AP Lit Terms #1

Allusion

figure of speech which makes brief reference to an historical or literary figure, event, or object; a reference in one literary work to a character or theme found in another literary work

Apostrophe

addressing someone or something, usually not present, as though present

Connotation

the emotional implications that a word may carry; implied or associated meaning for a particular word

Denotation

the specific, exact meaning of a word; a dictionary definition

Hyperbole

exaggeration for effect and emphasis, overstatement; figure of speech in which an overstatement or exaggeration occurs

Visual Imagery

type of imagery that appeals to the sense of sight

Auditory Imagery

sound imagery, appeals to the sense of hearing

Olfactory Imagery

appeals to the sense of smell

Gustatory Imagery

imagery appealing to the sense of taste

Tactile Imagery

type of imagery pertaining to the sense of touch

Kinetic Imagery

imagery that appeals to movement

Litotes

a type of meiosis (understatement) in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of the contrary, as in "not unhappy" or "a poet of no small stature"

Metaphor

a figure of speech wherein a comparison is made between two unlike quantities without the use of the words "like" or "as”

Metonymy

 substituting a word naming an object for another word closely associated with it

Oxymoron

technique used to produce an effect by a seeming self-contradiction

Paradox

a statement which contains seemingly contradictory elements or appears contrary to common sense, yet can be seen as perhaps true when viewed from another angle

Personification

figure of speech in which inanimate objects are given qualities of speech and/or movement

Similie

a figure of speech which takes the form of a comparison between two unlike quantities for which a basis for comparison can be found, and which uses the words “like” or “as”

Symbol

 anything that stands for or represents anything else

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part of something stands for the whole or the whole for a part, as wheels for automobiles or society for high society (see metonymy)

Repetition

a literary device that involves using the same word or phrase over and over again in a piece of writing or speech

Enjambment

line of verse that carries over into next line without a pause of any kind

Alliteration

sound device; repetition of initial (beginning) consonant sounds

Assonance

similarity or repetition of a vowel sound in two or more words, especially in a line of verse

Consonance

the repetition of consonant sounds with differing vowel sounds in words near each other in a line or lines of poetry