LITERARY TERMS AP English Literature and Composition Familiar

LITERARY TERMS AP English Literature and Composition

Familiar Terms �Allusion �Simile �Metaphor �Personification �Understatement �Hyperbole �Irony �Paradox �Satire �Parody �Analogy �Parallelism

Absolute � A word free from limitations or qualifications � Examples: best, all, unique, perfect, etc. � Also, a noun/noun part plus participle following a noun: � The gorilla, its fur glimmering in the morning sun, … Anaphora �Definition: A rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. �By building toward a climax, anaphora can create a strong emotional effect. Adjective: anaphoric. Example: I needed a rest; I needed some water; I needed out of there! OR “I have a dream” speech

Metonymy (met ON uh mee) �a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept ; the literal term for one thing is applied to another with which it has become closely associated �Example: “The crown” = a king; “Milton” = the writings of Milton (“I’ve read all of Milton”) �Example: “Hollywood” is synonymous with “US cinema industry” �Example: “The pen” (writing/words) is mightier than “the sword” (physically fighting)

Synecdoche (sin ECK doh key) �a figure of speech in which a part is used to signify the whole or the whole for a part �Examples: � “Snake-eyes” for two dice rolled as ones �“Hairwoman” for the English teacher in the novel Speak � “ten hands” for ten workmen �“wheels” for one’s car

Polysyndeton vs. Asyndeton �Overuse of (coordinating) conjunctions for effect vs. �Elimination of use of (coordinating conjunctions for effect �Examples: �I wandered and I wondered and I walked. = Polysyndeton �I came, I saw, I conquered. = Asyndeton

Apostrophe (NOT the punctuation) �a digression in the form of an address to someone not present or to a personified object or idea �Examples �“O Death, where is thy sting? ” �Beginning of The Odyssey: “O Muse!”

Synesthesia �a metaphorical process by which one sense modality is described or characterized in terms of another �Examples: �a bright sound � a quiet color Zeugma �figure of speech: a figure of speech in which an adjective or verb is used with two nouns but is appropriate to only one of them or has a different sense with each, as in "During the race he broke the record and his leg"

Aphorism �short, witty, clever “life truth” statement, i. e. epigram, maxim, proverb �Examples: �Many hands make light work. �Too many cooks spoil the broth. �No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. (my favorite – Eleanor Roosevelt)

Rhythm patterns �Iambic �Unstressed/stressed (So FAIR and FOUL a DAY…) �Spondaic �Stressed/stressed (GOOD, STRONG and…) �Trochaic �Stressed/unstressed (THERE they…) �Dactylic �Stressed/unstressed (DEEP in the…) �Anapestic �Unstressed/unstressed/stressed (on the FOLD) �Pyrrhic �Unstressed/unstressed (My WAY IS to be. GIN)

Poetry terms �Blank verse �Free verse �Heroic couplet �Quatrain �Sonnet �Villanelle �Terza rima

Sound Techniques �Alliteration – repetition of initial consonant sounds �Big, bad, burly bear �Consonance – repetition of stressed syllable internal consonant sounds �The quicker duck �Assonance – repetition of internal stressed syllable vowel sounds �Silent night �Dissonance -- harsh, inharmonious, or discordant sounds

Literary (fiction) �Allegory: literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions �Archetype: a detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and to evoke a response �Conceit: a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor

Some Types of Poems �Elegy: formal poem presenting a meditation on death or another solemn theme �Epic: a long narrative poem written in elevated style which presents the adventures of characters of high position and episodes that are important to the history of a race or nation

Other Techniques � Bathos: insincere or overly sentimental quality of writing/speech intended to invoke pity � Chiasmus: a statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed (Susan walked in, and out rushed Mary) � Idiom: expression in a given language that cannot be understood from the literal meaning of the words in the expression (raining cats and dogs) � Litotes: a type of understatement in which an idea is expressed by negating its opposite (a horrible accident described as “not a pretty picture”) � Pathos: the quality in a work that prompts pity in reader � Solecism: nonstandard grammatical language � Syllepsis: construction in which one word is used in two different senses (After he threw the ball, he threw a fit) � Ellipsis: leaving out words that are still understood by structure (She likes cats; he, dogs)

Things to Avoid… �Trite: overused and hackneyed �Tautology: needless repetition which adds no meaning or understanding (widow woman…free gift…revealing revelation) �Non sequitur: an inference that does not follow logically from the premises (literally, “does not follow”) �Malapropism: mistaken substitution of one word for another that sounds similar (doctor wrote a subscription) �Invective: an intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attack (swearing/cursing) �Overdone evaluation: “This fantastic author did a great job…” �Remember the List of Eleven Principles? Crafting Effective Sentences

Other Hints for AP Test �Scoring of AP Lit test �Discern the TONE of lines, whole poems, diction (via ? technique) �Note any shifts in technique, tone, setting, mood in a selection �Understand that MC questions are of pink (concrete details), yellow (interpretive), and green levels (abstract, connotative) as well �Do NOT waste time thoroughly reading whole poems. Note what lines questions focus on; dig in there first (after cursory look at poem) – time saver �Remember, MOST correct answer > any possible one(s) �Watch your TIME!! (3 hours total: 1 hr/MC; 40 min ea. /E 1, E 2, E 3) – you will be given MC portion separately from essay prompts

AP Scoring �www. apscore. org �Log on during MAY to sign up – this is the ONLY way you will receive results during the summer (usually July’s end)

Sample Essays and Scores �Three sample essays w/accompanying scores – what and why would you score them as such? �ESSAYS