AP Lit Exam Prep!

Usually ironic language meant to hurt or mock someone or something and/or amuse the audience.

The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds.

Any artificial device or coincidence used to bring about a simple solution to a plot.

A figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect.

Sentence that uses a conjunction with NO commas to separate the items in a series.

A word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless because of overuse.

Language that is conversational and colloquial, and similar to everyday speech.

An idea suggested by a word, apart from what it explicitly describes.

The use of language to evoke the five senses, a picture or a concrete sensation.

A comment made by a stage performer that is heard by the audience but not by other characters.

A reference to a person, event, or work of art in literature.

Language that is lofty, dignified, and impersonal.

A retrospection where an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronology of the plot.

A poem that celebrates, in a continuous narrative, the deeds of mighty heroes and heroines

A quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of the theme.

A story in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or ideas.

A brief observation that contains a general truth. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry.

When a speaker says something that is the opposite, or nearly the opposite, of what is meant.

The juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced phrases, grammar, or ideas.

Writing that depicts the thoughts inside a character's head as if they were talking.

The substitution of an inoffensive expression for one that might offend or embarrass.

The central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action.

An idealized model of something from which similar instances are derived or patterned.

A work that uses mockery, humor, and wit to criticize and cause societal/personal change.

Latin for "in the middle of things." When a story begins somewhere in the middle of the plot.

The particular phrasings, tone, diction, and manner a writer uses that is distinctive to them.

The repetition of a word or phrase at the end of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences.

A word or phrase that is not formal, typically used in ordinary, familiar conversation.

A character who reflects and contrasts against another to show more clearly his traits.

The order of words when writing phrases, clauses, and sentences.

A poetic rhetorical balance where the second part is balanced against the first, but reversed.

Words/phrases in a sentence that are similar in grammar, construction, sound, meaning or meter.

An expression or phrase not meant literally but still understood. "It's raining cats and dogs."

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

Combining opposite or contradictory terms to form a new term. "Act naturally" "seriously funny"

The repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase, like pitter-patter.

A kind of poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme.

Poetry written without rhymes, but which retains a set metrical pattern.

Rhymes that occur near each other within a line of poetry, instead of at the end of a line.

Calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, place, thing, or personified idea.

A serious poem upon the death of a particular person, usually ending in consolation.

A category or form of lit, such as poetry, fiction, short story, mystery, western, drama...

When a person, place, or thing, is referred to by something closely associated with it.

A recurring image, word or symbol used in a work and related to a theme

A figure of speech in which a part represents the whole.

Central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with heroes.

A novel that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist. A coming of age.

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

Opponent or force that struggles against or blocks the hero in a story.

Words that have similar but not identical sounds, as in chill and doll, or bridge and grudge.

A form of understatement in which the positive form is emphasized by saying the opposite.

Harmony or beauty of sound, pleasing to hear, usually sought-for in poetry for effect.

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

Repetition of same/similar consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close together.

The attitude a writer takes toward the subject, revealed through diction, devices, and syntax.

Unpleasant sounds in the jarring juxtaposition of harsh letters or syllables in poetry.

A comparison between two unlike things WITHOUT the use of words of comparison as like or as

Poem with 14 lines, rhyme scheme, and shift either at the couplet or between octave and sestet.

A short and interesting or amusing story often proposed to demonstrate some point.

A "play on words" based on the multiple meanings of a single word or similar sounding words.

The repetition of sound patterns that creates a rhythm in poetry.

The emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene.

The continuation of a sentence beyond the end of a line of poetry.

An interesting difference between what is expected or understood and what happens or is meant.

When unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to each other, creating surprise.

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row.

Commas used without conjunction to separate a series of words.

The use of imagery or clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot.

A character's words or actions convey meaning to the audience but not those around him.

Something that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself.

A way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or a geographical area.

A metrical pattern that consists of two syllables in an unstressed - stressed pattern.

The direct, specific, and literal meaning of a word.

A detailed and complex metaphor that extends over a long section of a work.

When an object or animal is given human qualities, feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.

A style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character's mind.

The use of words whose sounds echo their sense. The words sounds like what it means.

A long emotional speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are on stage,

A statement which seems contradictory or contrary to common sense, yet can be seen as true.

A pause in a line of verse, indicated by speech patterns or punctuation, not meter.

A work describing the simple life of country folk who live a life of beauty, music, and love.