AP English Literature and Composition
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1. adage: A saying that becomes widely accepted as truth over time. Usually observances of life and behaviour that
express a general truth. Ex: "A penny saved is a penny earned."
2. allegory: A story in which the narrative or characters carry an underlying symbolic, metaphorical or possibly
ethical meaning.
3. alliteration: The repetition of one or more initial consonant in a group of words or lines of poetry or prose.
Writers use this for ornament or for emphasis.
4. allusion: A reference to a person, place, or event meant to create an effect or enhance the meaning of an idea.
5. ambiguity: A vagueness of meaning; a conscious lack of clarity meant to evoke multiple meanings and inter-
pretation.
6. anachronism: A person, scene, event, or other element in literature that fails to correspond with the time/era
in which the work is set.
7. analogy: A comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared to something else that is quite different from it.
It aims at explaining that idea or thing by comparing it to something that is familiar.
8. antagonist: A character or force in a work of literature that, by opposing the protagonist produces tension or
conflict.
9. antithesis: A rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting
effect.
10. aphorism: A statement of truth or opinion expressed in a concise and witty manner. The term is often applied
to philosophical, moral and literary principles.
11. Apollonian: In contrast to Dionysian, it refers to the most noble, godlike qualities of human nature and
behaviour.
12. apostrophe: A figure of speech where the writer or speaker detaches himself from his present reality and
addresses an imaginary character in his speech.
13. archetype: A character, action or situation which represents or reflects a commonly held or universal pattern,
such as human nature.
14. assonance: The repetition of two or more vowel sounds in a group of words or lines in poetry and prose.
15. ballad: A simple narrative verse that tells a story that is sung or recited; a long narrative poem, usually in very
regular meter and rhyme, typically has a folksy quality
16. bard: A poet or a performer in olden times who told heroic stories to musical accompaniment.
17. Bildungsroman: A special kind of novel that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of its main
character from his or her youth to adulthood. Generally, such a novel starts with a loss or a tragedy that disturbs the
main character emotionally. He or she leaves on a journey to fill that vacuum.
, AP English Literature and Composition
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18. blank verse: Poetry written in iambic pentameter, the primary meter used in English poetry and the works of
Shakespeare and Milton; its lines generally do not rhyme.
19. bombast: Inflated, pretentious language used for trivial subjects.
20. cacophony: The use of words with sharp, harsh, hissing and unmelodious sounds, primarily those of conso-
nants, to achieve the desired results. Ex: "I detest war because cause of war is always trivial."
21. caesura: It involves creating a fracture within a sentence, where the two separate parts are distinguishable from
one another yet intrinsically linked; the purpose is to create a dramatic pause. Ex: "Mozart- oh, how your music makes
me soar!"
22. canon: The works most widely read, studied, and considered most important in national literature or in a specific
literary period.
23. caricature: A grotesque likeness of striking qualities in persons and things; a portrait that exaggerates a facet
of personality.
24. catharsis: A cleansing of the spirit brought about by the pity and terror of a dramatic tragedy.
25. classicism: Deriving from the orderly qualities of ancient Greek and Roman culture; implies formality, objec-
tivity, simplicity and restraint.
26. conceit: A figure of speech in which two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of similes or
metaphors; it develops a comparison which is exceedingly unlikely but is, nonetheless, intellectually imaginative.
27. anticlimax: This occurs when an action produces far smaller results than one had been led to expect; it is
frequently comic in effect.
28. anti-hero: A protagonist who is markedly un-heroic, morally weak, cowardly, dishonest, or any number of other
unsavoury qualities; he is not just good or noble like a conventional hero.
29. aside: A speech (usually just a short comment) made by an actor to the audience, as though momentarily
stepping outside of the action on stage.
30. atmosphere: The emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene.
31. black humor: The use of disturbing themes in comedy. Ex: two tramps comically debating over which should
commit suicide first, and whether the branches of a tree will support their weight.
32. cadence: the beat or rhythm of poetry in a general sense
33. canto: is a divider in long poems, much like chapters in a novel
34. coinage: a.k.a. neologism, inventing a word
35. colloquialism: this is a word or phrase used in everyday conversational English that isn't a part of accepted
"schoolbook" English
36. controlling image: when an image dominates and shapes the entire work
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_hsd9qv
1. adage: A saying that becomes widely accepted as truth over time. Usually observances of life and behaviour that
express a general truth. Ex: "A penny saved is a penny earned."
2. allegory: A story in which the narrative or characters carry an underlying symbolic, metaphorical or possibly
ethical meaning.
3. alliteration: The repetition of one or more initial consonant in a group of words or lines of poetry or prose.
Writers use this for ornament or for emphasis.
4. allusion: A reference to a person, place, or event meant to create an effect or enhance the meaning of an idea.
5. ambiguity: A vagueness of meaning; a conscious lack of clarity meant to evoke multiple meanings and inter-
pretation.
6. anachronism: A person, scene, event, or other element in literature that fails to correspond with the time/era
in which the work is set.
7. analogy: A comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared to something else that is quite different from it.
It aims at explaining that idea or thing by comparing it to something that is familiar.
8. antagonist: A character or force in a work of literature that, by opposing the protagonist produces tension or
conflict.
9. antithesis: A rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting
effect.
10. aphorism: A statement of truth or opinion expressed in a concise and witty manner. The term is often applied
to philosophical, moral and literary principles.
11. Apollonian: In contrast to Dionysian, it refers to the most noble, godlike qualities of human nature and
behaviour.
12. apostrophe: A figure of speech where the writer or speaker detaches himself from his present reality and
addresses an imaginary character in his speech.
13. archetype: A character, action or situation which represents or reflects a commonly held or universal pattern,
such as human nature.
14. assonance: The repetition of two or more vowel sounds in a group of words or lines in poetry and prose.
15. ballad: A simple narrative verse that tells a story that is sung or recited; a long narrative poem, usually in very
regular meter and rhyme, typically has a folksy quality
16. bard: A poet or a performer in olden times who told heroic stories to musical accompaniment.
17. Bildungsroman: A special kind of novel that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of its main
character from his or her youth to adulthood. Generally, such a novel starts with a loss or a tragedy that disturbs the
main character emotionally. He or she leaves on a journey to fill that vacuum.
, AP English Literature and Composition
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_hsd9qv
18. blank verse: Poetry written in iambic pentameter, the primary meter used in English poetry and the works of
Shakespeare and Milton; its lines generally do not rhyme.
19. bombast: Inflated, pretentious language used for trivial subjects.
20. cacophony: The use of words with sharp, harsh, hissing and unmelodious sounds, primarily those of conso-
nants, to achieve the desired results. Ex: "I detest war because cause of war is always trivial."
21. caesura: It involves creating a fracture within a sentence, where the two separate parts are distinguishable from
one another yet intrinsically linked; the purpose is to create a dramatic pause. Ex: "Mozart- oh, how your music makes
me soar!"
22. canon: The works most widely read, studied, and considered most important in national literature or in a specific
literary period.
23. caricature: A grotesque likeness of striking qualities in persons and things; a portrait that exaggerates a facet
of personality.
24. catharsis: A cleansing of the spirit brought about by the pity and terror of a dramatic tragedy.
25. classicism: Deriving from the orderly qualities of ancient Greek and Roman culture; implies formality, objec-
tivity, simplicity and restraint.
26. conceit: A figure of speech in which two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of similes or
metaphors; it develops a comparison which is exceedingly unlikely but is, nonetheless, intellectually imaginative.
27. anticlimax: This occurs when an action produces far smaller results than one had been led to expect; it is
frequently comic in effect.
28. anti-hero: A protagonist who is markedly un-heroic, morally weak, cowardly, dishonest, or any number of other
unsavoury qualities; he is not just good or noble like a conventional hero.
29. aside: A speech (usually just a short comment) made by an actor to the audience, as though momentarily
stepping outside of the action on stage.
30. atmosphere: The emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene.
31. black humor: The use of disturbing themes in comedy. Ex: two tramps comically debating over which should
commit suicide first, and whether the branches of a tree will support their weight.
32. cadence: the beat or rhythm of poetry in a general sense
33. canto: is a divider in long poems, much like chapters in a novel
34. coinage: a.k.a. neologism, inventing a word
35. colloquialism: this is a word or phrase used in everyday conversational English that isn't a part of accepted
"schoolbook" English
36. controlling image: when an image dominates and shapes the entire work
