AP Lit Word Review

A device in literature where an object represents an idea.

The basic unit of rhythmic measurement in a line of poetry.

A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor.

The speaker, voice, or character assumed by the author in a piece of writing.

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event.

A fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem.

The repetition of vowel sounds.

Any agreeable sounds.

Any popular narrative poem, often with an epic subject and in lyric form.

A literary work idealizing the rural life.

An intensely passionate verse (poem) or section of verse, usually of love or praise.

Badly written or trivial verse, (peotry) often with a singsong rhythm.

A figure of speech consisting of two apparently contradictory terms.

An emotional or psychological cleansing that brings renewal, relieving the stress of the situation being experienced.

A short narrative or story.

A comedy that contains extravagant and nonsensical disregard of seriousness, but may have a serious, scornful purpose.

When the 2nd to last syllable of a word rhymes with the 2nd to last syllable of another word.

A writer's or speaker's choice of words.

Complex writing that discusses intangible qualities like good and evil, and seldom uses examples to support its points.

A brief statement written on a tomb or a gravestone.

A character whose personality and attitude contrast sharply with those of another character.

Repetition of initial consonant sounds (Polly's prancing pony performed perfectly)

The attribution of human characteristics to animals or inanimate objects.

The use of deliberately old-fashioned language.

The continuation of a syntactic unit from one line of poetry to the next.

A figure of speech comparing two unlike things without using like or as.

A song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person.

A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life.

Relating to a category of poetry that expresses emotion, often in a song-like way.

The use of a series of words, phrases, or sentences that have similar grammatical form.

A mild, indirect, or vague term substituting for a harsh, blunt, or offensive term.

The act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas.

The emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene.

A novel in which supernatural horrors and an atmosphere of unkown terrors pervades the action.

A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory, or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

A narrative technique that records a character's internal flow of thoughts, memories, and ideas.

An impersonal presentation of events and characters.

A song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person.

Harsh or grating sounds that do not go together.

The dictionary definition of a word.

The main character in a literary work.

The repetition of one or more phrases or lines at definite intervals in a poem, usually at the end of a stanza.

A drawing, imitation, or description that ridiculously exaggerates peculiarities or defects.

An expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar things.

Unrhymed verse without a consistent metrical pattern.

A literary work in which the characters represent abstract ideas; a symbolic representation

Standard or clinched character types: the drunk, the cheapskate, the dumb blond.

Harsh, jarring, discordant sounds.

The word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers.

A major division in a long poem.

A brief statement that presents the main points of something in a concise form.

An address to an absent or imaginary person .

Conformity to accepted standards of conduct; proper behavior.

Rhythmic flow of a sequence of sounds or words.

A form of cheesy theater in which the hero is very, very good, the villain mean and rotten, and the heroine oh-so-pure.

A theatrical entertainment of broad and earthy humor (earthy usually = sexual)

In Greek drama, the group of citizens who stand outside the main action on stage and comment on it.

When a single speaker says something to a silent audience.

Informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing.

The use of words that imitate sounds.

The implied or associated meaning of a word.

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

A line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage.

Something that appeals to the senses

A work that imitates another in a ridiculous manner.

A grammatical situation involving the words "if" and "were" setting up a hypothetical situation.

A contrast between what is expected and what actually exists or happens.

A simple story that illustrates a moral or religious lesson.

Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play.

Speech or writing that sounds grand or important but has little meaning.

A disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events.

The final syllable of the first word rhymes with the final syllable of the second word.

A quality that arouses emotions, especially pity or sorry.

Repetition of consonant sounds.

A long narrative poem written in an elevated style which present the adventures of characters of high position.

A protagonist who lacks the characteristics that would make him a hero

Dry, theoretical writing that analyzes objectivity.

The reversal of the normal order of words.

Excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist in a tragedy.

A formal poem presenting a meditation on death or another solemn theme.

A figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds.

A word that is used to stand for something else that it has attributes of or is associated with.

Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.

A literary work that criticizes a human vice through humor or derision.

A comparison of two different things that are similar in some way (she is as blind as a bat)

Using humor to describe serious or painful themes.

In poetry, this refers to the stressed portion of a word (invite: in=not stressed, vite=stressed)

A statement that is formulated as a question but is not supposed to be answered.

The protagonist's greatest enemy or most persistent difficulty.

To ridicule with satire.

A poem or speech expressing sorrow.

In drama, when a character speaks alone on stage to allow their inner thoughts to be conveyed to the audience.

Something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred (an airplane in a story from 1776)

A personal presentation of events and characters, influenced by the author's feelings and opinions.

A play on words, often achieved through the use of words with similar sounds but different meanings.