AP English Literature and Composition Vocabulary List

Allegory: a work that functions on a symbolic level.

Alliteration: the repetition of initial consonant sounds, such as “Peter Piper picked a
peck of pickled peppers.”
Anachronism: the representation of someone as existing or something as happening in
other than chronological, proper, or historical order.
Analogy: a literary device employed to serve as a basis for comparison. It is assumed that
what applies to the parallel situation also applies to the original circumstance. In other
words, it is the comparison between two different items.
Anapestic: A metrical foot composed of two short syllables followed by one long one, as
in the word seventeen.
Antagonist: a major character in a book, play, or movie whose values or behavior are in
conflict with those of the protagonist or hero.
Anthropomorphism: an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of
human or personal characteristics
Apostrophe: a figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something
nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and was able to reply.
Archetype: An original model or type after which other similar things are patterned; a
prototype: "'Frankenstein' . . . 'Dracula' . . . 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' . . . the archetypes
that have influenced all subsequent horror stories"
Aside: an actor’s speech, directed to the audience, which is not supposed to be heard by
other actors on stage. An aside is usually used to let the audience know what a character
is about to do or what he or she is thinking.
Assonance: the repetition or a pattern of similar vowel sounds, but with different end
consonants in a line or passage of verse or prose. But with different assonance can be
described as a vowel rhyme as in the words date and fade.
Ballad: a relatively short narrative poem, written to be sung, with a simple and dramatic
action. The ballads tell of love, death, the supernatural, or a combination of these.
Bathos: An abrupt, unintended transition in style from the exalted to the commonplace,
producing a ludicrous effect. An anticlimax.
Blank Verse: Poetry that is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Blank verse is often
unobtrusive and the iambic pentameter form often resembles the rhythms of ordinary
speech. William Shakespeare wrote most of his plays in blank verse.
Cacophony: harsh and discordant sounds in a line or passage in a literary work.
Caesura: a grammatical pause or break in a line of poetry (like a question mark), usually
near the middle of the line. A caesura is usually dictated by sense or natural speech
rhythm rather than by metrics. In poetry scansion, a caesura is usually indicated by the
symbol //. The caesura can also be used for rhetorical effect, as in "To err is human; || to
forgive, divine." by Alexander Pope
Catharsis: A purifying or figurative cleansing of the emotions, especially pity and fear,
described by Aristotle as an effect of tragic drama on its audience, A release of emotional
tension, as after an overwhelming experience, that restores or refreshes the spirit.
Characterization: