AP LITERATURE & COMPOSITION Literary Terms & Devices

Ms. Fuque

Allegory

story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities

Alliteration

repetition of the same initial consonant sound of words that are close in proximity, i.e. “Sally sells seashells by the seashore”; usually only recognized in verse

Allusion

reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture; an indirect reference to something, usually from literature

Ambiguity

deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work

Analogy

comparison made between two things to show how they are alike

Anaphora

a deliberate repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row to help make the writer's point more coherent

Anastrophe

inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence in order to create rhythm, emphasis, or euphony

Anecdote

Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something, often shows character of an individual

Antagonist

opponent who struggles against or blocks the protagonist in a story; not always a human

Antimetabole

a figure of speech in which words or clauses from the first half of a sentence are repeated in the second half of the sentence in reverse order, i.e. “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” -JFK or “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” - Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Antithesis

figure of speech in which a thought is balanced with a contrasting thought in parallel arrangement, i.e. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Antihero

central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with heroes, i.e. courage, grace, intelligence, morality, etc.

Anthropomorphism

a type of personification where human characteristics are attributed to an animal; fables almost always use this literary technique, i.e. “The Tortoise and The Hare.”