AP Lang Tropes and Schemes (also rhetorical devices)

Allusion

an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference (To my dog, our neighborhood park is the Garden of Eden.)

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally (I am so hungry I could eat a whole horse!)

Irony

A situation where there is a contrast between reality and expectations (The Titanic was called an unsinkable ship, yet it sank after hitting an iceberg.)

Metaphor

Compare two different things by saying that one thing is the other. (Freedom is a bird who flies with no limits.)

Metonymy

One word is substituted for another word that it is closely associated with (I could not understand his tongue. (meaning I cannot understand his speech))

Onomatopoeia

Letter sounds of a word to imitate the natural sound (Ring, ring! Someone is calling from the phone.)

Oxymoron

Contradictory terms next to each other in a word or phrase (The food was awfully good.)

Paradox

Statement that contradicts itself, but further inspection reveals a deeper truth. (Youth is wasted on the young)

Personification

An object that behaves as a person. (The sun smiled at them.)

Simile

To compare similar subjects with like or as. (He's as light as a feather.)

Synecdoche

A literary device in which a part is used to signify the whole. (I play the strings. (refers to guitar, but categorize as strings))

Imagery

Words that trigger the reader to recall images that engage one of the five senses. (Her perfume smelled like a garden of fresh roses in bloom.)

Symbolism

A person, situation, word, or object is used to represent another thing. (A dove flew over the married couple; a match made from heaven.)

Euphemism

A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts. (She passed away last week.)

Alliteration

The repetition of sounds, usually in initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words (She sells seashells at the seashore.)

Anaphora

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences or clauses in a row (We will fight on the ground, we will fight on the ground, we will fight in the field and in the streets.)

Anastrophe

Involves the inversion or rearrangement of a statement to create a new effect with the sentence (Smart, he was not.)

Antimetabole

Repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order (Eat to live, do not live to eat.)

Antithesis

Two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses or even ideas with parallel structure (It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.)

Asyndeton

Coordinating conjunctions are omitted (Sig wakes up, goes to school, eats, sleeps, goes to school again.)

Parallelism

Sentence construction which places equal grammatical construction near each other, or repeats identical grammatical patterns ("Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.")

Juxtaposition

Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison (All's fair in love and war.)

Rhetorical Question

Questions that do need an answer (Can we improve the quality of our work?)

Zeugma

One word modifies two other words (She broke his car and his heart.)

Polysyndeton

Coordinating conjunctions are added for effect between words or phrases. (Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.)

Ellipsis

An omission of words or events that allow readers to fill the gaps in the narrative sentence. (I don't think this is a good idea…)

Chiasmus

Words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order. (The truth is the light and the light is the truth.)