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AP Lit & Comp Exam
Key terms to know for the AP Exam
100
English
12th Grade
05/03/2011

Additional English Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Allegory
Definition

A narrative or description having a second "deeper" meaning beyond the surface layer. It could have both a literal and figurative meaning.

 

Ex: Using concrete images or characters to represent abstract ideas.

 

Ex: Faith from "Young Goodman Brown"

Term
Alliteration
Definition

The repetition of a consonant sound in a line of poetry. It could be used in more than one line of poetry and appears at the beginning of each word.

 

 

Ex: Mirror - Moon

    Kick - Candy

        Pray - Approval

 

Term
Allusion
Definition
A reference to something in history, previous literature, the Bible, or mythology.
Term
Anachronism
Definition

Something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time.

 

Ex: Using a sword in modern warfare

Term
Analogy
Definition
A comparison based on a similarity between two things.
Term
Anaphora
Definition

The repetition of an opening word or phrase in a series of lines.

 

Ex: "Anaphora will repeat an opening phrase or word;
       Anaphora will pour it into a mould (absurd)!
      Anaphora will cast each subsequent opening;
      Anaphora will last until it's tiring."
(John Hollander, Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse. Yale Univ. Press, 1989)

Term
Antagonist
Definition

-any force aligned against the protagonist

 

-can be persons

 

-may be conventions of society

 

-could be the protagonist's own character traits

Term
Apostrophe
Definition

Addressing someone absent or dead or something inhuman as if it were alive and present and could reply.

 

Ex: Rain, rain

Go away.

Come again another day!

Term
Aside
Definition
A combination of a monologue and a soliloquy in which a character reveals his/her thoughts as if there were no other characters on stage. The character speaks to the audience, but the other characters are not meant to hear what is said.
Term
Assonance
Definition

The close repetition of middle vowel sounds between different consonants.

 

 

Ex: F  ade/ P  ale

Term
Assimilation
Definition
The process wherby a minority group gradually adopts the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture completely.
Term
Ballad
Definition
A short narrative poem written in a songlike stanza form.
Term
Caesura
Definition
A pause within a line of poetry. Usually a dash or a comma will indicate when the reader should pause.
Term
Characterization
Definition

The people who take part in events.

 

Dynamic: a changing character; one who undergoes an awakening of some kind or gains some insight.

Static: a character remaining the same throughout; does not experience change or grow as an individual.

Flat: a simple character with only a few traits.

Round: a complex character with many qualities and traits.

Direct: is when the author tells us info about the characters.

Indirect: is when the author shows the reader the character and some determination or inference about the character is made by the reader.

Term
Colloquial Language
Definition
Conversational or informal speech. Such speech may contain slang or non-standard grammar usage.
Term
Conceit
Definition

An extended metaphor or simile often yoking together two apparently unconnected ideas.

 

Ex:

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
by
William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.

Term
Conflict
Definition

A struggle, conflict, or battle.

 

Man v. Man - where conflict is between people

Man v. Himself - where conflict is psychological, character grapples with his or her values/morals or some situation affecting his or her life.

Man v. Nature - where conflict is between the protagonist and the elements of nature.

Term
Connotation
Definition

The meaning a word suggests beyond its basic dictionary definition or denotation.

 

 

Ex: A red rose represents love/passion

Term
Consonance
Definition

The repetition of consonant sounds at the end of a word.

 

 

Ex: Spook-Plaque-Sticker

Term
Denotation
Definition

The literal definition of a word as opposed to an implied meaning (connotation).

 

Ex: A red rose is a red rose.

Term
Dialogue
Definition
The conversation between characters in a play or poem. Dialogue helps to develop a character.
Term
Diction
Definition
word choice.
Term
Drama
Definition

A story performed by actors for an audience.

 

Realistic Convention in drama is a convention which preserves the illusion of actual, everyday life.

 

Non-realistic Convention in drama is a convention which departs from preserving the illusion of actual, everyday life.

Term
Enjambment
Definition

The employment of "run-on" lines which carry the completion of a statemnt from one line to another without rhetorical pause.

 

Ex:

Trees
by
Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Term
Envoi
Definition
The part of a complex poem that ends with 3 lines which include repeated end words sprinkled in the middle of the lines and then concluding the lines using some of the same 6 end words.
Term
Euphemism
Definition

A type of understatement replacing an offensive term with a more mild one less likely to offend or be thought of as harsh.

 

Ex: substituting the term "downsizing" for "lay-off"

Term
Existentialism
Definition
A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts.
Term
Figurative Language
Definition
Words that are not used in their ordinary meaning such as similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole and understatement.
Term
Flashback
Definition

Action that shows better understanding by interrupting to show an eevnt that happened in the past.

 

Ex: Soap operas often use flashbacks

Term
Foil
Definition

A minor character whose situation or actions parallel a major character's. By contrast, the minor character illuminates distinctive qualities of the major character.

 

Ex: Mercutio is a foil to Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. Mercutio makes light of every situation using bawdy and witty language in his comments on romance. His character emphasizes Romeo's romantic view of love and his lovesick nature.

Term
Foreshadowing
Definition
A method used to build suspense by providing hints of what is to come.
Term
Hamartia
Definition

"An act of injustice" either unknowingly or for the greater good to be achieved.

 

Hamartia, from the Greek for “error,” is a mistake in judgment committed by a tragic hero. While the character’s intentions and personal flaws play a central role in this process, hamartia specifically refers to the character’s erroneous action. This error may be the result of a lack of knowledge or moral flaw and it generally brings about the sorrow, downfall, or death of the hero. The results of hamartia are usually the direct opposite of the character’s expectations.

 

Ex: Oedipus the King

Term
Hubris
Definition
Excessive pride or self-confidence.
Term
Hyperbole
Definition

An extreme exaggeration in order to emphasize a truth.

 

Ex: I waited in line for centuries.

Term
Iambic Pentameter
Definition

A rhytmical pattern of syllables consisting of poetic lines of five feet of unstressed and stressed syllables. An iamb is a metrical unit made up of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable (like the word goodbye with bye being the unstressed syllable). Pentameter is a line that has 5 feet.

 

Ex: These lines in iambic oentameter are from "Sonnet 18" by William Shakespeare. The feet are separated by slashes and the stressed syllables are in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS while the unstressed syllables are in lowercase letters.

 

Shall I/ com PARE/ thee TO/ a SUM/mer's DAY?

Thou ART/ more LOVE/ly AND/ more TEM/per ATE (Sonnet 18)

Term
Imagery
Definition

It grounds the poem in concrete and the specific. It provides details that stimulate our senses and helps the reader see the world the author creates.

 

Auditory (sound)

Olfactory (smell)

Gustatory (taste)

Tactile (touch)

Organic (internal feeling)

Kinesthetic (movement/tension in the muscles

Term
Irony
Definition

Dramatic: When the audience knows something that the character does not. Ex: In "The Scarlet Letter" when the audience knows Dimmesdale is the father and the governer does not.

 

Situational: When there is a disparity between appearance and reality or when a disparity exists between an actual situation and what is appropriate or when there is a situation with a recognizable oddity. Ex: Owner of an airline wins a free plane ticket.

 

Verbal: saying one thing but meaning the opposite. Ex: saying"What a clean room you have here" when the room is an absolute pig stye.

Term
Italian Sonnet
Definition

is divided into two sections by two different groups of rhyming sounds. The first 8 lines is called the octave and rhymes:

a b b a a b b a

The remaining 6 lines is called the sestet and can have either two or three rhyming sounds, arranged in a variety of ways:

c d c d c d

c d d c d c

c d e c d e

c d e c d e

c d c e d c

In English all sonnets make use of iambic pentameter as a common practice although there have been variations.

Term
Literary Criticism
Definition
A close reading or interpretation of a text using different methods to arrive at meaning.
Term
Lyric Poem
Definition
A poem that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker. There are different types of lyrics that include elegies, odes, and sonnets.
Term
Metaphor
Definition

A word that compares one thing or idea to another.

 

Ex: My love is a rose.

Term
Meter
Definition
The combination of stressed and unstressed syllables creating rhythm.
Term
Metonymy
Definition

A figure of speech characterized by substituting an aspect or detail from the experience or closely related to the experience to represent the whole experience.

 

Ex: Using the words "the crown" to denote the king

Term
Monologue
Definition
A speech given by one person often alone on the stage. The actor speaks directly to the audience and is conscious of having a listener.
Term
Mood
Definition
The overall pervading feeling or emotion of the poem itself that is intended to influence the reader's emotional response. The feeling the reader receives when reading a work.
Term
Motif
Definition

The repetition of an idea or theme.

 

Ex: the repetition of the reference to light and darkness in The Heart of Darkness

Term
Narrator
Definition
The person telling the story.
Term
Ode
Definition
A lyrical poem of elaborate metrical form and expressing enthusiastic emotion.
Term
Onomatopoeia
Definition

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

 

Ex: bang

click

pop

buzz

Term
Overstatement
Definition
An exaggeration of language in order to reveal truth.
Term
Paradox
Definition

A contrasting statement or phrase which illuminates a truth or insight.

 

Ex: evil innocence

 

Term
Paraphrasing
Definition
Utilizing other author's ideas in the forwarding of one's ideas. However, even when paraphrasing, one must give credit to the original author.
Term
Personification
Definition

Giving human qualities to an inanimate object.

 

Ex: the skies wept in sadness

Term
Plot
Definition
the sequencing of events in a piece of fiction.
Term
Point of View
Definition

The angle from which a story is told.

 

Omnicient: all knowing. The author knows everything the characters are thinking and feeling and can relate any piece of information desired to the reader.

Third-person Limited: when the author tells the story from one character's perspective. Everything the reader learns is told from how this character sees it.

Third=person Objective: when the author tells the story using third-person but is limited to reporting what the characters say and do. The author doesn't give any commentary on character behavior; he/she merely presents the story.

First-person: when one of the characters tells the story using first-person.

Term
Protagonist
Definition
The main character embroiled in conflict.
Term
Quoting
Definition
Using another's exact words either to add authority to the concept, theory, or information one is trying to portray or because that author has stated so clearly what one is wishing to add to one's document that one could not say it better oneself.
Term
Realism
Definition
A method or technique in fiction which provides an accurate portrayal of life. Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is an example of realism.
Term
Refrain
Definition

A repeated work, phrase, or line or group of lines, normally at some fixed position in a poem written in stanzas.

 

Ex: A famous example of a refrain are the words  " Nothing More" and “Nevermore” which are repeated in “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe.


And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted nevermore.

Term
Regionalism/Local Color
Definition

Stories refer to works recognizing the difference of specific areas of the country by focusing on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other particular features of the region.

 

Ex: Louisiana is described in great detail using local color/regionalism in The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

Term
Repetition
Definition
When words or phrases are repeated for a stronger emphasis.
Term
Rhyme Scheme
Definition

The pattern of rhyming words in a stanza.

 

Ex: a b a b

     c d d c

     d d e e

Term
Satire
Definition
Humorous writing or speech that is meant to point out the errors, lies, foibles, or failings. Its purpose is to inform and reform human behavior or society and its social institutions.
Term
Scene
Definition
A minor division of a play. An act may have several scenes.
Term
Setting
Definition
The particular time and place of the story.
Term
Shift
Definition
A change in perspective or moving from one line of thought to another often signaled by words like: if, but, however, therefore.
Term
Simile
Definition

A comparison of two unlike things using the words "like" or "as".

 

Ex: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun.

 

The sea roared like a wounded beast.

Term
Soliloquy
Definition
A speech givem by a person who is talking to himself or herself or is unaware of anyone present who may be listening.
Term
Sonnet
Definition

A 14-line lyric poem that focuses on a single theme.

 

The "Shakespearean/Elizabethan sonnet" consisted of three quatrains and a rhyming couplet.

Term
Stanza
Definition
The division of a poem into lines or units often arranged in groups such as lines of four, six, or eight.
Term
Sestina
Definition
A complex form of a poem that consists of 6 stanzas for the body of the poem with each line ending in 1 of 6 chosen end words.
Term
Stereotype
Definition

A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opion, or image.

 

Ex: The cowboy and Indian are American stereotypes

Term
Stichomythia
Definition

A line-for-line, verbal fencing match, used by the principal characters who retort sharply to each other, echoing their opponent's words and figures of speech. It is a play on words.

 

Ex: There are MANY examples in Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Term
Stream of Consciousness
Definition
A literary technique presenting the thoughts of a character as they occur.
Term
Symbol
Definition

something having a literal meaning as well as another meaning beyond the literal. Authors may use symbols in their works to represent people, places or ideas that have special meaning.

 

Ex: The flag. It can represent a country, a group, a state, or a concept.

 

Authors often use colors symbolically. Ex: The Scarlet Letter

Term
Syntax
Definition

The pattern of formation of sentences or phrases in a language. Authors and poets manipulate the order of words to create meaning and purpose.

 

Ex: Patrick Henry's speech includes "Give me Liberty, or give me death!" By placing contrasting phrases right next to each other, Henry has created emphasis of his idea that liberty must be gained at all costs.

Term
Tercets
Definition

A group of three lines of verse, often rhyming together or with another triplet.

 

Ex:

From Second Satire
Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-42)

My mother’s maids, when they did sew and spin,

They sang sometimes a song of the field mouse,
That for because their livelihood was but so thin

Would needs go seek her townish sister’s house.

She thought herself endured to much pain:
The stormy blasts her cave so sore did souse...

Term
Theme
Definition
The overall meaning of a work - the point an author has made, the questions or issues he/she has raised.
Term
Thesis Statement
Definition
A sentence stating your point of view on a topic. The thesis statement serves as a summary of the argument you will make in the rest of your paper.
Term
Tone
Definition
The attitude the author conveys about the subject he or she is writing.
Term
Understatement
Definition

A figure of speech that consists of saying less than one means, or saying what one means with less force than the situation requires in order to reveal truth.

 

Ex: "The grave's a fine and private place,

       But none, I think, do there embrace."

       (Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress")

Term
Universality
Definition
How the theme of a novel or play applies to individuals, transcending race, class, gender, and other systems which tend to segregate individuals.
Term
Verisimilitude
Definition

Creating an accurate and truthful portrayal of something.

 

Ex: a teenager (not you of course) goes somewhere without her parents permission and tells her parents that she was really at the library. If the teenager adds creative details about what happened while she was there (even though she is making the details up), she is attempting to add verisimilitude to her story.

Term
Villanelle
Definition
A fixed form pem consisting of 19 lines divided into 5 stanzas of 3 lines each called tercets and closing with a stanza of 4 lines called a quatrain. This form includes a repeating refrain and a rhyme scheme depending on only 2 rhyming sounds throughout the poem.
Term
Voice
Definition
Two different areas of writing employ this term. One refers to the relationship between a sentence's subject and verb (active and passive voice). The second and more common definition refers to the total "sound" of a writer's style based on diction, syntax, and figurative language.
Term
Blank Verse
Definition
unrhymed verse.
Term
Elegy
Definition
a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead.
Term
Free Verse
Definition
a form of poetry that is either rhymed or unrhymed but which has no fixed metrical pattern.
Term
Limerick
Definition

It is a 5-line non-sense poem often meant to be humorous.

 

Ex:

There once was a man from Peru,
Who dreamed of eating his shoe,
He awoke with a fright,
In the middle of the night,
And found that his dream had come true!

Term
Litotes
Definition

A figure of speech containing an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.

 

Ex: "[W]ith a vigorous and sudden snatch, I brought my assailant harmlessly, his full length, on the not over clean ground--for we were now in the cow yard."
(Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom, 1855)

Term
Metaphysical Poetry
Definition

The work of poets, particularly those of the 17th century, that uses elaborate conceits, is highly intellectual, and expresses the complexities of love and life.

It is more of a technique with analyzing rather than expressing feelings and emotions.

Term
Oxymoron
Definition

A term consisting of contradictory elements juxtaposed to create a paradoxical effect.

 

Ex: Loud silence.

Jumbo shrimp.

Term
Synecdoche
Definition

A figure of speech in which a part signifies the whole (50 masts for 50 ships) or the whole signifies the part (days for life). When the name of a amterial stands for the thing itself, as in pigskin for football, that, too, is synecdoche.

 

Ex: 50 head of cattle  for 50 cows

Term
Abstract
Definition

refer to ideas or concepts; they have no physical referents.

 

Ex: abstract terms include love, success, freedom, good, moral, democracy, and any -ism (chauvinism, Communism, feminism, racism, sexism). These terms are fairly common and familiar, and because we recognize them we may imagine that we understand them—but we really can't, because the meanings won't stay still.

Term
Concrete
Definition

refer to objects or events that are available to the senses.

 

Ex: concrete terms include spoon, table, velvet eye patch, nose ring, sinus mask, green, hot, walking. Because these terms refer to objects or events we can see or hear or feel or taste or smell, their meanings are pretty stable. If you ask me what I mean by the word spoon, I can pick up a spoon and show it to you. [I can't pick up a freedom and show it to you, or point to a small democracy crawling along a window sill. I can measure sand and oxygen by weight and volume, but I can't collect a pound of responsibility or a liter of moral outrage.]

Term
Ellipsis
Definition
(...) - indicating the omission of words.
Term

Exposé

Definition
A piece of writing that reveals weaknesses, faults, frailties, oe other short-comings.
Term
Extended Metaphor
Definition
A series of comparisons between two unlike things.
Term
Pathos
Definition
The element in literatire that stimulates emotion. (pity/sorrow)
Term
Pseudonym
Definition
Also called a "pen name", a pseudonym is a false name or alias used by writers, such as Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens).
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