AP Lit Vocab- Semester One (ALL)

Question 1

abstract imagery

Answer 1

imagery which describes the intangible, ideas, or emotions

Question 2

aesthetic

Answer 2

set of artistic principles or sensibilities

Question 3

Alliteration

Answer 3

Repetition of the initial sound in a series of words

Question 4

allusion

Answer 4

a reference to something outside of the text

Question 5

anaphora

Answer 5

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

Question 6

Antithesis

Answer 6

a figure of speech in which opposite words are used for rhetorical effect

Question 7

Assonance

Answer 7

the repetition of vowel sounds

Question 8

Asyndeton

Answer 8

the omission of conjunctions in a passage

Question 9

Bildungsroman

Answer 9

a coming of age or apprenticeship novel

Question 10

blank verse

Answer 10

Poetic form that uses unrhymed iambic pentameter

Question 11

claim

Answer 11

part of a larger argument, a statement which must be supported with evidence

Question 12

cliche

Answer 12

an overused or trite phrase or image

Question 13

climax

Answer 13

The highest moment of action in a story

Question 14

conflict

Answer 14

the central problem facing the protagonist

Question 15

Connotation

Answer 15

associations a word or phrase carries beyond literal meaning

Question 16

concrete imagery

Answer 16

imagery that is physical, sensory or tangible

Question 17

controlling metaphor or image

Answer 17

an image or metaphor that runs through a work an serves as a key to understanding the central theme of the piece

Question 18

Couplet

Answer 18

In poetry, two consecutive rhyming lines

Question 19

Denotation

Answer 19

the literal, or dictionary, meaning of a word or phrase

Question 20

denouement

Answer 20

the “untying” of the knot of the conflict, used in detective stories

Question 21

dichotomy

Answer 21

a thematic divisions between two opposite terms

Question 22

dramatic monologue

Answer 22

A poem told from the perspective of a historical figure

Question 23

Enjambment

Answer 23

In poetry, the continuation of a sentence, without a pause, through the end of one line and into the next

Question 24

epiphany

Answer 24

An interior revelation,”ligthbulb”, a moment of heightened awareness

Question 25

epistolary novel

Answer 25

a novel consisting of letters written between characters

Question 26

etymology

Answer 26

the history or origin of a word or phrase

Question 27

Euphemism

Answer 27

a mild word or phrase substituted for a harsher one

Question 28

Exegesis

Answer 28

close, critical explanation or interpretation of a text

Question 29

figurative language

Answer 29

language that must be interpreted, uses figures of speech

Question 30

foreshadowing

Answer 30

Actions or words early in a story which prefigure or hint at later events

Question 31

haibun

Answer 31

combination of prose and haiku

Question 32

Haiku

Answer 32

A three line, 17 syllable poem about nature

Question 33

hook

Answer 33

An opening to an essay or story designed to catch audience’s attention

Question 34

hyperbole

Answer 34

The use of exaggeration as a storytelling technique

Question 35

Irony

Answer 35

Difference (contradiction) between expectations and results

Question 36

Juxtaposition

Answer 36

two images placed together for contrasting effect

Question 37

limerick

Answer 37

poetic form 5 lines, humorous, AABBA

Question 38

literal language

Answer 38

language which means exactly what it says

Question 39

metafiction

Answer 39

fiction in which author draws attention to the artifice of the text

Question 40

Metaphor

Answer 40

An implied comparison or the apt relation of dissimilars

Question 41

Metonymy

Answer 41

figure of speech which substitutes a word closely associated with the word meant; example is “white house” for president or government

Question 42

myth

Answer 42

A story which shapes our world view or explains a mystery

Question 43

onomatopoeia

Answer 43

a word or phrase which imitates a sound

Question 44

Oxymoron

Answer 44

A phrase which consists of two contradictory terms

Question 45

Paradox

Answer 45

a contradictory statement or situation which is somehow true

Question 46

Personification

Answer 46

Giving inanimate object human qualities

Question 47

plot

Answer 47

actions or sequence of events that makes up a story

Question 48

Polysyndeton

Answer 48

he use of many conjunctions in close succession for rhetorical effect

Question 49

Quatrain

Answer 49

a four line stanza, usually with two pairs of rhymes

Question 50

Reservation

Answer 50

A counterargument, or evidence that goes against a claim

Question 51

Resolution

Answer 51

how the conflict is solved

Question 52

rhyme scheme

Answer 52

the pattern of end rhyme in a poem

Question 53

sestina

Answer 53

A complex poetic form which repeats 6 end words in a 39 line structure

Question 54

Setting

Answer 54

where the story or poem takes place

Question 55

Simile

Answer 55

An explicit comparison, usually uses “like” or “as”

Question 56

sonnet

Answer 56

A 14 line poem, usually presents an argument about love

Question 57

subtext

Answer 57

an implicit or unstated message below the surface of the story

Question 58

Symbol

Answer 58

An image or object which is a concrete reality, but also takes on or suggests another level of meaning

Question 59

theme

Answer 59

An idea or issue which runs throughout a story

Question 60

thesis

Answer 60

central argument, a statement put forward which needs to be proved

Question 61

tone

Answer 61

Writer’s attitude towards the subject, or emotional feel of a passage

Question 62

villanelle

Answer 62

French for “little house”, this poetic form repeats two line in a 19 line poem