Duplicate of AP Literature & Composition Terms

Example: She didn’t love often, but when she loved, she loved ferociously.

Meter having two unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllable

Saying certain syllables in a line of poetry with more emphasis/volume/length

When you say something and mean the opposite/something different.

The use of a word which imitates or suggests the sound that the thing makes.

A poem usually personal of grief or mourning

A character providing contrast of another character's qualities

An extended metaphor two unlike things being consistently compared throughout a text

Long speech made by character alone on stage revealing innermost thoughts/feelings

A seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true.

Giving human-like qualities to something that is not human

Pair of rhyming lines written in the same meter.

Combination of harsh unpleasant sounds which create effect of discordance.

A very typical example of a certain person or thing, acting as a symbol/motif in literature.

The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds.

A poetic line with 3 metrical feet (6 or 9 syllables)

An exaggerated imitation of a serious work or person for humorous purposes.

Story in which characters, things, and events symbolically represent qualities or concepts.

When a writer creates a list of items which are all separated by conjunctions.

Expression of an idea which gives more than one meaning, leaves uncertainty.

Two stressed syllables (child/hood)

A brief quotation at the beginning of a book or chapter

A 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter. Usually divided into 2 quatrains and a couplet.

Statement delivered by actor that other actors probably don't hear

A witty saying, usually at the end of a poem

Ordinary or familiar type of conversation.

Two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, or even ideas, with parallel structure.

When the audience of a drama, movie, story knows something that the character doesn't.

Main group of poetry, includes all brief poems that express a single element, uses imagery

Poetry that doesn’t have much meter or rhyme.

A quality of style marked by pleasing, harmonious sounds

Written/oral composition presenting discourse of only one speaker

a short story to prove a point with a moral basis

A common, often used expression that doesn’t make sense if you take it literally.

Same words are used twice in succession, but the 2nd time, the order of the words is reversed.

Implied meaning rather than literal meaning of a word.

Sentence that issues a command

Cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent clause.

The attachment of a human emotion or quality to nature or inanimate objects.

Poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain, fixed verse form

Term describing prose or poetry teaching a lesson, moral or provides a model of behavior

A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb, and can stand alone as a sentence.

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

Vivid description that appeals to reader's five senses.

Literary work having to do with shepherds and rustic, rural settings (nature)

A less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts.

When a line of poetry contains a rhyme within the same single line.

A brief recounting of a relevant episode as a way of developing a point or injecting humor.

When a poet creates a rhyme, but the two words do not rhyme exactly – they are merely similar

A terse statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle.

Writer begins with subordinate elements and ends w/ the main clause, main idea appears at end.

Figure of speech where part of something stands for the whole: wheels to refer to an automobile

A conclusion or reply that doesn't follow logically from the previous statement.

Long speech denouncing someone/thing; religious story or lecture

Poetry that is written in lines of 10 syllables, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables.

Sentence construction repeating three equal grammatical constructions

Making an implied comparison, not using “like,” as,” or other such words.

A recurring idea, symbol, theme in a piece of literature.

Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison.

Reference to something outside of the text with which the reader is supposed to be familiar.

A poetic line created with one stressed and unstressed syllable (witches)

Word choice, particularly as an element of style.

Question not asked for information but for effect.

Adjective/descriptive phrase expressing a characteristic of the person or thing mentioned.

A tragic flaw or error in judgement

Substituting a word naming an object for another word associated with it. (White House)

Poem written in a song-like stanza form

Describing something out of its place in time/history

Writer's attitude toward his subject matter revealed through diction, and organization.

3 syllable foot consisting of an stressed syllable followed by unstressed.

The repetition of the same consonant sound at the end of words or within words.

The central idea or message of a work. May be directly stated in nonfiction works; not fiction.

The ironic minimizing of fact, this presents something as less significant than it is.

Character of the 1st-person narrator in verse/prose narratives

a fictional tale explaining heroes, gods, nature

Pause for effect in the middle of a poetry line

When apparently contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox

Aristotle's word for pity & fear the audience experiences when tragic hero falls

Humorous, frequently risqué, verse of three long and two short lines rhyming aabba

Commonly recurring literary devices, motifs or clichés in creative works. (star-crossed lovers)

When the last word of two different lines of poetry rhyme.

A description involving a “crossing of the senses.”

Involving circumstances in which actions have an opposite effect from what was intended.

The literal, explicit meaning of a word, without its connotations.

A 3 line stanza in poetry

The atmosphere created by the literature and accomplished through word choice (diction/syntax).

A harsh discordant mixture of sounds.

The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words

Idea deliberately suggested through brief attention, with most significant points omitted.

An 8 line stanza (in a poem)

A regular pattern to the syllables in lines of poetry.

When the writer begins with an independent clause, then adds subordinate elements.

Poetic line with 4 metrical feet (8 or 12 syllables in line)

A word or group of words placed beside a noun or noun substitute to supplement its meaning

A comparison including extreme exaggeration

When an author gives hints about what will occur later in a story

A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word

A concrete object, actions, character...representing abstract ideas or emotions.

Addressing someone/thing, usually not present or unable to respond

Imagery appealing to the audience's sense of smell