AP Lit Terms

Question 1

Anaphora –

Answer 1

the regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses.
We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds.
We shall fight in the fields and in the streets…….

Question 2

Anastrophe –

Answer 2

a rhetorical term for the inversion of the normal order of the parts of a sentence.
After great pain a formal feeling comes –
The nerves sit ceremonious like tombs.

Question 3

Antecedent –

Answer 3

the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers.

Question 4

Antithesis –

Answer 4

a figure of speech in which opposing or contrasting ideas are balanced against each other using grammatically parallel syntax.
There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors,
And no slave who has not had a king among his.

Question 5

Asyndeton –

Answer 5

conjunctions are omitted, producing a fast-paced and rapid prose.
I came. I saw. I conquered.

Question 6

Chiasmus –

Answer 6

grammatical structure in which the first clause or phrase is reversed in the second, sometimes repeating the same words.
“And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can
do for you: ask what you can do for your country.”

Question 7

Clause –

Answer 7

a group of words containing a subject and verb that may or may not be a complete sentence

Question 8

Gerund –

Answer 8

a noun formed from a verb. (Living)

Question 9

Imperative –

Answer 9

sentence structure that gives a command. “Eat your spinach.”

Question 10

Inversion –

Answer 10

reversing the normal order of sentence parts for poetic effect.

Question 11

Allusion –

Answer 11

an indirect or passing reference to an event, person, place or artistic work that the author assumes the
reader will understand.

Question 12

Anachronism –

Answer 12

an event, object, custom, person or thing that is out of its natural order of time. A clock strikes in Julius Caesar.

Question 13

Analogy –

Answer 13

a comparison of similar things, often to explain something unfamiliar with something familiar.
(the branching of a river system is often explained using a tree and its branches.)

Question 14

Aphorism –

Answer 14

A terse statement of a principal or truth; a maxim. (Life is long, reasoning difficult, etc.)

Question 15

Apostrophe –

Answer 15

a rhetorical device in which the speaker addresses a dead or absent person, or an inanimate object
or abstraction.

Question 16

Cliché –

Answer 16

Any expression that has been used so often it has lost its freshness. (Sharp as a tack, the last straw, etc.)

Question 17

Epigram –

Answer 17

any terse, witty, pointed saying. For example, “She knows the cost of everything, but the value of nothing”.

Question 18

Euphemism –

Answer 18

the substitution of a mild term for one more offensive or hurtful.

Question 19

Figurative language –

Answer 19

language that contains figures of speech, such as metaphor, simile, personification, etc.

Question 20

Hyperbole –

Answer 20

exaggeration for the sake of emphasis in a figure of speech not meant literally. “I’ve been waiting here for ages.”

Question 21

Kenning –

Answer 21

a metaphoric compound word or phrase used as a synonym for a common noun. “Ring-bestower” for
king; “whale-road” for sea; “candle of heaven” for the sun; “war-brand” for a sword.

Question 22

Litotes –

Answer 22

a figure of speech by which an affirmation is made indirectly by saying its opposite, usually with an
effect of understatement. “I’d not be averse to a drink.”

Question 23

Malapropism –

Answer 23

the comic substitution of one word for another similar in sound, but quite different in meaning. “I
would have her instructed in geometry (geography) that she might know of contagious (contiguous) countries.”

Question 24

Metonymy –

Answer 24

figure of speech in which a representative term is used for a larger idea. The pen is mightier than the sword.

Question 25

Proverb –

Answer 25

a short saying that expresses some commonplace truth or bit of folk wisdom. “A stitch in time saves nine.”

Question 26

Pun –

Answer 26

a form of wit, not necessarily funny, involving a play on a word with two or more meanings.

Question 27

Syllogism –

Answer 27

A form of logical reasoning, consisting of two premises and a conclusion.

Question 28

Synaesthesia –

Answer 28

The description of one kind of sensation in terms of another. “He is wearing a loud shirt.”

Question 29

Synecdoche –

Answer 29

figure of speech that utilizes a part as representative of the whole. (e.g. ‘hands’ for manual laborers; ‘the law’ for a police officer).

Question 30

Tautology –

Answer 30

repetition of an idea in a different word, phrase or sentence. “With malice toward none, with
charity for all.” Abraham Lincoln.

Question 31

Understatement –

Answer 31

a type of verbal irony in which something is purposely represented as being far less important
than it actually is.

Question 32

Loose sentences –

Answer 32

modifiers follow the SVC pattern allowing the strength of the sentence to come first.
A car hit him just as he bent over to tie his shoelace.

Question 33

Paradox –

Answer 33

a statement or expression so surprisingly self-contradictory as to provoke us into seeking another sense in which it would be true.
Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed. -Emily Dickenson

Question 34

Parallelism –

Answer 34

expressing similar or related ideas in similar grammatical structure.
He tried to make the law clear, precise and equitable.

Question 35

Periodic sentences –

Answer 35

the main idea comes last in the sentence, leaving the reader with a more powerful last impression.
Just as he bent over to tie his shoelace, a car hit him.

Question 36

Polysyndeton –

Answer 36

the opposite of asyndeton. The use of many conjunctions has a slowing effect.

Question 37

Rhetorical question –

Answer 37

questions that do not require an answer.