AP Lit Terms Definitions

narrator who is impersonal & objective tells the story with no comment on characters or events.

calling out to an imaginary, dead, absent person, to a place or thing, or idea.

a conflict involving opposing forces within a person's mind.

unknown narrator tells the story but zooms in on the thoughts and feelings of one character. 

words which are inaccurate if interpreted literally but are used to describe. 

is one who changes in some important way as a result of the story's action.

all knowing narrator tells story using 3rd person; tells us everything about many characters. 

a story that ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced by the character(s). 

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

reference to someone or something known from history, literature, religion, politics, etc.

the use of words whose sounds echo their sense. "pop" "zap"

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

writing that ridicules shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring a/b change

a speaker or writer's choice of words.

two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry. 

a statement that says less than what is meant.

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

art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse. 

long narrative poem written in heightened language recounting the deeds of a heroic character.

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

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

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

story or poem which characters, setting, & events stand for specific people or events.

a character who acts as contrast to another character. 

author tells us explicitly what the character is like: sneaky, generous, mean to pets & so on.

the reasons for a character's behavior.

figure of speech that makes comparison between 2 things using like, as, than or resembles

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

adjective or adjective phrase applied to a person or thing used to emphasize a quality.

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

conflicts existing between 2 people, a person & nature/machine, or a person and whole society.

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

takes place when there's discrepancy between what is expected to happen & what actually happens

figure of speech which person, place, or thing is referred to by a closely associated object.

associations & emotional overtones that become attached to a word or phrase & to its definition

figure of speech that compares 2 unlike things without the using as, like, than, or resembles.

opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero in the story. 

rhetorical device in which not associated ideas, words, phrases are placed next to 1 another.

repetition of similar vowels sounds followed by different consonant sounds in words.

an atmosphere created by a writer's diction and the details selected. 

person, place, thing or event that has meaning itself & stands for something more than itself.

comparison made between two things to show how they are alike.

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

story that illustrates a point or serve as an example of something that shows character.

type of comedy which ridiculous & often stereotyped characters are involved in silly situations

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.

a "play on words" based on the multiple meanings of a single word.

a recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work.

deliberately suggesting two or more different and sometimes conflicting meanings in a work.

attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object.

scene that interrupts normal chronological events in story to depict an earlier event.

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

the attitude the writer takes towards the subject of a work.

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