AP Literature and Composition - literary terms review

unknown narrator tells story but zooms in to focus on the thoughts & feelings of 1 character

Normally unassociated ideas or words are placed next to one another, creating surprise & wit

A statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth.

Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry.

Repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds

In general, a story in which a heroic character either dies or comes to some other unhappy end.

One of the characters tells the story.

An explicit comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like or as.

the insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work

The use of words whose sounds echo their sense. “Pop.” “Zap.”

a speaker or writer’s choice of words.

One who changes in some important way as a result of the story’s action.

repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

Recurring image, word, action, idea, object or situation throughout a work to unify the work

Character who acts as contrast to another character.

Occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else.

The repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures.

Narrator who is totally impersonal tells the story, with no comment on any characters or events

Interrupting normal chronology of events to depict something that happened at an earlier time.

Opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero in a story.

Conflicts between two people, between person and nature or machine or between person & society.

One who does not change much in the course of a story.

Reference to someone/thing that is known from history, literature, religion,politics or science

A conflict involving opposing forces within a person’s mind.

a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

Character in the play or story thinks one thing is true but the audience or reader knows better

Discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate, and what happens

All knowing narrator tells us everything about many characters, using third person pronouns.

Comedy in which ridiculous and often stereotyped characters are involved in silly situations.

a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and also stands for something more

Using language to evoke a picture or concrete sensation of person, thing, place, or experience

Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example.

story that ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced by the main characters

the attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters, or the audience

A person, place, or thing is referred to by something closely associated with it

Figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement for effect

"Play on words" based on multiple meanings of a word

associations that have become attached to a word, in addition to its dictionary definition

Comparison made between two things to show how they are alike

a poem consisting of four lines, or four lines of a poem that can be considered as a unit.

story in which character, setting, or events stand for other people or events or abstract ideas

A work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer’s style.

A statement that says less than what is meant.

A comparison between 2 unlike things without the use of like or as.

An atmosphere created by a writer’s diction and the details selected.

An adjective applied to a person or thing that is frequently used to emphasize a characteristic

The reasons for a character’s behavior