ap english poetry terms

alliteration

the repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds, normally at the beginning of words.

ex: Gnus never know pneumonia → all for words begin with the n sound

anaphora

often used in political speeches and occasionally in prose and poetry the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines to create a sonic effect

ex) “go back to mississippi, go back to alabama, go back to south carolina, go back to georgia…“ - mlk

antithesis

a figure of speech characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas, as in Man proposes; God disposes

balancing of one term against another for emphasis or stylistic efectiveness

ex) The hungry judges soon the sentence sign, and wretches hang that jury-men may dine

apostrophe

a figure of speech in which someone (usually, but not always absent), some abstract quality, or a nonexistent personage is directly addressed as though present:

ex) “Papa Above! Regard a Mouse“

ex) “Milton! Thou shoulds’t be living in this hour; England hath need of thee”

assonance

the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds.

ex) a land laid waste with all its young men slain repeats the same a sound in laid, waste, and slain