AP Literature Study Guide

AP Literature Study Guide Types of “Isms” Themes and Genres in Literature Romanticism ● Mid 19th century ● Valued feeling over reason as well as the individual ● Elements can include supernatural, beauty of nature, personal feelings, etc. Transcendentalism ● Mid 19th century ● Self-reliance and not conforming to society or standards ● Aim for self-perfection Realism ● Mid to late 19th century ● Represent truth and real experiences Regionalism ● 19th century ● Focuses on the local settings found in real word areas and experiences Naturalism ● 19th century ● Darker themes while trying to understand the human behavior Imagism ● Early 20th century ● Favored images and symbolism ● Willingness to play with forms Lost Generation ● Beginning in 1914 ● Popularized by Ernest Hemingway ● Generation who lost relatives or friends during World War I The Harlem Renaissance ● Throughout the 1920s ● African American influence and culture in Harlem (located in upper Manhattan) ● Langston Hughes is major figure of this time Modernism ● 1918-1945 ● Loss of individual to machinery and alienation (major themes) Postmodernism ● Beginning in 1945 ● Themes include political oppression, alienation based on race, gender, and sexual orientation The Beat Movement ● 1950s ● Major figures include Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac ● Embraced nonconformity Gonzo Journalism ● Beginning in 1970 ● Hunter S. Thompson invented this ● Blends fact and fiction in writing Magical Realism ● Beginning in the 1960s ● Realistic circumstances with unrealistic elements Creative Nonfiction ● Late 20th and early 21st centuries ● Blends literature and nonfiction Famous Works To Know (FRQ Section) (List adapted from Crash Course) ● The Aeneid ● The Age of Innocence ● Alias Grace ● All the Light We Cannot See ● Americanah ● The Bell Jar ● Beloved ● Beowulf ● The Bonesetter’s Daughter ● Breath, Eyes, Memory ● Brighton Beach Memoirs ● Ceremony ● Cold Mountain ● Crime and Punishment ● Death in Venice ● Death of a Salesman ● Dracula ● Exit West ● Frankenstein ● The Goldfinch ● Great Expectations ● Gulliver’s Travels ● Heart of Darkness ● Home ● Homegoing ● The Hummingbird’s Daughter ● The Iliad ● Kindred ● King Lear ● The Kite Runner ● Lonely Londoners ● Madame Bovary ● Mama Day ● The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love ● Man and Superman ● Mansfield Park ● The Metamorphosis ● Midnight’s Children ● The Mill on the Floss ● Mrs. Dalloway ● My Ántonia ● The Namesake ● Native Son ● Paradise Lost ● A Passage to India ● The Piano Lesson ● The Picture of Dorian Gray ● The Poisonwood Bible ● The Portrait of a Lady ● The Power of One ● Pudd’nhead Wilson ● Pygmalion ● Quicksand ● A Raisin in the Sun ● The Return of the Native ● The Scarlet Letter ● Song Of Solomon ● Sons and Other Flammable Objects ● The Sound and the Fury ● The Tempest ● Their Eyes Were Watching God ● Things Fall Apart ● To The Lighthouse ● Where the Dead Sit Talking ● Wuthering Heights Elements of Style Diction ● The author’s choice of words ● Diction can either be the effect of the word or the overall style of the words chosen Connotation vs Denotation ● Connotation refers to emotional sense or a cultural meaning ● Denotation refers to the standard definition of a word Style ● Style is the writer’s voice ● Style can be similar to tone as well ● Style can impact many other elements (attitude of speaker, etc) Style Descriptors (these are only a few GREAT examples, there are so many more!) ● Authoritative ● Emotive ● Didactic ● Objective ● Ornate ● Plain ● Scholarly ● Scientific Imagery ● Language that has a reader utilizing their senses and feeling emotions Types of Imagery ● Auditory ● Visual ● Tactile ● Olfactory ● Gustatory ● Kinesthetic ● Organic Tone ● The attitude of the speaker or narrator towards a specific item, person, or event Syntax ● Refers to sentence pattern, structure, and choices of the author Point of View ● Who is explaining or narrating the situation within the literary work Common Points of View ● First person ○ Words such as I, me, or my ● Second person ○ Words such as you or your ● Third person limited ○ Words such as he or she ○ Narrator NOT in story ● Third person omniscient ○ Words such as he or she ○ Narrator in story ● Objective ○ Explains story, lacks emotions or feelings of characters Figurative Language ● Words that do not mean exactly what they say, not literal! Examples of Figurative Language (Just a few!) ● Allegory ● Irony ● Apostrophe ● Simile ● Symbol Examples of Tone Words ● Candid ● Nostalgic ● Informal ● Formal ● Satiric ● Tense Examples of Style Words ● Gloomy ● Bitter ● Optimistic ● Reflective ● Sincere ● Candid (notice how this is for style AND tone) Key Terms - Fiction and Drama Allusion ● Referencing a known source Atmosphere ● Synonymous with mood Extended metaphor ● Metaphor continuing throughout a piece of work Imagery ● *Reference page 6* Irony ● A statement or set of words that is contrasting the normal meaning Metaphor ● Comparing two things to provide new insight on ideas Mood ● Emotional feeling around a scene or time, synonymous with atmosphere Tone ● *Reference page 6* Key Terms - Poetry Apostrophe ● Talking to something that is not alive Epigraph ● Provides context or background information for a poem Imagery ● *Reference page 6* Metaphor ● Comparing two things to provide new insight on ideas Meter ● Rhythm of a poem Personification ● When nonliving/living things receive human qualities Speaker ● Who is telling the story or poem Stanza ● How poems are split up and divided Structure ● Outline of the poem Tone ● *Reference page 6* All About Meter Meter refers to how the poem flows, or its rhythm Meter has stressed and unstressed syllables and the most common is iambic meter which is unstressed and then stressed How Rhyme Works - Terms to Know Exact Rhyme ● Words with “perfect” rhyme (what normally comes to mind for poetry) ● Example: hit, sit, lit Slant Rhyme ● Not exact rhyme but close ● Example: heart, star Internal Rhyme ● IN a line External Rhyme ● END of a line Alliteration ● Repeated beginning sounds/letters Assonance ● Repeated vowel sounds Consonance ● Repeated consonant sounds Basic Structure of an Essay Paragraph Structure: 1. Claim 2. Evidence 3. Commentary 4. Transition Other Helpful Tips Due to the inconsistency of the exam and different prep style here are a few things to do outside of studying these basic terms and works! ● Strengthen your vocabulary and verb choice ● Familiarize with classic novels, poems, and other literary works ● During prep, if you come across a key term you do not know, LOOK IT UP!! Many terms are used rarely but could always come up later. ● If you have the time, learning Greek or Latin roots can help you with words you have not seen before. ● Develop an annotating style that works best for you as you read passages MOST IMPORTANT TIP ● PRACTICE!!! ● Making sure to practice reading passages, answering questions, and writing responses is most effective for this type of exam. ● Learning key terms and definitions is helpful only if you can apply them! ● When writing a FRQ, the thesis statement is one of the most important components of the whole FRQ. Try to create a simple, yet concise and specific thesis statement.