Literary Terms/ AP Terms

Literary Terms/AP Terms AP Terms -Define the following terms. These terms will help you to analyze literary passages and to prepare for the AP test. Make sure to choose the definition that refers to the literary meaning of the word.

allegory • form of extended metaphor, in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The underlying meaning has moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas as charity, greed, or envy.Thus an allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. • EXAMPLE: Animal Farm; Dante’s Inferno; Lord of the Flies

Alliteration • Repetition of the beginning consonant sound • Example:Wordsworth: And sings a solitary song That whistles in the wind.

Allusion • Indirect reference to a well-known person, place, thing or event • Historical-refers to an event in history • Literary-refers to something in a work of literature (novels, peoms, etc.) • Biblical-refers to something from the Bible

AMBIGUITY • deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work. An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way-- this is done on purpose by the author, when it is not done on purpose, it is vagueness,and detracts from the work.

Anachronism • Anything out of its proper historical time

Analogy • The inference that certain resemblances imply further similarity • Example:hot is to cold as fire is to ice OR hot:cold::fire:ice

Anaphora • Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer’s point more coherent.

ANECDOTE • Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something, often shows character of an individual

ANTHROPOMORPHISM • attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object (Personification)

Antecedent • The word or phrase to which a pronoun refers

Antithesis • Contrasting ideas in the same (or a neighboring) sentence • Establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between 2 ideas by joining them together or juxtaposing them, often in parallel structure • “Give me liberty or give me death!”-Patrick Henry • “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Aphoristic statements (aphorism) • A concise statement of truth • Examples: Emerson: Imitation is suicideFranklin: Lost Time is never Found again.

Apostrophe • An absent person, an abstract concept, or an important object is directly addressed • Speaking to someone or something that is not there • “Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean, roll!” – Lord Byron, “The Sea”

COLLOQUIALISM • a word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing but is inappropriate for formal situations. • Example: “He’s out of his head if he thinks I’m gonna go for such a stupid idea.

Comedy • A type of drama that celebrates or satirizes the follies of characters

Conflict • the struggle found in fiction • may be internal or external and is best seen in (1) Man in conflict with another Man (external conflict); (2) Man in conflict in Nature (external conflict); (3) Man in conflict with self (Internal conflict).

Connotation • Connotation is an implied meaning of a word. Opposite of denotation. • Example:Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest (burial)

Context • The parts just before and after a passage, that determines its meaning

Denotation • Denotation is the literal meaning of a word, the dictionary meaning. Opposite of connotation. • Example:Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest (sleep).

DIDACTIC • form of fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.

Euphemism • A word or phrase that uses inoffensive language to express something offensive or unpleasant • “Security breach” is a euphemism for “theft”

Figurative language • Also called figures of speech • Language that communicates ideas beyond the literal meaning of the words • Can make descriptions or unfamiliar or difficult ideas easier to understand • Ex. Simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole

FOIL • A character who acts as contrast to another character. Often a funny side kick to the dashing hero, or a villain contrasting the hero.

Foreshadowing • use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in literature

Hyperbole • An overstatement or exaggeration that is used for emphasis, often used for a humorous effect • “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse!”

Imagery • The words and details that create images and impressions in the reader’s mind • Our five senses and beyond • “The trees clash in vain their naked swords against the door…” Adah Isaacs Menken, “Answer Me”

Inference • To conclude by reasoning something known or assumed

Irony • IRONY a discrepancy between appearances and reality. • VERBAL IRONY occurs when someone says one thing but really means • something else. • SITUATIONAL IRONY takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen. • DRAMATIC IRONY is so called because it is often used on stage. A character in the play or story thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better.

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. • ”Juxtaposition is also a form of contrast by which writers call attention to dissimilar ideas or images or metaphors. • Martin Luther King: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Litotes (lahy-tuh-teez) • A figure of speech in which the speaker emphasizes the magnitude of the statement by denying its opposite; it is a deliberate understatement • “Hitler was no angel” (Means: Hitler was very bad.)

Malapropism • A ludicrous misuse of words that sound alike, usually has a comic effect

Metaphor • A comparison of two unlike things without using like or as • Usually more subtle than a simile • “All the world’s a stage,/And all the men and women merely players;/They have their exits and their entrances.” – William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”

Metonymy • Refers to a person or a thing by naming one aspect, not the whole • A sneaky type of figurative language b/c an object or a concept is used to refer to something that is closely associated with it • The White House issued a new policy on health care.

Oxymoron • Use of two contradictory words for a special effect • Color blind • Icy hot • Act naturally • Near future • Educated guess

Mood • The emotions created in the audience through the reading of a story. • ( Mood = Me)

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. • Kurt Vonnegut uses “So it goes” throughout Slaughterhouse-Five to remind the reader of the senselessness of death.

Paradox • A statement that seems to contradict itself but actually makes sense • Longer than an oxymoron and suggests a situation that appears impossible but works within the context of the poem or story • “Sometimes it proves the highest understanding not to understand.” -Baltasar Gracian

Parallel structure • The principle of representing equal ideas in the same grammatical form • Ex. “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” • Produces a sense of balance and order; frequently employed as a feature of the periodic sentence

Periodic structure • A sentence in which the main clause or its predicate is withheld until the end • for example, Despite heavy winds and nearly impenetrable ground fog, the plane landed safely.

Personification • Giving human characteristics to nonhuman things; helps reader identify more closely with a subject • The vicious hail pounded angrily on our car window.

Purpose • A writer usually writes for one or more of these purposes—to inform, to entertain, to express himself/herself, to persuade others to believe or to do something

Repetition • Functions as a form of emphasis

Rhetorical question • A questions asked for effect and not meant to be answered

Simile • A comparison using like or as • Blind as a bat • Slept like a log

Subordination • To give unequal emphasis to 2 or more ideas

Syllogistic reasoning • A deductive argument that has a major premise (a general statement), a minor premise ( a more specific statement), and a conclusion (drawn from the premises) • Ex. A- All Olympic runners are fast. B- Jesse Owens was an Olympic runner. C- Jesse Owens was fast.

Symbolic (symbol) • An object used to represent an idea; a symbol often represents something that cannot be seen • A dove stands for peace (a dove can be seen and peace cannot)

Synecdoche • Using a part of something to represent the whole, or the whole of something to represent the part • In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” Mark Antony says, ‘Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears.” • He wants for than his audience’s ears; he wants their full attention.

Tone • the attitude a writer takes towards a subject or character: serious, humorous, sarcastic, ironic, satirical, tongue-in-cheek, solemn, objective (tone = them)

Literary Terms/ AP Terms