AP LIT

Question 1

Allegory

Answer 1

story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other
people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities.

Question 2

Alliteration

Answer 2

repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are
close together.

Question 3

Allusion

Answer 3

reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature,
religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture. An indirect reference to something (usually from literature, etc.).

Question 4

Analogy

Answer 4

Comparison made between two things to show how they are alike

Question 5

Anaphora

Answer 5

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer’s point more coherent.

Question 6

Anastrophe

Answer 6

Inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a
sentence. Purpose is rhythm or emphasis or euphony. It is a fancy word for inversion.

Question 7

Anecdote

Answer 7

Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something,
often shows character of an individual

Question 8

Apostrophe

Answer 8

calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or
thing, or a personified abstract idea. If the character is asking a god or goddess for inspiration it is called an invocation.

Question 9

Assonance

Answer 9

the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant
sounds especially in words that are together.

Question 10

Asyndenton

Answer 10

Commas used without conjunction to separate a series of words, thus
emphasizing the parts equally: instead of X, Y, and Z… the writer uses X,Y,Z…. see
polysyndeton.

Question 11

Colloquialism

Answer 11

a word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal
writing but is inappropriate for formal situations. (“a colloquial phrase”)

Question 12

Didactic

Answer 12

form of fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or
provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.

Question 13

Elegy

Answer 13

a poem of mourning, usually about someone who has died.

Question 14

Eulogy

Answer 14

great praise or commendation, a laudatory speech, often about someone who has died.

Question 15

Epanalepsis

Answer 15

device of repetition in which the same expression (single word or
phrase) is repeated both at the beginning and at the end of the line, clause, or sentence.
Voltaire: “Common sense is not so common.”

Question 16

Epistophe

Answer 16

Device of repetition in which the same expression (single word or
phrase) is repeated at the end of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences (it is the opposite
of anaphora).

Question 17

Epithet

Answer 17

an adjective or adjective phrase applied to a person or thing that is frequently used to emphasize a characteristic quality. “Father of our country” and “the great Emancipator” are examples.

Question 18

Hyperbole

Answer 18

a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect. “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times….”

Question 19

Irony

Answer 19

a discrepancy between appearances and reality.

Question 20

Verbal Irony

Answer 20

occurs when someone says one thing but really means
something else.

Question 21

Situational Irony

Answer 21

takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen.

Question 22

Dramatic Irony

Answer 22

is so called because it is often used on stage. A character in the play or story thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better.

Question 23

Juxtaposition

Answer 23

poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas,
words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit. Ezra Pound: “The apparition of these faces in the crowd;/ Petals on a wet, black bough.”

Question 24

Litotes

Answer 24

is a form of understatement in which the positive form is emphasized through the negation of a negative form: Hawthorne— “…the wearers of petticoat and farthingale…stepping forth into the public ways, and wedging their not unsubstantial
persons, if occasion were, into the throng…”

Question 25

Metaphor

Answer 25

a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles.

Question 26

Metonymy

Answer 26

a figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing, is referred to by
something closely associated with it. “We requested from the crown support for our petition.” The crown is used to represent the monarch.

Question 27

Paradox

Answer 27

a statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth.

Question 28

Parallel Structure

Answer 28

(parallelism) the repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures.

Question 29

Personification

Answer 29

a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human
feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.

Question 30

Polysyndenton

Answer 30

sentence which uses a conjunction with NO commas to separate the
items in a series. Instead of X, Y, and Z… Polysyndenton results in X and Y and Z… Kurt
Vonnegut uses this device.

Question 31

Satire

Answer 31

a type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an
attempt to bring about a change.

Question 32

Similie

Answer 32

a figure of speech that makes an explicitly comparison between two unlike
things, using words such as like, as , than, or resembles.

Question 33

Soliloquy

Answer 33

a long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are
on stage.

Question 34

Stream of Consciousness

Answer 34

a style of writing that portrays the inner (often
chaotic) workings of a character’s mind.

Question 35

Synecdoche

Answer 35

a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole. “If you don’t
drive properly, you will lose your wheels.” The wheels represent the entire car.