Literary Devices AP Latin

alliteration

repetition of the same letter or sound, usually at the beginning of a series of words

anaphora

repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive clauses

apostrophe

sudden break from the previous narrative for an address, in the second person, of some person or object, absent or present

asyndeton

omission of conjunctions

chiasmus

arrangement of words in a mirroring, or ABBA, pattern, found most often with pairs of nouns and adjectives

ellipsis

omission of one or more words which must be logically supplied in order to create a grammatically complete expression

enjambment

continuation of a unit of thought beyond the end of one verse and into the first few feet of the next

hyperbaton

the separation of two words which are logically meant to be understood together, typically a separated Ablative Absolute

Example: simulata Caesarem amicitia = Caesar, under the pretense of friendship is usually written: Caesarem, simulata amicitia

hyperbole

exaggeration for rhetorical effect

litotes

the affirmation of an idea via the negation of its opposite

Example:

metaphor

implied comparison achieved through a figurative use of words; the word is used not in its literal sense, but in one analogous to it

metonymy

substitution of one word for another which it suggests

onomatopoeia

use of words of which the sound suggests the sense

personification

attribution of personality to an impersonal thing

polysyndeton

overabundance of conjunctions

rhetorical question

figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked in order to make a point and without the expectation of a reply

simile

explicit comparison between two things using 'like' or 'as'

synchesis

interlocking word order; abAB

tmesis

separation into two parts of a word normally written as one, often for a visual effect

transferred epithet

epithet which has been transferred from the word to which it strictly belongs to another word connected with it in thought