Ap-Prep- literary terms

Allegory

a story in which the characters, settings, and events stand for abstract or moral concepts

Alliteration

the repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close to one another

Allusion

a reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing that is known for literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science or popular culture

Analogy

a comparison of two things to show that they are alike in certain respects

Antagonist

the character or force that opposes or blocks the protagonist, or main character, in a narrative

Antithesis

a contrast of ideas expressed in a grammatically balanced statement

Apostrophe

a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something nonhuman as if it were present and capable of responding

! Archetype

recurring patterns (plot structures, symbol, character types, themes) that occur in mythology, religion, and stories across cultures and time periods

Aside

private words that a character in a play speaks to the audience or to another character and that are not supposed to be overheard by others on stage

Assonance

the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in words that are close together !!!

Atmosphere

the mood or feeling in a literary work

Autobiography

a written account of the authors own life

Ballad

a song or songlike poem that tells a story

Biography

an account of a persons life written by another person

Blank Verse

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

Cadence

the natural rise and fall of the voice

Character

an individual in a story or play

Characterization

process in which the writer reveals the personality of a character

Cliche

an expression that was fresh and apt when first coined but is now so overused that os had become hackneyed and stale

Climax

the point of greatest emotional intensity or suspense in a plot

Comedy

in general, a story that ends happily

Conceit

a fanciful and elaborate figure of speech that makes a surprising connection between two seemingly dissimilar things

Conflict

a struggle or clash between opposing characters, forces, or emotions

Connotation

all the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests

Consonance

the repetition of final consonant sounds after different vowel sounds

Couplet

two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme

Denotation

the literal, dictionary definition of a word

Denouement

see plot

Deus Ex Machina

any artificial or contrived device used at the end of a plot to resolve or untangle the complications

Dialect

a way of speaking that is characteristic of a particular region or group of people

Dialogue

conversation between two or more people

Diction

a writers or speakers choice of words

Dissonance

a harsh, discordant combination of sounds

Dramatic Monologue

a poem in which a character addresses one or more listeners who remain silent or whose replies are not revealed

Elegy

a poem that mourns the death of a person or laments something lost

End-stopped Line

a line of poetry in which the meter and the meaning conclude with the end of the line

Epic

a long narrative poem that relates the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular society

Epiphany

in a literary work, a moment of sudden insight or revelation that a character experiences

Epithet

an adjective or other descriptive phrase that is regularly used to characterize a person, place, or thing

Essay

a short piece of nonfiction prose that examines a single subject from a limited point of view

Fable

a very brief story in prose or verse that teaches a moral, or practical lesson about life

Farce

a type of comedy in which ridiculous and often stereotyped characters are involved in far-fetched, silly situations

Figure of Speech

a word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another that is not meant to be understood on a literal level

Flashback

a scene in a movie, play, short story, novel, or narrative poem that interrupts the present action of the plot to ¨flash backward" and tell what happened in an earlier time

Foil

a character who sets off another character by strong contrast

Foreshadowing

the use of clues to hint at what is going to happen later in the plot

Frame Story

an introductory narrative within which one or more of the characters proceed to tell a story

Free Verse

poetry that has no regular meter or rhyme scheme

Hyperbole

a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion or create a comic effect

Iambic Pentameter

a line of poetry made up of five iambs

iamb

a metrical foot, consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

Imagery

language that appeals to the senses

IN MEDIAS RES

the technique of starting a story in the middle and then using a flashback to tell what happened earlier

Irony

A contrast or discrepancy between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen, or between what appears to be true and what really is true

Kenning

In Anglo-Saxon poetry, a metaphorical phrase or compound word used to name a person, place, thing, or event indirectly.

Lyric Poetry

poetry that focuses on expressing emotions or thoughts, rather than on telling a story

Maxim

brief statement that contains a little piece of wisdom or a general rule of behavior

Memoir

a kind of non-fiction writing in which a person details their own experiences

Metaphor

a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things without using a connective word as like, than, or resembles

Extended Metaphor

a metaphor that is extended over several lines of writing

Dead Metaphor

a metaphor that becomes so common that we no longer notice it is a figure of speech

Mixed Metaphor

the incongruous mixture of two or more metaphors

Metaphysical Poetry

a term applied to the poetry of John Donne, Andrew Marvell, and other seventeenth-century poets who wrote in similarly difficult and abstract style

Meter

a generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry