ap lang

Allegory

A story where characters/events stand for bigger ideas or events.

Alliteration

Repeating the same beginning consonant sound.

Allusion

A reference to something well-known, such as history, Bible, mythology, or pop culture.

Analogy

A comparison showing how two things are similar.

Anaphora

Repeating the same word(s) at the start of sentences/clauses for emphasis.

Anastrophe

Switching the usual word order for effect.

Antithesis

Two opposite ideas balanced in one sentence.

Apostrophe

Talking to someone absent, dead, or nonhuman as if they could respond.

Assonance

Repeating vowel sounds in nearby words.

Asyndeton

Leaving out conjunctions between words/phrases.

Chiasmus

Reversing word order in parallel phrases.

Colloquialism

Informal, everyday speech.

Conceit

A long or unusual metaphor comparing very different things.

Connotation

The feelings/ideas a word suggests beyond its dictionary meaning.

Didactic

Writing meant to teach a lesson or moral.

Elegy

A sad poem mourning someone’s death.

Epanalepsis

Starting and ending a sentence/line with the same word.

Epigraph

A quote at the beginning of a book/work that hints at its theme.

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration.

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality.

Juxtaposition

Putting two very different ideas/images side by side for contrast.

Litotes

Saying something by denying the opposite.

Metonymy

Using something closely related to represent it.

Polysyndeton

Using lots of conjunctions.

Synecdoche

Using a part to represent the whole.