Test your basic knowledge |

AP Literary Terms

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. An imaginary story that has become an accepted part of the cultural or religious tradition of a group or society






2. A device employed in Anglo-Saxon poetry in which the name of a thing is replaced by one of its functions or qualities - as in 'ring-giver' for king and 'whale-road' for ocean






3. A four-line poem or a four-line unit of a longer poem






4. The repetition of two or more consonant sounds in a group of words or a line of poetry






5. Novels written for mass consumption - often emphasizing exciting and titillating plots






6. A verse with five poetic feet per line






7. The resolution that occurs at the end of a play or work of fiction






8. A unit of stressed and unstressed syllables used to determine the meter of a poetic line.






9. A term that describes a line of poetry that ends with a natural pause often indicated by a mark of punctuation.






10. A figure of speech in which objects and animals are given human characteristics






11. A poet; in olden times - a performer who told heroic stories to musical accompaniment






12. The total environment for the action in a novel or play. It includes time - place - historical milieu - and social - political - and even spiritual circumstances






13. Language that conveys a speaker's attitude or opinion with regard to a particular subject






14. A feeling of association or identification with an object or person






15. Also called figure of speech. In contrast to literal language - it implies meanings. Includes metaphors - similes - and personification - among others.






16. A synonym for poetry. Also a group of lines in a song or poem; also a single line of poetry






17. In poetry - the use of successive lines with no punctuation or pause between them






18. The quickness of intellect and the power and talent for saying brilliant things that suprise and delight by their unexpectedness; the power to comment subtly and pointedly on the foibles of the passing scene






19. A locution that addresses a person or personified thing not present






20. Inflated - pretentious language used for trivial subjects






21. The work of poets - particularly those of the seventeenth century - that uses elaborate conceits - is highly intellectual - and expresses the complexities of love and life






22. The language of a work and its style; words - often highly emotional - used to convince or sway an audience






23. A form of verse or prose that tells a story






24. A figurative comparison using the words like or as






25. A simple narrative verse that tells a story that is sung or recited






26. The language spoken in England roughly between 1150 and 1500 A.D.






27. A lyric poem or passage that describes a kind of ideal life or place






28. Literally - 'seize the day'; enjoy life while you can - a common theme in literature






29. Deriving from the orderly qualities of ancient Greek and Roman culture; implies formality - objectivity - simplicity - and restraint






30. The main idea or meaning - often an abstract idea upon which a work of literature is built






31. A vagueness of meaning; a conscious lack of clarity meant to evoke multiple meanings and interpretation






32. The repetition of one or more initial consonants in a group of words or lines of poetry or prose






33. A story consisting of events from which a moral or spiritual truth may be derived






34. An abstract or ideal conception of a type; a perfectly typical example; an original model or form






35. A person - scene - event - or other element in literature that fails to correspond with the time or era in which the work is set






36. 'In the middle of things'--a Latin term for a narrative that starts not at the beginning of events - but at some other critical point.






37. A discrepancy between the true meaning of a situation and the literal meaning of the written or spoken words






38. A statement that seems self-contradictory but is nevertheless true






39. The structural form of a line of verse as revealed by the number of feet it contains. For example: monometer = 1foot; tetrameter = 4 feet; pentameter = 5 feet - and so forth






40. A term consisting of contradictory elements juxtaposed to create a paradoxical effect






41. 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'






42. An extended narrative poem that tells of the adventures and exploits of a hero that is generally larger than life and is often considered a legendary figure - i.e. Odysseus - Beowulf - Homer's Iliad - Vergil's Aeneid.






43. Also called 'pen name' or 'nom de plume'; a false name or alias used by writers. Ex: Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)






44. A circumstance in which the audience or reader knows more about a situation than a character - ex. Oedipus Rex






45. A sharp - caustic expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt; different from irony - which is more subtle






46. A French verse form calculated to appear simple and spontaneous but consisting of nineteen lines and a prescribed pattern of rhymes






47. An abbreviated synopsis of a longer work of scholarship or research






48. A pause somewhere in the middle of a verse - often (but not always) marked by punctuation






49. The works considered most important in a national literature or period; works widely read and studied






50. An eight-line rhyming stanza of a poem