1. Abstract/Concrete classifications of imagery.

2. Adage a familiar proverb or saying.

3. Allegory a literary work in which characters,
objects, or actions, represent
abstractions.
4. Alliteration the repetition of initial sounds in
successive or neighboring words.
5. Allusion a reference to something literary,
mythological, or historical that the
author assumes the reader will
recognize.
6. Ambiguity purposeful multiple meanings, as in
pun and double entendre.
7. Anachronism an event object, custom, person, or
thing that is out of its natural order in
time
8. Analogy a comparison of two different things
which are similar in some way.
9. Anaphora the repetition of words or phrases at
the beginning of consecutive lines or
sentences.
10. Anecdote a brief narrative that focuses on a
particular incident or event.
11. Antagonist person or force working against the
protagonist.
12. Antecedent the word, phrase, or clause to which a
pronoun refers.
13. Anthropomorphism an animal that takes on human
characteristics (walking, talking,
etc.)
14. Antihero a central character or protagonist that
lacks traditional qualities or virtues
15. Antithesis a statement in which two opposing or
contrasting ideas are balanced.
16. Aposiopesis stopping abruptly and leaving a
statement unfinished (usually ends
with a dash: "Never again shall -")
17. Apostrophe a device used wherein a character
addresses a dead, absent, or
imaginary person, thing or
personified abstraction
18. Archetype a detail, image, or character type that
occurs frequently in literature and
myth and is thought to be considered
universal
19. Argument a statement of the meaning of
meaning or main point of a literary
work.
20. Aside in drama, a convention by which actors
speak briefly to the audience, supposedly
without being heard by the other actors on
stage
21. Assonance repetition of a vowel sound.
22. Asyndeton a construction in which elements are
presented in a series without conjunctions.
23. Atmosphere effect of physical environment; the
pervasive mood or tone
24. Ballad a form of narrative poetry that presents a
single dramatic episode. Folk ballads were
originally sung or recited. Ballads are
song-like and often have refrains.
25. Ballad Stanza a patterned stanza in a ballad
26. Bathos insincere or overly sentimental quality of
writing/speech intended to evoke pity.
27. Bildungsroman German term meaning "development
novel"; the protagonist may or may not be
young, but will go through a maturation
process from innocence/naivet to a point
of realization
28. Blank Verse unrhymed iambic pentameter.
29. Cacophony sonic device, the use of harsh and
displeasing sounds. The opposite of
eupohony.
30. Cadence in a general sense, the beat or rhythm of
poetry
31. Caesura a pause in a line of poetry resulting from a
pause in the natural rhythm of the
language and not necessarily indicated by
punctuation
32. Canon the collective works of a particular author,
or a collective core of representative works
in a genre
33. Canto like a chapter in a novel, a division in a
long epic or narrative poem
34. Caricature the exaggeration of specific features of
appearance or personality
35. Carpe diem Latin for "seize the day". This is used to
emphasize the brevity of life and the finality
of death.
36. Catharsis an outpouring of emotions, a "cleansing."
Aristotle said tragedy provided the audience
with the opportunity to purge the emotions
of pity and fear
37. Central Idea core of a writer's assertion.
38. Character a fictional entity in a literary work
AP Lit Final: Lit Terms
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39. Characterization the method by which an author creates
the appearance and personality of
imaginary persons and reveals their
character. Considerations for the
development of a character are direct
description, the character's actions,], and
external events or other characters that
affect the character's "inner-self."
40. Chiasmus a statement consisting of two parallel
parts in which the second part is
structurally reversed. ("Susan walked in,
and out rushed Mary.")
41. Clich an expression that has been overly used
to the extent that it's freshness has worn
off.
42. Climax the point of highest interest in a literary
work.
43. Colloquialism informal words or expressions not
usually acceptable in formal writing.
44. Comedy literary genre in which the situation
begins badly, progresses well and the
hero triumphs.
45. Comic Relief a way to lighten a narrative. Adding
humor to the story.
46. Conceit a "startling" extended metaphor.,
comparing two vastly different things
47. Confidant(e) the protagonist's intimate. Male:
"confidant"; female "confidante"
48. Conflict the struggle between opposing forces. A
conflict can be an internal struggle
within a character, or external struggle
brought on by something outside the
character
49. Connotation the implied or associative meaning of a
word.
50. Consonance repetition of a consonant sound in any
position.
51. Convention the accepted form or style
52. Cosmic Irony the "greater forces" are indifferent to or
ineffective in the human
53. Couplet two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme
and are written in the same meter, or
pattern of stressed and unstressed
syllables
54. Denotation the literal meaning of a word.
55. Denouement resolution, outcome replicating thought.
56. Deus Ex
Machina
The "god machine." A contrived ending to
a story or drama.
57. Dialogue conversation between two or more people.
58. Diction the word choices made by a writer.
59. Didactic having the primary purpose of teaching or
instructing.
60. Dissonance harsh, inharmonious, or discordant sounds.
61. Doppleganger mysterious double.
62. Dramatic
Irony
what people know and what others do not;
what the audience knows and what the
characters do not
63. Dramatic
Perspective
teller presents just the facts.
64. Dynamic
character
one that has a significant change in the story
65. Elegy a formal poem presenting a meditation on
death or another solemn theme. A dirge is a
similar term that is a funeral song of
lamentation
66. Ellipsis the omission of a word or phrase which is
grammatically necessary but can be deduced
from the context. (Some people prefer cats;
others, dogs.). Also punctuation indicating
omission ("...")
67. Enjambment running over of a sentence from one line or
stanza to another.
68. Epic a long narrative poem written in elevated
style which presents the adventures of
characters of high position and episodes that
are important to the history of a race or
nation.
69. Epigram a unified, direct poem with a sharp or
singular point
70. Epigraph a saying or statement on the title page of a
work, or used as a heading for a chapter or
other section of work.
71. Epilogue the concluding section added to a novel, play,
or long poem
72. Epiphany a moment of sudden revelation or insight.
73. Epitaph an inscription on a tombstone or burial
place.
74. Epithet a term used to point out a characteristic of a
person. Homeric epithets are often compound
adjectives ("swift-footed Achilles") that
become an almost formulaic part of a name.
Epithets can be abusive or offensive but are
not so by definition. For example, athletes
may be proud of their given epithets ("The
Rocket").
75. Eulogy a formal speech praising a person who has
died.
76. Euphemism an indirect, less offensive way of saying
something that is considered unpleasant.
77. Euphony soft, pleasing sounds. The opposite of
cacophony.
78. Exclamatory
Sentence
a sentence expressing strong feeling,
usually punctuated with an exclamation
mark
79. Existentialism a philosophy that focuses on the individual
human being's experience of, recognition
of, and triumph over the meaningless of
existence. Jean Paul Sartre promoted the
idea that humans are born into a moral and
metaphysical void. People are responsible
for shaping their own existence
80. Expletive an interjection to lend emphasis;
sometimes, a profanity
81. Fable a brief story that leads to a moral, often
using animals as characters.
82. Fantasy a story that concerns an unreal world or
contains unreal characters; a fantasy may
be merely whimsical, or it may present a
serious point.
83. Farce crude, often obscene literary genre.
84. Fiction writing that is the product of the author's
imagination, an invention rather than
actual history or fact
85. Figurative
Language
language employing one or more figures of
speech. (simile, metaphor, imagery, etc.)
86. Flashback the insertion of an earlier event into the
normal chronological order of a narrative.
87. Flat character a character that is not fully developed
88. Foil character's illuminator through contrast.
89. Foot the basic unit of rhythmic measurement in
a line of poetry
90. Foreshadowing the presentation of a material in such a way
that the reader is prepared for what is to
come later in the work.
91. Free Verse poetry with no regular rhyme or rhythm.
92. Genre a major category or type of literature.
93. Gothic Literature which calls to mind gloom,
mystery, and fear
94. Gothic novel A type of novel characterized by mystery,
horror and the supernatural, often with
haunted castles. Secret passage ways,
ghosts, etc.
95. Heroic Couplet two rhymed lines in iambic pentameter that
are a complete thought.
96. Homily a sermon, or a moralistic lecture.
97. Hubris excessive pride or arrogance that results in
the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy.
98. Hyperbole intentional exaggeration to create an effect.
99. Idiom an expression in a given language that
cannot be understood from the literal
meaning of the words in the expression; or,
a regional speech or dialect.
100. Idyllic an adjective to describe a description of a
picturesque country life, an idealized story of
happy innocence. Also referred to as
Pastoral.
101. Image a sensory detail.
102. Imagery the use of figures of speech to create vivid
images that appeal to one of the senses.
103. In Medias Res Latin meaning "in the middle of things"
104. Inference a conclusion that one draws (infers) based
on premises or evidence.
105. Interior
Monologue
The presentation to the reader of the flow of
a character's inner emotional experience.
106. Irony the use of words to convey the opposite of
their literal meaning; or, incongruity
between what is expected and what actually
occurs.
107. Jargon the specialized language or vocabulary of a
particular group or profession
108. Juxtaposition placing two elements side by side to present
a comparison or contrast
109. Legend a narrative handed down from the past,
containing historical elements and usually
supernatural elements.
110. Limited
Narrator
a narrator who presents the story as it is
seen and understood by a single character
and restricts information to what is seen,
heard, thought, or felt by that one character.
111. Litotes a type of understatement in which an idea is
expressed by negating its opposite
(describing a particularly horrific scene by
saying, "It was not a pretty pictures.")
112. Lyric Poetry characterized by emotion, subjectivity, and
imagination; song-like
113. Malapropism the mistaken substitution of one word for
another word that sounds similar ("The
doctor wrote a subscription").
114. Melodrama excessive appeal to the emotions
115. Metaphor a direct comparison of two different things.
An extended metaphor is a metaphor that
continues throughout the work and may be
the controlling or central idea in the work
116. Meter The patterned repetition of stressed and
unstressed syllables
117. Metonymy substituting the name of one object for
another object closely associated with it
("The pen [writing] is mightier than the
sword [war/fighting]")
118. Mood the emotional atmosphere of a work
119. Motif a standard theme, element, or dramatic
situation that recurs in various works
120. Motivation a character's incentive or reason fir
behaving in a certain manner; that which
impels a character to act
121. Myth a traditional story presenting supernatural
characters and episodes that help explain
natural events
122. Narrative a story or narrated account
123. Narrative
Poetry
verse that tells a story (Ex.: ballad or epic)
124. Narrator the one who tells the story; may be first- or
third-person, limited or omniscient.
125. Nemesis A character's arch-rival
126. Non sequitur an inference that does not follow logically
from the premises (literally, "does not
follow")
127. Novel a lengthy fictional narrative in prose
dealing with characters, incidents, and
settings that imitate those found in real life.
A novella is a shorter novel, usually with a
single major incident rather than a series
128. Ode a lyric poem with a dignified tone in praise
of someone, something, or an important
occasion
129. Omniscient
Narrator
a narrator who is able to know, see, and
tell all, including the inner thoughts and
feelings of the characters
130. Onomatopoeia a word formed from the imitation of natural
sounds
131. Oxymoron an expression in which two words that
contradict each other are joined
132. Parable a simple story that illustrates a moral or
religious lesson
133. Paradox an apparently contradictory statement that
actually contains some truth
134. Parallelism the use of corresponding grammatical or
syntactical forms
135. Paraphrase a restatement of a text in a different form or
in different words, often for the purpose of
clarity
136. Parenthetical a comment that interrupts the immediate
subject, often to qualify or explain
137. Parody a humorous imitation of a serious work
138. Pastoral Latin for "shepherd." Originally, a poem
that had to do with shepherds and rural
living. It has evolved to include rural
settings, and descriptions of the simple,
charming rural life
139. Pathos the quality in a work that prompts the
reader to feel pity
140. Pedantic characterized by an excessive display of
learning or scholarship
141. Personification endowing non-human objects or creatures
with human qualities or characteristics
142. Picaresque
Novel
life story of a rascal, a rogue, a "picaro." A
picaresque novel follows the episodic
adventures of this "picaro."
143. Plot the action of a narrative or drama
144. Poetry the creative experience in verse. Literature
in its most intense, most imaginative, and
most rhythmic forms
145. Point of View the vantage point from which a story is
told
146. Polysyndeton the use, for rhetorical effect, of more
conjunctions than is necessary or natural
147. Prologue the introductory part of a literary work
148. Round
character
a well-developed character
149. Situational
Irony
what is expected to happen and what
actually happens; at times, the direct
opposite of what is expected to happen
150. Static
character
one that stays the same throughout the
story
151. Stream of
Consciousness
a particular type of interior monologue, is
an attempt to represent the inner workings
of a character's mind, to re-create the
continuous, chaotic flow of half-formed
and discontinuous thoughts, memories,
sense impressions, random associations,
images, feelings, and reflections that
constitute a character's consciousness
152. Verbal Irony what is said and what is meant