AP Lang AP Terms 42-67

hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic or ironic effect, an overstatement to make a point

irony

an incongruity between expectation and reality

metaphor

figure of speech in which something is represented by another thing that is related to it or emblematic of it

metonymy

figure of speech in which something is represented by another thing that is related to it or emblematic of it

Oxymoron

a paradox made up of two seemingly contradictory words

Paradox

a statement or situation that seems contradictory but actually reveals a surprising hidden, ironic truth

Personification

attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea

Rhetorical question

figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer

Smilie

figure of speech used to explain or clarify an idea by comparing it explicitly to something else, using words like or as

Synecdoche

Figure of speech that uses a part to represent the whole

Understatement/litote

presentation or framing of something as less important, urgent, awful, good, powerful, often used for comical effect, opposite of hyperbole

Zeugma

use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous meanings

Antithesis

contradictory ideas that are juxtaposed, often using parallel grammatical construction

Scheme

artful syntax, which might be a deviation from the normal order of words

Parallelism

similar of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, clauses

Juxtaposition

Placing two things side by side for the sake of comparison or contrast

inversion

Inverted order of words in a sentence, usually variation of the subject-verb object order

Asyndeton

omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, words

Ellipses

A series of dots that can signal something is missing from a quote from a source (…)

Alliteration

Repetition of the same sound beginning several words or syllables in a sequence

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, line

antimetabole

repetition of words in reverse order

polysyndeton

deliberate use of multiple conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, words

Euphemism

agreeable, more polite, less offensive word/phrase for generally unpleasant, harsh concept

Tricolon

Rhetorical device consisting of 3 parallel words, phrases, clauses that come in succession