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All Key Terms
AP English Literature
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AP English Literature
Key Terms
662 essential vocabulary terms and definitions to know for your AP English Literature exam
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AP English Literature
Key Terms by Unit
Unit 1 – Intro to Short Fiction
1.1 Interpreting the role of character in fiction
1.2 Identifying and interpreting setting
1.3 Understanding how a story’s structure affects interpretations
1.4 Understanding and interpreting a narrator’s perspective
1.5 Reading texts literally and figuratively
Unit 2 – Intro to Poetry
2.1 Identifying characters in poetry
2.2 Understanding & interpreting meaning in poetic structure
2.3 Analyzing word choice to find meaning
2.4 Identifying techniques in poetry to analyze literary works
Unit 3 – Intro to Longer Fiction & Drama
3.1 Interpreting character description and perspective
3.2 Character evolution throughout a narrative
3.3 Conflict and plot development
3.4 Interpreting symbolism
Unit 4 – Character, Conflict, & Storytelling in Short Fiction
4.1 Protagonists, antagonists, character relationships, and conflict
4.2 Character interactions with setting and its significance
4.3 Archetypes in literature
4.4 Types of narration like stream of consciousness
4.5 Narrative distance, tone, and perspective
Unit 5 – Structure & Figurative Language in Poetry
5.1 Traits of closed and open structures in poetry
5.2 Use of techniques like imagery and hyperbole
5.3 Types of comparisons in poetry including personification and allusion
5.4 Identifying and interpreting extended metaphors
Unit 6 – Literary Techniques in Longer Works
6.1 Interpreting foil characters
6.2 Understanding and interpreting character complexity
6.3 Understanding nonlinear narrative structures like flashbacks and foreshadowing
6.4 The effect of narrative tone and bias on reading
6.5 Characters as symbols, metaphors, and archetypes
Unit 7 – Societal & Historical Context in Short Fiction
7.1 Sudden and more gradual change in characters
7.2 Epiphany as a driver of plot
7.3 Relationships between characters and groups
7.4 Character interactions with changing and contrasting settings
7.5 The significance of the pacing of a narrative
7.6 Setting as a symbol
7.7 Interpreting texts in their historical and societal contexts
Unit 8 – Advanced Techniques in Poetry
8.1 Looking at Punctuation and Structural Patterns
8.2 Interpreting juxtaposition, paradox, and irony
8.3 How ambiguity can allow for various interpretations
Unit 9 – Nuanced Analysis in Longer Works
9.1 Looking at a character’s response to the resolution of a narrative
9.2 Suspense, resolution, and plot development
9.3 Narrative inconsistencies and contrasting perspectives
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"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night"
"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"
"Mirror" by Sylvia Plath
"Nothing Gold Can Stay"
"Ozymandias"
"The Cask of Amontillado"
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"The Red Wheelbarrow"
"The Road Not Taken"
"The Stranger" by Albert Camus
"The Sun Rising" (poem by John Donne)
"The Things They Carried"
"The Tyger"
"The Waste Land"
"To a Skylark"
A
Abstract Ideas
Abstract Topic
Absurdity
Action
Action Sequences
Actions
Adam Bede
Adventure
African-American poet
Agency
Ahab
Allegorical Description
Alliteration
Allude
Allusion
Allusions
Alternative Interpretations
Ambiguity
Ambiguous Language
Ambiguous Symbolism
Ambition
Analytical Essay
Analytical Rubric
Analyzing
Animals
Annabel Lee
Annotation
Antagonist
Antagonists
Antecedent
Anticipation
AP Lit CED 2020
AP Literature Exam
APA
APA style
Apostrophe
Archetypal Characters
Archetypal Role
Archetype
Archetypes
Arthurian Legend
As
Assonance
Atmosphere
Atticus Finch
Attitude
Author
Author's Use of Language
B
Barren
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Behavior
Beowulf
Biases
Blank Verse
Blindness (Theme)
British novel
Brutus
C
Cacophony
Caesura
Carnival Season
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