The repetition of the same consonant sounds in a sequence of words, usually at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable.

A brief reference to a person, place, thing, event, or idea in history or literature. Allusions imply cultural and reading ties between the writer and reader.

Universal symbols that evoke deep and sometimes unconscious response in a reader. In literature, characters, images, and themes that symbolically embody universal meanings and basic human experiences.

The repetition of internal vowel sounds in nearby words that do not end the same. Assonance is a way to emphasize important words in a line.

Traditionally, a ballad is a song passed down orally from generation to generation that tells a story and that eventually is written down. They can’t be traced (usually) to a particular author or group of authors.

Unrhymed poetry written with an alternating pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. It resembles the natural rhythm of spoken English.

A discordant and meaningless mixture of sounds.

The principles or styles characteristic of the literature and art of ancient Greece and Rome.

A scenario or expression that is used excessively, to the point that it is concidered unoriginal and a sign of weak writing.

An elaborate or fanciful metaphor, especially of a strained or far-fetched nature.

Two consecutive lines of poetry that usually rhyme and have the same meter. A heroic couplet is a couplet written in rhymed iambic pentameter.

A writer’s choice of words, phrases, sentence structures and figurative language which combine to help create meaning

A funeral song or tune, or one expressing mourning in commemoration of the dead.

A type of lyric poem in which a character (the speaker) addresses a distinct but silent audience imagined to be present in the poem in such a way as to reveal a dramatic situation.

A mournful, contemplative lyric poem written to commemorate someone who is dead, often ending in a consolation. Also, a serious meditative poem produced to express the speaker’s melancholy thoughts.

A long, narrative poem that tells the adventures of a hero whose actions help decide the fate of a nation or of a group of people. The style of an epic poem is formal and grand.

A brief, pointed and witty poem that usually makes a satiric or humorous point. Epigrams are often written in couplets, but take no prescribed form.

Anything that tells a story. Types of narrative poems include epics, ballads, and short narrative poems.

A long line that tenda poetic line containing eight metrs to break into two four-foot lines, the octameter is rare in English poetry.

The first eight lines, or octet, of the Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet. Usually the octave asks a qugeneralization that is answered or resolved in the last six lines, the sestet, of the poem.

A long and elaborate LYRIC poem, usually dignified or exalted in TONE and often written to praise someone or something or to mark an important occasion.

The use of words whose sound imitates the sound of the thing being named. Examples: hum, buzz, clang, boom, hiss, crackle, and pow.

A figure of speech in which two contradictory words or phrases are combined in a single expression, giving the effect of a condensed paradox. Examples: wise fool, living death, cruel kindness, eloquent silence, and loving hate.

The technique of showing that words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures are comparable in content and importance by placing them side by side and making them similar in form.

Afive-foot line of poetry. The most common pentameter line, iambic pentameter, is the basis of blank verse, the sonnet, and the heroic couplet, and is the most widely used line in English poetic verse.

A song or hymn of praise, thanksgiving, or triumph.

A genre of literature in its most intense, most imaginative, and most rhythmic forms. Poetry differs from prose most basically in being written in lines of arbitrary lengths (stanzas) instead of in paragraphs.

A stanza of four lines, rhyme or unrhymed; also, a poem consisting of four lines only.The quatrain is the most common stanza form in English.

A phrase, line, or group of lines repeated at intervals during a poem, usually at the end of a stanza. In a song, a refrain is often called a chorus because it allows everyone to join in. Refrains are also to re-establish an idea or a mood.

A chant, dirge, or poem for the dead; from the Roman Catholic mass for the dead.

The similarity of sound between two words ( cold/old)When the sounds of their accented syllables and all succeeding sounds are identical, words rhyme. The most common form of rhyme is rhyme at the end of lines of poetry, which is called end rhyme.

The patterned flow of sound in poetry and prose. In traditional English poetry, rhythm is based on the combination of accent and numbers of syllables, known as meter.

Analyzing meter in lines of poetry by counting and marking the accented and unaccented syllables, dividing the lines into metrical feet, and showing the major pauses, if any, within the line.

A figure of speech that uses like, as, or as if to compare two essentially different objects, actions, or attributes that share some aspect of similarity.

A fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter. The two most important type of sonnets are the Italian (Petrarchan) and the Shakespearean (English).

A section or division of a poem; specifically, a grouping of lines into a recurring pattern determined by the number of lines, the meter of the lines, and the rhyme scheme.

Two successive rhyming verses completing a thought.

Three-line stanza with interwoven rhyme scheme of iambic pentameter.

Five lines, rhyme scheme of A A B B A

Four lines, rhyme scheme of A B C B

Seven lines in iambic pentameter A B A BB CC

Italian stanza, iambic pentameter A B A B A B CC

Nine lines, eight in iambic pentameter, one “alexandrine” a line of iambic hexameter A B A BB C B CC

Fourteen-line stanza form in iambic pentameter.

Italian or Petrarchan sonnet

Fourteen-line stanza with rhyme scheme of A B B A A B B A C D E C D E (CD CD CD)

Fourteen-line quatrains and a couplet with rhyme scheme A B A B C D C D E F E F GG

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. The stressed syllable is accented and the unstressed syllable is unaccented.

Unstressed unstressed stressed.

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Terms

AP Lit

Term	Definition
Alliteration	The repetition of the same consonant sounds in a sequence of words, usually at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable.
Allusion	A brief reference to a person, place, thing, event, or idea in history or literature. Allusions imply cultural and reading ties between the writer and reader.
Archetype	Universal symbols that evoke deep and sometimes unconscious response in a reader. In literature, characters, images, and themes that symbolically embody universal meanings and basic human experiences.
Assonance	The repetition of internal vowel sounds in nearby words that do not end the same. Assonance is a way to emphasize important words in a line.
Ballad	Traditionally, a ballad is a song passed down orally from generation to generation that tells a story and that eventually is written down. They can’t be traced (usually) to a particular author or group of authors.
Blank verse	Unrhymed poetry written with an alternating pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. It resembles the natural rhythm of spoken English.
Cacophony	A discordant and meaningless mixture of sounds.
Classicism	The principles or styles characteristic of the literature and art of ancient Greece and Rome.
Cliché	A scenario or expression that is used excessively, to the point that it is concidered unoriginal and a sign of weak writing.
Coherence	Logical interconnection.
Conceit	An elaborate or fanciful metaphor, especially of a strained or far-fetched nature.
Couplet	Two consecutive lines of poetry that usually rhyme and have the same meter. A heroic couplet is a couplet written in rhymed iambic pentameter.
Diction	A writer’s choice of words, phrases, sentence structures and figurative language which combine to help create meaning
Dirge	A funeral song or tune, or one expressing mourning in commemoration of the dead.
Dramatic monologue	A type of lyric poem in which a character (the speaker) addresses a distinct but silent audience imagined to be present in the poem in such a way as to reveal a dramatic situation.
Elegy	A mournful, contemplative lyric poem written to commemorate someone who is dead, often ending in a consolation. Also, a serious meditative poem produced to express the speaker’s melancholy thoughts.
Epic	A long, narrative poem that tells the adventures of a hero whose actions help decide the fate of a nation or of a group of people. The style of an epic poem is formal and grand.
Epigram	A brief, pointed and witty poem that usually makes a satiric or humorous point. Epigrams are often written in couplets, but take no prescribed form.
Narrative	Anything that tells a story. Types of narrative poems include epics, ballads, and short narrative poems.
Octameter	A long line that tenda poetic line containing eight metrs to break into two four-foot lines, the octameter is rare in English poetry.
Octave	The first eight lines, or octet, of the Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet. Usually the octave asks a qugeneralization that is answered or resolved in the last six lines, the sestet, of the poem.
Ode	A long and elaborate LYRIC poem, usually dignified or exalted in TONE and often written to praise someone or something or to mark an important occasion.
Onomatopoeia	The use of words whose sound imitates the sound of the thing being named. Examples: hum, buzz, clang, boom, hiss, crackle, and pow.
Oxymoron	A figure of speech in which two contradictory words or phrases are combined in a single expression, giving the effect of a condensed paradox. Examples: wise fool, living death, cruel kindness, eloquent silence, and loving hate.
Parallelism	The technique of showing that words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures are comparable in content and importance by placing them side by side and making them similar in form.
Pentameter	Afive-foot line of poetry. The most common pentameter line, iambic pentameter, is the basis of blank verse, the sonnet, and the heroic couplet, and is the most widely used line in English poetic verse.
Paean	A song or hymn of praise, thanksgiving, or triumph.
Poetry	A genre of literature in its most intense, most imaginative, and most rhythmic forms. Poetry differs from prose most basically in being written in lines of arbitrary lengths (stanzas) instead of in paragraphs.
Quatrain	A stanza of four lines, rhyme or unrhymed; also, a poem consisting of four lines only.The quatrain is the most common stanza form in English.
Refrain	A phrase, line, or group of lines repeated at intervals during a poem, usually at the end of a stanza. In a song, a refrain is often called a chorus because it allows everyone to join in. Refrains are also to re-establish an idea or a mood.
Requiem	A chant, dirge, or poem for the dead; from the Roman Catholic mass for the dead.
Rhyme	The similarity of sound between two words ( cold/old)When the sounds of their accented syllables and all succeeding sounds are identical, words rhyme. The most common form of rhyme is rhyme at the end of lines of poetry, which is called end rhyme.
Rhythm	The patterned flow of sound in poetry and prose. In traditional English poetry, rhythm is based on the combination of accent and numbers of syllables, known as meter.
Scansion	Analyzing meter in lines of poetry by counting and marking the accented and unaccented syllables, dividing the lines into metrical feet, and showing the major pauses, if any, within the line.
Simile	A figure of speech that uses like, as, or as if to compare two essentially different objects, actions, or attributes that share some aspect of similarity.
Sonnet	A fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter. The two most important type of sonnets are the Italian (Petrarchan) and the Shakespearean (English).
Stanza	A section or division of a poem; specifically, a grouping of lines into a recurring pattern determined by the number of lines, the meter of the lines, and the rhyme scheme.
Heroic couplet	Two successive rhyming verses completing a thought.
Terza rima	Three-line stanza with interwoven rhyme scheme of iambic pentameter.
Limerick	Five lines, rhyme scheme of A A B B A
Ballad stanza	Four lines, rhyme scheme of A B C B
Royal rime	Seven lines in iambic pentameter A B A BB CC
Ottava rima	Italian stanza, iambic pentameter A B A B A B CC
Spenserian stanza	Nine lines, eight in iambic pentameter, one “alexandrine” a line of iambic hexameter A B A BB C B CC
Sonnet	Fourteen-line stanza form in iambic pentameter.
Italian or Petrarchan sonnet	Fourteen-line stanza with rhyme scheme of A B B A A B B A C D E C D E (CD CD CD)
Shakespearean sonnet	Fourteen-line quatrains and a couplet with rhyme scheme A B A B C D C D E F E F GG
Meter	The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. The stressed syllable is accented and the unstressed syllable is unaccented.
Iamb	Unstressed stressed.
Trochee	Stressed unstressed.
Anapest	Unstressed unstressed stressed.
Dactyl	Stressed unstressed unstressed.
Spondee	Stressed stressed.
Pyrrhic	Unstressed unstressed ** (this is very rare).
Rhetorical Question	Food for thought; create satire/sarcasm; pose dilemma.
Euphemism	Substituting a milder or less offensive sounding word(s).
Aphorism	Universal commends, sayings, proverbs – convey major point.
Repetition	Also called refrain; repeated word, sentence or phrase.
Restatement	Main point said in another way.
Irony	Either verbal or situational – good for revealing attitude.
Allusion
Paradox	A statement that can be true and false at the same time.
Utopia	An imaginary, idealized world presented in literature.
Catalog	A list of people ot things.
Chiamus	Two phrases in which the syntax is the same but the placement of words is reversed.
Colloquialism	An informal or slang expression, especially in the context of formal writing.
Consonance	The repetition of consonants in a sequence of nearby words ("moth breath"), especially at the end of stressed syllables when there is no similar repetition of vowel sounds.
Epanalepsis	Repetition at the end of the clause of the word that appeared at the beginning of the clause.
Epistrophe	The repetition of a word or group of words at the end of successive phrases, clauses, verses, or sentences.
Epithet	An adjective or phrase that describes a prominent or distinguishing feature of a person or thing.
Epizeuxis	Repetition of the same word with no other words in between for emphasis.
Hyperbaton	A scheme of unusual or inverted word order.
Dramatic irony (also called tragic irony)	A technique in which the author lets the reader in on a character's situation while the character remains in the dark; thus the character's words and actions carry a significance that he or she is not aware of.
Aphorism	A concise expression of insight or wisdom.
Apostrophe	A direct address to an absent or dead person, or to an object, quality, or idea.
Asyndeton	The omission of coordinating conjuctions, such as in a series.
Atanaclasis	A type of pun in which one word is repeated in two different senses.
Bathos	A sudden and unexpected drop from the lofty to the trivial or excessively sentimental.
Opening	The beginning of an argument or essay; the introduction.
Appeal to special rules or principles	In an argument, the citation of rules or laws that an audience believes in, such as the principle that all human beings are created equal.
Argument from cause and effect	A form of argument in which a cause-and-effect relationship is presented in support of another proposition.
Thesis statement	The main idea, or principle claim, that is supported in a work of nonfiction.
Delayed sentence	A sentence that delays introducing the subject and verb (or independent clause) until the end.
Anthimeria	A type of pun in which one part of speech is substituted for another.
Anadiplosis	Repetition of an important word from one phrase or clause (usually the last word) at the start of the next phrase or clause.
Analogy	A comparison based on a specific similarity between things that are otherwise unlike, or the inference that if two things are alike in some ways, they will be alike in others. Often draws a comparison between something abstract and something easier to see
Unreliable narration	A process of narrating in which the narrator is revealed over time to be an untrustworthy source of information.
Antithesis	The contrasting of ideas by the use of parallel structure in phrases or clauses.
Values	Principles or qualities that people hold to be intrinsically good, such as justice, fairness, and equality.
Verbal irony	The use of a statement that, because of its context, means its opposite.
Voice	An author's individual way of using language to reflect his or her own personality and attitudes. An author communicates voice through tone, word choice (or diction), and sentence structure.
Wit	A form of wordplay that displays cleverness or ingenuity with language. Often, but not always, displays humor.
Allegory	A narrative in which literal meaning corresponds directly with symbolic meaning; each element symbolizes something else.
Isocolon	A device in which corresponding clauses are of exactly equal length.
Juxtaposition	The technique of placing unexpected combinations of words or ideas side by side.
Meiosis	A form of understatement in which something is referred to by a name that is dispropportionate to its true nature.
Litotes	Deliberate understatement, in which and idea or opinion is often affirmed by negating its opposite.
Hamartia (also called tragic flaw)	In the context of tragedy, a fatal flaw of error that brings about the downfall of someone of high status.
Metonymy	A figure of speech in which something is referred to by one of its attributes.
Mixed metaphor	A combination of metaphors (comparisons of unlike things without the use of like or as) that produces a confused or contradictory image.
Situational Irony	A technique in which one understanding of a situation stands in sharp contrast with another, usually more prevalent understanding of the same situation.
Polyptoton	The repetition of words that come from the same root word.
Polysyndeton	The device of repeating conjunctions in close succession.
Pun (also called paronomasia)	A play on words that exploits the similarity in sound between two words with distinctly different meanings.
Simile	A comparison of two unlike things through the use of like or as.
Synaesthesia	The use of one kind of sensory experience to describe another.
Ellipsis	A figure of speech in which a word or short phrase is omitted but easily understood from the context.
Overstatement	An exaggeration of fact; also called hyperbole.
Theme	A fundamental and universal idea explored in a literary work.
Appeal to the probable or likely	A form of argument in which a claim is supported by reference to what seems most plausible or what one would expect in a given situation. Such appeals are usually made when more solid or factual evidence is unavailable.
Symbol	A concrete object that is made to represent something abstract.
Synecdoche	A figure of speech in which a part of an entity is used to refer to the whole or when a genus is reffered to by a species.
Poetic diction	The use of specific types of words, phrases, or literary structures that are not common in contemporary speech or prose.
Poetic license	The right of an author to change elements of reality, or to break rules of form - or other conventions - to achieve an effect in a piece of writing.
Romantic irony	A technique in which an author reminds the reader of his or her presence in the work. By drawing attention to the artifice of the work, that author ensures that the reader will remain critically detached and not accept the writing at face value.
Hard evidence	The use of empirical or factual data in support of an argument.
Hyperbole	Excessive overstatement of conscious exaggeration of fact.
Inductive reasoning	Reasoning in which one arrives at a general conclusion from specific instances.
In medias res	Latin for "in the middle of things"; refers to the technique of starting a narrative in the middle of the action.
Sarcasm	A simple form of verbal irony, in which it is obvious from context and tone that the speaker means the opposite of what he or she says.
Onomatopeia	The use of words that sound like the thing or action they refer to.
Oxymoron	The association of two contradictory terms.
Paralipsis (also called praeteritio)	The technique of drawing attention to something by claiming not to mention it.
Pathetic fallacy	The attribution of human feeling or motivation to a nonhuman object, especially an object found in nature.
Periphrasis	The substitution of a proper noun in a place of a description (can also apply to the reverse - the substitution of an illustrative or descriptive word phrase in place of a proper noun.)
Anaphora	Repeated use of a word or phrase at the start of successive phrases or sentences for effort; also the use of a pronoun to refer to an antecedent (noun).
Syllogism	A formal arguemtn involving deductive reasoning, in which a specific conclusion is inferred from a general statement.
Third-person narration/ third-person point of view	A literary style in which that narrator remains outside the story and describes the characters in the story using proper names and the third-person pronouns he, she, it, and they.
Parison	The correspondence of words within successive sentences or clauses either by direct repetition of a specific word or by matching up nouns or verb forms.
Personification	The use of human characteristics to describe animals, objects, or ideas.
Refutation	The process of proving something wrong by argument or evidence.
Anachronism	An error in chronolgy; a reference that is inconsistent or inaccurate in view of the time in which a story is set.
Appeal to tradition	The technique of citing or alluding to well-known sources that are part of the audience's cultural tradition and that the audience is likely to revere.
Aposiopesis	A breaking off of speech, usually due to rising emotion or excitement.
Speaker	The narrator of a poem; also the voice assumed by the writer. The speaker and the author of the poem are not the same person.
Argument by comparison	A means of argument by which two situations are presented as similar (or dissimilar), usually to suggest that what is valid for one situation should be valid for the other.
Emblem	A concrete object that represents something abstract; unlike a symbol, it has a fixed meaning and does not change over time.
Stream-of-consciousness narration	Form of narration in which the narrator conveys a subject's thoughts, impressions, and perceptions exactly as they occur, often in disjointed fashion and without the logic and grammar of typical speech and writing.
Persuading	The process of influencing an audience to alter its actions and attitudes.
Perspective	The point of view through which a subject or its parts are mentally perceived.
Persona	The character an author assumes in a written work.
Pathos	From the Greek word for "feeling"; the quality in a work of literature that evokes high emotion, most commonly sorrow, pity, or compassion.
Syntax	The way the words in a piece of writing are put together to form lines, phrases, or clauses; the basic structure of a piece or writing.
Pastiche	A work that imitates the style of a previous author, work, or literary genre; also a work that contains a hodgepodge of elements or fragments from different sources or influences. The imitation is not meant as satire or mockery.
Passive voice	In this verb form, the subject of the sentence receives the action denoted by the verb. Always consists of a form of "to be" plus the past participle of the verb.
Retrospection	A narrative technique in which some of the events of a story are described after events that occur later in time have already been narrated; also called analepsis and flashback.
Autobiography	The narrative of a person's life, written by that person.
Auxesis	Arranging words or clauses in a sequence or increasing force.
Foreshadowing	An author's deliberate use of hints or suggestions to give a preview of events or themes that do not develop until later in the narrative.
Expert opinion	The citation of accredited authorities in support of an argument.
Parable	A short narrative that illustrates a moral by means of allegory (in which literal meaning and symbolic meaning correspond clearly and directly).
Argument by definition	Form of argument in which the writer defines a term by placing it in a particular category, thereby claiming that what is true for the whole category is true for the particular term.
Point of view	The perspective that a narrative takes toward the events it describes.
Realism	A loose term that can refer to any work that aims at honest portrayal over sensationalism, exaggeration, or melodrama. Technically, it refers to a late 19th-century literary movement that aimed at accurate, detailed portrayals of ordinary life.
Reason	A statement offered as an explanation of justification for something; also a sufficient basis for believing something or a logical defense.
Red herring	Something that distracts attention from the real issue.
Reflective	Thoughtful, deliberative
Register	One of the varieties of language appropriate to particular social situations. The four stylistic registers most commonly referred to are formal, informal, colloquial, and slang.
Position	A point of view or opinion on an issue.
Prior knowledge	Ideas, facts, or awareness that and audience already possesses about a topic.
Propaganda	Ideas, facts, or allegations spread to persuade others to support one's cause or to go against the opposing cause.
Qualifier/ qualification	A statement that modifies or limits the meaning of a claim.
Protagonist	The main character around whom the story revolves.
Canon	An evolving group of literary works considered essential to a culture's literary tradition.
Biography	Thr nonfictional story of an individual's life, written by someone else.
Bildungsroman	A novel about the education or psychological growth of a protagonist (or main character).
Omniscient narration/ third-person omniscient point of view	A literary syle in which the narrator knows all the actions, feelings, and motivations of all the characters and discusses these using proper names and the third-person pronouns he, she, it, and they.

Created by: wendyscruggs

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