Mrs.Novaks AP Literature & Composition
#14 Dynamic Character
# 14 Dynamic Character-A character who undergoes an important inner change, as a change in personality and attitude. Example: Bilbo Baggins- J.R.R. Tolkein Sources:dictionary.reference.com
#17 Colloquialism
# 17 Colloquialism- When a writer uses informal words and phrases such as slang in writing. Example:"I didn't want to go back no more. I had stopped cussing, because the widow didn't like it; but now I took to it again because pap hadn't no objections... But by-and-by pap got too handy with his hick'ry, and I could't stand it. I was all over with welts. He got to going away so much, too, and locking me in. Once he locked me in and was gone three days. It was dreadful lonesome."-Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Fin" Sources:literarydevices.net
#1 Alliteration
#1 Alliteration-The repetition of a sound or letter. Example:"As Phaethon would whip you to the west," -Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare Sources:rhetoric.byu.edu
#10 Atmosphere
#10 Atmosphere- A type of feelings given to the reader or listener due to the the word choice, setting, foreshadowing,background, and objects. Example:"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,/Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore -/While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,/As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door -/"Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door -/Only this and nothing more."" -Edgar Allen Poe, "The Raven" Sources:literarydevices.net
#11 Bildungsroman
#11 Bildungsroman- A type of novel that focuses on the moral and psychological growth of the main character from youth to adulthood. Example:"David Coppperfield"-Charles Dickens Sources:literarydevices.net
#12 Characterization
#12 Characterization-The act of describing the character or qualities of someone or something. Example:"Cathy was chewing a piece of meat, chewing with her front teeth. Samuel had never seen anyone chew that way before. And when she had swallowed, her little tongue flicked around her lips. Samuel's mind repeated, "Something—something—can't find what it is. Something wrong," and the silence hung on the table."-John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" Sources:merriam-webster.com
#13 Static Character
#13 Static Character-A literary or dramatic character who undergoes little or no inner change; a character who does not grow or develop. Example:Sherlock Holmes- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sources:dictionary.reference.com
#15 Round Character
#15 Round Character-A character whose personality, background, motives, and other features are fully delineated by the author. Example: Katniss Everdeen -The Hunger Games Sources:dictionary.reference.com
#16 Flat Character
#16 Flat Character-An easily recognized character type who may not be fully delineated but is useful in carrying out some narrative purpose of the author. Example:Bella Swan-Twilight Sources:dictionary.reference.com
#18 Comedy
#18 Comedy-When things are done to make an audience laugh . Example:"A Midsummer's Night Dream"-William Shakespeare Sources:literarydevices.net
#19 Concrete Detail
#19 Concrete Detail-It refers to information such as facts, data, and specific knowledge used to describe, explain, or specify something. Example:"The dress I wore was lavender taffeta."-Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" Sources:tfd.sfsu.edu/teaching-practices/concrete-detail-and-commentary
#2 Allusion
#2 Allusion- An indirect and brief reference to a person, place, thing, idea that is significant to what the writer or speaker is discussing. Example:"When she lost her job, she acted like a Scrooge, and refused to buy anything that wasn't necessary."-A Christmas Carol Sources:literarydevices.net
#20 Conflict-External
#20 Conflict-External-Struggle between a person and an outside force. Example: When Harry Potter, the Order of the Phoenix, and the students fought the death eaters at the Battle of Hogwarts. -J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" Sources:dictionary.reference.com
#21 Internal Conflict
#21 Internal Conflict-Mental struggle arising from opposing demands or impulses. Example:"To be, or not to be-that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep..."-William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" Sources:dictionary.reference.com
#22 Dialect
#22 Dialect-The language used by a group of people in a specific area, class, region, or district that distinguished them from other people around them. Example:"Jim: "We's safe, Huck, we's safe! Jump up and crack yo' heels. Dat's de good ole Cairo at las', I jis knows it." Huck: "I'll take the canoe and go see, Jim. It mightn't be, you know."-Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Fin" Sources:literarydevices.net
# 23 Dialogue
#23 Dialogue- A conversation between two or more characters that is used by writers to direct the attention to a specific subject. Example:"Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!"/"How so? How can it affect them?"/ "My dear Mr. Bennet, "replied his wife, "how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them..."-Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Sources:literarydevices.net
#24 Diction
#24 Diction- The way in which words are used in speech or writing. Example:"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."-Charles Dicken's "A Tale of Two Cities" Sources:merriam-webster.com
#25 Epigraph
#25 Epigraph- A quotation or sentence from another writer that is used in the beginning of a paragraph that is used to draw comparison or bring a certain context to a paper. Example":Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten. — G.K. Chesterson"- Neil Gaiman's Coraline Sources:literarydevices.net
#26 Epistolary
#26 Epistolary- A letter or diary entry used by another or the same writer to deliver a message or tell a story. Example: Anne Frank's "Diary of a Young Girl" Sources:literarydevices.net
#27 Figurative Language
#27 Figurative Language- When figurative speech is used to persuade, or leave an effective an impactful event. Various literary devises are used for this such as similies, metaphors, foreshadowing, etc. Example:"Ah ! well a-day ! what evil looks/Had I from old and young !/Instead of the cross, the Albatross/About my neck was hung."-"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Sources:literarydevices.net
#28 Flashback
#28 Flashback- Interruptions of past events or memories used by writers to provide background information for certain circumstances. Example:"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem's fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury."- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Sources:literarydevices.net
#29 Foil
#29 Foil- A character with qualities that contrast other characters qualities in order to highlight that other characters qualities. Example:"Man is not truly one, but truly two."- Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde Sources:literarydevices.net
#3 Ambiguity
#3 Ambiguity- A statement, word, or phrase that has more than one meaning. Typically it leads to confusion and is generally vague. Example:"Love at the lips was touch/As sweet as I could bear;/And once that seemed too much;/I lived on air" -Robert Frost's "To Earthward" Sources:literarydevices.net
#30 Foreshadowing
#30 Foreshadowing- When a writer hints to events that will occur later in a story. Example:"Life were better ended by their hate, Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love"- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Sources:literarydevices.net
#31 Tragic Flaw/ Hamartia
#31 Tragic Flaw/Hamartia- A huge error that brings out the protagonist's downfall which results in tragedy. Example: Romeo's Behavior in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Sources:literarydevices.net
#32 Hero
#32 Hero-A person who is admired for their brave acts or fine qualities Example: Frodo Baggins in J.R.R. Tolkien's The lord of the rings( all three books that he is in) Sources:merriam-webster.com
#33 Hyperbole
#33 Hyperbole- is rhetorical exaggeration in the form of statements or claims that are not meant to be taken literally, and is usually achieved through comparisons, similes, and metaphors. Example:"I had to wait in the station for ten days-an eternity."-The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Sources: rhetoric.byu.edu and New Oxford American Dictionary
#34 Imagery
#34 Imagery- Appealing to the readers physical senses by using figurative language to represents people, places, events, or ideas. Example:"O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!/It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night/Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear;"- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Sources:literarydevices.net
#35 Irony
#35 Irony- Implying the contrary of what a person is saying for the purpose of mockery,jest, or derision. Example: CASSIUS: "'tis true this god did shake"-William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar Sources:rhetoric.byu.edu
#36 Verbal Irony
#36 Verbal Irony-When a person says or writes one thing but means another, or uses words to convey the opposite of the literal meaning. Example:CASSIUS: "'tis true this god did shake"-William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar Sources:dictionary.reference.com
#37 Situational Irony
#37 Situational Irony- Irony involving a situation in which actions has an effect opposite from what was intended, so the outcome is contrary to what was expected. Example:"Water, water, every where,/And all the boards did shrink ; /Water, water, every where,/ Nor any drop to drink"-The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge Sources:dictionary.reference.com
#38 Dramatic Irony
#38 Dramatic Irony-Irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the literary work. Example:"Upon the murderer I invoke this curse -whether he is one man and all unknown,Or one of many - may he wear out his life in misery to miserable doom!"-Oedipus Rex by Sophocles Sources:dictionary.reference.com
#39 Juxtaposition
#39 Juxtaposition- When to people, places, things, or ideas are placed side by side to compare and contrast. It is usually in a poem or narrative. Example:"O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear;"- William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Sources:literarydevices.net
#4 Analogy
#4 Analogy-A comparison of two things based on them being alike in some way Example:"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet./So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called,"- William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Sources:merriam-webster.com
#40 Local Color
#40 Local Color-interesting information about a particular place and about the people who live there is included in that literary work. Example:"Yes-en I's rich now, come to look at it. I owns myself en I's wuth eight hund'd dollars. I wwisht i had da money, i wouldn' want no'"-Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Sources:merriam-webster.com
#41 Metaphor/Implied/Extended
#41 Metaphor/Implied/Extended- Comparing two things to achieve a purpose. Example:"Shall I compare thee to a summers day,"- William Shakespeare in Sonnet 18 Sources:rhetoric.byu.edu
#42 Mood
#42 Mood- The use of words and descriptions to create certain vibes and feelings in the reader. Example:"The river, reflecting the clear blue of the sky, glistened and sparkled as it flowed noiselessly on."-Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens Sources:literarydevices.net
#43 Motif
#43 Motif- An idea or object that is repeated throughout a literary work. Example:"Frailty, thy name is woman"- William Shakespeare's Hamlet Sources:literarydevices.net
#44 Motivation
#44 Motivation-The act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something. Example: Parris's motivation is his worry for his sick daughter and the congregation is against him in the Crucible by Arthur Miller Sources:merriam-webster.com
#45 Paradox
#45 Paradox-A statement that appears to be self-contradictory at first glance, but shows truth on a deeper level. Example:"All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others".- Animal Farm by George Orwell Sources:rhetoric.byu.edu
#46 Personification
#46 Personification- The act of giving inanimate objects human qualities. Example:"Loveliest of trees, the cherry now/Is hung with bloom along the bough,/And stands about the woodland ride/Wearing white for Eastertide."- A.H.Houseman's Loveliest of Trees the Cherry Now Sources:rhetoric.byu.edu
#47 Plot
#47 Plot-The main part of a story or a series of events that makes up the story. Example: In J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the Mr.Malfoy is acting strange and then muggleborns begin to be petrified and Dobby tries to get Harry kicked out of Hogwarts. Then Harry and Ron figure out that Ginny has been taken to the Chamber and have to go rescue her from the basalisk and defeat Voldemort(Tom Riddle) Sources:literarydevices.net
#48 Exposition
#48 Exposition- The introduction of background characters, events, ideas, or information. Example:"Once upon a time, there were three bears. There was a Daddy Bear, who was very big, a Mama Bear, who was middle-sized, and a Baby Bear, who was very small. They all lived together in a little cottage in the middle of the woods. Their favorite breakfast was porridge. "-The Three Little Bears Sources:literarydevices.net
#49 Rising Action
#49 Rising Action- When a series of events create suspense, tension, and interest in a literary work. Example: Bilbo Baggins being the burglar for the dwarves and everything he does in J.R.R.Tolekin's Hobbit Sources:literarydevices.net
#5 Anecdote
#5 Anecdote- A short interesting event or story to obtain a point that often has the results in making people laugh. Example:"What is that? Bells, dogs again! Is it a dream? I sob and cry. See! The door opens, fur-clad men Rush to my rescue; frail am I; Feeble and dying, dazed and glad. There is the pistol where it dropped. "Boys, it was hard — but I'm not mad. . . . Look at the clock — it stopped, it stopped. Carry me out. The heavens smile. See! There's an arch of gold above. Now, let me rest a little while — Looking to God and Love . . .and Love . . ."-"Death in the Arctic"by Robert W. Service Sources:literarydevices.net
#50 Climax
#50 Climax- When the levels of tension and conflict is at it's peak in a literary work. Example:"This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."-Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream Speech Sources:literarydevices.net
#51 Resolution
#51 Resolution-The act of finding an answer or solution to a conflict. Example: Bilbo Baggins taking the arkenstone from the dwarves and bringing it to the wood elves so that they can maybe end the conflict between them and so that the dwarves will give the money they owe to the people of lake town. This is in J.R.R.Tolkein's The Hobbit Sources:merriam-webster.com
#52 Point of View
#52 Point of View- The angle of consideration. This becomes apparent in feelings, thoughts, opinions, of individuals. Example:"When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the former, who had been cautious in her praise of Mr. Bingley before, expressed to her sister how very much she admired him."- Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Sources:literarydevices.net
#53 First Person POV
#53 First Person POV-The angle of view that uses "I" and "we" in thoughts, opinions,and feelings. Example:"I could picture it. I have a habit of imagining the conversations between my friends. We went out to the Cafe Napolitain to have an aperitif and watch the evening crowd on the Boulevard."-Ernest Hemingway's The Sun also Rises Sources:literarydevices.net
#54 Third Person POV
#54 Third Person POV- The angle of view that uses "she","he", and "they" in opinions and thoughts. Example:"When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the former, who had been cautious in her praise of Mr. Bingley before, expressed to her sister how very much she admired him."- Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Sources:literarydevices.net
#55 Omniscient POV
#55 Omniscient POV-When the narrator knows everything about all characters is all knowing, or omniscient. Example:"Harry had taken up his place at wizard school, where he and his scar were famous ...but now the school year was over, and he was back with the Dursleys for the summer, back to being treated like a dog that had rolled in something smelly...The Dursleys hadn't even remembered that today happened to be Harry's twelfth birthday. Of course, his hopes hadn't been high?"-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K.Rowling Sources:learner.org/interactives/literature/read/pov2.html
#56 Objective POF
#56 Objective POV- When the writer tells what happens without stating more than can be inferred from the story's action and dialogue. Example:"Hansel walked ahead of Gretel. Gretel dropped breadcrumbs behind her as she went. Ahead of them, an old witch waited."-Hansel and Gretel Sources:learner.org/interactives/literature/read/pov2.html
#57 Protagonist
#57 Protagonist-Leading character in a literary work that is sometimes the hero. Example: Hamlet in William Shakespeare's Hamlet Sources:literarydevices.net
#58 Romance
#58 Romance- A tale based on chivalric love and adventure in a time or place usually heroic, supernatural, and mysterious. Example: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Sources:merriam-webster.com
#59 Satire
#59 Satire- It uses fictional characters to criticize foolishness and corruption of society through ridicule, exaggeration,humor, and irony. Example:"that for above seventy Moons past there have been two struggling Parties in this Empire, under the Names of Tramecksan and Slamecksan from the high and low Heels on their shoes, by which they distinguish themselves."-Johnathan Swift's Gulliver's travels Sources:literarydevices.net
#6 Antagonist
#6 Antagonist- A character or group of characters that stand in opposition to the main character. Example:"Man is not truly one, but truly two."- Robert Louise Stevenson "Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde" Sources:literarydevices.net
#60 Simile
#60 Simile- It makes comparisons between two different things using the words "like" and "as". Example:"I would have given anything for the power to soothe her frail soul, tormenting itself in its invincible ignorance like a small bird beating about the cruel wires of a cage."-Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad Sources:literarydevices.net
#61 Stream of Consciousness
#61 Stream of Consciousness- It uses narration to describe the words and thoughts going through a character's mind. Example:"He is young Leopold, as in a retrospective arrangement, a mirror within a mirror (hey, presto!), he beholdeth himself. That young figure of then is seen, precious manly, walking on a nipping morning from the old house in Clambrassil to the high school, his book satchel on him bandolier wise, and in it a goodly hunk of wheaten loaf, a mother's thought."-James Joyce's Ulysses Sources:literarydevices.net
#62 Style
#62 Style-The way a writer writes and the technique that the author uses in their writing. It is dependent on the writer's syntax, word choice, and tone. Example:"The studio was filled with the rich odor of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden... The sullen murmur of the bees shouldering their way through... or circling with monotonous insistence..."-Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Sources:literarydevices.net
#63 Suspense
#63 Suspense-a feeling or state of nervousness or excitement caused by wondering what will happen. Example:"One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds...twenty...ten...nine - may be he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him - three...two...one... BOOM. The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in."-Harry Potter and the Sorcerers stone by J.K.Rowling Sources:merriam-webster.com
#64 Symbol
#64 Symbol-The use of symbols to signify the ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings different to their literal sense. Example:"Ah Sunflower, weary of time,/Who countest the steps of the sun;/Seeking after that sweet golden clime/ Where the traveler's journey is done;"-William Blake's "ah Sunflower" Sources:literarydevices.net
#65 Theme
#65 Theme-The main idea or underlying meaning of the literary work that may be stated indirectly or directly. Example: Crime and mystery novels such as "The Da Vinci Code, Sherlock Holmes, In Cold Blood" Sources:literarydevices.net
#66 Tone
#66 Tone-An attitude of a writer towards a subject or audience. It is conveyed through word choice or viewpoint of the writer on a particular subject. Example:"I shall be telling this with a sigh/Somewhere ages and ages hence:/Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,/I took the one less traveled by,/And that has made all the difference."-Robert Frost's "The Roads Not Taken" Sources:literarydevices.net
#67 Tragedy
#67 Tragedy-A kind of drama that presents a serious subject matter on human suffering and corresponding terrible events. Example:Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth by William Shakespeare Sources:literarydevices.net
#68 Tragic Flaw
#68 Tragic Flaw-A trait in a character leading to a character's downfall and the character is often the hero. Example:"Aye, and on thee in all humility/I lay this charge: let her who lies within/Receive such burial as thou shalt ordain..../But for myself, O never let my Thebes,.../ The burden of my presence while I live...."-Oedipus Rex by Sophocles Sources:literarydevices.net
#69 Vernacular
#69 Vernacular-A literary genre that uses everyday language in writing. Example:"Reckon I have. Almost died first year I come to school and et them pecans — folks say he pizened 'em and put 'em over on the school side of the fence."-To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Sources:literarydevices.net
#7 Antithesis
#7 Antithesis- The act of placing contrasting words or ideas in a sentence together often in a parallel sentence. Example:"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."-Charles Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities" Sources:rhetoric.byu.edu
#8 Antihero
#8 Antihero- A main character that has the characteristics opposite to a typical hero. Example: Gollum from The Lord of the Rings is the anti-hero because of how the ring has effected him. Other anti-heros include Severous Snape and Deadpool Sources:literarydevices.net
#9 Anthropomorphism
#9 Anthropomorphism- When a writer gives a non-human (animal, phenomena, objects) human characteristics such as emotions, ambitions, traits. Example:"'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked. 'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.' 'How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice. 'You must be,' said the Cat, 'or you wouldn't have come here.' - Lewis Carrol's "Alice in Wonderland" Sources:literarydevices.net
