AP Exam Cram

Question 1

litotes

Answer 1

negative contrary (not bad at all, you won’t be sorry)

Question 2

metonymy

Answer 2

the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant, for example suit for business executive, or the track for horse racing.

Question 3

synecdoche

Answer 3

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, as in Cleveland won by six runs (meaning “Cleveland’s baseball team”).

Question 4

allegory

Answer 4

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Question 5

anachronism

Answer 5

a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, especially a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned.

Question 6

anecdote

Answer 6

a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person.

Question 7

apostrophe

Answer 7

an exclamatory passage in a speech or poem addressed to a person (typically one who is dead or absent) or thing (typically one that is personified).

Question 8

colloquialism

Answer 8

a word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation.

Question 9

oxymoron

Answer 9

a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction (e.g., faith unfaithful kept him falsely true ).