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AP Structural Terms
Basic terms needed to write about literature
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Allegory | A narrative in which characters, settings, and events consistently represent abstract ideas, moral qualities, or historical and political concepts. |
| Antagonist | A character who functions as a resisting force to the goals of the protagonist. |
| Anticlimax | A sudden, often disappointing decline in tension following a period of rising action or expectation. |
| Antihero | A protagonist who carries the action of the literary piece but does not embody the classic characteristics of courage, strength, and nobility. |
| Bildungsroman | A novel in which an adolescent protagonist comes to adulthood by a process of experience and disillusionment. (Coming of age novel) |
| Burlesque | A form of satire that treats a serious subject in a deliberately exaggerated or ridiculous manner. |
| Contrast | One element is thrown into opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity. |
| Conventions | An established feature, pattern, or practice commonly associated with a particular genre or form. |
| Deus ex machina | An improbable or artificial plot device introduced to resolve a conflict or untangle a plot. |
| Didactic | Descriptive of fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking. |
| Epiphany | A sudden realization, insight, or understanding that changes a character's perception of self, others, or the world. |
| Genre | The major category into which literary works fit, such as prose, poetry, and drama. |
| Essay | A short piece of nonfiction prose in which the writer discusses some aspect of a subject. |
| Myth | A story, usually with supernatural significance, that explains the origins of gods, heroes, or natural phenomena. |
| Novel | Any extended fictional prose narrative focusing on a few primary characters but often involving scores of secondary characters. |
| Parable | A relatively short, didactic story that teaches a moral, or lesson about how to lead a good life. |
| Parody | A work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer’s style. |
| Romance | A story in which an idealized hero or heroine undertakes a quest and is successful. It usually has a “once upon a time” aura to it. |
| Satire | The use of humor to ridicule and expose the shortcomings and failures of society, individuals, and institutions, often in the hope that change and reform are possible. |
| Short Story | A concise work of fiction structured to achieve a single dominant effect or impression on the reader. |
| Tall tale | An outrageously exaggerated, humorous story that is obviously unbelievable. |
| Flashback | A scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time. |
| Foil | A character whose qualities or choices contrast with those of another character in order to highlight important traits or themes. |
| Frame Story | The result of inserting one or more small stories within the body of a larger story that encompasses the smaller ones. |
| Inclusio | A literary device where words or concepts are repeated at the start and finish of an idea, and these work as bookends or an envelope to enclose a concept or idea. |
| In medias res | “In the midst of things” – standard of epic poetry where the action begins in the middle instead of at the beginning. |
| Verbal Irony | A trope in which the meaning ostensibly expressed “differs sharply from” what the speaker really means; sarcasm. |
| Situational Irony | Irony that occurs when an outcome differs significantly from what characters or readers reasonably expect. |
| Dramatic Irony | A contrast between a character's understanding of a situation and the fuller knowledge possessed by the audience. |
| Cosmic Irony | A form of situational irony in which unseen forces such as fate or destiny seem to manipulate events to frustrate human expectations. |
| Juxtaposition | Poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit. |
| Metamorphosis | A radical change in a character, either physical or emotional. |
| Motif | A recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the work by tying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme. |
| Paradox | A statement or situation that at first seems impossible or oxymoronic, but which solves itself and reveals meaning. |
| Pathetic Fallacy | The attribution of human emotions or states of mind to nature, weather, or the physical environment. |
| Persona | The speaker or narrative voice that is embodied or characterized. |
| Prose | Language that follows the natural patterns of speech and is organized into sentences and paragraphs rather than lines of poetry. |
| Protagonist | The main or principal character in a work; often considered the hero or heroine. |
| Stream of Consciousness | A form of writing which replicates the way the human mind works. Ideas are presented in random order; thoughts are often unfinished. |
| Symbol | A concrete object, scene, or action which has deeper significance because it is associated with something else, often an important idea or theme in the work. |
| Natural Symbol | Objects and occurrences from nature to symbolize ideas commonly associated with them. |
| Conventional Symbol | Symbols that have been invested with meaning by a group. |
| Literary Symbol | A symbol whose meaning is developed and shaped by its role within a particular literary work. |
| Theme | The central or dominating idea in a literary work; the abstract concept made concrete in persons, actions, or images. |
| Verisimilitude | The appearance of truth, realism, or believability in a literary work. |
| Fable | A very short story told in prose or poetry that teaches a practical lesson about how to succeed in life. |
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