Términos literarios y análisis: every key term you need (+ practice quiz)

More AP Spanish Literature guides

• El romanticismo y el realismo del siglo XIX
• La Generación del 98 y el modernismo
• El Boom y la literatura contemporánea
• El teatro y la poesía

Metáfora

Identifies one thing with another without 'como' ("tus dientes, perlas"); the core figure of poetic analysis.

Símil

Explicit comparison using como/cual/parece: "blanca como la nieve."

Metonimia

Substitution by contiguity: the cause for the effect, container for content ("beber un vaso").

Sinécdoque

Part for whole or whole for part ("cien velas" for ships).

Hipérbole

Deliberate exaggeration for effect ("érase un hombre a una nariz pegado").

Personificación / prosopopeya

Attributing human qualities to non-human things ("el viento gime").

Anáfora

Repetition of a word at the start of successive lines or clauses ("Verde que te quiero verde").

Aliteración

Repetition of consonant sounds for musical effect ("el ruido con que rueda la ronca tempestad").

Onomatopeya

Words that imitate sounds; frequent in poesía negrista ("sóngoro cosongo").

Paradoja

Apparent contradiction that reveals truth ("vivo sin vivir en mí").

Antítesis

Juxtaposition of opposing ideas ("es hielo abrasador, es fuego helado").

Oxímoron

Contradictory terms joined in one phrase ("fuego helado").

Ironía

Saying the opposite of what is meant, or a gap between expectation and outcome; central to Lazarillo and Larra.

Sátira

Ridicule of vice or folly to criticize; Larra, Quevedo, Sor Juana.

Símbolo

Concrete image standing for an abstract idea (Lorca's moon = death; Unamuno's lake = doubt).

Alegoría

Extended, systematic metaphor in which each element corresponds to another meaning.

Imagen

Language appealing to the senses; poetic image may be visual, auditory, tactile.

Leitmotivo

Recurring image or phrase that gains meaning through repetition (Bernarda's cane, the color green).

Tono

The speaker's attitude toward subject and audience: irónico, nostálgico, solemne, burlón.

Ambiente

Atmosphere and setting created by descriptive details (the oppressive heat of "La siesta del martes").

Narrador omnisciente

Third-person narrator who knows all thoughts and events.

Narrador testigo

First-person narrator who witnesses but is not the protagonist (Ángela in San Manuel Bueno).

Narrador protagonista

First-person narrator who tells his own story (Lázaro).

Narrador no fiable

Narrator whose credibility is in doubt, forcing readers to read between the lines.

Punto de vista

Perspective from which the story is told; shifting it changes sympathy and information.

Estilo directo e indirecto

Direct: quoted speech. Indirect: reported speech. Free indirect: character's thoughts in narrator's voice.

Fluir de la conciencia

Stream of consciousness: unpunctuated flow of a character's thoughts.

In medias res

Beginning the story in the middle of the action.

Analepsis / flashback

Narrative jump to an earlier time.

Prolepsis / anticipación

Narrative flash-forward or foreshadowing ("muchos años después...").

Desenlace

Resolution of the plot; may be cerrado (closed) or abierto (open).

Clímax

Point of highest tension in a narrative or play.

Intertextualidad

Reference to or dialogue with another text; Cervantes with chivalric novels, Storni with Sor Juana.

Metaficción

Fiction that reflects on its own status as fiction (Quijote, "Continuidad de los parques", "Borges y yo").

Parodia

Imitation of a genre or work for comic or critical effect (Quijote parodies libros de caballerías).

Arquetipo

Universal character type or pattern (the trickster, the tyrant mother, don Juan).

Los seis temas del curso

Las sociedades en contacto; La construcción del género; El tiempo y el espacio; Las relaciones interpersonales; La dualidad del ser; La creación literaria.

Carpe diem / memento mori / tempus fugit / ubi sunt

Classical topoi: seize the day; remember death; time flies; where are those who came before?

Beatus ille

Praise of simple rural life away from court, from Horace; Fray Luis de León.

Locus amoenus

Idealized natural setting of shade, water, and breeze.