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Literary Terms - AP Study Deck 2009

Terms

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Aesthetics
Philosophical investigation into the nature of beauty and the perception of beauty, especially in the arts; the theory of art or artistic taste.
Allegory
A story or visual image with a second distinct meaning partially hidden behind its literal or visible meaning; 2 or more levels of meaning
Ambiguity
A statement that can contain two or more meanings.
Allusion
An indirect or passing reference to some event, person, place, or artistic work.
Analogy
A resemblance of relations; an agreement or likeness between things that different
Anaphora
repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or sentences.
Anecdote
A very short tale told by a character in a literary work.
Antagonist
character, force, or collection of forces in fiction or drama that opposes the protagonist and gives rise to the conflict in the story
Anti-hero
protagonist who has the opposite of most of the traditional attributes of a hero; may be bewildered, ineffectual, deluded, or merely pathetic.
Aphorism
brief statement which expresses an observation on life, usually intended as a wise observation.
Apostrophe
a figure of speech in which the speaker speaks directly to something nonhuman
Archetype
a term used to describe universal symbols that evoke deep and sometimes unconscious responses in the reader
Aside
device in which a character in a drama makes a short speech which is heard by the audience but not by the other characters in the play
Asyndeton
the omission of a conjunction from a list (chips, beans, peas, vinegar, salt, pepper)
Canon
Greek word that implies rule or law; used in literature as the source which regulates which works are considered important pieces of literature
Catharsis
meaning "purgation"; describes the release of emotions of pity and fear by the audience at the end of a tragedy
Chiasmus
rhetorical term; describes a situation in which you introduce subjects in the order A, B, C but talk about them in the order C, B, A.
Climax
decisive moment in a drama; turning point of the play which is led to by the rising action; determines the outcome of the conflict
Colloquialism
spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech
Comedy
literary work which is amusing and ends happily
Conceit
far-fetched simile or metaphor
Connotation
emotional implications and associations that words may carry as distinguished from their denotative meanings
Denotation
basic dictionary meaning of a word
Deus ex Machina
unrealistic or unexpected intervention to rescue the protagonists or resolve the conflict
Diction
author's choice of words
Didactic
work designed to impart information, advice, or some doctrine of morality or philosophy
Epigraph
brief quote that appears at the beginning of a literary work
Epithet
a word or phrase preceding or following a name which serves to describe the character
Exegesis
critical interpretation of a text, especially in biblical text
Farce
a type of comedy based on a humorous situation; situation not dialogue or plot provides humor
Formalism
strict observance of established rules, traditions and methods employed in the arts
Framing Device
a story in which one or more other stories are told
Genre
established category of written work employing such common conventions as will prevent readers from mistaking it with another genre
Gothic
characterized by gloom and mystery and the grotesque
Homily
inspirational saying or platitude
Hubris
excessive pride or self-confidence; common theme in Greek tragedies and mythology; protagonists often suffer for it by gods
Hyperbole
figure of speech in which an overstatement or exaggeration is deliberately used for effect
Idiom
specialized vocabulary used by a group of people
Imagery
collection of images within a literary work; used to evoke atmosphere, mood, tension
In Media Res
in or into the middle of a sequence of events
Intentional Fallacy
assuming from the text what the author intended to mean
Interpolation
passage included in an author's work without his consent
Intertextuality
a way of accounting for the role of literary and exta-literary materials without recourse to traditional notes of authorship
Inversion
reversal of the normal order of words for dramatic effect
Irony
device that depends on the existence of at least two separate and contrasting levels of meaning embedded in one message
Magical Realism
literary technique where the disbelief of the reader and writer produces a shift in the real world wherein an element of the surreal enters and leaves with ease
Metaphor
type of figurative language in which a statement is made that says something is one thing when it is literally not.
Metonymy
figure of speech in which a word represents something else which is suggests
Minimalism
style of art in which objects are stripped down to their elemental, geometric form, and presented in an impersonal manner; in literature, minimalists use short descriptions and simple sentences
Monologue
thoughts of a single person, directed outward
Motif
recurring image, word, phrase, represented object or action that tends to unify the literary work that may be elaborated into a more general theme
Naturalism
type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings
Nemesis
a villain who has a particular interest in defeating a hero or group of heroes
Oxymoron
a combination of contradictory terms
Parallelism
repetition of words, phrases, sentences that have the same grammatical structure or that restate a similar idea
Parable
a brief and often simple narrative that illustrates a moral or religious lesson
Parody
literary form in which the style of an author or work is mocked in its style for the sake of comic effect
Pathetic Fallacy
the attribution of human emotions or characteristics to inanimate objects or to nature
Pastoral
of, relating to, or being a literary or other artistic work that portrays or evokes rural life, usually in an idealized way
Persona
narrator or storyteller of the novel; different from the author
Personification
a figure of speech were animals, ideas, or inorganic objects are given human characteristics
Point of View
the way events are portrayed to the reader
Polemic
a controversial argument, especially one refuting or attacking a specific opinion or doctrine
Protagonist
the main character of a literary work
Realism
literary technique that faithfully represents reality; especially the representation of middle-class life
Rhetoric
the art of persuasive argument through writing or speech
Roman a Clef
a novel in which actual persons and events are disguised as fictional characters
Romance
the mythos of literature concerned primarily with an idealized world
Satire
literary work which exposes and ridicules human vices or folly; usually intended as a moral criticism directed against the injustice of social wrongs
Scansion
the analysis of a poem's meter
Semantics
the study of the meaning of language, as opposed to its form
Semiotics
theories regarding symbolism and how people glean meaning from words, sounds, and pictures
Stock Character
a fictional character that relies heavily on cultural types or stereotypes for its personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics
Stream of Consciousness
technique that records the multifarious thoughts and feelings of a character without regard to logical argumentn or narrative sequence
Subtext
the hidden meaning lying behind the overt
Synecdoche
literary figure of speech in which a part of something stands for the whole or the whole for a part
Syntax
the way in which linguistic elements are arranged to form grammatical structure
Soliloquy
a dramatic or literary form of discourse in which a character talks to himself or reveals his thoughts without addressing a listener
Tone
the writers attitude toward the material and/or readers
Theme
the abstract concept explored in a literary work; frequently recurring ideas; repetition of a meaningful element
Tragedy
a serious play in which the chief figures by some peculiarity of character pass through a series of misfortunes leading to a final devastating catastrophe
Tragic Flaw
the character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall
Trope
the intentional use of a word or expression figuratively: antonomasia, irony, metaphor, metonymy, and synecdoche
Utopia
imaginary and indefinitely remote place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions
Dystopia
imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives; a place where everything is as bad as it can possibly be
Vernacular
the everyday speech of the people
Vignette
a small illustrative sketch
Voice
term to describe an encompassment of the writer's tone, style and manner

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