Literary Terms

LITERARY TERMS

ALL LITERARY TERMS FOR AP ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION

1. LITERARY TERMS#1

METAPHORICAL DEVICES/IMAGERY:

1. Metaphor: Comparison of two seemingly unlike things 2. Simile: Comparison using like or as 3. Personification: Characteristics of humans given to non-humans 4. Synecdoche: Part for the whole 5. Metonymy: Substitution of associated word for word itself 6. Allusion: Reference to well-known being or event 7. Symbol: Is what it is and something more 8. Image: Sensory detail 9. Archetype: Recurrent image that touches collective subconscious 10. Abstract/Concrete: Classifications of imagery 11. Motif: Recurrent image, idea, or theme in specific piece of literature

2. IRONIC DEVICES:

1. Verbal irony: Say one thing, mean another 2. Dramatic irony: Audience knows, character doesn’t 3. Situational irony: Unexpected result 4. Understatement: Making big things seem small 5. Hyperbole: Exaggeration 6. Paradox: Seeming contradiction – long style 7. Oxymoron: Seeming contradiction – short style 8. Litotes: Affirmation from negative 9. Ambiguity: Purposeful multiple meanings as in pun and double entendre

3. RHETORICAL DEVICES:

1. Diction: Word choice 2. Syntax: Sentence and phrase structure 3. Antithesis: Balancing of contrasting ideas 4. Polysyndeton: Stringing a sentence out with conjunctions 5. Anacoluthon: Breaking off a sentence… 6. Parallelism: Repetition of similar syntactical structure 7. Point of View: Narrative perspective—1st, 2nd, 3rd Person 8. Apostrophe: Addressing person/entity not present 9. Analogy: Extended comparison of similar things 10. Colloquialism: Informal diction

4. SONIC AND RHYTHMIC DEVICES; STRUCTURE:

1. Alliteration: Repetition of consonant sound in initial position 2. Assonance: Repetition of a vowel sound 3. Consonance: Repetition of consonant sound in any position 4. Euphony: Soft, pleasing sounds 5. Cacophony: Harsh sounds 6. Onomatopoeia: Word whose sound suggests meaning 7. Metric Feet: iamb, trochee, anapest, dactyl, pyrrhic, spondee 8. Amphibrach: Unaccented, accented, unaccented syllable 9. Metric Lines: Ex. Tetrameter, Pentameter, Hexameter Stanzas 10. Stanzas: Ex. Couplet, quatrain, octave 11. Ballad Stanza: abcb, alternating tetrameter and trimeter 12. Rhyme Scheme: end rhyme expressed alphabetically (abbacdcd)] 13. Blank Verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter 14. Verse: Poetry with no regular rhyme or rhythm 15. Heroic Couplet: Two rhymed lines in iambic pentameter; complete thought

5. POETRY TYPES AND TERMS:

1. Lyric Poetry: Short verse stressing emotional over story 2. Narrative Poetry: Verse that tells a story (Ex.: ballad) 3. Epic Poetry: Long story in verse 4. Canto: Division of a long poem (like chapter to novel) 5. English Sonnet: Fourteen line poem with three quatrains and a couplet 6. Italian Sonnet: Fourteen line poem with octave and sestet 7. Epigram: Witty poem or saying 8. Epitaph: Memorial poem 9. Enjambment: Running over of a sentence from one line or stanza to another 10. Refrain: Repetition of line or phrase at regular intervals (like chorus)

6. NARRATIVE TERMS/PLOT TERMS:

Literary Terms#6

1. Atmosphere: Effect of physical environment 2. Tone: Author’s or speaker’s attitude 3. Conflict: interplay of opposing forces 4. Comic Relief: Lightens narrative 5. Complication: Plot reversals 6. Deus Ex Machina: Contrived ending 7. Epiphany: Sudden awareness 8. Flashback: Device to supply background 9. Foreshadowing: Hints at coming events 10. Stream of Consciousness: Thoughts and feelings recorded as they occur 11. Theme: Central idea 12. Motif: Often-repeated idea or theme 13. Plot: Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action 14. Denouement: Resolution, outcome replicating thought 15. In media res: beginning in the middle of things

7. CHARACTER TERMS:

Literary Terms#7

1. Round Character: Complex, multi-faceted, not predictable 2. Flat Character: Recognizable type; lacks complexity 3. Confidant: Protagonist’s intimate 4. Foil: Character’s illuminator through contrast 5. Protagonist: Character around which the action is centered 6. Antagonist: Person or force working against the protagonist 7. Omniscience: Teller knows all about everyone 8. Limited Omniscience: Teller knows all about one character 9. Dramatic Perspective: Teller presents just the facts 10. Doppelganger: Mysterious double 11. Antihero: An ordinary, modern man/woman groping through life

8. LITERARY MOVEMENTS:

1. Renaissance: 14th—17th Century, rebirth of humanism 2. Neoclassicism: Restoration—18th Century, order and reason 3. Romanticism: 18th—19th c., imagination over reason 4. Realism: Verisimilitude 5. Naturalism: Extreme realism 6. Existentialism: Humans inadequate to explain complex world 7. Magical Realism: Begins real, gets weird 8. Expressionism: Objectify inner experience

9. LITERARY GENRES:

1. Tragedy: Starts good, gets bad, hero destroyed 2. Comedy: Starts bad, gets good, hero triumphs 3. Comedy of Manners: Elevated, often satirical, from Restoration Period 4. Farce: Crude, often obscene 5. Melodrama: Excessive appeal to emotions 6. Bildungsroman: Novel about young person’s maturation (Coming of Age) 7. Allegory: Persons equated with meanings beyond the narrative 8. Satire: Improving human conditions through exaggeration, comedy 9. Novel: Extended fictional narrative 10. Novella/Novelette: Longer than a short story 11. Parody: Ridicule of a serious work by exaggerated imitation 12. Picaresque Novel: Life story of a rascal 13. Short Story: Brief fictional narrative in prose 14. Essay: Prose discussion of a limited topic 15. Horatian Satire: Gentle ridicule 16. Juvenalian Satire: Angry ridicule 17. Myth: Traditional story explaining natural phenomena or cultural practice 18. Didactic Literature: Seeks to instruct

10. ESSAY TERMS:

1. Hook: Initial attention getter 2. Central Idea: Core of writer’s assertion 3. Thesis: Outline of writer’s proofs 4. Topic Sentence: Focus of paragraph, part of thesis 5. Structure: Introduction, body, conclusion 6. Expository Essay: Presentation of information, facts, ideas 7. Persuasive Essay: Presentation to convince reader 8. Descriptive Essay: Single clear picture of person, place, thing, or idea 9. Narrative Essay: Tells a story 10. Literary Criticism: Analyzes and comments on literature 11. Formalist Criticism (New Criticism): Emphasizes the work as an independent creation utilizing personal response and close examination of the work. Dominant from 30’s to 70’s; most often used with student criticism. 12. Deconstructive Criticism: Opposite of formalist criticism; seeks to reveal author’s social, cultural, or philosophical assumptions by close examination of the text. 13. Historical Criticism: Works are studied within historical context. The study of Macbeth would involve Elizabethan attitudes towards ghosts. 14. Psychological Criticism: Utilizes Freudian theories and psychoanalytic interpretations. 15. Gender Criticism: Feminist and Gay criticism reflecting cultural framework.