AP English Literature and Composition Flashcards: Describe Narrator Speaker Short Fiction

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This deck focuses on Describe Narrator Speaker Short Fiction, giving you a quick way to review the definitions, rules, and examples that matter most for AP English Literature and Composition.

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Work through these flashcards in short sessions. Try to answer each prompt before flipping the card, then revisit any cards you miss until the explanation feels automatic.

Flashcard 1: What is a reliable narrator?

Answer: A narrator whose account is generally credible and consistent. Readers can trust their version of events.

Flashcard 2: Identify the narration type when the story uses "I" for the storyteller.

Answer: First-person narration. The narrator participates in and tells their own story.

Flashcard 3: Identify the narrator type: a witness narrates events but is not the protagonist.

Answer: First-person peripheral (observer) narrator. Uses "I" but focuses on another character's story.

Flashcard 4: Identify the point of view: "She vowed revenge; across town, he slept peacefully."

Answer: Third-person omniscient narration. Simultaneous knowledge of separated characters' states.

Flashcard 5: What is the key distinction between author and narrator or speaker?

Answer: The narrator or speaker is a constructed voice; the author is real. Authors create narrators/speakers as literary devices.

Flashcard 6: What is the key difference between the author and the narrator or speaker?

Answer: The narrator or speaker is a constructed voice, not the real author. Authors create fictional voices to tell stories.

Flashcard 7: Identify the narration type when only one character's thoughts are revealed in "he/she."

Answer: Third-person limited narration. Restricted to one character's consciousness in third person.

Flashcard 8: Identify the point of view: "She remembered the insult and vowed revenge."

Answer: Third-person limited narration. "She" with internal thoughts shows limited access.

Flashcard 9: What is a frame narrator?

Answer: A narrator who introduces and contains another character's story. Creates a story-within-a-story structure.

Flashcard 10: Identify the point of view: "I hid the letter under my coat and ran."

Answer: First-person narration. "I" pronoun indicates narrator as participant.

Flashcard 11: What is an intrusive narrator?

Answer: A narrator who comments directly and offers judgments or guidance. Breaks the fourth wall with opinions and interpretations.

Flashcard 12: Which narrator type is present when the storyteller is not a character in the plot?

Answer: Third-person narrator. Stands outside the story world as an observer.

Flashcard 13: What is an implied author (as distinct from narrator or speaker)?

Answer: The guiding artistic presence inferred from the text's choices. The author's values/style shown through textual decisions.

Flashcard 14: Identify the narration type when the narrator says "you" as the central figure.

Answer: Second-person narration. Makes the reader the protagonist through direct address.

Flashcard 15: What is the speaker in a poem?

Answer: The voice or persona presenting the poem, not the author. Distinct from the poet; may be fictional or adopt different perspectives.

Flashcard 16: Identify the narration type when the narrator reveals thoughts of several characters.

Answer: Third-person omniscient narration. All-knowing perspective with access to multiple minds.

Flashcard 17: Identify the narration mode: "You walk into the room and feel judged at once."

Answer: Second-person narration. "You" pronoun places reader in the action.

Flashcard 18: What is an objective (third-person) narrator?

Answer: A narrator who reports actions and dialogue without inner thoughts. Functions like a camera, recording only external events.

Flashcard 19: What is second-person narration?

Answer: A narration that addresses "you" as the focal participant. Rare technique making reader the protagonist.

Flashcard 20: Identify the narrator type: a character tells their own past story using "I."

Answer: First-person narrator (character-narrator). Participates in and recounts their own story.

Flashcard 21: What is a dramatic monologue speaker in poetry?

Answer: A single speaker reveals character while addressing an implied listener. One-sided conversation reveals speaker's personality.

Flashcard 22: Identify the narration type when the narrator reports only observable actions and dialogue.

Answer: Objective (third-person) narration. Neutral reporting without psychological insight.

Flashcard 23: What is a third-person omniscient narrator?

Answer: A narrator who knows and may reveal multiple characters' thoughts. Has godlike knowledge of all characters' inner worlds.

Flashcard 24: What is a third-person limited narrator?

Answer: A narrator who uses "he/she" and accesses one character's mind. Follows one character's perspective without entering others' minds.

Flashcard 25: Which term fits a narrator who tells the story after events have already occurred?

Answer: Retrospective narrator. Looks back on past events with hindsight.

Flashcard 26: What is stream-of-consciousness narration?

Answer: Narration that mimics a character's continuous, associative thought. Captures unfiltered mental processes and random connections.

Flashcard 27: What is a first-person narrator in prose fiction?

Answer: A narrator who speaks as "I" and participates in the story. Uses personal pronouns and experiences events directly.

Flashcard 28: What is a second-person narrator?

Answer: A narrator who addresses the reader as "you" as the protagonist. Rare technique that places the reader in the protagonist role.

Flashcard 29: What is a third-person objective narrator?

Answer: A narrator who reports only observable actions and dialogue. Camera-like view without internal access.

Flashcard 30: What is a stream-of-consciousness narrator or speaker?

Answer: A voice presenting thought flow with minimal logical ordering. Mimics unfiltered mental processes.

Flashcard 31: Identify the point of view: "She slammed the door. 'Do not follow me,' she said."

Answer: Third-person objective narration. Only external actions/dialogue, no thoughts revealed.