English 11 AP Literary Terms
Terms
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- Confidant/ Confidante
- Male and female you confide in.
- Rhetoric
- All the appeal of the house. They are the tools to make the point clear and used with the argument.
- Surreal
- Out of reality
- Anachronism
- Old and Outdated
- Inference
- To gain meaning from something that is not directly said
- Satire
- Uses a reversal to bring light to problems. The intention is to make something better
- Genres
- Type of form of literature, music, ect.
- Narrative
- A story
- Rhetorical Question
- Question not meant to be answered but to draw attention to a point.
- Strawman
- The fallacy of taking an argument that no one will attack.
- Dirge
- Musical, mournfu lsong or expression
- Jargon
- Vocabulary that is limited to a specific occupation
- Verse
- Not prose, but poetry.
- Bathos
- Something that is tricvial or unintentionally anticlimactic.
- Utopia
- A perfect place
- Euphemism
- A soft way of putting a harsh fact.
- Burlesque
- Vaudeville or low class humor
- Narrative Devices
- Tools used to tell the story.
- Carpe diem
- The most common interpretation of the phrase is as an existential cautionary term with emphasis on making the most of current opportunities because life is short and time is fleeting. It is thematically related to several other expressions and phrases
- End- Stop Rhyme
- Poetry in which punctuation is at the end.
- Assonance
- Repetition of initial vowel sounds.
- Synechdoche
- Uses a part to explain a whole or a whole to explain a part. ex. Lend me an ear.
- Sonnet
- A fixed form of poetry. It is 14 lines, has a particular rhyme scheme and thought development
- Antithesis
- The opposite of something
- Atmosphere
- The tine and mood of a work
- Novel
- A long story
- Epic
- Long poem about a hero
- Persuasive Devices
- Tools used to persuade. It is a form of rhetoric.
- Metaphor
- Direct comparison of two different things without like or as. It is more powerful than simile.
- Syntax
- Sentence structure. Must connect to argument or another part of the house
- Anadiplosis
- A technique in which the word at the end is the same as the start for the next sentence.
- Cumulative Sentence
- Loose sentence. The main part is at the begging and the proof is at the end. It is deductive.
- Blank Verse
- Unruled poetry
- Diction
- An author's word choice
- Rhyme
- Similar sound at the end of a sentence
- Pedantic/ Bombastic
- The attempt of using elevated language. It is overly educated and does not fit.
- Allegory
- An extended metaphor, in which it may personify abstract ideas
- Argumentative
- Intellectual based persuasion. Synonymous with persuasive on the test.
- Zeugma
- Uniting a single verb to refer to different objects, for which one does not fit. It is essential denotative in meaning for one and connotative for the other.
- Idiom
- Expression that is localized to geography, region, groups, ect. It is considered colloquial.
- Colloquial
- Localized slang. Best avoided in writing.
- Metonymy
- A type of metaphorical language or metaphor. It refers to something by referring to something related to it. Ex. Police and Badge
- Elliptical Sentence
- When a portion of it is gone, but the whole still makes sense
- Interrupted Sentence
- A sentence that has a thrown in part usually with dashes (- - )
- Symbol
- A concrete item that represents an abstract idea. Do not get it confused with "refers:, ect.
- Sarcasm
- Involves a reversal, the intention being to pick on or hurt
- Elegy
- Poem of mourning
- Epistle
- A letter or letters
- Threnody
- Song or hymn of mourning
- Logical Fallacy
- Way of supporting facts that are not logically sound.
- Pun
- Humorous play on words
- Antecedent
- The word a pronoun replaces. Can come before or after the pronoun.
- Mock Ironic
- To belittle at various degrees
- Descriptive
- Details
- Theme
- Central idea or statement that unites an entire book, dissertation, ect. It runs throughout and is the primary argument
- Consonance
- Repetition of internal consonant sounds followed by a different vowel sound.
- Connotation
- The emotional definition of a word
- Ad hominem
- The fallacy of attacking a person rather than his argument.
- Circular Reasoning
- Reasoning that ends and begins in the same place. No evidence is offered
- Deductive Reasoning
- Reasoning in which ideas are at the beginning and proof follows. Essays, textual commentary, and loose sentences are deductive
- Anaphora
- Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases.
- Paradox
- Statement that appears to be false but is true in reality. It is used to further an argument
- Red- Herring
- A purposeful digression meant to confuse
- Anecdote
- A personal story to illustrate a point.
- Explication
- Breaking down something into part to explain how the argument is built.
- Asyndeton
- Linking of words or phrases with punctuation rather than conjunctions. It tightens the image and quickens the speed. It may also produce a sense of overwhelming.
- Cacophonous
- A strident sounding word or sound
- Ellipsis
- Omission of words, often signified by three dots (...)
- Persuasive
- to convince using emotion. Synonymous with argumentative on the test.
- Tragic Irony
- Elemts of tragedy that starts good and ends bad. The opposite may also hold true
- Audience
- Whom the writer is addressing.
- Protagonist
- Main character
- Malapropism
- Word similar to another that is mistakenly substituted .
- Resources of Language
- Rhetorical devices, strategies, ect. used to determine the message
- Homily
- An instructional, moralistic, inspiring sermon. It is lighter than an actual sermon
- Refutation/ Refute
- To prove wrong or incorrect
- Lyric
- Verse that focuses in an idea or emotion. It is not a narrative.
- Objective POV
- Unbiased in perspective
- Rhetorical Shift
- A change in mood accompanied by a change in nuance. The focus may shift and it is frequently introduced with "But" or "so"
- Archetype
- Stock element, stays the same. It is usually determined by culture. Ex. Wicked Stepmom
- Limited Omniscience POV
- Almost all knowing narrator
- Meiosis
- Understatement to belittle or put down. Ex.: A lawyer defending a schoolboy who has set fire to his school might call the act of arson a "prank." In this case using meiosis to attempt to diminish the significance of what he had done (in this case grand arson) to the level of a harmless joke or minor act of vandalism.
- Imagery
- A term that incorporates all sensory perceptions. Can be Allusions, Similes, Metaphors, or Motion
- Structural Irony
- Reversal found in the structure of something.
- Organization
- The subset of structure, it is how the piece is put together.
- Conventional
- Specific and standard
- Alliteration
- Repetition of initial, usually consonant sounds. Used to affect the pace or tone. It is also an umbrella term for "Assonance"
- Omniscient POV
- All knowing and god-like in knowledge narrator
- Epanalepsis
- Words start and end a sentence. Ex. Blood will have blood.
- Inductive Reasoning
- Reasoning in which ideas come at the end. Global commentary and periodic sentences are inductive
- Denotation
- the dictionary meaning or a word
- Microcosm
- View of the world through something small. Ex. Lord of the Flies
- Epiphany
- Sudden awakening or realization
- Eulogy
- Speech in praise of someone's life. Can have poetic qualities that make it like an elegy.
- Apostrophe
- talking to an idea, emotion, person, ect. that is not present. Ex. Prayer
- Persona
- The image, point of view, persona, and tone one assumes.
- Hyperbole
- Exaggeration that is powerful and purposeful
- Euphonious
- Very soft sounding
- Vernacular
- Common speak
- Chiasmus
- Reverse in syntax, but words are different. Ex. to eat is boring, to sleep is fulfilling.
- Monody
- Praise for the death of a person. Ex. "He's in a better place."
- Personification
- Attributing human qualities to an inanimate object.
- Inversion
- Reversing the order of words in a sentence or reversing entire sentences. It is used to create an impact when providing information, making a point, ect.
- Syllogism
- Form of reasoning in which it goes to major premise, minor premise, and then conclusion. Ex. a=b, so b=a
- Generic Conventions
- What is common to a genre.
- Empathy vs. Sympathy
- To feel true pain and understanding for and to intellectually simulate another pain, respectively. The latter may have an air of superiority.
- Polysyndeton
- Shoves "ands" and conjunctions to link ideas, things, ect. It too creates a sense of overwhelming
- Lexicon
- Level of language register
- Tragedy
- Something that begins hopefully, but ends tragically
- Stream of Consciousness POV
- The first thing that comes to mind is said
- Sibilance
- A type of alliteration in which the "s" sound is repeated.
- Unity
- Cohesion
- Dystopia
- A nightmarish, hellish place
- Casual Reasoning
- Reasoning having to do with a cause. One thought leads to another
- Prose
- A form that is not poetry
- Cliche
- Highly overused expression. Created through truth, but the overuse of it robbed it of complexity and meaning.
- Either/ or Reasoning
- A black or white type of thinking, where there are only absolutes.
- Expository
- Used to explain or reveal
- Litotes
- A deliberate understatement that serves as a statement. Ex. That was no small task.
- Dramatic Irony
- Found mostly in plays, kit is an element or convention of drama.
- Balanced Sentence
- Grammatically balanced. Antithesis is usually involved. Ex. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
- Coinage/ Neologism
- Creating new words
- Rhetorical Mode
- Types of writing, genres
- Novelle
- A piece longer than a short story, but not as long as a novel. Ex. Billy Budd
- Fable
- A short story using animals or the like that gives a preachy and moralistic theme.
- Motif
- A subset of theme, it is a reappearing object or thing that is symbolic of something.
- Invective
- A put down or one liner. Usually harsh, angry, profane, ect.
- Mood
- Atmosphere and tone
- Allusion
- Use of influence of historical, cultural, Biblical, ect. elements. Understandable by most people
- Anthropomorphism
- Giving an animal the traits of a human.
- Loose Sentence
- The topic or point is in the beginning.
- Devices
- Tools. The House.
- Caesura
- A break mid line in poetry (with punctuation) to affect meter and tone.
- Pathetic Fallacy
- Fallacy of emotion
- Antagonist
- One who opposes the main character
- Phrase point of view
- Angle from which something is being written or told.
- Irony
- The use of reversal, when what is said in a message is in conflict with the truth, character, ect.
- Verbal irony
- Irony found in what is said
- Aphorism
- A sharp saying. If used enough, it becomes a Cliche
- Epitaph
- Inscription on gravestones. Usually two lines long and describes someone.
- Qualifying
- Use to adjust or modify the precedent or after.
- Tropes
- A very fancy word for "figure of speech."
- Annotation
- The act of putting in marginal thought
- Non sequitor
- A break in logical progression. All logical fallacies are non sequitors
- Ambiguity
- What is unclear. Warrants closer attention
- Anathema
- Something that is very distasteful.
- Rhetorical Strategies
- Devices of language, ect.
- Oxymoron
- A contradictory term Ex. Civil War, Jumbo Shrimp.
- Structure
- The way writing is put together, such as stanzas, paragraphs, ect.
- Sardonic
- Hopeless and bitter sarcasm.
- Parody
- Mocking of something serious in the same structure of the serious object.
- Onomatopoeia
- Word for which the sound suggests its meaning
- Antimetabole
- Repetition of a phrase in reversed order.
- Epithet
- Links two words together to characterize someone. Ex. "Richard the Lion-Hearted"
- Verisimilitude
- trying to articulate how a false theory could be closer to the truth than another false theory.
- Didactic
- Teacher like or parable like tone.