AP Literature and Composition

Literary Terms

  1. Allegory: piece of literature that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning.
  2. Alliteration: occurence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
  3. Allusion: a reference.
  4. Antagonist: a character or a group of characters who stand in opposition to the main character.
  5. Apostrophe: arangement of words addressing a non-existent person or an abstract idea in such a way as it were present and capable of feelings.
  6. Archetype: typical character, action, or situation that seems to represent universal patterns of human nature.
  7. Aside: when a character's dialogue is spoken but not heard by any other characters.
  8. Assonance: two or more words close to one another that repeat the same vowel sound but start with different consonant sounds.
  9. Audience: readers of the text.
  10. Blank Verse: unrhyming verse written in iambic pentameter.
  11. Cacophony: harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.
  12. Characterization: process by which a writer reveals a character's traits and personality.
  13. Character: individual in a piece of literature.
  14. Comedy: genre of literature with a happy or cheerful ending; not necessarily humorous.
  15. Conflict: element involving a struggle between two opposing forces.
  16. Couplets: 2 lines of verse, usually in same meter and joined by rhyme.
  17. Consonance: repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a phrase.
  18. Connotation: implied meaning; association that comes along with a word.
  19. Denotation: the literal meaning of a word.
  20. Dialect: form of language particular to specific region or group.
  21. Dialogue: conversation between two or more characters.
  22. Diction-formal: heightened, impersonal word choice, dignified language of educated persons.
  23. Diction-informal: casual language of native speakers.
  24. Drama: composition presenting a story invloving a conflict or contrast of characters.
  25. Dynamic Character: character who undergoes important inner change.
  26. Enjambment: run-on sentence in poetry.
  27. Epic: long narrative poem.
  28. Epiphany: sudden realization.
  29. Euphony: series of words that create sound pleasing to the ears.
  30. Fiction: literature describing imaginary events and people.
  31. Flashback: interruption of chronological sequence of an event of earlier occurence.
  32. Foreshadowing: warning/indication of future event.
  33. Free Verse: type of poetry where lines are organized without a meter.
  34. Genre: the type of literature.
  35. Hubris: extreme prideor arrogance shown by a character that ultimately brings their downfall
  36. Hyperbole: an exaggeration.
  37. Iambic Pentameter: meter in English verse with 5 iambic feet per line. 5 stressed anf 5 unstressed syllables.
  38. Visual Imagery: words/ series of words relating to sight.
  39. Olfactory Imagery: words/ series of words relating to smell.
  40. Tactile Imagery: words/ series of words relating to touch.
  41. Auditory Imagery: words/ series of words relating to sound.
  42. Gustatory Imagery: words/ series of words relating to taste.
  43. Internal Rhyme: rhyme occuring within a line of poetry.
  44. Verbal Irony: when what is said is opposite to the literal meaning; sarcasm.
  45. Situational Irony: contrast between what happens and what was expected to happen.
  46. Dramatic Irony: contrast between what a character thinks is true and what the reader knows to be true.
  47. Inversion: literary technique in which the normal order of words is reversed to achieve a particular effect of emphasis or meter; example: "Shouts the policeman."
  48. Magical Realism: realistic narrative and naturalistic narrative are combined with surreal elements of fantasy.
  49. Meter: recurrent and regular rhythmic pattern in verse arragement of stressed and unstressed words.
  50. Motif: a recurring object, concept, or structure that helps portray a theme.
  51. Metaphor: statement where one thing is something else (when really, it's not).
  52. Novel/Novella: long narrative (normally in prose) which describes fictional characters and elements, usually in the form of a sequential story.