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AP Lit Vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ballad (poetic movement) | Dramatic story of love, hope and/or despair -Romeo and Juliet- Romeo and Juliet were star crossed lovers but ultimately could not be together and killed themselves because of a misunderstanding |
| External Conflict | -Problems/issues to be resolved within the plot -Anthem |
| Metaphor | Implied comparison of objects only alike in a single respect -Of Mice and Men- Lennie's rabbits = helplessness |
| Soliloquy (literary device) | -Long monologue revealing a character's unspoken reflections -Hamlet- "to be or Not to be" - Romeo and Juliet |
| Consonance (poetic device) | Consonant repetition, especially at the end of words - The Raven- "And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain" |
| Post Modernism | - 1960's through present day, emphasis on personal responses to history and society -Kurt Vonnegut Jr, Slaughterhouse Five, Harrison Bergeron |
| Internal conflict (literary device | -Problems/issues to be resolved is within that character (person vs. self - Of Mice and Men- George's struggle with Lennie's fate at the end of the story |
| Existentialism | -Free will, acceptance of consequences, and the responsibility of our actions -The Stranger |
| Absurdism | -The efforts of humanity to find meaning in the universe will ultimately fail (and, hence, are absurd) because no so meaning exists, at least in relation to humanity - Waiting for Godot- Pozzo and Estragon continued to try and fid Godot and meet couldn't |
| Tragic Flaw | -Character deficiency which leads to his/her downfall -Macbeth- Ambition of wanting to be the king so badly |
| Assonance | Vowel repetition, especially at the beginning of words Example- "I feel the need, the need for speed", Reeses Pieces |
| Protagonist | The main character, usually the hero in the piece Example- Hester Prynne- The Scarlet Letter |
| Oxymoron | Rhetorical antithesis Examples- Jumbo shrimp, Wise fool |
| Theme | Central idea or meaning in a fictional piece Example- siddhartha - Search for enlightenment |
| Short Story | A short prose fictional narrative centered on a single problem and its resolution Example- The fall of the house of usher (Edgar Allan Poe) |
| Meter | A regular rhythm in poetry Example- Iambic pentameter |
| Ode | Solemn lyric reflection on the meaning of a single aspect of reality Example- Ode on a Grecian Urn |
| Simile | Comparison using like or as Example- as sharp as a tack |
| Alliteration | Repetition of initial sounds in a line of verse Example- Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers |
| Rhyme Scheme | The pattern of rhyme in a poem Example- ... to a summer day/... temperate/... buds of May/... separate (ABAB) |
| Deus ex Machina | Resolution by unanticipated and unlikely occurrence- ending that comes out of nowhere, last second plot twist that resolves the issues Example: The naval ship at the end of Lord of the Flies |
| Epiphany | Character's flash of recognition, 'Aha Moment!' Example: Siddhartha's realization that his son must find his own path in life |
| Parallelism | Consistency in structure when elements are of equal importance. Example: Lord of the Flies- Island War parallels World War II in rest of society |
| Personification | Attribution of a personality to an inanimate object Example: "The wind whistled through the trees" Example: Animal Farm- animals given human capabilities |
| Pseudonym | A false name Example: Richard Bachmann = Stephen King |
| Stereotype | The object/character is assumed to be the same as all others of its type Example: Carlson (Of Mice and Men)- embodies 'migrant worker' mentality Example: Miss Dubose (To Kill a Mockingbird)- "Old South" southern woman |
| Epic | A long narrative poem celebrating heroic traditions. Examples: Beowulf, Odyssey, Iliad. |
| Anti-hero | A flawed hero or sympathetic villain Example: Alex (A Clockwork Orange), Satan (Paradise Lost) |
| Transcendentalism | There is a universal truth that goes beyond reason Example: Walden (Thoreau) |
| Heroic Couplet | Rhymed pair of iambic pentameter lines, emphasizes solution within sonnet Example- Elizabethan sonnet Conclusion |
| Allegory | represents abstract ideas Example: Everyman, Animal Farm (doesn't need specifics) |
| Antagonist | The hero's main adversary Example: Roger Chillingworth |
| Eulogy | Celebration of a deceased's life Example: Marc Antony's speech following Caesar's death |
| Middle English | English language from 1066-1500 Example: Chaucer, Everyman Why 1066 is the start- Norman Conquest |
| Surrealism | Attempt to produce visions and images of the unconscious mind. Dreamlike Example: Death of a Salesman- Willy's conversations with Ben |
| Allusion | Implied or direct reference to something assumed to be known Example: Cain and Abel story in Dante's Inferno |
| Conceit | Extended and elaborate metaphor Example: "...and juliet is the sun..." soliloquy in Romeo and Juliet |
| Ballad Stanza | A quatrain in which the 2nd/4th lines rhyme Example: Alll in a hot and copper sky! The Bloody Sun, at noon, Right up above the mast did stand, NO bigger than the Moon. Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient mariner, line 111-114 |
| Elegy | A meditative poem lamenting a death Example: Elegy Written in a country Churchyard by Thomas Gray |
| Pastoral | A literary work, often a poem, which romanticized rustic/rural life Examples: Little House on the Prairie, Tom Sawyer |
| Archetype | Reoccurs throughout the history of literature Example: Plot of Romeo and juliet |
| Dramatic Monologue | A poem representing itself as a speech made by one person to a silent listener using not the reader. Example: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Elliot |
| Synaesthesia | Figurative language that extends a sensation beyond its logical senses Example: "You should have heard what I had just seen" "I'm feeling blue" |
| Hubris | Tragic hero's excessive pride which leads to his downfall, Example: othello |
| Idyll | Symbolic reference to a paradisiacal place Example: Huck and Jim's life on the river |
| Blank Verse | Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter Example: O throw away the worser part of it. And live the purere with the other half |
| Free Verse | Poetry that does not follow a regular meter or rhyme. Example: A poem by e.e cummings |
| Carpe Diem | "Seize the Day" Example: Hamlet |
| Catharsis | Reader's vicarious release from anxiety Example: Great Expectations- Pip's discovery of his benefactor |
| Classicism | References to classic Greek/Roman for artistic models |
| Anecdote | A brief narrative of an interesting event Example: George Washington- cut the cherry tree |
| Satire | Seeks, through humor, to correct a human behavior Example: A modest proposal |
| Metonymy | Figure of Speech- Substitution of a closely related word or phrase Example: White house = President Lend me your ear |
| Stream of Consciousness | Recreates the unorganized flow of the mind Example: Catcher in the Rye- Holden Caulfield |
| Muse | Goddesses who preside over the arts Example: Euterpe = music Terpsichore = dance Calliope = poetry |
| Myth | Story of an uncertain source which explains an essential aspect of one's reality Example- Persephone - Demeter - Hades |
| Utopia/Dystopia | vision of a perfect future world/ vision of a degraded future world Example- Plato's Republic/Orwell's 1984 |
| Paradox | An apparently contradictory statement Example: "They have eyes but see not" |
| Hyperbole | Exaggeration for dramatic effect Example: Barbara Allen's death from regret |
| Litotes | Understatement for dramatic effect Example: Romeo and Juliet - Mercutio: 'It is but a scratch" Monty Python- "it is but a flesh wound" Not bad (explain) |
| Pathos | Art which stimulates pity, sorrow or tenderness Example- Desdemona's death in Othello |
| Romanticism | Emphasis on imagination and emotion Example: Ethan Frome- Wharton; Wuthering Heights- Bronte |
| Hamartia | Tragic flaw Example: Oedipus = curiosity |
| Caricature | Grotesque likeness of striking characteristics of person or things Example- Political cartoons |
| Narrative Poem | Poetry intended to tell a story Example: Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge |
| Diction | Level of language in literature Example- Stanley - low language vs. Blanche - high language - A streetcar Named Desire |
| Caesura | Any break or pause in a poetic line Example- "I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each" |
| Chivalry | Idealized manners Example: Canterbury Tales |
| Cliché | Expression or plot used so often that its effects are dulled/hackneyed Example- Rocky movies |
| Colloquial | informal diction Example: Catcher in the Rye- Holden Caulfield Example: "What's up" = Hello |
| Deconstructionism | Accepts that language is arbitrary, reality is inexpressible. Consider patterns rather than meaning in a work (no example, the definition becomes higher in points) |
| Modernism | Departure from traditional modes and techniques. Questions established systems (religion/Government) Example: The Waste Land |
| Analogy | Comparison for explanatory purposes Example: metaphors and similes |
| Irony | Reversal of expected outcome or meaning Example: Lord of the Flies- Fire started by hunters rescues the children |
| Lyric Poem | Poetry intended to develop a sense, emotion or ideal Example- To A Waterfowl |
| Enjambment | When the sense unit exceeds the line break Example: Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold"upon the straits, on the French coast the light/ Gleams and is gone" |
| Denouement (De-new-ment) | The final unraveling and explanation of a plot Example: Huck's stay at Phelps farm- Adventures of Huck Finn |
| Rationalism | By reason, we can understand the world Example: Socrates |
| Hero | Central, admirable figure in a fiction Example: Hester Prynne- Scarlet Letter |
| Fable | A brief tale that offers a moral lesson Example: Aesop's Fables |
| Genre | Category of Literature Example: Poetry, drama, prose |
| New Criticism | Literary criticism that considers only the text |
| Parody | A satiric imitation Example: The Onion |
| Tone | The author's attitude, moral stance towards a topic Example: Ordinary People- dark; Twain's attitude towards royalty (negative) |
| Didactic | Instructional Example: Pilgrim's Progress- John Bunyan |
| Bombast | Ranting, insincere, extravagant language Example: Hamlet- Hamlet's 'nunnery' speech to Ophelia |
| Aesthetic Distance | Authorial objectivity- regard subject from a non-judgemental stance Example: Stephen Crane- The Red Badge of Courage |
| Expressionism | Express emotional state rather than an objective reality Example: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka |
| Novel | An extended and complex prose fictional narrative Example: Demian, Moby Dick |
| imagism | Poetry emphasizing precise and suggestive images, common diction Example: William Carlos Williams- The Red Wheelbarrow |
| Epigram | A pithy, concise saying Example: "Man is the only animal that blushes, or needs to"- Twain I can resist everything except temptation |
| Fantasy | A literary work set in an imaginary world with unreal characters Example: The Lord of the Rings |
| Bourgeois | Dealing with middle class life Example: Death of a Salesman- Bourgeois tragedy |
| Burlesque | Literary form of comedy characterized by ridiculous exaggeration Example: Canterbury Tales- The nun is burlesque of medieval religious life |
| Essay | A formal exposition on a single subject Example: On Civil Disobedience- Thoreau |
| Polemic | A vigorous argumentative work Example: The Rights of Man- Thomas Paine |
| Parable | A short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson Example: Everyman, Parable of the Talents (Bible) |
| Denotation | The specific, exact meaning of a word or phrase Example: April is the fourth month |
| Connotation | The implicit meaning surrounding a word or phrase Example: April suggests a new beginning |
Created by:
Livy_Marolda
Popular English Vocabulary sets