Added to a person's or place’s name describing a quality.

Term used to describe forms, such as novel play, and essay.

Words with sharp, harsh, hissing and unmelodious sounds.

The leading character or a major character.

Generic name for a figure of speech: image, metaphor, etc.

A story containing unreal, imaginary features.

Role or facade that a character assumes or depicts.

Novel with historical events & people appear as fictional.

The perspective or attitude of the author towards the topic.

Two sentences of contrasting meanings close to one another.

A conscious lack of clarity meant to evoke multiple meanings

Comparison; shows similarities between 2 different things.

Character which creates a contrast to another character

Grotesque likeness of striking qualities.

Exaggeration in writing that is used for effect.

Successive lines with no punctuation or pause between them.

Occurs after the climax and that leads to the conclusion.

A concise but ingenious, witty, and thoughtful statement.

Addresses an someone/something that is unable to respond.

Three periods indicating the omission of words or more.

The struggle between opposing forces.

Character flaw or error of a tragic hero.

Used to suggest an upcoming outcome to the story.

When opposite or contradictory words are placed together.

Short tale featuring non-human characters that act as people

Self-contradictory statement that may prove to be true

A part is made to represent the whole.

A four-line poem or a four-line unit of a longer poem.

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AP Literature -- Literary Terms

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Answers

1
Quotation in which actual words are not stated but only approximated or paraphrased.
Metaphysical
Lampoon
Meter
Indirect Quotation
2
When the reader is led to believe that one thing will occur but, in fact, the opposite occurs.
Dramatic Irony
Verbal Irony
Situational Irony
3
Epithet
The repetition of an initial consonant sound.
Added to a person's or place’s name describing a quality.
Piece of fiction is set in an ideal or perfect community.
Intelligent humor; things that are clever & funny.
4
Genre
The repetition of an initial consonant sound.
Term used to describe forms, such as novel play, and essay.
Device in which characters or story symbolize concepts.
Three periods indicating the omission of words or more.
5
A style of writing which tries to reproduce the random flow of thoughts in the human mind.
Stream of Consciousness
Rill of Expression
River of Life
Creek of Thought
6
Cacophony
Poetic lines with no punctuation or pause between them.
Pleasing, harmonious sounds.
Words with sharp, harsh, hissing and unmelodious sounds.
Three periods (. . .) indicating the omission of words.
7
Protagonist
Novels written for mass consumption.
The enemy of the main character.
The leading character or a major character.
Makes fun of a human weakness or character flaw.
8
Trope
Quality of realism and truth in a work of fiction.
Implied meaning that underlies a work.
Generic name for a figure of speech: image, metaphor, etc.
Poem with 19 proscribed patterned lines.
9
Fantasy
Pleasing, harmonious sounds.
Use of successive lines without punctuation or pause.
When the setting or scene elicits an emotional response.
A story containing unreal, imaginary features.
10
Practice of forming a rhyme in only one line of verse.
Kenning
Atmosphere
Allegory
Internal Rhyme
11
The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables found in poetry.
Meter
Montage
Iamb
Mood
12
A statement or idea that fails to follow logically from the one before.
Novel of Manners
Insert
Mary Sue
Non Sequitur
13
Persona
Role or facade that a character assumes or depicts.
Story from which moral or spiritual truth may be devined.
Attaching human traits to inanimate objects.
Idealizes rural life.
14
roman à clef
Novel written for mass consumption.
French novel featuring romantic elements.
Four-line poem.
Novel with historical events & people appear as fictional.
15
Tone
Generic name for a figure of speech: image, symbol, etc.
The perspective or attitude of the author towards the topic.
Declarative Sentences.
Specific use of language.
16
Antithesis
Synonym for poetry.
When a human quality is given to a non-human object or being
Two sentences of contrasting meanings close to one another.
Set in an ideal or perfect community.
17
The author's emotional perspective towards the subject of the literary work.
Mood
Emotion
Instinct
Feeling
18
A lyric poem usually marked by serious, respectful, and exalted feelings toward the subject.
Litotes
Ode
Motif
Montage
19
Verse containing fourteen lines and a prescribed rhyme scheme.
Oblique Poem
Heroic Poem
Free Verse
Sonnet
20
A novel focusing on and describing the social customs and habits of particular social groups.
Novel of Manners
Myth
Period Piece
Metonymy
21
The language spoken in England roughly between 1150 and 1500 AD.
Ending English
Late English
Middle English
Beginning English
22
Ambiguity
A mocking, satirical assault on a person or situation.
A conscious lack of clarity meant to evoke multiple meanings
Lyric poem or passage describing an ideal life or place.
A four-line poem or a four-line unit of a longer poem.
23
Told by the narrator from his/her point of view. It is identified by the use of "I" or “Me.”
Point of View (Third Person)
Point of View (First Person)
Point of View (Second Person)
Point of View (Last Person)
24
Analogy
Comparison; shows similarities between 2 different things.
A story containing unreal, imaginary features.
Statement that fails to follow logically from the 1 before.
A bitter enemy, especially one that seems unbeatable.
25
Foil
A mocking, satirical assault on a person or situation.
Exaggerated events to create an extreme emotional response.
Character which creates a contrast to another character
Negative of the contrary is used for negative emphasis.
26
Introduction that usually sets the tone and acts as a bit of a background; a sneak peek.
Prologue
Monologue
Soliloquy
Dialogue
27
Caricature
The interpretation or analysis of a text.
Overused to the point of losing its original meaning.
Differs from connotation, an implied meaning.
Grotesque likeness of striking qualities.
28
Hyperbole
Grotesque likeness of striking qualities in persons & things
Human quality, emotion, or ambition is given to a non-human
A mocking, satirical assault on a person or situation.
Exaggeration in writing that is used for effect.
29
Enjambment
Successive lines with no punctuation or pause between them.
A story containing unreal, imaginary features.
Human quality, emotion, given to non-human object.
Grotesque likeness of striking qualities in persons & things
30
Falling Action
Novel with historical events and people appear as fictional.
A story containing unreal, imaginary features.
Occurs after the climax and that leads to the conclusion.
A mocking, satirical assault on a person or situation.
31
Epigram
Lyric poem or passage that describes a kind of ideal life.
A concise but ingenious, witty, and thoughtful statement.
A verse with five poetic feet per line.
Exaggeration in writing that is used for effect.
32
May mark a shift in point of view, tone, mood, style or any other manner of expression.
Viola
Vision
Voice
Volta
33
Apostrophe
The interpretation or analysis of a text.
Addresses an someone/something that is unable to respond.
Setting or scene elicits an emotional response.
Exaggeration in writing that is used for effect.
34
Ellipsis
A nemesis is a bitter enemy.
An eight-line rhyming stanza of a poem
Three periods indicating the omission of words or more.
Pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.
35
Conflict
Narrative that starts not at the beginning of events.
Structure that provides premise or setting for a narrative.
Pattern of stressed & unstressed syllables found in poetry.
The struggle between opposing forces.
36
It is the practice of substituting the main word with a word that is closely linked to it.
Litotes
Allegory
Metonymy
Metaphor
37
Tragic Flaw
Utopian Fiction.
Intelligent humar utilizing word play.
Assumed personality of the author in the text.
Character flaw or error of a tragic hero.
38
Foreshadowing
A structure that provides premise or setting for a narrative
An exaggeration in writing that is used for effect.
Lyric poem or passage describing an ideal life or place.
Used to suggest an upcoming outcome to the story.
39
Referring to all characters and places with: (he, she, they).
Point of View (First Person)
Point of View (Third Person)
Point of View (Second Person)
Point of View (Last Person)
40
A figurative comparison using the words like or as.
Symbol
Simile
Allegory
Metaphor
41
Oxymoron
Episodic novel; rogue like wanderer living off his wits.
It represents an appeal to the audience's emotions.
A verse with five poetic feet per line.
When opposite or contradictory words are placed together.
42
Fable
Events are exaggerated to create an emotional response.
Short tale featuring non-human characters that act as people
The actual meaning differs from implied meaning
A structure that provides premise or setting for a narrative
43
Paradox
A four-line poem or a four-line unit of a longer poem.
It represents an appeal to the audience's emotions.
Self-contradictory statement that may prove to be true
A figurative comparison using the words like or as.
44
A form of understatement; the negative of the contrary is used to achieve negative emphasis.
Verbal Irony
Metaphor
Melodrama
Litotes
45
A mocking, satirical assault on a person or situation.
Litotes
Genre
Lampoon
Idyll
46
Synecdoche
A city in New York.
Perspective or attitude of the author.
Underlying message that acts as the foundation.
A part is made to represent the whole.
47
Personal, reflective poetry that reveals the speaker’s thoughts and feelings about the subject.
Metaphysical Poetry
Idyllic Poetry
Lyric Poetry
Ode
48
The Anglo-Saxon language spoken in what is now England from approximately 450 to 1150AD.
Ending English
Middle English
Old English
Late English
49
Quatrain
A three-line poem or a three-line unit of a longer poem.
A two-line poem or a two-line unit of a longer poem.
A five-line poem or a five-line unit of a longer poem.
A four-line poem or a four-line unit of a longer poem.
50
Attaching human traits and characteristics with inanimate objects, phenomena and/or animals.
Fable
Paradox
Allegory
Personification
51
A bitter enemy, especially one that seems unbeatable.
Bad Guy
Denotation
Narrative
Nemesis
52
Form of intelligent humor and the ability to say or write things that are clever and funny.
Wat
Wit
Volta
Trope
53
Anthropomorphism
Human quality, emotion, or ambition is given to a non-human.
A story containing unreal, imaginary features.
Setting or scene elicits an emotional response in reader.
Structure that provides premise or setting for a narrative.
54
Anachronism
Fails to match the time or era in which the work is set
Dynamic or round character goes through change or growth.
The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.
Quick succession of images or impressions to express an idea
55
Stanza
A figurative comparison using the words like or as.
A single, related chunk of lines in poetry.
Implied meaning that underlies the main meaning in a work.
Represents something else, usually something more meaningful
56
Dark Comedy
Humor that makes light of an otherwise solemn subject matter
Figure of speech; addresses an object, concept, or person
Setting or scene elicits an emotional response.
Repetition of an initial consonant sound.
57
Hero is destroyed by some character flaw & forces that cause the hero considerable anguish.
Tragedy
Dystopia
Hubris
Litotes
58
A term often used as a synonym for Realism; a view that is generally bleak and pessimistic.
Satire
Mood
Ode
Naturalism
59
A synonym for poetry. Also a group of lines in a song or poem; also a single line of poetry.
Purse
Obverse
Terse
Verse
60
Character (Static/Flat)
It is the most exciting or intense part of the story.
A concise but ingenious, witty, and thoughtful statement.
Remains the same throughout; does not experience change.
Goes through change or growth in the story.
61
Narrative that starts not at the beginning of events but at some other critical point.
Meter
in media res
Montage
Verbal Irony
62
Exposé
Writing that reveals weaknesses, faults, frailties, etc.
Concise but ingenious, witty, and thoughtful statement.
Pleasing, harmonious sounds.
The interpretation or analysis of a text.
63
Statement in which the actual meaning differs from the meaning that the words appear to express
Verbal Irony
Dramatic Irony
Situational Irony
64
Character (Dynamic/Round)
The interpretation or analysis of a text.
Goes through change or growth in the story.
Remains the same throughout; does not experience change.
Faith and optimism in human potential and creativity.
65
Climax
Exaggeration in writing that is used for effect.
The dictionary definition of a word, its literal meaning.
It is the most exciting or intense part of the story.
Humor that makes light of an otherwise solemn subject matter
66
Epic
Pleasing, harmonious sounds.
Narrative poem that tells adventures & exploits of a hero
A concise but ingenious, witty, and thoughtful statement.
The interpretation or analysis of a text.
67
Frame Story
A structure that provides premise or setting for a narrative
A verse with five poetic feet per line.
Extreme pride and arrogance shown by a character.
The interpretation or analysis of a text.
68
Occurs when a piece of writing is making fun of a human weakness or character flaw.
Sonnet
Smilie
Satire
Setting
69
Connotation
Earlier event is inserted into the normal order of the plot.
A story containing unreal, imaginary features.
Belief emphasizing faith and optimism in human potential.
A secondary, or implied meaning.
70
Antagonist
Novels for mass consumption; featuring action or titillation
Episodic novel; a rogue like wanderer who lives off his wits
Exaggeration in writing that is used for effect.
Opposes the protagonist to promote tension & conflict.
71
Occurs when the reader knows something but the characters within the story do not.
Situational Irony
Verbal Irony
Dramatic Irony
72
Understatement
Perspective of the author towards the work.
Irony
Represents something else, usually something more meaningful
Exaggerating obviousness as a means of humor.
73
Cliffhanger
Quick succession of images or impressions to express an idea
Used to ensure the audience returns for resolution.
Lyric poem or passage; describing ideal life or place.
A concise but ingenious, witty, and thoughtful statement.
74
A story consisting of events from which a moral or spiritual truth may be divined.
Paradox
Parable
Allegory
Plot
75
Implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common.
Metaphor
Kenning
Litotes
Symbol
76
A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word.
Wattage
Wit
Pan
Pun
77
Adage
The repetition of an initial consonant sound.
3 periods (. . .) indicating the omission of 1 word or more.
A concise but ingenious, witty, and thoughtful statement.
Truthful saying or prover; couched in metaphorical language.
78
Substituting words with similar sounding words that have different, often unconnected, meanings
Malapropism
Meter
Metonymy
Metaphor
79
Report of related events presented to readers in words arranged in a logical sequence.
Ode
Non Sequitur
Narrative
Novel of Manners
80
Idyll
Name of a thing is replaced by one of its qualities.
Words that imitate or represent a sound.
Lyric poem or passage describing an ideal life or place
Succession of images or impressions used to express an idea.
81
An object that represents something else, usually something more meaningful.
Cymbal
Symbol
Motive
Motif
82
The underlying message that acts as the foundation for the entire literary piece.
Tone
Theme
Tragedy
Trope
83
Hubris
Goes through change or growth in the story.
Pride & arrogance that ultimately brings about his downfall.
Structure that provides premise or setting for a narrative.
The interpretation or analysis of a text.
84
A quick succession of images or impressions used to express an idea.
Pathos
Sequence
Montage
Melodrama
85
Anti-Hero
The interpretation or analysis of a text.
Cleansing of spirit; the pity & terror of a dramatic tragedy
A central character who lacks conventional heroic qualities.
The dictionary definition of a word, its literal meaning.
86
Narrator with unlimited awareness.
Point of View
Omniscient Narrator
Pathetic Fallacy
Limited Narrator
87
The implied meaning that underlies the main meaning in a work.
Syntax
Motif
Subtext
Symbolism
88
It represents an appeal to the audience's emotions.
Pathos
Oxymoron
First Person
Plot
89
The imaginary source of inspiration for an artist or writer.
Mood
Naturalism
Symbol
Muse
90
Flashback
A figurative comparison using the words like or as.
It represents an appeal to the audience's emotions.
They blur the line between hero and villain.
An earlier event is inserted into the narrative.
91
Alliteration
A verse with five poetic feet per line.
Words that imitate or represent a sound.
The repetition of an initial consonant sound.
A work of literature dealing with rural life
92
Imaginary story that has become an accepted part of cultural or religious tradition.
Myth
Motif
Inspiration
Fantasy
93
Literary form in which events are exaggerated in order to create an extreme emotional response
Melodrama
Free Verse
Smilie
Drama
94
A parody of traditional epic form.
Boring Epic
Pretend Epic
Imaginary Epic
Mock Epic
95
Allegory
Characters or events symbolize ideas and concepts.
A mocking, satirical assault on a person or situation.
Statement that fails to follow logically from the one before
Central character who lacks conventional heroic qualities.
96
Language of a work and its style; words, often highly emotional, used to convince an audience.
Prologue
Pun
Satire
Rhetoric
97
Point of view to address the reader. Uses the pronouns “you,” “your,” and “yours.”
Point of View (Third Person)
Point of View (Second Person)
Point of View (Last Person)
Point of View (First Person)
98
End-Stopped
Line of poetry; ends with a natural pause.
Structure that provides premise or setting for a narrative.
Exaggeration in writing that is used for effect.
A mocking, satirical assault on a person or situation.
99
Treatment of inanimate objects as if they had human feelings, thoughts, or sensations.
Narration
Pathetic Fallacy
Onomatopoeia
Fable
100
Catharsis
An exaggeration in writing that is used for effect.
Cleansing of spirit; by pity and terror of dramatic tragedy.
Used to ensure the audience returns to see the resolution.
A story containing unreal, imaginary features.
101
Euphony
Structure that provides premise or setting for a narrative.
Pleasing, harmonious sounds.
A story containing unreal, imaginary features.
The interpretation or analysis of a text.
102
Dystopia
Imagined setting in which everything is unpleasant or bad.
The interpretation or analysis of a text.
Use of successive lines with no punctuation or pause.
Pleasing, harmonious sounds.
103
Idiom
Audience knows something; characters within the story do not
The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.
Words that imitate or represent a sound.
Saying with meaning not deducible from the individual words
104
Refers to the sequence of events and happenings that make up a story.
Hubris
Oxymoron
Plot
Novel
105
Denotation
Statement that fails to follow logically from the one before
Writing that reveals weaknesses, frailties, shortcomings.
Language spoken in England roughly between 1150 and 1500 AD.
Dictionary definition of a word, its literal meaning.
106
Archetype
Universally understood prototype of its kind.
Quick succession of images or impressions to express an idea
Language spoken in England roughly between 1150 and 1500 AD.
Structure that provides premise or setting for a narrative.
107
A piece of fiction is set in an ideal or perfect community.
Utopia
Verse
Dystopia
Villanelle
108
Euphemism
Language spoken in England roughly between 1150 and 1500 AD.
Less harsh form of a negative description.
The imaginary source of inspiration for an artist or writer.
Bitter enemy, especially one that seems unbeatable.
109
Poetry: elaborate conceits, highly intellectual, & expresses the complexities of love and life.
Mock Epic
Verse
Metaphysical Poetry
Lyric Poetry
110
Cliché
Pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.
Exaggeration in writing that is used for effect.
Expression, idea, or element which has become overused.
A mocking, satirical assault on a person or situation.
111
Total environment for the action in a novel or play: time, place, history, and social, etc.
Setting
Area of Effect
Narration
Subtext
112
Anglo-Saxon poetic device: "whale road" for ocean, or "ring-giver" for king.
Malapropism
Allegory
Kenning
Lampoon
113
Allusion
Grotesque likeness of striking qualities in persons & things
Two sentences of contrasting meanings close to one another.
A person, place, event, book, etc. as a passing reference.
The interpretation or analysis of a text.
114
Verisimilitude
Intelligent humor.
The character flaw or error of a tragic hero.
Similar to the truth: convinces readers of veracity of work.
Fiction set in an ideal or perfect community.
115
Exposition
An exaggeration in writing that is used for effect.
A mocking, satirical assault on a person or situation.
The action in a play or story that occurs after the climax
Background & events that explain the purpose of a work.
116
Humanism
Describes the customs & habits of particular groups
An eight-line rhyming stanza of a poem
Bitter enemy, especially one that seems unbeatable.
Emphasizes faith & optimism in human potential & creativity
117
Imagery
An exaggeration in writing that is used for effect.
Starts not at the beginning but at some other critical point
Words and phrases to create mental images using five senses.
Poem marked by serious, respectful, & exalted feelings
118
An episodic novel about a rogue like wanderer who lives off his wits.
Novelistic
Picaresque Novel
Novel of Manners
Prologue
119
Pentameter
A verse with 20 poetic feet per line.
A verse with five poetic feet per line.
A verse with 3 poetic feet per line.
A verse with six poetic feet per line.
120
Atmosphere
Blurs the line between hero and villain.
Setting or scene elicits an emotional response.
Grotesque likeness of striking qualities.
121
Novels written for mass consumption often emphasizing action or titillation.
Pulp Fiction
Kill Bill
Reservoir Dogs
Four Rooms
122
Flashforward
Synonym for poetry.
A structure that provides premise or setting for a narrative
Belief emphasizing faith and optimism in human potential.
Device used to give plot info about what may happen later.
123
Villanelle
English poem. 14 lines.
Poetic shift.
French poem. 19 lines.
Final ryhming couplet in a sonnet.
124
Also called a ‘pen name’ or ‘nom de plume,’ -- a false name used by some authors.
Printer
Rhetoric
Publisher
Pseudonym
125
Syntax
Perspective or attitude of the author towards the topic.
Implied underlying meaning of the work.
Arrangement of the words in a sentence.
Character flaw of the protagonist.
126
Intense feeling that an audience goes through while waiting for the outcome of certain events.
Outcome
Synecdoche
Input
Suspense
127
Explication
Remains the same in the story; does not experience change.
A story containing unreal, imaginary features.
The interpretation or analysis of a text.
Device in which characters symbolize ideas and concepts.
128
Specific theme that dominates a literary work.
Muse
Montage
Myth
Motif
129
Practice of rhyming words placed at the end of the lines in poetry.
Rhyme Scheme
Rhyme Time
Rythym
Schematics
130
Onomatopoeia
Words that imitate or represent a sound.
Words that imitate or represent a sound.
Words that imitate or represent a sound.
Words that imitate or represent a sound.

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