Literary Devices AP English

Allegory

A narrative or poem with a hidden, symbolic meaning. Typically moral or political.

Abstract Language

Words that refer to intangible qualities, ideas, and concepts; i.e.": “truth, honor.”

Allusion

Brief reference to a familiar person/thing/incident (often Biblical, historical, mythological, or literary)

Amplification

Adding more information to a sentence to increase its worth and understanding

Anachronism

Placing something in the wrong time period. I.e. spacemen in the old west.

Anastrophe

When the order of the noun and the adjective is exchanged (Yoda speech)

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

Apostrophe

Directly addressing an absent or imaginary person

Aphorism

A matter of fact statement that imparts sense and wisdom

Archetypes

An idea, symbol, pattern, or character-type, in a story

Assonance

The rhyming of vowel sounds in the middle of words

Authorial Intrusion

When the author steps away from the text and speaks to the reader

Ballad

Narrative poem, originally sung

Bathos

Excessive pathos

Bibliomancy

Foretelling the future by turning to random portions of the Bible for guidance

Bildungsroman

Plotline based on the overall growth of the central character

Caesura

A pause in a line of poetry, often dictated by rhythm

Circumlocution

Uses exaggeratedly long and complex sentences to convey meaning

Conceit

An extended metaphor that compares two seemingly related things

Consonance

Close repetition of identical consonant sounds around different vowels (flip-flop) or at the ends of words (hid-bed)

Couplet

Two lines of verse, usually rhymed and of the same meter

Denouement

The outcome (end) of a story or play’s plot

Deus ex Machina

Device used to give an implausible resolution to a story

Dissonance

Juxtaposition of jarring sounds

Doggerel

Rough, crudely written verse, usually comical

Elegy

Dignified poem mourning death

Enjambment

The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza

Epanalepsis

Figure of speech in which the beginning of a clause or sentence is repeated at the end of that same clause or sentence

Epistrophe

The repetition of a word or words at the end of a clause or sentence

Epithet

Term used to characterize a person (Jack the Ripper)

Epilogue

Final section of a speech or written work

Euphemism

Using a milder or less abrasive form of a negative description (e.g., “passed away)

Euphony

Words or phrases noted for their melodious sound

Gallows Humor

Black humor (like in dead baby jokes)

Hyberbaton

When the author plays with the positioning of words/phrases for effect

Idiom

A saying or phrase that is used to describe a situation but is not literal

Irony

Writer expresses a meaning contradictory to the stated or ostensible one

Juxtaposition

Placing words or imaged with contrasting effects next to each other

Liotes

Understatement

Meter

The rhythmic pattern in poetry

Metonymy

Figure of speech where the name of an object is substituted for another (e.g., “The White House issued a statement today…”)

Motif

Any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story

Ode

Lyric poem of some length, serious in subject and dignified in style

Oxymoron

A combination of contradictory words for rhetorical effect, i.e. bittersweet

Paradox

A statement that seems self-contradictory but really true

Pathetic Fallacy

Human characteristics given to inanimate objects

Persona

A “mask” which the author assumes to speak to the audience

Periphrasis

The use of indirect/circumlocutory speech

Petrarchan Sonnet

14 lines divided into two parts, an octave and sestet

Portmanteau

Joining together two or more words to create a new word (e.g., Spanglish)

Quatrain

A stanza of four lines

Shakespearean Sonnet

A one-stanza poem consisting of 14 lines written in iambic pentameter

Soliloquy

A speech delivered by a character alone on state, revealing their thoughts

Stream of Consciousness

Uninterrupted collection of thoughts and ideas in the mind

Syllogism

A deductive, logical argument formulated around one major premise, one minor premise, and a conclusion

Symbolism

The use of symbols to represent abstract ideas or concepts

Syntax

The arrangement of words or phrases to create well-formed sentences

Synecdoche

A part represents the whole (e.g., all hands on deck)

Theme

The main message the author wants to get across to the reader

Tone

Author’s attitude toward the subject (can also be towards the audience or both)

Verisimilitude

The appearance of being true or real; authenticity