---
title: "Empathy — AP Lit Definition & How It's Tested"
description: "Empathy is understanding and sharing a character's feelings without living them yourself. In AP Lit, it powers character analysis and prose essays in Unit 6."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-lit/key-terms/empathy"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP English Literature"
---

# Empathy — AP Lit Definition & How It's Tested

## Definition

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of another person without necessarily experiencing them firsthand.

## Related Study Guides

- [6.2 Symbol and Symbolic Meaning](/ap-lit/unit-6/character-motives/study-guide/MJlkjiitYpoN1A1RABCr)

## Review

### Related Terms

- Compassion: Compassion involves feeling empathy towards someone's suffering and taking action to alleviate it.
- Perspective-taking: Perspective-taking is actively imagining oneself in another person's situation in order to better understand their point of view.
- Emotional intelligence: Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to recognize, understand, manage, and express one's own emotions as well as perceive and respond empathetically to others' emotions.