Literary Device Terms

Vocabulary flashcards generated from the AP Language and Composition non-negotiable literary device packet.

Adage

brief pieces of wisdom in the form of short, philosophical, and memorable sayings.

Allegory

A story hidden within a surface story the hidden story has something to do with politics, religion, morality or complex subjects

Allusion

When a writer mentions some other work, or refers to an earlier part of the current work.

Analogy

A literary technique in which two unrelated objects are compared for their shared qualities.

Anaphora

A certain word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of clauses or sentences that follow each other

Anecdote

Very short stories that are significant to the topic at hand

Anthropomorphism

Giving human traits or attributes to animals, inanimate objects or other non-human things.

Antithesis

It is usually the opposite of a statement, concept, or idea

Aphorism

A short statement of a general truth, insight, or good advice.

Archetype

an idea, symbol, pattern, or character-type, in a story

Audience (SOAPS)

The group of readers to whom this piece is directed.

Chiasmus

Chiasmus comes from a Greek word meaning “crossed,” and it refers to a grammatical structure that inverts a previous phrase.

Claim

A claim in writing is a debatable statement or main point that a writer intends to prove using reasons and evidence.

Colloquialism

A colloquialism is a word or phrase used in everyday, informal language, rather than in formal speech or writing.

Concession

Concession is when you admit or acknowledge a point made by someone else, often in an argument or discussion, even if you don’t fully agree.

Connotation

A connotation is the extra meaning or feeling that a word suggests in addition to its basic, dictionary definition.

Deductive reasoning

Deductive reasoning is a psychological process that helps you make decisions and solve problems.

Denotation

Denotation is the exact, dictionary meaning of a word, without any extra feelings or ideas attached.

Diction

refers to word choice and phrasing in any written or spoken text.

Didactic

means something that is meant to teach or give a lesson.

Ellipsis

An ellipsis is a punctuation mark made of three dots (...) that shows words have been left out, or it represents a pause and silence

Euphemism

Euphemisms are polite, mild phrases which substitute unpleasant ways of saying something sad or uncomfortable.

Exigence

Exigence is the reason or situation that makes someone want to write or speak about something.

Fallacy

A fallacy is a mistake in reasoning or a false idea that makes an argument wrong.

Foreshadowing

Gives the audience hints or signs about the future. It suggests what is to come through imagery, language, and/or symbolism.

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is an obvious and intentional exaggeration used to make a point.

Idiom

An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning different from the words used.

Imagery

Imagery is language used by poets, novelists and other writers to create images in the mind of the reader.

Inductive reasoning

Inductive reasoning is when you look at specific examples or facts and then make a general conclusion from them.

Irony: Dramatic

Dramatic irony is when the audience knows something important that the characters in a story do not know.

Irony: Situational

Situational irony is when what actually happens is the opposite of what you expect to happen.

Irony: Verbal

Verbal irony is when a speaker says one thing but means the exact opposite.

Jargon

Jargon is the specific type of language used by a particular group or profession.

Juxtaposition

the placement of two or more things side by side, often in order to bring out their differences.

Metaphor

is a common figure of speech that makes a comparison by directly relating one thing to another unrelated thing.

Mood

the way a person feels inside at a certain time, or the special feeling and atmosphere of a story.

Motif

A motif is a symbolic image or idea that appears frequently in a story.

Occasion (SOAPS)

means the reason or situation that made the writer create the text. It’s what is happening or what has happened that caused the writing.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is when a word sounds like the noise it describes.

Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a phrase that puts together two words that have opposite or very different meanings.

Paradox

A paradox is a statement that seems to contradict itself or go against common sense, but might actually be true or make you think in a new way.

Parallelism

Parallelism is when you use the same pattern of words or structure in a sentence to show that two or more ideas are equally important.

Personification

Personification is when you give human qualities or actions to something that is not human, like an object, animal, or idea.

Pun

A pun is a joke based on the interplay of homophones

Purpose (SOAPS)

"Purpose" means the reason why the author wrote the text

Rebuttal

A rebuttal is when you respond to someone’s argument by giving reasons or evidence to show why it is wrong or not strong.

Refutation

Refutation is when you prove that an argument, statement, or idea is wrong or false, usually by using evidence or logical reasoning.

Rhetorical Question

A rhetorical question is a question that is asked to make a point or get you thinking, not to get an actual answer.

Satire

The formal definition of satire is “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices.”

Simile

a literary term where you use “like” or “as” to compare two different things and show a common quality between them.

Speaker (SOAPS)

The person or voice who is telling the story, giving the speech, or writing the text.

Subject (SOAPS)

is what the text is mainly about, the main topic or idea being discussed or described.

Symbolism

Symbolism is when something (like an object, color, or action) stands for or represents a bigger idea or meaning.

Syntax

Syntax is the way words are arranged to form sentences. It’s the rules or order for putting words together to make sense.

Theme

The central idea, topic, or point of a story, essay, or narrative is its theme.

Tone

Refers to the “feel” of a piece of writing. It’s a more complex and general quality than, say, an “angry tone of voice”; instead it is closer to the meaning of “style” or “voice” in writing

Understatement (Litotes)

when you make something seem less important or serious than it really is. Litotes is a special kind of understatement where you say the opposite in a negative way.

Vernacular

Vernacular is the everyday language or way of speaking used by ordinary people in a specific place or group, instead of formal or literary language.

Zeugma (Syllepsis)

Zeugma (also called syllepsis) is when one word is used with two or more other words in a sentence, but the word means something different with each one.