Terms for AP lit midterm

Hyperbole

gross exaggeration for effect: overstatement 

Hyperbole

I’m so hungry I could eat a horse

Apostrophe

an address to a person or personified object not present

Apostrophe

"Death, be not proud, though some have called thee / Mighty and dreadful..."

Irony

The contrast between actual meaning and the suggestion of another meaning 

Personification

a figure of speech in which objects and animals have human qualities

Elegy

a poem of lament, meditating on the death of an individual

Free verse

unrhymed lines without regular rhythm

Metonymy

1. the substitution of a word which relates to the object or person to be named, in place of the name itself

1. The crown’ = royalty

metonymy

Paradox

a statement which appears self-contradictory, but underlines basis of truth

paradox

"War is peace

ode

 elaborate lyric verse which deals seriously with a dignified theme

lyric

 Subjective, reflective poetry with regular rhyme scheme and meter which reveals the poet’s thoughts and feelings to create a single unique impression

simile

a direct comparison of two unlike objects, using like or as 

Litote

a form of understatement in which the negative of an antonym is used to achieve emphasis and intensity

you’re not wrong = you’re right

litote

Oxymoron

 contradictory terms brought together to express a paradox for strong effect 

1. The room fell into a deafening silence after the shocking news was announced.

oxymoron

Idyll

1.  lyric poetry describing the life of shepherds in pastoral, bucolic, idealistic terms

Ballad

1. simple, narrative verse which tells a story to be sung or recited; the fold ballad is anonymously handed down, while the literary ballad has a single author 

Limerick

1. humorous nonsense-verse in five anapestic lines rhyming AABBA, a-lines being trimeter and b-lines dimeter

Light verse

a general category of poetry written to entertain, such as lyric poetry, epigrams, and limericks. It can also have a serious side, as in parody or satire

Conceit

an extended metaphor comparing two unlike objects with powerful effect. Owes its roots to elaborate analogies

Blank verse

Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter

Synecdoche

1. a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole object or idea 

synecdoche

All hands on deck

allegory

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

enjambment

the continuation of sentence or thought from one line to the next without a pause, creating flow, momentum, or surprise, by skipping the expected punctuation at the line’s end and carrying the meaning over

Caesura

1. a strong cause within a line of poetry, often marked by punctuation

Anachronism

1. something belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists or is portrayed

Picaresque

1. A narrative style featuring a clever, lower-class protagonist who survives through wit

Synesthesia

1. a writer blends senses, describing one sense [like sound] in terms of another [like color]

synesthesia

Your words cut me like glass—sharp and bitter, tasting of bile