AP Lit Final Week Vocab Terms

AP Lit Vocab from Irony to Symbolism

Irony

A broad term referring to the recognition of a reality different from appearance

Verbal Irony

A figure of speech in which the actual intent is expressed in words that carry the opposite meaning

Dramatic Irony

Two levels of meaning: what the speaker says and what he means, and what the speaker says and what the author means

Situational Irony

When the reality of a situation differs from the anticipated or intended effect; when something unexpected occurs

Litotes

A form of understatement in which a thing is affirmed by saying the negative of its opposite

Metaphor

Figure of speech which makes a direct comparison of two unlike objects by identification or substation

Metonymy

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

Oxymoron

A self-contradictory combination of words or smaller verbal units

Paradox

A statement that, although seemingly contradictory or absurd, may actually be well-founded or true

As we approach the conceptual limits of discourse- as commonly happens in philosophy and theology- language seems to rely increasingly on this

Personification

Figure of speech in which objects and animals have human qualities

Polysyndeton

The use of more conjunctions than is normal

Simile

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

Symbolism

In its broad sense, the use of one object to represent or suggest another; or, in literature, the serious and extensive use of symbols (something that is itself and also stands for something else)