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Test your basic knowledge |
AP Literary Terms
Start Test
Study First
Subjects
:
english
,
ap
,
literature
Instructions:
Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
If you are not ready to take this test, you can
study here
.
Match each statement with the correct term.
Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.
This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. A brief explanation - summary - or evaluation of a text or work of literature
style
non sequitur
annotation
climax
2. A discrepancy between the true meaning of a situation and the literal meaning of the written or spoken words
heroic couplet
verbal irony
verse
oxymoron
3. A German word referring to a novel structured as a series of events that take place as the hero travels in quest of a goal
Bildungsroman
pathos
point of view
archetype
4. A figure of speech in which a part signifies the whole ('fifty masts' for fifty ships) or the whole signifies the part ('days' for life - as in 'He lived his days in Canada'). Also when the name of the material stands for the thing itself ('pigskin'
epic
synecdoche
style
picaresque novel
5. Faulty reasoning that inappropriately ascribes human feelings to nature or nonhuman objects
deus ex machina
novella
ballad
pathetic fallacy
6. The action in a play or story that occurs after the climax and that leads to the conclusion and often to the resolution of the conflict
scan
falling action
setting
epigram
7. A synonym for poetry. Also a group of lines in a song or poem; also a single line of poetry
verbal irony
theme
epigram
verse
8. Two rhymed lines written in iambic pentameter and used widely in eighteenth-century verse.
metaphor
setting
ellipsis
heroic couplet
9. The resolution that occurs at the end of a play or work of fiction
bathos
free verse
falling action
denouement
10. A synonym for view or feeling; also a refined and tender emotion in literature
sentiment
rhyme scheme
deus ex machina
exposition
11. A return to an earlier time in a story or play in order to clarify present action or circumstances.
aphorism
Old English
flashback
euphemism
12. A figure of speech that uses the name of one thing to represent something else with which it is associated. Ex: 'The White House says...'
metonymy
denouement
Old English
first-person narrative
13. In contrast to Dionysian - it refers to the most noble - godlike qualities of human nature and behavior
paradox
Apollonian
oxymoron
syntax
14. A witty or ingenious thought; a diverting or highly fanciful idea - often stated in figurative language
loose sentence
conceit
protagonist
archetype
15. The author's attitude toward the subject being written about. The spirit or quality that is the work's emotional essence
loose sentence
bombast
mood
tone
16. A novel in which supernatural horrors and an atmosphere of unknown terrors pervades the action
Gothic novel
genre
aphorism
point of view
17. A piece of writing that reveals weaknesses - faults - frailties - or other shortcomings
expose
Old English
heroic couplet
setting
18. Poetry written in iambic pentameter - the primary meter used in English poetry and the works of Shakespeare and Milton
scan
point of view
blank verse
protagonist
19. The background and events that lead to the presentation of the main idea or purpose of a work of literature
frame
exposition
sentiment
image
20. The general form - pattern - and manner of expression of a work of literature
ellipsis
Old English
mode
image
21. A statement that seems self-contradictory but is nevertheless true
melodrama
paradox
maxim
antagonist
22. As distinguished from Apollonian - the word refers to sensual - pleasure-seeking impulses
Dionysian
fable
plot
tone
23. Also called figure of speech. In contrast to literal language - it implies meanings. Includes metaphors - similes - and personification - among others.
paraphrase
indirect quotation
anachronism
figurative language
24. Similar to the truth; the quality of realism in a work that persuades readers that they are getting a vision of life as it is.
lyric poetry
cacophony
analogy
verisimilitude
25. A comedy that contains an extravagant and nonsensical disregard of seriousness - although it may have a serious - scornful purpose.
naturalism
annotation
farce
romance
26. A character whose name appears in the title of the novel or play; also known as the eponymous character
maxim
narrative
title character
oxymoron
27. French term for the world of books - criticism - and literature in general
farce
pentameter
belle-lettres
subplot
28. A belief that emphasizes faith and optimism in human potential and creativity
canon
humanism
extended metaphor
oxymoron
29. A reference to a person - place - or event meant to create an effect or enhance the meaning of an idea
fantasy
allusion
novella
subtext
30. A term consisting of contradictory elements juxtaposed to create a paradoxical effect
metaphor
allusion
pentameter
oxymoron
31. The repetition of one or more initial consonants in a group of words or lines of poetry or prose
metonymy
falling action
alliteration
trope
32. The organization of language into meaningful structure; every sentence has a particular pattern of words
syntax
myth
style
ballad
33. An eight-line rhyming stanza of a poem
stanza
rhetoric
allegory
ottava rima
34. The interrelationship among the events in a story; the plot line is the pattern of events - including exposition - rising action - climax - falling action - and resolution.
wit
farce
fable
plot
35. Grating - inharmonious sounds
litotes
picaresque novel
cacophony
eponymous
36. A form of verse or prose that tells a story
diction
catharsis
Middle English
narrative
37. A lyric poem or passage that describes a kind of ideal life or place
eponymous
idyll
mock epic
narrative
38. A four-line poem or a four-line unit of a longer poem
novel of manners
metaphor
metaphysical poetry
quatrain
39. French for a novel in which hisotrical events and actual people appear under the guise of fiction
classic
roman a clef
bibliography
belle-lettres
40. A story containing unreal - imaginary features
mood
pentameter
fantasy
parable
41. A figurative comparison using the words like or as
pentameter
naturalism
simile
Bildungsroman
42. A rhetorical opposition or contrast of ideas by means of a grammatical arrangement of words - clauses - or sentences: 'They promised freedom but provided slavery'
antithesis
humanism
rhetoric
trope
43. Three periods (. . .) indicating the omission of words in a thought or quotation
allegory
paraphrase
loose sentence
ellipsis
44. A story in which the narrative or characters carry an underlying symbolic - metaphorical - or possibly an ethical meaning
allegory
tone
carpe diem
epic
45. A word or phrase representing that which can be seen - touched - tasted - smelled - or felt
mock epic
image
exegesis
Bildungsroman
46. Deriving from the orderly qualities of ancient Greek and Roman culture; implies formality - objectivity - simplicity - and restraint
humanism
pseudonym
Bildungsroman
classicism
47. A popular form of verse consisting of fourteen lines and a prescribed rhyme scheme.
subplot
bibliography
flashback
sonnet
48. A short tale often featuring nonhuman characters that act as people whose actions enable the author to make observations or draw useful lessons about human behavior
fable
simile
omniscient narrator
archetype
49. A term for the title character of a work of literature
mode
sarcasm
pastoral
eponymous
50. The use of one object to evoke ideas and associations not literally part of the original object
symbolism
explication
subtext
enjambment