AP Lit (prose)
Figure of Speech
Broadly, any way of saying something other that the ordinary way; more narrowly (and for the purposes of this class) a way of saying one thing and meaning another.
Antagonist
Character in a story or poem who opposes the main character (protagonist). Sometimes the antagonist is an animal, an idea, or a thing.
Comedy of manners
Comedy that ridicules the manners (way of life, social customs, etc.) of a certain segment of society
Invective
Denunciatory or abusive language.
End-stopped line
A line that ends with a natural speech pause, usually marked by punctuation — the opposite of enjambment
Flashforward
A literary device in which a later event is inserted into a narrative.
Flashback
A literary device in which an earlier event is inserted into a narrative.
Epic
A long poem in a lofty style about the exploits of heroic figures. These often come from an oral tradition of shared authorship or from a single, high-profile poet imitating the style.
Hero
A man who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for bold exploits, and favored by the gods
Anapestic meter
A meter in which a majority of the feet are anapests
Dactylic meter
A meter in which a majority of the feet are dactyls
Triple meter
A meter in which a majority of the feet contain three syllables. (Actually, if more than 25 percent of the feet in a poem are triple, its effect is more triple than duple, and it ought perhaps to be referred to as triple meter.) Anapestic and dactylic are both triple meters.
Iambic meter
A meter in which the majority of feet are iambs, the most common English meter
Trochaic meter
A meter in which the majority of feet are trochees
Direct Presentation of Charcter
A method of characterization in which the author, by exposition or analysis, tells us directly what a character is like, or has someone else in the story do so
Trochee
A metrical foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by one unaccented syllable (for example, barter)
Dactyl
A metrical foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables (for example, merrily)
Iamb
A metrical foot consisting of one unaccented syllable followed by one accented syllable (for example, rehearse)
Spondee
A metrical foot consisting of two syllables equally or almost equally accented (for example, true-blue).
Anapest
A metrical foot consisting of two unaccented syllables followed by one accented syllable (for example, understand)
Pentameter
A metrical line containing five feet
Tetrameter
A metrical line containing four feet
Trimeter
A metrical line containing three feet
Allegory
A narrative or description having a second or symbolic meaning beneath the surface one
Pun
A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words
Sub Plot
A plot subordinate to the main plot of a literary work
Figure of speech
Broadly, any way of saying something other that the ordinary way; more narrowly (and for the purposes of this class) a way of saying one thing and meaning another
The use of the word "titular" in line 4 is an example of (Mrs. P)
irony
non linear structure
is when the plot is presented in a non-causal order, with events presented in a random series jumping to and from the main plot with flashbacks or flashforwards; or in any other manner that is either not chronological or not cause and effect, for example, in medias res.
What is the effect of the repetition of the phrase "Woe betide..." in the final paragraph?
it highlights the drama of the situation
The phrase "Compassing me with the four circles of your mystic lightness" (lines 33-34) indicated that the speaker is (al)
metaphorically surrounded by her lover
In the last stanza, the relationship between the speaker and her subject is most directly implied to be
necessary to the author's survival
Grammatically, the word "hone" (line 26) is a
noun
The author attributes Dr. Proudie's attitude and behavior most clearly to
pacifism
In context, the word "character" (line 43) is best interpreted as meaning
reference
Overall, the speaker's attitude toward the subject of the poem is one of (al)
reverence and need
Which word is a metaphor for the poem itself?
rubies
The narrator's attitude toward Mrs. Proudie can best be described as one of
sardonic condemnation
"As the perfume jonquils, you come forth in the morning" (line 8) is an example of
simile
Diologue
(1) Conversation between characters in a drama or narrative. (2) A literary work written in the form of a conversation.
Sarcasm
Bitter or cutting speech; speech intended by its speaker to give pain to the person addressed
The description of Mrs. Grantly serves to
imply specific faults of Mrs. Proudie
Character
(1) Any of the persons involved in a story or play [sense 1] (2) The distinguishing moral qualities and personal traits of a character [sense 2]
Which of the following descriptions is an example of the narrator's use of irony? (Mrs. P)
"It is not my intention to breathe a word against Mrs. Proud" (lines 1-2)
Mrs. Proudie's authoritarian character is shown most pointedly in the phrase
"submission produces the nearest approach to peace" (line26)
Monologue
(1) A dramatic soliloquy. (2) A literary composition in such form
Quatrain
(1) A four-line stanza. (2) A four-line division of a sonnet marked off by its rhyme scheme.
Epigram
(1) A short, witty poem expressing a single thought or observation. (2) A concise, clever, often paradoxical statement.
Sestet
(1) A six-line stanza (2) The last six lines of a sonnet structured on the Italian model
Octave
(1) An eight-line stanza. (2) The first eight lines of a sonnet, especially one structured in the manner of an Italian sonnet
Denouement
(Also called the resolution) the conclusion of the story. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis for them and the reader. Sometimes a hint as to the characters' future is given
Half rhyme
(Sometimes called slant rhyme, sprung, near rhyme, oblique rhyme, off rhyme or imperfect rhyme), is consonance on the final consonants of the words involved
Novella
(also called a short novel), a written, fictional, prose narrative longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel.
Approximate rhyme
(also known as imperfect rhyme, near rhyme, slant rhyme, or oblique rhyme) A term used for words in a rhyming pattern that have some kind of sound correspondence but are not perfect rimes (for example, arrayed-said)
Masculine rhyme
(also known as single rhyme) A rhyme in which the stress is on the final syllable of the words (rhyme, sublime)
Deus ex Machina
(god from the machine) The resolution of a plot by use of a highly improbable chance or coincidence (so named from the practice of some Greek dramatists of having a god descend from heaven at the last possible minute—in the theater by means of a stage machine—to rescue the protagonist from an impossible situation).
In media res
(into the middle of things) is a Latin phrase denoting the literary and artistic narrative technique wherein the relation of a story begins either at the mid-point or at the conclusion, rather than at the beginning, establishing setting, character, and conflict via flashback and expository conversations.
Symbol
(literary) Something that means more than what it is; an object, person, situation, or action that in addition to its literal meaning suggests other meanings as well, a figure of speech which may be read both literally and figuratively.
The poem's final stanza suggests which of the following? (al)
1 and 2 only
The poem states or implies which of the following?
1 and 3 only
Which stanza most suggests the religious level of devotion felt by the poem's speaker?
5
Aside
A brief speech in which a character turns from the person being addressed to speak directly to the audience; a dramatic device for letting the audience know what a character is really thinking or feeling as opposed to what the character pretends to think or feel
Dynamic Character
A character (sense 1) who during the course of a story undergoes a permanent change in some aspect of character (sense 2) or outlook.
Rounded Character
A character (sense 1) whose character (sense 2) is complex and many sided.
Flat Character
A character (sense 1) whose character (sense 2) is summed up in one or two traits
Static Character
A character who is the same sort of person at the end of a story as at the beginning.
Conflict
A clash of actions, desires, ideas, or goals in the plot of a story or drama. Conflict may exist between the main character and some other person or persons; between the main character and some external force—physical nature, society, or "fate"; or between the main character and some destructive element in his or her own nature. A struggle that takes place in a character's mind is called internal conflict.
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole. In this class it is subsumed under the term Metonymy.
Simile
A figure of speech in which an explicit comparison is made between two things essentially unlike. The comparison is made explicit by the use of some such word or phrase as like, as, than, similar to, resembles, or seems
Metaphor
A figure of speech in which an implicit comparison is made between two things essentially unlike
Hyperbole
A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used in the service of truth
Personification
A figure of speech in which human attributes are given to an animal, an object, or a concept
Metonymy
A figure of speech in which some significant aspect or detail of an experience is used to represent the whole experience
Apostrophe
A figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and could reply
Verbal irony
A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant
Understatement
A figure of speech that consists of saying less than one means, or of saying what one means with less force than the occasion warrants.
Sonnet
A fixed form of fourteen lines, normally iambic pentameter, with a rhyme scheme conforming to or approximating one of two main types—the Italian or the English
Tragic Flaw
A flaw in the character of the protagonist of a tragedy that brings the protagonist to ruin or sorrow
Stanza
A group of lines whose metrical pattern (and usually its rhyme scheme as well) is repeated throughout a poem
Cacophony
A harsh, discordant, unpleasant-sounding choice and arrangement of sounds
Comic Relief
A humorous incident introduced into a serious literary work in order to relieve dramatic tension or heighten emotional impact
Fantasy
A kind of fiction that pictures creatures or events beyond the boundaries of known reality
Slang
A kind of language esp. occurring in casual or playful speech, usu. made up of short-lived coinages and figures of speech deliberately used in place of standard terms
Satire
A kind of literature that ridicules human folly or vice with the purpose of bringing about reform or of keeping others from falling into similar folly or vice.
Narrative poem
A poem that tells a story. A narrative poem can come in many forms and styles, both complex and simple, short or long, as long as it tells a story. A few examples of a narrative poem are epics, ballads, and metrical romances.
Allusion
A reference, explicit or implicit, to something in previous literature or history
Dialect
A regional variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary
Refrain
A repeated word, phrase, line, or group of lines, normally at some fixed position in a poem written in stanziac form
Inversion
A reversal in order, nature, or effect
Perfect Rhyme
A rhyme in which is when the later part of the word or phrase is identical sounding to another. Types include masculine and feminine, among others.
Internal rhyme
A rhyme in which one or both of the rhyme-words occur within the line
Feminine rhyme
A rhyme in which the stress is on the penultimate (second from last) syllable of the words (picky, tricky)
Moral
A rule of conduct or maxim for living expressed or implied as the "point" of a literary work. Compare Theme.
Anecdote
A short account of an interesting or humorous incident
Fable
A short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point and often employing animal characters that act like human beings
Proverb
A short, pithy saying that expresses a basic truth or practical precept
Parable
A simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson
Dilemma
A situation in which a character must choose between two courses of action, both undesirable
Plot Manipulation
A situation in which an author gives the plot a twist or turn unjustified by preceding action or by the characters involved
Irony of Situation
A situation in which there is an incongruity between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment, or between the actual situation and what would seem appropriate.
Irony
A situation, or a use of language, involving some kind of incongruity or discrepancy. Three kinds of irony are distinguished in this class:
Euphony
A smooth, pleasant-sounding choice and arrangement of sounds
Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet
A sonnet consisting of an octave rhyming abbaabba and of a sestet using any arrangement of two or three additional rhymes, such as cdcdcd or cdecde
English (or Shakespearean) sonnet
A sonnet rhyming ababcdcdefefgg. Its content or structure ideally parallels the rhyme scheme, falling into three coordinate quatrains and a concluding couplet; but it is often structured, like the Italian sonnet, into octave and sestet, the principal break in thought coming at the end of the eighth line.
Paradox
A statement or situation containing apparently contradictory or incompatible elements
Stock Character
A stereotyped character.
Scene
A subdivision of an act in a dramatic presentation in which the setting is fixed and the time continuous
Anti Climax
A sudden descent from the impressive or significant to the ludicrous or inconsequential
Terza Rima
A three-line stanza form borrowed from the Italian poets. The rhyme scheme is: aba, bcb, cdc, ded, etc.
Farce
A type of comedy that relies on exaggeration, horseplay, and unrealistic or improbable situations to provoke laughter
Romantic Comedy
A type of comedy whose likable and sensible main characters are placed in difficulties from which they are rescued at the end of the play
Scornful Comedy
A type of comedy whose main purpose is to expose and ridicule human folly, vanity, or hypocrisy
Comedy
A type of drama, opposed to tragedy, having usually a happy ending, and emphasizing human limitation rather than human greatness.
Elegy
A type of literature defined as a song or poem, written in elegiac couplets, that expresses sorrow or lamentation, usually for one who has died.
Genre
A type or class, as poetry, drama, etc.
Motivation (lol i have none)
An emotion, desire, physiological need, or similar impulse that acts as an incitement to action
Intermediate Ending
An ending in which the central problem or conflict is left unresolved
Dramatic Irony
An incongruity of discrepancy between what a character says or thinks and what the reader knows to be true (or between what a character perceives and what the author intends the reader to perceive).
Prologue
An introduction or a preface, esp. a poem recited to introduce a play
Plot Device
An object, character, or event whose only reason for existing is to advance the story. Often breaks suspension of disbelief.
Surprise
An unexpected turn in the development of a plot
Suspension of disbelief
An unspoken agreement between writer and reader: "I agree to believe your make-believe if it entertains me."
Mystery
An unusual set of circumstances for which the reader craves an explanation; used to create suspense
Rhyme scheme
Any fixed pattern of rhymes characterizing a whole poem or its stanzas
Rhythm
Any wavelike recurrence of motion or sound
Tragedy
Drama in which a noble protagonist — a person of unusual moral or intellectual stature or outstanding abilities — falls to ruin during a struggle caused by a tragic flaw (or hamartia) in his character or an error in his rulings or judgments.
Colloquial
Informal, conversational language
Which of the following best describes the effect of the last paragraph?
It illustrates how Mrs. Proudie's religious beliefs reflect her character
Figurative language
Language employing figures of speech; language that cannot be taken literally or only literally
Interpretive Literature
Literature that provides valid insights into the nature of human life or behavior
Escapist Literature
Literature written purely for entertainment, with little or no attempt to provide insights into the true nature of human life or behavior.
Verse
Metrical language; the opposite of prose
stream-of-consiousness
Narrative which presents the private thoughts of a character without commentary or interpretation by the author
Prose
Non-metrical language; the opposite of verse
Free verse
Nonmetrical verse. Poetry written in free verse is arranged in lines, may be more or less rhythmical, but has no fixed metrical pattern or expectation
Enjambment
Or run-on line, a line which has no natural speech pause at its end, allowing the sense to flow uninterruptedly into the succeeding line — the opposite of an end-stopped line
Hubris
Overbearing and excessive pride
Heroic couplet
Poems constructed by a sequence of two lines of (usually rhyming) verse in iambic pentameter. If these couplets do not rhyme, they are usually separated by extra white space.
Blank verse
Poetry with a meter, but not rhymed, usually in iambic pentameter
Juxtaposition
Positioning opposites next to each other to heighten the contrast
Meter
Regularized rhythm; an arrangement of language in which the accents occur at apparently equal intervals in time
End rhyme
Rhymes that occur at the ends of lines
Ballad meter
Stanzas formed of quatrains of iambs in which the first and third lines have four stresses (tetrameter) and the second and fourth lines have three stresses (trimeter). Usually, the second and fourth lines rhyme (abcb), although ballad meter is often not followed strictly.
Euphemism
Substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for a harsh, blunt, or offensive one
Artistic Unity
That condition of a successful literary work whereby all its elements work together for the achievement of its central purpose
Rising Action
That development of plot in a story that precedes and leads up to the climax
Indirect presentation of character
That method of characterization in which the author shows us a character in action, compelling us to infer what the character is like from what is said or done by the character
Suspense
That quality in a story that makes the reader eager to discover what happens next and how it will end
Point of view
The angle of vision from which a story is told.
Syntax
The arrangement of words to form phrases, clauses and sentences; sentence construction
objective point of view
The author tells the story, using the third person, but is limited to reporting what the characters say or do; the author does not interpret their behavior or tell us their private thoughts or feelings.
Which of the following best describes the use of rhetorical questions in the poem?
The author uses them to convey the speaker's wonder at her situation and at her lover
Denotation
The basic definition or dictionary meaning of a word
Foot
The basic unit used in the scansion or measurement of verse. A foot usually contains one accented syllable and one or two unaccented syllables
catastrophe
The concluding action of a classical tragedy containing the resolution of the plot
Setting
The context in time and place in which the action of a story occurs
Voice
The distinctive style or manner of expression of an author or a character in a book
Falling Action
The falling action immediately follows the climax and shows the aftereffects of the events in the climax
Protagonist
The main character of a novel, play, or film
Theme
The main idea, or message, of a literary work. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and may be implied rather than stated explicitly.
Exposition
The part of a play (usually at the beginning) that provides the background information needed to understand the characters and the actions.
Mood
The pervading impression of a work
Ekphrasis
The poetic representation of a painting or sculpture in words
Characterization
The process of conveying information about characters
Scansion
The process of measuring verse, that is, of marking accented and unaccented syllables, dividing the lines into feet, identifying the metrical pattern, and noting significant variations from that pattern
Consonance
The repetition at close intervals of the final consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words (for example, book- plaque-thicker)
Alliteration
The repetition at close intervals of the initial consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words (for example, map-moon, kill-code, preach-approve)
Assonance
The repetition at close intervals of the vowel sounds of accented syllables or important words (for example, hat-ran-amber, vein- made).
Rhyme
The repetition of an identical or similarly accented sound or sounds in a work. Lyricists may find multiple ways to rhyme within a verse. End rhymes have words that rhyme at the end of a verse-line. Internal rhymes have words that rhyme within it.
Imagery
The representation through language of sensory experience
Deuteragonist
The second most important character, after the protagonist, often a foil or eventual antagonist
Plot
The sequence of incidents or events of which a story is composed
Which of the following best conveys the meaning in context of "How have I snared the seas to lie in my fingers/And caught the sky to be a cover for my head?" (lines30-31)? (Al)
The speaker cannot believe her good fortune at being in such a wonderful relationship
First Person POV
The story is told by one of its characters, using the first person.
Topic
The subject matter or area of a literary work. Not to be confused with theme.
Climax
The turning point or high point of a plot
Onomatopoeia
The use of words that supposedly mimic their meaning in their sound (for example, boom, click, plop).
Tone
The writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject, the audience, or herself or himself; the emotional coloring, or emotional meaning, of a work
Couplet
Two successive lines, usually in the same meter, linked by rhyme
Sentimentality
Unmerited or contrived tender feeling; that quality in a story that elicits or seeks to elicit tears through an oversimplification or falsification of reality
Ode
Usually a lyric poem of moderate length, with a serious subject, an elevated style, and an elaborate stanza pattern. The ode often praises people, the arts of music and poetry, natural scenes, or abstract concepts.
Connotation
What a word suggests beyond its basic definition; a word's overtones of meaning
Diction
Word choice
Syntax
Word organization and order.
Novel
a book of long narrative in literary prose.
Foil
a character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) in order to highlight various features of that other character's personality, throwing these characteristics into sharper focus.
Soliloquy
a device often used in drama where by a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters.
Red Harring
a literary tactic of diverting attention away from an item or person of significance
Ballad
a narrative folk song. The ballad is traced back to the Middle Ages. Ballads were usually created by common people and passed orally due to the illiteracy of the time. Subjects for ballads include killings, feuds, important historical events, and rebellion.
unreliable narrator
a narrator whose credibility has been seriously compromised. Unreliable narrators are usually first-person narrators.
epistolary novel
a novel written as a series of documents.
linear structure
a plot that follows a straight-moving, cause and effect, chronological order
Lyric
a song-like poem written mainly to express the feelings of emotions or thought from a particular person, thus separating it from narrative poems. These poems are generally short, averaging roughly twelve to thirty lines, and rarely go beyond sixty lines. These poems express vivid imagination as well as emotion and all flow fairly concisely.
Extended figure
also knows as sustained figure) A figure of speech (usually metaphor, simile, personification, or apostrophe) sustained or developed through a considerable number of lines or through a whole poem
Myth
any story that attempts to explain how the world was created or why the world is the way that it is. Myths are stories that are passed on from generation to generation and normally involve religion. Most myths were first spread by oral tradition and then were written down in some literary form. Many ancient literary works are, in fact, myths as myths appear in every ancient culture of the planet.
The speaker compares her beloved to all of the following EXCEPT (al)
bees buzzing among fruit
Which of the following best describes Dr. Proudie's relationship to his wife?
completely servile
In the context of the passage, the phrase "if not voluntarily, yet willingly" (lines 6-7) is used to show Dr. Proudie's attitude toward
granting his wife some power
limited Ominiscient point of view
the author tells the story, using the third person, but is limited to a complete knowledge of one character in the story and tells us only what that one character thinks, feels, sees, or hears.
Ominescent point of view
the author tells the story, using the third person, knowing all and free to tell us anything, including what the characters are thinking or feeling and why they act as they do
The third stanza of the poem principally suggests that
the speaker is ready and waiting to receive the experiences and emotions that her relationship and/or her lover provides for her
Narrator
the speaker or the "voice" of an oral or written work. Although it can be, the narrator is not usually the same person as the author. The narrator is one of three types of characters in a given work, (1) participant (protagonist or participant in any action that may take place in the story), (2) observer (someone who is indirectly involved in the action of a story), or (3) non participant (one who is not at all involved in any action of the story). The narrator is the direct window into a piece of work.
The use of repetition can punctuation in the first line of the poem could be interpreted to suggest (Al)
the speaker's amazement at the existence of her subject
The phrase "I drink your lips,/I eat the whiteness of your hands and feet" (lines 13-14) serves to (al)
underscore the speaker's delight in the physical characteristics of her lover
In context, the adjective "recreant" (line 40) is best interpreted as meaning
unfaithful and disloyal
The style of the passage as a whole can be best described as
witty and analytical
