Q1 AP Lang Literary Devices List 1 (copy)

A comprehensive list of literary devices, sentence types, and organizational patterns from AP Lang List 1.

Tone

Narrator’s or speaker’s attitude toward the subject of the passage.

Exclamatory sentences

Expresses a wish, a desire, a command – and is often, but not always, indicated with an exclamation point.

Interrogative sentences

Asks a question.

Declarative sentences

Most common form of sentence, makes a factual statement.

Syntax

Sentence structure, how sentence parts are arranged to convey meaning and affect a reader’s response.

Diction

Word choice, an element of style that gives each person’s writing a quality that is uniquely his or her own.

Connotation

The feelings we attach to ideas, events, and objects.

Deductive

Organization pattern: general to specific, thesis to evidence.

Inductive

Organization pattern: specific to general, evidence to thesis.

Satire

The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's vices or shortcomings, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. Potential effect: To make the reader laugh at the foolishness and absurdities of human nature, but they also possess an undercurrent of seriousness by shedding light on important social issues or commenting on corruption, hypocrisy, or incompetence.

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

Simile

A figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two unlike subjects using the words like or as.

Personification

The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.

Irony

The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or empathetic effect.

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Imagery

A word or phrase that appeals to one or more of the five senses, including: taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound.

Allusion

An implied or direct reference to something in history or culture.

Analogy

A comparison of two objects or situations that have several common characteristics.

Metonymy

An object or concept is referred to not by its own name, but instead by the name of something closely associated with it.

Synecdoche

A part is substituted for the whole, or vice versa.

Juxtaposition

Involves placing two or more things side by side to create a contrast or comparison.

Alliteration

The occurrence of the same consonant letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. Potential effect: Used to inject mood or emotion into a piece of writing so it's more striking and memorable.

Rhetorical question

A question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer.