AP Lit Vocabulary: Key Poetry Devices (Lecture Notes)

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering major poetry devices and rhetorical figures from the notes.

Epistrophe

Repetition of phrases at the end of lines

Climax

A building device that ends in the most dramatic example

Chiasmus

A reversal of phrasing structures that creates new meaning

ex: "It's hard to make time, but to waste it is easy”

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which something is referred to by the name of something closely associated with it.

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality; often involves saying the opposite of what is meant.

Isocolon

A succession of parallel elements excluding conjunctions

ex: I came, I saw, I conquered

Asyndeton

Omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses.

ex: I got bread, cheese, eggs

Polysyndeton

Deliberate use of multiple conjunctions between words or clauses, often creating a slower rhythm.

Epanelepsis

Repetition of the initial word or phrase at the end of the same clause, separated by other words.

Anadiplosis

The last word of a clause is repeated at the beginning of the next clause.

Antimetabole

Repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order.

ex: "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country"

Synecdoche

A part stands for the whole (or the whole for a part).

Syllepsis/Zeugma

A single word governs or modifies two or more others, often in different senses.

Litotes

A figure of speech that uses understatement by negating the opposite; often involves double negatives.

Antithesis

A contrast of ideas or sides, often in a balanced or parallel structure.

Anastrophe

Inversion of the normal order of words for emphasis.

Apposition

A noun or noun phrase that renames another noun next to it, usually set off by commas.

Ellipsis

The deliberate omission of one or more words that are understood from the context.

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words.

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words.

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds within or at the ends of words.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two unlike things without using like or as.

Simile

A comparison using like or as.

Extended metaphor (conceit)

A metaphor developed at length, sometimes throughout a work; a sustained or elaborate comparison.

Personification

Giving human qualities to non-human things.

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Understatement

Lessening or downplaying something for effect, often for irony or humor.

Parallelism

Phrasing that mirrors structure across clauses or sentences.