AP English Lit.(Literary Terms)
for my ap english class with mr. O'Neil.
ps, some of the bottom words off my page were cut off, still looking for the full defineition.
ps, some of the bottom words off my page were cut off, still looking for the full defineition.
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- apostrophe
- calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea. if the character is asking a god or goddess for inspiration it is called an invocation
- anastrophe
- inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence. purpose is rhythm or emphasis or euphony. it is a fancy word for inversion.
- antihero
- central character who lacks all the qualites traditionally associated with heroes, may lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples
- alliteration
- repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together.( Ex: regiment, remnant)
- antithesis
- blancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted often by means of grammatical structure.
- antimetabole
- repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order.
- analogy
- comparison made between two things to show how they are alike
- comedy
- in general, a story taht ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced by the main character or characters.
- dynamic character
- is one who changes in some important way as a result of the story
- apposition
- placing in immediately succeeding order of two or more coordinate elements, the latter of whihc is an explanation, qualification, or modification of the first ( often set off by a colon).
- characterization
- the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character
- allusion
- reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture. an indirect reference to something (usually from literature, etc.)
- antagonist
- apponent who stuggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist, in a story
- balance
- constructing a sentence so taht both halves are about the same length and importance. sentences can be unbalanced to serve a special effect as well.
- static character
- is one who does not change much in the course of a story
- assonance
- the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds especially in words that are together
- round character
- has more dimensions to their personalites--- they are .....(cut off)
- asyndeton
- commas used without conjunction to separate a series of words, thus emphasizing the parts equally: instead of X, Y, and Z.... the writer uses X, Y, Z... see polysydndeton
- cliche
- is a word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless because of overuse. avoid cliches like the plague (inteneded)
- anecdote
- brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something, often shows character of an individual
- ambiguity
- deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in 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
- flat character
- has only one or two personality traits. they are one dimensional, like a piece of cardboard. they can be summed up in one phrase.
- anaphora
- repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. this is a deliverate form of repetition and helps make the writers point more coherent.
- indirect characterization
- the author reveals to the reader what the character is like by describing how the character looks and dresses, by letting the reader hear waht the character says, by revealing the character's private thoughts and feelings, by revealing the characters effect on other people (showing how other characters feel or behave toward the character) or by showing the character in action. common in modern literature
- direct characterization
- the author tells us directly what the character is like: sneaky, generous, mean to pets, and so on. romantic style literature relied more heavily on this form.
- allegory
- story or poem in which characters, settings and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities.(Ex:Animal Farm, Dante's Infermo, Lord of the Flies)
- colloquialism
- a word of phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing but is inappropriate for formal situations