AP Lang Literary Elements and Rhetorical Elements

Theme

Big Idea in a literary work

Tone

The author's attitude toward the subject, conveyed through word choice and style.

symbol

An object, character, or event that represents a larger concept or idea in a literary work.

Irony

A literary device that involves a discrepancy between appearance and reality, or expectation and outcome.

conflict

A struggle between opposing forces, often driving the plot of a literary work,

foreshadowing

Hints at the future

Flashback

interrupts a story's chronological flow to present an event from the past

Point of view

Narrators perspective

Setting

Place where the book takes place

Characterization

reveals character traits indirectly and directly

Allusion

Draw a parallel to remind the audience

Narrator

shapes readers perspective

Imagery

Paints a picture in the readers mind

Speaker

linguistic word choice

Stanza

Word structure formed in units

Couplet

two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit.

ode

a formal, elevated lyric poem that praises or glorifies a specific person, place, thing, or idea

quatrain

four-line stanza in poetry, acting as a fundamental building block for poems or as a complete short poem itself,

apostraphe

speaker directly adresses

sonnet

poetic form with 14 lines

rhyme scheme

poets deliberate line pattern

simile

comparing using like or as

metaphor

comparing without using like or as

Extended Metaphor

Comparison in more than one sentence

Alliteration

words that start with the same letter

onomotopia

words that are sound effects

personification

giving items human like traits

hyperbole

making it more dramatic for effect

free verse

poetic that does not follow anything traditional

Blank verse

poetry that doesn’t rhyme

oxymoron

two contradictory words

iambic pentameter

rhythmic poetry that follows along with beats

diction

word choice of a author

juxtapostion

two contrasting elements put side by side for effect

motif

reoccurring element

paradox

self contradictory statement

anecdote

short story to add a personal touch

colloquialism

informal language

denotation

dictionary definition of the word

connotation

accepted meaning of the word

euphemism

soften the impact of

jargon

specific language of a region

parallelism

similar grammar structures

rhetorical question

question added for effect and is not supposed to be answered

emotional appeal

seeks sympathy from the reader

ethical appeal

appeals to conditionals and demonstrators knowledge of the topic

logical appeal

appeals to the readers logic and employs reason