AP Literature Poetic Devices

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Anadiplosis

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Description and Tags

strategies and terms (verses, sentence levels & narratives, etc.)

96 Terms

1

Anadiplosis

When the end of one line is repeated to begin the next. (Ex: Wherein I die, not live; for life is straight, Straight as a line, and ever tends to Thee).

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Alliteration

Words that start with the same letter or sound.

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3

Anaphora

Repeating a word or phrase at the beginning of a series of clauses or sentences.

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4

Anastrophe

Sentence is reversed/inverted of its normal order (not repeated though).

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5

Asynartete

Poem or stanza with two different meters.

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6

Asyndeton

A sentence that leaves out a conjunction, so it fits the poem’s meter.

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7

Assonance

Repeated vowel sounds.

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8

Bildungsroman

Coming of age story.

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9

Chiasmus

Words or concepts repeated, purposefully inverted (Ex: Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.)

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10

Congeries

Creating a list to emphasize a point or irony (Ex: Apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order, what have the Romans done for us?)

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11

Conceit

Extended metaphor used by metaphysical poets.

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12

Consonance

Repeated consonant sounds.

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13

Denouement

Story’s resolution.

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14

Didactic

Adjective describing types of literature, intended to impart a moral lesson.

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15

Enallage

Substituting one grammatical form for another (Ex: She is to be wived.)

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16

Epistrophe

Word or phrase repeated at the sentence’s end.

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17

Epic Similie

Similie developed & explained across series of lines.

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18

Epithet

A nickname used as an invective.

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19

Epigram

Pithy saying or remark (Ex: An apple a day keeps the doctor away.)

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20

Epigraph

Poem, quote, or sentence at the beginning of a piece that reveals theme/sets a tone.

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21

Epiphany

Sudden realization or moment of clarity.

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22

Epizeuxis

Repeating words of phrases in immediate succession in a sentence.

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23

Erotesis

Question that expects an affirmative or negative response.

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24

English/Shakespearian Sonnet

14 lines divided into 3 quatrains + a couplet

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25

Enjambent

Continuation without a pause beyond the end (Ex: A sentence has a line brain, but continues)

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26

Hyperbaton

Inversion of words differing from how they’re normally arranged (Ex: Object there was none.)

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27

Irony

Signifying the opposite (Verbal = Opposite of what’s intended, Situational = Contrast from expected vs happened, Dramatic = reader knows more than characters)

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28

Isocolon

2+ phrases have the same structure, rhythm, length (Ex: Veni, vidi, vici.)

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29

Jeremiad

Long mournful, complaint or lamentation.

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30

Joycean prose

Stream of consciousness, laden with wordplay

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31

Kafkaesque

Surreal, nightmarish milieu producing disorder and resignation (concept from Franz Kafka)

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32

Lacuna

Large gap or omission, sometimes used to indicate absense

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33

Litotes

Understatement used to create ironic sentiment

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34

Malapropism

Mistake of using one word to replace a similar sounding, yet more appropriate one (Ex: I am not to be truffled with.)

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35

Metonymy

Term used for something similar to what’s intended

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36

Mise en abyme

Story inside a story (framed)

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37

Motif

Repeated element supporting a work’s theme

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38

Onomatopoeia

Words sounding like what they’re referring (Ex: Click, clack, moo.)

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39

Oxymoron

Two contradictory words describing one thing (Ex: Parting is such sweet sorrow.)

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40

Parallelism

Similar ideas and words are arranged harmoniously to create a parallel (Ex: One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.)

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41

Peripeteia

Sudden reversal of fortunes

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42

Petrarchan Sonnet

14 lines divided into an octave and sestet

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43

Polysyndeton

Repeating conjunctions in rapid succession (Ex: We have ships and men and money.)

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44

Portmanteau

Two words combine to form a new one, referring to a single concept

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45

Repetition

Repeating a word/phrase

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46

Rhyme

Effect of having words with similar vowel sounds (Slant = Similar but not identical, Feminine = Stressed syllables followed by unstressed, Internal = Words in middle of lines, Eye = Similar spelling but not sound, Masculine = Final stressed syllable, Rich = Produced with vowels and consonants).

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47

Synecdoche

Term used to represent an entirity

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48

Tmesis

Separating a compound word with intervening words (Ex: Shove it back any-old-where in the pile:)

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49

Tautology

Sentence/paragraph repeats a word or phrase, with the same idea twice (Ex: But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door.)

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50

Telegraphic Sentence

Five or less words

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51

Volta

“Turn” in a poem, tone suddenly shifts

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52

Zeugma

Word applies to two others in different senses (Ex: John and his license expired last week.)

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53

Light Verse

Poetry about trivial, amusing, unimportant things.

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54

Free Verse

NO rules, but still contains some structure.

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55

Blank Verse

Contains meter, lacks rhyme.

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56

Alliterative Verse

Organizing principle for lines in alliteration.

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57

Rhyming Verse

Meter & rhyme.

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58

Prose

Not in verse, structure doesn’t matter. Book writing.

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59

Foot

Unit of syllables in a poem.

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60

Iamb

Unstressed, stressed.

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61

Trochee

Stressed, unstressed.

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62

Spondee

Stressed, stressed.

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63

Common Meter

Line of iambic followed by a line of iambic trimeter.

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64

Meter Lengths

Three feet = Trimeter. Four feet = Tetrameter. Five feet = Pentameter. Six feet = Hexameter. Seven feet = Heptameter. Eight feet= Octameter.

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65

Couplet

Pairing of two lines.

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66

Quatrain

Pairing of four lines.

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67

Allegory

Narrative with characters & plots depicting abstract ideas/themes.

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68

Allusion

Passing or indirect descriptive reference

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69

Anachronism

Something happens or attributed to a different era than what actually existed. (Ex: Cassius said the clock struck three, but mechanical clocks weren’t invented yet).

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70

Anthropomorphism

Literally applying human traits or qualities to non-human things.

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71

Aphorism

Universally accepted truth in a pithy way (Ex: To err is human, to forgive divine)

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72

Archetype

“Universal symbol” bringing familiarity and context to a story. Represents feeling and situations across cultures/time periods.

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73

Colloquialism

Casual and informal language in writing, including slang

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74

Deus Ex Machina

Impossible situation solved by appearance of an unexpected character/action/event

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75

Euphemism

Indirect “polite” way of describing something too inappropriate or awkward to address directly

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76

Exposition

Narrative provides background information in order to help reader understand what’s happening.

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77

Flashback

Cut to previous events split up present-day scenes in a story.

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78

Foreshadowing

Author hints at events yet to come.

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79

Frame story

Story’s part that “frames” another

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80

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statement emphasizes significance of statement’s actual meaning.

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81

Imagery

Readers’ senses through highly descriptive language

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82

In Media Res

“In the midst of things,” beginning a story without context.

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83

Juxtaposition

Places dissimilar concepts side by side, profound contrast highlights their differences

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84

Paradox

Statement that contradicts itself yet true (Ex: War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.)

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85

Personification

Human traits applied to non-human things (metaphorically)

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86

Point of View

Mode of narration in a story

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87

Satire

Making fun of some aspect of human nature or society

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88

Soliloquy

Character speaking their thoughts aloud to themselves

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89

Tone

Writer’s attitude towards the subject

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90

Zoomorphism

Animal traits and assigning them to something not an animal

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91

Cliche

Idea used so often, it becomes unoriginal

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92

Idiom

Uses figurative language whose meaning differs from what’s actually said (Ex: It’s raining cats and dogs)

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93

Metonymy

Serves as a synonym and symbolizes things (Ex: “The crown” representing the monarchy).

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94

Non Sequitur

Statements that don’t logically follow what precedes them, absurd and lend humor

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95

Rhetorical Question

Asked to create an effect ratherthan to solicit an answer

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96
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