ap lit vocab literary

What literary device is defined as a story or poem in which characters, events, and settings represent deeper ideas or meanings? A) Metaphor | B) Symbol | C) Allegory | D) Archetype

C) Allegory

What device is the repetition of the same initial sound in a series of words? A) Assonance | B) Consonance | C) Polyptoton | D) Alliteration

D) Alliteration

What device is a brief and indirect reference to a famous person, place, event, or work? A) Illusion | B) Allusion | C) Allegory | D) Archetype

B) Allusion

What device is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences? A) Epistrophe | B) Anadiplosis | C) Anaphora | D) Polyptoton

C) Anaphora

What device is the repetition of the last word or phrase of one sentence or clause at or near the beginning of the next? A) Anadiplosis | B) Anaphora | C) Epistrophe | D) Polyptoton

A) Anadiplosis

What term describes placing two contrasting or opposite ideas side by side? A) Juxtaposition | B) Antithesis | C) Paradox | D) Oxymoron

B) Antithesis

What figure of speech addresses a dead person, absent person, inanimate object, or abstract idea? A) Epitaph | B) Epigram | C) Personification | D) Apostrophe

D) Apostrophe

What is a noun or noun phrase placed next to another noun to rename, explain, or describe it? A) Epithet | B) Appositive | C) Complement | D) Modifier

B) Appositive

What term refers to a universally recognized pattern of a character, theme, symbol, or situation? A) Motif | B) Prototype | C) Archetype | D) Stereotype

C) Archetype

What poetic device is the repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words? A) Consonance | B) Alliteration | C) Rhyme | D) Assonance

D) Assonance

What rhetorical device involves the omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses? A) Polysyndeton | B) Asyndeton | C) Ellipsis | D) Caesura

B) Asyndeton

What term refers to a sudden shift from something serious or important to something silly or ridiculous? A) Pathos | B) Ethos | C) Bathos | D) Irony

C) Bathos

What poetic term denotes a pause or stop within a line of poetry? A) Enjambment | B) Caesura | C) Stanza | D) Ellipsis

B) Caesura

What term refers to the use of harsh, jarring, or unpleasant sounds to create a specific mood or effect? A) Euphony | B) Dissonance | C) Cacophony | D) Resonance

C) Cacophony

What literary device is a list or series of people, things, ideas, or details used to emphasize or provide information? A) Inventory | B) Catalog | C) Index | D) Enumeration

B) Catalog

What process does an author use to reveal a character's personality, values, traits, and motivations? A) Exposition | B) Perspective | C) Characterization | D) Personification

C) Characterization

What rhetorical device repeats words or concepts in reverse order to create a balanced pattern? A) Antithesis | B) Isocolon | C) Chiasmus | D) Anadiplosis

C) Chiasmus

What term describes an extended and complex metaphor that compares two very different things throughout a passage or poem? A) Allegory | B) Conceit | C) Symbolism | D) Motif

B) Conceit

What term refers to the emotional, cultural, or social associations connected to a word beyond its literal meaning? A) Denotation | B) Diction | C) Connotation | D) Nuance

C) Connotation

What device is the repetition of similar consonant sounds in nearby or neighboring words? A) Assonance | B) Alliteration | C) Consonance | D) Onomatopoeia

C) Consonance

What term means the literal or dictionary definition of a word without emotional associations? A) Connotation | B) Denotation | C) Etymology | D) Diction

B) Denotation

What term refers to an author's intentional choice and use of words? A) Syntax | B) Tone | C) Style | D) Diction

D) Diction

What is a spoken or written exchange between two or more characters? A) Monologue | B) Soliloquy | C) Dialogue | D) Exposition

C) Dialogue

What punctuation/literary device is the omission of words, often represented by three dots? A) Caesura | B) Ellipsis | C) Enjambment | D) Asyndeton

B) Ellipsis

What poetic technique occurs when a sentence or phrase continues from one line to the next without terminal punctuation? A) Caesura | B) Enjambment | C) Free Verse | D) Stanza

B) Enjambment

What term refers to a short, clever, witty, or memorable statement? A) Epigraph | B) Epitaph | C) Epigram | D) Epistrophe

C) Epigram

What device is the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses or sentences? A) Anaphora | B) Anadiplosis | C) Epistrophe | D) Polyptoton

C) Epistrophe

What term describes words written in memory of a person who has died, often found on a gravestone? A) Epigram | B) Epitaph | C) Epigraph | D) Elegy

B) Epitaph

Which rhetorical appeal relies on the speaker or writer's credibility, authority, or character? A) Logos | B) Pathos | C) Ethos | D) Kairos

C) Ethos

What figure of speech is an exaggerated statement that is not meant to be taken literally? A) Understatement | B) Meiosis | C) Hyperbole | D) Paradox

C) Hyperbole

What literary device consists of vivid descriptive language that appeals to the senses and creates a mental image? A) Symbolism | B) Imagery | C) Synesthesia | D) Conceit

B) Imagery

What term describes a contrast between expectation and reality, or when the actual outcome differs from what is expected? A) Paradox | B) Satire | C) Irony | D) Oxymoron

C) Irony

What rhetorical device involves a series of phrases or clauses that are grammatically similar and approximately equal in length? A) Parallelism | B) Isocolon | C) Antithesis | D) Chiasmus

B) Isocolon

What device is the placement of two or more things or ideas side by side to highlight their differences or create meaning? A) Juxtaposition | B) Antithesis | C) Oxymoron | D) Paradox

A) Juxtaposition

Which rhetorical appeal is based on logic, reason, evidence, or intellect? A) Ethos | B) Pathos | C) Logos | D) Bathos

C) Logos

What figure of speech intentionally understates or minimizes the importance of a situation? A) Hyperbole | B) Litotes | C) Meiosis | D) Oxymoron

C) Meiosis

What figure of speech compares two different things by stating that one thing is another? A) Simile | B) Metaphor | C) Metonymy | D) Synecdoche

B) Metaphor

What figure of speech replaces the name of something with the name of something closely associated with it? A) Synecdoche | B) Metaphor | C) Metonymy | D) Conceit

C) Metonymy

What term refers to a recurring element, idea, image, symbol, or pattern throughout a literary work? A) Theme | B) Archetype | C) Motif | D) Conceit

C) Motif

Which term describes words that imitate or resemble the sound associated with the object or action they describe? A) Alliteration | B) Cacophony | C) Euphony | D) Onomatopoeia

D) Onomatopoeia

What figure of speech places two contradictory or opposite words together to create a complex or humorous meaning? A) Paradox | B) Oxymoron | C) Antithesis | D) Juxtaposition

B) Oxymoron

What term refers to an idea or statement that seems contradictory or impossible but reveals a deeper truth? A) Oxymoron | B) Antithesis | C) Paradox | D) Irony

C) Paradox

Which rhetorical appeal targets the audience's emotions, such as pity, fear, sadness, or anger? A) Ethos | B) Logos | C) Pathos | D) Bathos

C) Pathos

What term refers to a sudden change or reversal of a character's situation or fortune, often from good to bad? A) Catharsis | B) Anagnorisis | C) Peripeteia | D) Hubris

C) Peripeteia

What figure of speech gives human traits, emotions, or actions to non-human things? A) Anthropomorphism | B) Personification | C) Apostrophe | D) Symbolism

B) Personification

What device is the repetition of words derived from the same root or word family? A) Polyptoton | B) Polysyndeton | C) Anaphora | D) Epistrophe

A) Polyptoton

What rhetorical device involves the repetition of conjunctions such as 'and' or 'or' in close succession? A) Asyndeton | B) Polysyndeton | C) Anaphora | D) Catalog

B) Polysyndeton

What term describes the main character of a story who drives the plot forward and faces challenges? A) Antagonist | B) Foil | C) Protagonist | D) Archetype

C) Protagonist

What is a question asked for emphasis or persuasive effect rather than to receive an actual answer? A) Epigram | B) Rhetorical Question | C) Hypophora | D) Apostrophe

B) Rhetorical Question

What genre/device uses humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose flaws, corruption, or stupidity? A) Parody | B) Bathos | C) Satire | D) Irony

C) Satire

What literary element refers to the time, place, and circumstances in which a story takes place? A) Atmosphere | B) Context | C) Setting | D) Mood

C) Setting

What figure of speech compares two different things using 'like' or 'as'? A) Metaphor | B) Simile | C) Analogy | D) Allegory

B) Simile

What term describes an object, person, situation, or action that has a literal meaning but also represents a larger, deeper idea? A) Motif | B) Conceit | C) Symbol | D) Allegory

C) Symbol

What figure of speech blends or describes one sense using the language of another sense? A) Imagery | B) Synesthesia | C) Metaphor | D) Personification

B) Synesthesia

What figure of speech uses a part to represent the whole, or the whole to represent a part? A) Metonymy | B) Synecdoche | C) Conceit | D) Allegory

B) Synecdoche

What term refers to the arrangement and order of words, phrases, and sentences to create meaning, emphasis, rhythm, or effect? A) Diction | B) Grammar | C) Syntax | D) Meter

C) Syntax

What is the central or underlying message, idea, or insight of a literary work? A) Motif | B) Subject | C) Moral | D) Theme

D) Theme

What term describes the author's attitude toward the subject, characters, audience, or situation? A) Mood | B) Atmosphere | C) Tone | D) Diction

C) Tone

What figure of speech occurs when a word or phrase is split by inserting another word or phrase into it for emphasis? A) Ellipsis | B) Tmesis | C) Caesura | D) Enjambment

B) Tmesis

What literary device occurs when one word (usually a verb or adjective) applies to two or more words in different ways, blending literal and figurative meanings? A) Chiasmus | B) Zeugma | C) Oxymoron | D) Anadiplosis

B) Zeugma