AP Terms
Allusion – a reference to a mythological, literary, or historical person, place, or thing.
Antagonist- a person or force in conflict with the protagonist
Details - are the facts, revealed by the author or speaker that support the attitude or tone in a piece of poetry or prose
Diction - word choice intended to convey a certain effect, helps establish tone
Connotative diction –refers to the feelings and attitudes associated with a word
Denotative diction—refers to the dictionary definition of a word
Euphemism - is the use of a word or phrase that is less expressive or direct but considered less distasteful or offensive than another
Flashback – is a scene that interrupts the action of a work to show a previous event.
Foreshadowing– is the use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest future action.
Hyperbole – exaggeration
Idiom—an accepted phrase or expression having a meaning different from the literal (“There’s nothing about me that breaks out of the ordinary mold.” Or “You’re always being called up on the carpet.”)
Imagery - description which appeals to all five senses
Irony:
dramatic–occurs when a character or speaker says or does something that has a different meaning from what he thinks it means, though the audience and other characters understand the full implications of the speech or action. When the audience knows more than the characters within the story. (ie a character in a movie breaks a mirror and says, “I guess I’ll have seven years of bad luck,” not actually expecting to have bad luck at all, but scoffing at the idea, while we as the audience know, but he doesn’t that he is about to get fired from his job, his girlfriend is about to leave him, and his favorite aunt just died.)
situational–when a situations has the opposite outcome of the intended purpose (ie a watch dog who was purchased to keep its owner safe, instead, mauls its owner.)
verbal – when a speaker or narrator says one thing while meaning the opposite
Metaphor - a comparison of two unlike things
Mood - the atmosphere or predominant emotion in a literary work; it is the emotional response
Motivation - a reason that explains a character’s thoughts, feelings, actions or behavior.
of the reader to the text
Personification - attributing human characteristics to a nonhuman object
Protagonist - main character; the focus of the reader’s attention
Simile - a comparison of two unlike things using “like” or “as”
situational –when a situations has the opposite outcome of the intended purpose (ie a watch dog who was purchased to keep its owner safe, instead, mauls its owner.)
Style –the writer’s characteristic manner of employing language.
Subject: love; Theme: “Love can conquer the greatest evil.”)
Suspense - the quality of a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem that makes the reader or audience uncertain or tense about the outcome of events.
Symbolism – the use of any object, person, place, or action that has a meaning in itself while standing for something larger than itself, such as a quality, attitude, belief, or value (something concrete that stands for something abstract)
Theme –the central message of a literary work. Theme is the idea the author wishes to convey about the subject. It is expressed as a general statement about life or human nature. (Theme is the subject of the story + what the author has to say about the subject.
Tone - the writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward a subject, character, or audience; can be described as serious, humorous, sarcastic, indignant, objective
Sound Devices
Alliteration—words beginning with the same consonant sound
Assonance –repetition of similar vowel sounds
Consonance –repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or at the end of words
Meter –is the measured, patterned arrangement of syllables according to the stress and length in a poem
Onomatopoeia—words that sound like their meaning
Rhyme –two words having the same ending sound
Rhythm – the varying speed, intensity, elevation, pitch, loudness, and expressiveness of speech, especially in poetry