Literary Devices AP Latin

alliteration

repetition of the same letter or sound, usually at the beginning of a series of words

anaphora

repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive clauses

anastrophe

inversion of the usual order of words, such as placing a preposition after, instead of before, the word it governs

apostrophe

sudden break from the previous narrative for an address, in the second person, of some person or object, absent or present

asyndeton

omission of conjunctions

chiasmus

arrangement of words in a mirroring, or ABBA, pattern, found most often with pairs of nouns and adjectives

ellipsis

omission of one or more words which must be logically supplied in order to create a grammatically complete expression

enjambment

continuation of a unit of thought beyond the end of one verse and into the first few feet of the next

hendiadys

the use of two nouns connected by et instead of a single modified noun

hyperbaton

distanced placement of two words which are logically meant to be understood together

hyperbole

exaggeration for rhetorical effect

litotes

understatement, often enhanced by the use of the negative

metaphor

implied comparison achieved through a figurative use of words; the word is used not in its literal sense, but in one analogous to it

metonymy

substitution of one word for another which it suggests

onomatopoeia

use of words of which the sound suggests the sense

oxymoron

the use in combination of apparently contradictory words

personification

attribution of personality to an impersonal thing

polysyndeton

overabundance of conjunctions

preterition

mentioning a fact by pretending to pass over it

rhetorical question

figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked in order to make a point and without the expectation of a reply

simile

explicit comparison between two things using 'like' or 'as'

synchesis

interlocking word order; abAB

synecdoche

the use of a part for the whole

tmesis

separation into two parts of a word normally written as one, often for a visual effect

transferred epithet

epithet which has been transferred from the word to which it strictly belongs to another word connected with it in thought