AP Literature Lit. Terms

Front

What is an oxymoron?

Back

A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction, e.g., 'deafening silence.'

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.5A

Front

What is a ballad?

Back

A poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas, often with a musical quality.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.12

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Front

What is hyperbole?

Back

Extreme exaggeration used for emphasis or effect, e.g., 'I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.'

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Front

What is a stanza?

Back

A 'paragraph' in poetry, consisting of a grouped set of lines.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.13

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Front

What is a Petrarchian sonnet?

Back

A sonnet that has an octave with the rhyme scheme ABBA ABBA, followed by a sestet with the rhyme scheme CDE CDE.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.13

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Front

What is alliteration?

Back

The repetition of the same initial consonant sounds in a sequence of words, e.g., 'She sells sea shells by the sea shore.'

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

CCSS.L.6.5

CCSS.RL.2.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

Front

What is assonance?

Back

The repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words, e.g., 'The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.'

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Front

What is a sestina?

Back

A complex form of poetry consisting of six stanzas of six lines each, followed by a three-line envoi.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Front

What is a sonnet?

Back

A 14-line poem, typically written in iambic pentameter, with various rhyme schemes.

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.4

Front

What is metonymy?

Back

A figure of speech in which one thing is referred to by the name of something closely associated with it, e.g., 'The White House issued a statement.'

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9