothic
Definition
showed up middle of the eighteenth century
mysterious, gloomy, sinister
Term
hubris
Definition
the excessive pride or ambition that leads to the main character's downfall
Term
hyperbole
Definition
exaggeration or deliberate overstatement
Term
in medias res
Definition
in the midst of things (beginning the iliad 7 years into the trogan war)
Term
interior monologue
Definition
Term
inversion
Definition
switching the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase, poetic license
Term
irony
Definition
a statement that means the opposite of what it seems to mean (thats sarcasm but ya know)
Term
lament
Definition
a poem of sadness and grief over the death of a loved one or some intense loss
Term
lampoon
Definition
a satire
Term
loose sentence
periodic sentence
Definition
loose - complete before its end
periodic - not grammatically complete until it reached its final phase
Term
lyric
Definition
a type of poetry that explores the poet's personal interpretation of and feelings about the world
for tone - it means sweet, emotional melodiousness
Term
masculine rhyme
Definition
a rhyme ending in the final stressed syllable (regular rhyme)
Term
melodrama
Definition
cheesy theater in which the hero is very very good and the villain mean and rotten and the heroine pure
Term
metaphor
simile
Definition
metaphor - a comparison, or analogy that states one thing is another
simile - uses like or as
Term
nemesis
Definition
the protagonist's arch enemy or supreme and persistent difficulty
Term
objectivity
subjectivity
Definition
objectivity - impersonal or outside view of events
subjectivity - interior or personal view of a single observer and is influenced by emotions
Term
onomatopeia
Definition
words that sound like what they mean
boom, splat, arrgh
Term
oxymoron
Definition
a phrase composed of opposites, a contradiction
jumbo shrimp
Term
parable
Definition
like a fable or an allegory, a parable is a story that instructs
Term
parenthetical phrase
Definition
a phrase set off by commas that interrupts the flow of a sentence with some commentary or added detail
blah blah, including sldfj, blah
Term
parody
Definition
the work that results when a specific work is exaggerated to ridiculousness
Term
pastoral
Definition
a poem set in tranquil nature or even more specifically, one about shepherds
Term
persona
Definition
the narrator in a non first-person novel. in a third person novel, even though the author isn't a character, you get some idea of the author's personality. this isn't actually the author's personality, they just want to give you that impression.
Term
personification
Definition
when an inanimate object takes on human shape
Term
plaint
Definition
poem or speech expressing sorrow
Term
omniscient narrator
Definition
this is a third person narrator who sees, like God, into each character's mind and understands all the action going on
Term
limited omniscient narrator
Definition
third person narrator who generally reports only what the other character (usually the main character) sees, and who only reports the thoughts of that one privileged character
Term
objective, camera eye narrator
Definition
third person narrator who only reports on what would be visible to a camera
Term
first person narrator
Definition
narrator who is a character in the story and tells the tale from his or her point of view
called an unreliable narrator if the narrator is crazy, a liar, very young
Term
the stream of consciousness technique
Definition
like first person, instead of the character telling the story, the author places the reader inside the main character's head and makes the reader privy to all the characters thoughts as the scroll through her consciousness
Term
prelude
Definition
an introductory poem to a longer work of verse
Term
protagonist
Definition
the main character
Term
refrain
Definition
a line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem
Term
requiem
Definition
a song of prayer for the dead
Term
rhapsody
Definition
an intensely passionate verse or section of verse, usually of loe or praise
Term
rhetorical question
Definition
a question that suggests an answer
Term
satire
Definition
satire 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
hypocrisy, vanity, and greed
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. unlike an aside, a soliloquy is not meant to imply that the actor knows the audience is present
Term
stanza
Definition
a group of lines roughly analogous in function in verse to the paragraph's function in prose
Term
stock characters
Definition
standard characters, cliched type
the drunk, the foolish girl
Term
suspension of disbelief
Definition
the demand made of a theater audience to accept the limitations of staging and supply the details with their imagination
also its the acceptance on an audience's part of the incidents of plot in a play or story
if there are too many coincidences or improbable occurrences, the viewer/reader can no longer suspend disbelief and subsequently loses interest
Term
thesis
Definition
the main proposition of an argument, the central contention that will be supported
Term
tragic flaw
Definition
the weakness of character in an otherwise god individual that ultimately leads to his demise
Term
travesty
Definition
a grotesque parody
Term
utopia
Definition
an idealized place, imaginary communities in which people are able to live in happiness, prosperity, and peace.
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