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AP Literary Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| allusion | a reference in a work of literature to something outside the work. |
| attitude | the disposition toward or opinion of a subject by a speaker, author, or character. |
| details (also choice of details) | details are the individual items or parts that make up a larger picture or story. |
| devices of sound | the techniques of deploying the sound of words, especially in poetry. (rhyme, alliteration, assonance, consonance, and onomatopoeia) |
| diction | word choice. words that effect the meaning of the passage. |
| figurative language | writing that uses figure of speech, such as metaphor, simile, and irony. |
| imagery | the images created by a literary work sensory details of a work figurative language of a work. one is visual, auditory, or tactile images evoked by the words of a literary work, and the second is the images that figurative language evokes |
| irony | a figure of speech in which the intended meaning and the actual meaning differ, characteristically using praise to indicate blame or vice versa. |
| metaphor | a figurative use of language in which a comparison is expressed without the use of a comparative term. |
| narrative techniques | the methods involved in telling a story; the procedures used by a writer of stories or accounts. |
| omniscient point of view | the vantage point of a story in which the narrator can know, see, and report whatever he or she chooses. |
| point of view | any of several possible vantage points from which a story is told. |
| resource of language | a general phrase for the linguistic devices or techniques that a writer can use. |
| rhetorical techniques | the devices used in effective or persuasive language. |
| satire | writing that uses ridicule to arouse a reader's disapproval of the subject. |
| setting | the background of a story; the physical location of a play, story, or novel. |
| simile | a directly expressed comparison; a figure of speech comparing two objects, usually with "like" "as" or "than" |
| strategy | the management of language for a specific effect. The strategy or rhetorical strategy of a poem is the planned placing of elements to achieve an effect. |
| structure | the arrangement of materials within a work; the relationship of the parts of a work to the whole' the logical divisions of a work. |
| style | the mode of expression in language; the characteristic manner of expression of an author. |
| symbol | something that is simultaneously itself and also a sign of something else. |
| syntax | the structure of a sentence. |
| theme | the main thought expressed by a work. |
| tone | the manner in which an author expresses his or her attitude; the intonation of the voice that expresses meaning. |
| allegory | a story in which the people, things, and events have another extended, frequently abstract, meaning. |
| ambiguity | multiple meanings |
| apostrophe | direct address, usually to someone or something that is not present. |
| connotation | the implications of a word or phrase, or the emotions associated with it, as opposed to its exact meaning(denotation) |
| convention | a device of style or subject matter that is used so often that it becomes a recognized means of expression. |
| denotation | the specific, literal meaning of a word to be found in a dictionary, as opposed to connotation. |
| didactic | explicitly instructive. |
| digression | the inclusion of material unrelated to the actual subject of a work. |
| epigram | a pithy saying, often employing contrast. |
| euphemism | a figure of speech utilizing indirection to avoid offensive bluntness. |
| grotesque | characterized by distorting or incongruities. |
| hyperbole | deliberate exaggeration, overstatement. |
| jargon | the specialized language of a profession or group. |
| literal | the precise, explicit meaning. |
| lyrical | songlike; characterized by emotion, subjectivity, and imagination. |
| oxymoron | a combination or juxtaposition of opposites; a union of contradictory terms. |
| parable | a story designated to suggest a principle, to illustrate a moral, or to answer a question. |
| paradox | a statement that seems to be self-contradictory but is, in fact, true. |
| parody | a composition that imitates the style of another composition, normally done for comic effect. |
| personification | a figurative use of language that endows the non human (ideas, inanimate object, animals, abstractions) with human characteristics. |
| reliability | a quality of some fictional narrators in whose word the reader can place his trust. |
| rhetorical question | a question asked for effect, not in expectation of a reply. A reply is not expected because the question presupposes only one possible answer. |
| soliloquy | a speech in which a character who is alone speaks his or her thoughts aloud. |
| stereotype | a conventional pattern, expression, character, or idea. In literature, a stereotype could apply the unvarying plot and characters of some works of fiction. |
| syllogism | a form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them. |
| thesis | the theme, meaning, or position that a writer endeavors to prove or support. |
| alliteration | the repetition of similar or identical consonant sounds, normally at the beginning of words. |
| assonance | the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds. |
| ballad meter |
Created by:
Ashley-Anna
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