AP Literature and Composition Terms
DIRECTIONS: Please define these terms as specified by Ms. Keller. There will be a
sample done in class. This list is a companion to The Bedford Introduction to Literature.
You will be using cards. Vocabulary terms will be due the last class of the week in which
we discuss the corresponding concept in class. Please see website for exact dates.
Key:
Every word needs a definition and an example from literature. From the starred terms,
you will be assigned each week a “one page.” This is an in depth analysis as to why an
author would employ this technique (what effect would it have on the literature). Please
see the sample. Your one page will be uploaded into Edmodo as per instructor.
Words that are underlined can only be used in context when modified. For example, it
would be silly to say that a piece has tone. That is inherent! You must modify the term
tone i.e. the tone of the piece is dark.
Terms that are italicized will be defined twice. I want you to do these words twice but
using different genre. For example, we will be discussing irony in short fiction, poetry
and drama. In each case, the term irony will be used differently.
SHORT FICTION
3. Plot (14)
Plot
*In media res
*Flashback
*Exposition
Rising action
Conflict
*Foreshadowing
Protagonist
Hero
Heroine
*Antagonist
Suspense
Climax
Resolution, falling action, denouement
Character
Characterization
Motivation, motivated
Plausible
Consistent
*Absurdist Literature
*Antihero
*Dynamic character
*Static character
*Foil
Flat character
Round character
Stock character
Cliché
5. Setting (1)
Setting
6. Point of View (9)
4. Character (14)
Point of view
Narrator
*Omniscient narrator
*Editorial narrator
*Limited omniscient narrator
*Objective point of view
*First person narrator
*Unreliable narrator
*Naïve narrator
7. Symbolism (5)
*Symbol
*Conventional symbol
*Literary symbol
*Contextual symbol
*Allegory
10. Combining the Elements of
Fiction(11)
Diary
Discourse
Argumentation
Narration
Essay
Fable
Genre
Novel
Novella
Parable
Verse
POETRY
20. Reading Poetry (11)
These will also be discussed in the
poetry unit
8. Theme (6)
Theme
Anecdote
*Anticlimax
*Narrative voice
*Third person
*Stream of consciousness
These will also be discussed during point
of view
9. Style, Tone, Irony (7)
*Style
*Diction
*Irony
*Verbal irony
Sarcasm
*Situational irony
*Dramatic irony
Speaker
Audience
*Doggerel
Paraphrase
*Metaphor
*Anagrams
*Lyric
*Narrative poem
*Epic
*Stock responses
*Sentimentality
22. Word Choice, Word Order and
Tone (15)
*Diction
*Poetic diction
*Formal diction
*Middle diction
*Informal diction
*Colloquially
*Dialect
*Jargon
*Denotations
*Connotations
*Persona
*Ambiguity
*Syntax
*Allusion
*Images
*Cosmic irony
23. Imagery (6)
Ballad
*Literary Ballads
*Onomatopoeia
*Alliteration
*Assonance
*Euphony
*Cacophony
*Rhyme
*Eye rhyme
*End rhyme
*Internal rhyme
*Masculine rhyme
*Feminine rhyme
*Near rhyme, off rhyme, slant rhyme,
approximate rhyme
*Consonance
Mood
*Slang
Invective
Inversion
Tone
*Voice
24. Figures of Speech (17)
*Figures of speech
*Metaphor
*Implied metaphor
*Extended metaphor
*Controlling metaphors
*Pun
*Synecdoche
*Metonymy
*Personification
*Apostrophe
*Overstatement
*Understatement
*Paradox
*Oxymoron
*Euphemism
*Simile
*Litotes
25. Symbol Allegory and Irony (12)
*Symbol
*Conventional symbol
*Literary symbol
*Contextual symbol
*Allegory
Didactic poetry
*Irony
*Situation irony
*Verbal irony
*Satire
*Dramatic irony
26. Sounds (14)
27. Patterns of Rhythm(18)
Stress (accent)
Meter
Rhyme
Prosody
Scansion
Foot
Line
*End-stopped line
*Run-on line
*Femine ending
*Masculine ending
*Rising meter
*Falling meter
*Iambic pentameter
*Blank verse
*Spondee
*Caesura
*Enjambment
28/29. Poetic Forms (28)
Form
*Fixed form
*Free Verse
*Open Form
Ballad Stanza
*Prose Poem
*Found Poem
Stanza
*Rhyme scheme
*Couplet
*Tercet
*Triplet
*Terza rima
Quatrain
*Sonnet
*Italian sonnet
*Petrarchan sonnet, English sonnet,
Shakespearian sonnet
Octave
Sestet
Villanelle
Sestina
Envoy
*Epigram
*Elegy
*Ode
*Parody
*Picture Poem
DRAMATIC FICTION
41. Reading Drama (10)
Drama
Script
Closet drama
One-act plays
Scenes
Acts
Exposition
Dialogue
*Subplot
Stage directions
42/43.Classic Theater (23)
Catastrophe
*Epilogue
Monologue
Orchestra
*Chorus
Skene
*Dues ex machine
Cothurni
Buskins
*Prologue
Paradose
Episodia
Statsimon
Exodus
*Tragedy
*Hamartia
*Tragic flaw
*Hubris, hybris
*Catharsis
*Reversal
*Recognition
*Dramatic irony
*Tragic irony
44. Shakespearean Theater (13)
Mystery plays
Miracle plays
Morality plays
*Satire
*Aside
*Soliloquy
History play
Comedy
*Comic relief
High comedy
Low comedy
Farce
Tragedy
Revenge tragedy
45. Modern Theater (4)
Realism
Melodramas
Problem plays
Naturalism
47.Experimental Trends in Drama (6)
Symbolist drama
Expressionism
Epic theater
*Theater of the absurd
*Tragicomedy
*Guerilla Theater