AP Literary Devices and TermsAwwwwwwwwwwww yeah!

Hint: An oxymoron isn’t Savona

ALLEGORY

DEFINITION:• story or poem in which characters, settings,

and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities.

EXAMPLES: • Animal Farm; Dante’s Inferno; Lord of the Flies

Examples of Allegories…

ALLITERATION

DEFINITION:• repetition of the same or similar consonant

sounds in words that are close together. EXAMPLE: Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow Alphabetical Slaughter- Papoosehttp://jilldimitriou.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/assonance-in-hip-hop-and-literary-giants/

ALLUSION

DEFINITION:• 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.)

How many band names can you recognize?

ANAPHORA

DEFINITION:• 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.

Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have A Dream”

ANASTROPHEDEFINITION:• 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

• Comes from the Greek word meaning "to turn upside-down“• AKA “Yoda syntax” or Yogi Berra quotes

EXAMPLE: “I have good relations with the wookies”ANASTROPHE: “Good relations with the Wookies, I have.”

Yoda Anastrophe

ANTECEDENTDEFINITION:• A word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. The AP language exam

occasionally asks for the antecedent of a given pronoun in a long, complex sentence or in a group of sentences.

EXAMPLE:• The dirty dishes continued to pile up. It caused lots of problems between the

roommates, and they eventually got into a .

• The antecedent of “it” is...? • Answer: “dirty dishes”

ANTIHERO

DEFINITION:• Central character who lacks all

the qualities traditionally associated with heroes. May lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples.

EXAMPLES:• Jay Gatsby, Victor Frankenstein,

Severus Snape, House, etc.

ANTHROPOMORPHISM • attributing human characteristics to an animal

or inanimate object (Personification)

APHORISM DEFINITION:• A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a

wise observation about life, or of a principle or accepted general truth. Also called maxim, epigram, proverb.

• AKA --- fortune cookies

EXAMPLES: Ben Franklin• Early to bed and early to rise,

makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.• An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.

Alfred Tennyson• 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to

have loved at all.

APOSTROPHE

DEFINITION:• A figure of speech that directly addresses an

absent or imaginary person or a personified idea such as liberty or love.

• It is an address to someone or something that cannot answer.

EXAMPLE:• Yelling at the TV while watching a game