AP Lit Vocabulary Review

Language that is lofty, dignified, and impersonal.

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

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

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

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

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

Commas used without conjunction to separate a series of words.

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

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

A repeated stanza or line(s) in a poem or song.

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

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

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

Excessive pride or ambition that leads to a character's downfall.

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

Using fancy diction to describe the ordinary, or fast transition from a significant to trivial.

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

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

A poem that is somewhat serious in subject and tone, and elevated in style.

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

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

When a character's words or actions convey a meaning to the audience but not the character.

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

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

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

A compound poetic phrase substituted for the usual name of a person or thing.

A comparison through the use of similes and metaphors of two unalike things in a written work.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The narrator in a non-first person novel. The voice "through which the author speaks."

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

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

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

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

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

A short poem with 14 fourteen lines, in iambic pentameter, a rhyme scheme and a volta or turn.

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

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

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

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

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

A sudden emotional breakdown/climax,that consists of overwhelming feelings of pity or sorrow.

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

The choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language in a literary work.

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

A type of comedy in which ridiculous and characters are involved in silly, crazy situations.

In a tragedy, the quality within the hero or heroine which leads to his or her downfall.

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

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

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

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

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

The emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene.

The use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot.

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

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

A huge difference between what is expected or understood and what actually happens or is meant.

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

A short poem where the speaker expresses intense personal emotion, not a narrative.

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

A willingness of a reader or viewer to ignore minor inconsistencies or unbelievable behavior.

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

Presentation of essential information about what happened prior to the beginning of the play.

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

A character who contrasts against another, in order to show more clearly their traits.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The error in judgment as a result of a tragic flaw, which causes their downfall.

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

A category of literary work, like tragedy, comedy, or drama.

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

Combining opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. Ex: "Jumbo shrimp" "Hot ice"

Deliberately suggesting two or more different, and maybe conflicting, meanings in a work

An emotional poem or form of verse, often a narrative, set to music.

Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry.

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

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

A recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, used in a work, relating to theme.

A story within a story, as in, for example, Heart of Darkness.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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