AP Literary Terms Flashcards
Alliteration
a musical device in which words are linked together by having the same initial consonant
Assonance
a musical device in which words are linked together by having similar vowel sounds
Blank verse
unrhymed iambic pentameter–it’s the form used in all of Shakespeare’s plays and John Milton’s Paradise Lost; it is reputedly “the most like actual human speech”.
Carpe Diem poetry
Carpe diem is a Latin phrase meaning “seize the day”. In many poems, the speaker’s purpose is to persuade a young woman to yield to love before her beauty fades. It is an attitude expressed in the form of a rhetorical argument, such as a thesis for a debate using unusual examples, like Donne’s “The Flea”, which represents the marriage bed.
Consonance
a musical device in which words are linked together by having similar ending consonants or sounds; often used in near rhyme
Caesura
a pause, metrical or rhetorical, occurring somewhere in a line of poetry; the pause may or may not be typographically indicated
Couplet
a rhymed pair of lines, which are usually of the same length; if they are iambic pentameters, they are heroic couplets
End-stopped
a line that has a natural pause at the end (period, comma, etc)
Enjambment
the running over of a sentence or thought into the next couplet or line without a pause at the end of the line; a run-on line.
Foot
the basic unit of meter consisting of a group of two or three syllables. Each line of a poem contains a certain number of iambs, trochees, spondees, dactyls, or anapests; the number of syllables in a line varies according to the number of meters
Meter (rhythm)
the rhythmic pattern produced when words are arranged so that their stressed and unstressed syllables fall into a more or less regular sequence, resulting in repeated patterns of accent (called feet)
Free Verse
when a poet does not use a regularly alternating stress pattern for his or her lines
Epic
a long narrative poem about the adventures of a hero
Sonnet
a 14-line poem with a varied rhyme scheme written in iambic pentameter; means a little song; the three main types of sonnets are Petrarchan (Italian), Shakespearean (Elizabethan or English), and the Spenserian.
Villanelle
a 19-line poem with two lines repeating at regular intervals
Ballad
a 4-line stanza poem with a tight rhyme scheme that tells a story
Sestina
a 39-line poem with 6-line stanzas and 6-repeating end words
Epigram
a witty two-line (usually rhyming) saying or quip
Limerick
a five-line poem (usually humorous) with an AABBA rhyme scheme
Haiku
a three-line form of poetry, usually about nature
Terza Rima
an Italian form used by Dante Alighieri, consisting of three lines in iambic pentameter with interlocking rhyme scheme (ABA, BCB, CDC)
Lyric poem
a verse being sung in accompaniment with a musical instrument
Ode
a form of poetry that is lyrical in nature, usually in praise of people, natural scenes, and abstract ideas
Rhyme royal
a rhyming stanza form introduced by Geoffrey Chaucer, consisting of a stanza with seven 10-syllable lines that rhyme and written in iambic pentameter ABABBC
Heroic couplet
two lines of rhyming iambic pentameter. This form was made popular by Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and became the dominant poetic form in the latter part of the seventeenth century.
Iambic pentameter
an unrhymed line of five feet in which the dominant accent usually falls on the second syllable of each foot, a pattern known as an iamb
That TIME | of YEAR | thou MAYST | in ME | beHOLD
Metaphysical conceit
elaborate, extended metaphors that compare dissimilar things; created by early 17th century English poets like John Donne and George Herbert
Pastoral poetry
presenting an idealized image of rural life and nature
Rhyme
when words end with the same sounds
Full rhyme
words with perfectly alike ending sounds
Eye rhyme
words that look like they should rhyme according to spelling, but actually don’t when spoken aloud
Internal rhyme
occur when poets put several rhyming words inside a poem
Slant/half rhyme
when words almost rhyme, but not quite; usually these words have consonance in common; used more commonly in modern poetry
Feminine rhyme
a rhyme in which the repeated accented vowel is in either the first or second-to-last syllable in a line of poetry; emphasizes gender of the speaker and/or poem’s content
Masculine rhyme
a rhyme in which the repeated accented vowel is in the final syllable of the words involved
Rhyme scheme
refers to the regular pattern of rhyming a poet uses, usually assigning random letters to different rhyming sounds for the length of the poem
Repetition and refrain
can be used in any genre for a variety of rhetorical effects, in that it can be haunting, irritating, outraged, jubilant–it all depends on the context and can occur when poets repeat the same phrase or line several times, creating a certain effect
Stanza
the “paragraphs” of a poem, usually marked by empty lines between sections
Tercet
three lines of poetry, usually linked together by a rhyme scheme
Quatrain
four lines of poetry, usually linked together by a rhyme scheme
Refrain
a line or phrase repeated throughout a poem for effect
The Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet
divided into the octave (first eight lines) and the sestet (last six lines). The octave presents a problem or situation which is then resolved or commented on in the sestet. The most common rhyme scheme is
ABBA / CDE / CDE, though there is flexibility in the sestet, such as CDC / DCD
The Shakespearean (English/Elizabethan) sonnet
contains three quatrains and a couplet, with more rhymes (because of the greater difficulty finding rhymes in English). The most common rhyme scheme is ABAB / CDCD / EFEF / GG. In Shakespeare, the couplet often undercuts the thought created in the rest of the poem.
The Spenserian sonnet
contains three quatrains with interlocking rhyme scheme and a couplet; most common rhyme scheme is ABAB / BCBC / CDCD / EE
Plot
the action of the narrative, often broken into exposition, conflict, climax, and denouement
Exposition
the beginning of the story where the characters and setting are introduced
Conflict
when things start to go wrong in the story
Climax
the highest point of tension or suspense in the story, the tipping point where everything changes
Denouement
the ending of the story where all the plot points are resolved
The six ways to learn what a character is like
- by how the narrator describes the character
- by how the other characters describe the character
- by how the character describes him/herself
- by how the character dresses
- by the manner in which the character speaks
- by the choices the character makes in the narrative
Flat character
does not change during the course of the story; often merge into a stereotype
Dynamic character
changes during the story and reveals many, often contradictory, personality qualities
Protagonist
the main character of the story, often the hero or heroine
Antagonist
the primary character or force that opposes the protagonist in one way or another
Anti-hero
the main character who is a villain
Point of view
perspective from with the text is written; 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person omniscient
1st person point of view
when a character is telling the story, marked by the use of “I”
2nd person
extremely rare and almost never used; marked by the use of “you”
3rd person omniscient
when the narrator is outside of the story and can enter into any character’s thoughts or swoop around to describe any action occurring in the novel as if the narrator were an all-knowing god; marked by the use of “he” or “she”
3rd person limited
when the narrator is outside the story but chooses to limit what is revealed to the reader by focusing entirely on one character’s actions and thoughts without revealing other parts of the story in which the character is not present
Setting
the time and place where the narrative takes place
Foreshadowing
occurs when the narrator places deliberate hints or omens of things to come early in the narrative
Dialogue
occurs when characters speak to one another or to their audience
Conflict/tension/suspense
occurs when the author sets up events that make the reader nervous or anxious until the climax or resolution; crucial to the success of any story
Diction
word choice, along with its different effects
Denotation
the textbook definition of a word
Connotation
emotional suggestions hidden within a word; in analysis, words have positive or negative connotations
Imagery
a collection of words used together to evoke a certain image; can be olfactory, gustatory, auditory, tactile, or visual, though visual is most common
Simile
an explicit comparison of two different objects using like or as
Metaphor
an implicit comparison of two different objects NOT using like or as
