AP Lit Literary Devices 1

Question 1

anachronism

Answer 1

something out of its time or place in history: Julius Caesar riding a motorcycle

Question 2

anaphora

Answer 2

the repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases for rhetorical or poetic effect

Question 3

anticlimax

Answer 3

the intentional use of elevated language to describe the trivial or commonplace, or a sudden transition from a significant thought to a trivial one in order to achieve a humorous or a satirical effect

Question 4

apostrophe

Answer 4

addressing someone or something, usually not present, as though present (death be not proud) a figure of speech wherein the speaker speaks directly to something non-human

Question 5

aside

Answer 5

a statement delivered by an actor in such a way that the other characters on stage are presumed not have heard

Question 6

asyndeton

Answer 6

the omission of conjunctions that ordinarily join coordinate words and phrases (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil)

Question 7

ballad

Answer 7

a form of verse to be sung or recited and characterized by a dramatic or exciting episode in fairly short narrative

Question 8

blank verse

Answer 8

unrhymed iambic pentameter; metrical verse with no ending rhyme

Question 9

caesura

Answer 9

a pause for effect in the middle of a line of poetry (period, dash, semicolon)

Question 10

chiasmus

Answer 10

repetition in successive clauses which are usually parallel in syntax, an inverted parallelism; the reversal of the order of corresponding words or phrases

Question 11

classicism

Answer 11

an approach to literature which emphasizes reason, harmony, balance, proportion, clarity, and the imitation of ancient writers and philosophers

Question 12

colloquial

Answer 12

expressions - informal, not always grammatically correct expressions that find acceptance in certain geographical areas and within certain groups of people

Question 13

Analogy

Answer 13

The comparison of two things for the purpose of clarifying an unclear topic by showing how it is familiar to a similar one

Question 13

conceit

Answer 13

an extended metaphor - two unlike things are compared in several different ways

Question 14

Alliteration

Answer 14

Repetition of initial consonant sound

Question 15

Allusion

Answer 15

Figure of speech which makes a brief reference to a historical or literary figure, event, or object

Question 16

Anagonist

Answer 16

A character in a narrative or play who is in conflict against the main character

Question 17

Assonance

Answer 17

Similarity or repetition of vowel sound in two or more words, especially in a line of verse

i.e., “molten-golden notes”

Question 18

Bildungsroman

Answer 18

A novel showing the development of the central character from childhood to maturity

Question 19

Catharsis

Answer 19

The pity or fear the audience feels upon viewing the downfall of a hero

Question 20

Cause and effect relationship

Answer 20

Rhetorical device in which an author analyzes reasons for a chain of events

Question 21

Comic relief

Answer 21

Something of humor interrupts an otherwise serious, often tragic literary work

Question 22

Couplet

Answer 22

A pair of rhyming lines written in the same meter