AP Lit Poetry Quiz 2

Figures of Speech

Expressions, such as similes, metaphors, and personifications, that make imaginative, rather than literal, comparisons or associations.

Simile

A comparison using "like" or "as"

Allusion

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event

Metaphor

A comparison without using like or as

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it

Pun

a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.

Personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

Apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.

Overstatement

the action of expressing or stating something too strongly; exaggeration.

Hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Understatement

the opposite of exaggeration. It is a technique for developing irony and/or humor where one writes or says less than intended.

Paradox

A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.

Symbol

A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

Conventional Symbol

something that is recognized by many people to represent certain ideas

Literary/contextual symbol

can be a setting, character, action, object, name, or anything else in a work that maintains its literal significance while suggesting other meanings

Allegory

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Didactic poetry

Poetry designed to teach an ethical, moral, or religious lesson.

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality

Situational irony

occurs when the outcome of a work is unexpected, or events turn out to be the opposite from what one had expected

Verbal irony

occurs when the outcome of a work is unexpected, or events turn out to be the opposite from what one had expected

Satire

A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies.

Dramatic irony

when a reader is aware of something that a character isn't

Cosmic irony

the idea that fate, destiny, or a god controls and toys with human hopes and expectations