AP Lit Midterm Study Guide PDF

AP Lit Midterm Study Guide … AP Lit Midterm Study Guide VOCABULARY Adage / Proverb–A well-known saying that expresses an accepted collective truth Allegory—A narrative or description having a second meaning beneath the surface one. A story, fictional or...

AP Lit Midterm Study Guide … AP Lit Midterm Study Guide VOCABULARY Adage / Proverb–A well-known saying that expresses an accepted collective truth Allegory—A narrative or description having a second meaning beneath the surface one. A story, fictional or nonfiction, in which characters, things, and events represent qualities or concepts. The interaction of these characters, things, events is meant to reveal an abstraction or a truth. These characters, etc. may be symbolic of the ideas referred to. Alliteration—The repetition at close intervals of initial identical consonant sounds. Or, vowel sounds in successive words or syllables that repeat. Allusion—An indirect reference to something (usually a literary text) with which the reader is expected to be familiar. Allusions are usually literary, historical, Biblical, or mythological. Ambiguity—An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way. Also, the manner of expression of such an event or situation may be ambiguous. Artful language may be ambiguous. Unintentional ambiguity is usually vagueness. Analogy—An analogy is a comparison to a directly parallel case. When a writer uses an analogy, he or she argues that a claim reasonable for one case is reasonable for the analogous case. Anaphora—Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This device is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer's point more coherent. Antagonist–A character or force in conflict with a main character in a story Anthropomorphism–Something non-human that appears to behave as if it were human Assonance—Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity. "Fake" and "lake" denote rhyme; "lake" and "fate" demonstrate assonance. Asyndeton—A series of words separated by commas (with no conjunction), e.g. "I came, I saw, I conquered." The parts of the sentence are emphasized equally; in addition, the use of commas with no intervening conjunction speeds up the flow of the sentence. Balance—Construction in which both halves of the sentence are about the same length and importance, sometimes used to emphasize contrast. Blank Verse ---Verse written in iambic pentameter, without rhyme. Many of the speeches in the plays of William Shakespeare are written in blank verse; this example is from Macbeth: Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player :  That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. Cacophony 1. Jarring, discordant sound; dissonance: heard a cacophony of horns during the traffic jam. 2. The use of harsh or discordant sounds in literary composition, as for poetic effect. Characterization—The method an author uses to develop characters in a work. In direct characterization, the author straightforwardly states the character’s traits. With indirect characterization, those traits are implied through what the character says, does, how the character dresses, interacts with other characters, etc. Climax 1. A moment of great or culminating intensity in a narrative or drama, especially the conclusion of a crisis. 2. The turning point in a plot or dramatic action. Conflict– A struggle between opposing forces Cliche– An idea or expression that is overused and evokes a blasé attitude Concrete Language—Language that describes specific, observable things, people or places, rather than ideas or qualities. Connotation—Rather than the dictionary definition, the associations associated by a word. Implied meaning rather than literal meaning or denotation. Consonance—Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity. Diction—Word choice, particularly as an element of style. Different types and arrangements of words have significant effects on meaning. An essay written in academic diction, for example, would be much less colorful, but perhaps more precise, than street slang. Didactic—A term used to describe fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model or correct behavior or thinking. Enjambment –-The continuation of a syntactic unit from one line or couplet of a poem to the next with no pause. Euphemism—The use of a word or phrase that is less direct, but is also considered less distasteful or less offensive than another. E.g. "He is at rest" instead of "He is dead." Also consider "Technicolor yawn" for "vomiting." Euphony---Agreeable sound, especially in the phonetic quality of words Exposition—Background information provided by a writer to enhance a reader's understanding of the context of a fictional or nonfictional story. Farce—A type of comedy in which one-dimensional characters are put into ludicrous situations; ordinary standards of probability and motivation are freely violated in order to evoke laughter. Fiction—A product of a writer's imagination, usually made up of characters, plot, setting, point of view, and theme. :  Figurative Language—A word or words that are inaccurate literally, but describe by calling to mind sensations or responses that the thing described evokes. Figurative language may be in the form of metaphors or similes, both non-literal comparison. Shakespeare's "All the world's a stage" is an example of non-literal figurative language (metaphor specifically). Flat Character—A character constructed around a single idea or quality; a flat character is immediately recognizable. Foil—A character whose traits are the opposite of another and who thus points up the strengths and weaknesses of the other character. Foreshadowing–A warning or indication of a future event Genre—French, a literary form or type; classification. e.g. tragedy, comedy, novel, essay, poetry. Hyperbole—Conscious exaggeration used to heighten effect. Not intended literally, hyperbole is often humorous. Example: "And fired the shot heard round the world." Idiom–A common expression that does not make sense if you take it literally Imagery—The use of images, especially in a pattern of related images, often figurative, to create a strong unified sensory impression Irony— Generally speaking, a discrepancy between expectation and reality Metaphor—A comparison of two things, often unrelated. A figurative verbal equation results where both "parts" illuminate one another. Metaphors may occur: in a single sentence —"Talent is a cistern; genius is a fountain;" as a controlling image of an entire work —"Pilgrim at Sea by Par F. Lagerkvist; as obvious ("His fist was a knotty hammer.") or implied (But O beware the middle mind that purrs and never shows a tooth."). Dead Metaphor—So overused that its original impact has been lost Extended Metaphor—One developed at length and involves several points of comparison Mixed Metaphor—When two metaphors are jumbled together, often illogically. example: “the new job has allowed her to spread her wings and blossom.” Mood—An atmosphere created by a writer's word choice (diction) and the details selected. Syntax is also a determiner of mood because sentence strength, length, and complexity affect pacing Motif—A frequently recurrent character, incident, or concept in literature Onomatopoeia—The use of a word whose pronunciation suggests its meaning. "Buzz," "hiss," "slam," and "pop" are commonly used examples Oxymoron—A rhetorical antithesis. Juxtaposing two contradictory terms, like "wise fool" or "deafening silence." Parable—A short story from which a lesson may be drawn Paradox—A seemingly contradictory statement or situation which is actually true. This rhetorical device is often used for emphasis or simply to attract attention. Parallelism—Sentence construction which places in close proximity two or more equal grammatical constructions. Parallel structure may be as simple as listing two or three modifiers in a row to describe the same noun or verb; it may take the form of two or more of the same type of phrases (prepositional, participial, :  gerund, appositive) that modify the same noun or verb; it may also take the form of two or more subordinate clauses that modify the same noun or verb. Or, parallel structure may be a complex blend of single-word, phrase, and clause parallelism all in the same sentence. Periodic Sentence—Sentence that places the main idea or central complete thought at the end of the sentence, after all introductory elements—e.g. "Across the stream, beyond the clearing, from behind a fallen a tree, the lion emerged." Persona—A writer often adopts a fictional voice to tell a story. Persona or voice is usually determined by a combination of subject matter and audience. Personification—Figurative Language in which inanimate objects, animals, ideas, or abstractions are endowed with human traits or human form—e.g. "When Duty whispers…” Plot—System of actions represented in a dramatic or narrative work. Point of View—The perspective from which a fictional or nonfictional story is told Polysyndeton—Sentence which uses and or another conjunction, with no commas, to separate the items in a series, usually appearing in the form X and Y and Z, stressing equally each member of the series. It makes the sentence slower and the items more emphatic than in the asyndeton Protagonist—Chief character in a dramatic or narrative work, usually trying to accomplish some objective or working toward some goal Pun—A play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings Repetition—Word or phrase used two or more times in close proximity Round Character—A character drawn with sufficient complexity to be able to surprise the reader without losing credibility. Setting—Locale and period in which the action takes place Simile—A figurative comparison of two things, often dissimilar, using the connecting words: "like," "as," or "then." E.g. "More rapid than eagles his coursers they came." Situational Irony—Applies to works which contain elaborate expressions of the ironic spirit. Also, irony applies to both Hamlet's situation and to his famous soliloquy, "To be or nor to be." Symbol—A thing, event, or person that represents or stands for some idea or event. Symbols also simultaneously retain their own literal meanings. A figure of speech in which a concrete object is used to stand for an abstract idea —e.g. the cross for Christianity. Synecdoche—Part of something is used to stand for the whole —e.g. "threads" for clothes; "wheels" for cars, “big eyes” for a person Syntax—In grammar, the arrangement of words as elements in a sentence to show their relationship. Theme—A central idea of a work of fiction or nonfiction, revealed and developed in the course of a story or explored through argument. Tone—A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization of the sentence and global levels. :  Understatement-Deliberately representing something as much less than it really is —e.g. "Last week I saw a woman flayed, and you will hardly believe how much it altered her appearance." —Jonathan Swift POETRY ANALYSIS Be able to recall what each letter of TSPFASTT stands for and use the method to annotate and analyze a poem. You should be able to go beyond superficial observations. Compiled by M. Lackovic & Adapted from: http://www.webenglishteacher.com/ap.html :