Ap lit Flashcards
Poetry
Metaphor
A metaphor is a comparison between two things that does NOT use any helping words.
Conceit
A conceit is an extended metaphor with complex logic, or a startling comparison, that governs a poetic passage or an entire poem.
APOSTROPHE
Apostrophe occurs when a poem’s speaker addresses someone absent, someone dead, or something nonhuman as if it were present and could respond
Synecdoche
The use of the part for the whole
Metonymy
The use of something closely related for the thing
actually meant
PARADOX
A paradox is an apparent contradiction that is nevertheless somehow true.
Understatement
An understatement means a poem says less than it means. It can sometimes coexist with verbal irony
Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sound
Consonance
Consonance is the repetition of final consonant sounds.
ASSONANCE
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds. Do not confuse it with simple vowel repetition, as each vowel has several different sounds.
Anaphoric
Anaphora is a type of refrain device, where the first word or phrase is repeated in a series of lines.
Caesura
Caesura refers to a pause within a line of verse.
Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition refers to the act of placing two or more things side by side to compare or contrast something, or to create an interesting effect.
Pun
A pun is a play on words, where an author employs a word that has a second meaning or that sounds to a similar word, and both meanings can be applied.
Connotation
Connotation refers to all associated or implied meanings of a word.
Inversion
Inversion is a technique in which the normal order of words is reversed. This is often done to maintain a particular rhyme scheme or meter, and sometimes for artistic effect.
Allusion
Allusion is a brief and direct reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. It does not describe or explain the person or thing to which it refers.
