AP LIT VOCAB

alliteration

1. the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

   “sweet birds sang”

allusion

an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a part of another text. “Rose is a real Einstein”

apostrophe

An address to a dead or absent person, or personification as if he or she were present.

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”

assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants; sometimes called vowel rhyme.

“With its leaping, and deep, cool murmur”) or “And shout into the ridges of the wind”.

cacophony

Harsh or discordant sounds, often the result of repetition and combination of consonants within a group of words. (Like horns and yelling in a traffic accident in real life!)

“What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore.”

consonance

A resemblance in sound between two words, or an initial rhyme.

“She seLLS seashELLSs by the seashore”

euphony

combining of words to create a pleasing sound.

"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

feminine rhyme

a rhyme between stressed syllables followed by one or more unstressed syllables.

for example: ocean, motion - other,mother

hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

“I slept for a week after that tough practice”

internal rhyme

a rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another at the end of the line or in the middle of the next.

“I went to town to buy a gown. / I took the car, and it wasn't far.”

masculine rhyme

a rhyme of final stressed syllables

for example: cat , mat (simple)

metaphor

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

She's got a heart of gold. That party was the bomb.

metonymy

the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant

“lend me your ears,” “ears” is substituted for “attention.”

“White house” = president

“uncle’s wedding band” = marriage

onomatopoeia

the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named

"splish-splash" “sizzle”

paradox

a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.

''I must be cruel, only to be kind''.

personification

the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.

“the grass danced” “alarm clocks yells”

simile

a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid.

“as cold as ice” “light as a feather”

synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa (part to whole or whole to part)
EXAMPLE: Jack got some new wheels! = Jack got a new car!

synesthesia

an author's blending of human senses to describe an object.

“loud dress” “chilly gaze”

understatement

the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.

example: a person who is bleeding heavily might say, “It's just a scratch,”