📘 AP Literature — Poetic Devices and Definitions

Alliteration

Repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of nearby words.

Allusion

Brief reference to a person, place, event, or work of cultural or literary importance.

Anadiplosis

Repetition of the last word of one clause at the start of the next.

Apostrophe

Direct address to someone or something not present or unable to respond.

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Caesura

A pause within a line of poetry, often marked by punctuation.

Connotation

The emotional or suggested meaning of a word beyond its literal sense.

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds within or at the end of nearby words.

Denotation

The literal, dictionary definition of a word.

Diction

The poet’s word choice, revealing tone or attitude.

Dramatic Monologue

A poem in which one speaker addresses a silent listener.

Enjambment

Continuation of a sentence beyond the end of a line without pause.

Epigraph

A short quotation at the beginning of a work that suggests its theme.

Free Verse

Poetry with no consistent rhyme or meter.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration for emphasis or effect.

Imagery

Descriptive language appealing to the five senses.

Irony

Contrast between what is said and what is meant or expected.

Juxtaposition

Placing contrasting ideas side by side to highlight differences.

Metaphor

Implied comparison between two unlike things.

Metonymy

Using a related term to represent a larger concept.

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it describes (e.g., 'buzz', 'bang').

Oxymoron

Pairing two contradictory words to form a striking or paradoxical idea.

Paradox

A self-contradictory statement that reveals a deeper truth.

Personification

Giving human qualities to nonhuman things.

Polyptoton

Repetition of words with the same root but different forms.

Rhyme Scheme

The ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of lines.

Simile

Comparison using 'like' or 'as'.

Stanza

A grouped set of lines in a poem, like a paragraph in prose.

Synecdoche

Using a part to represent the whole, or vice versa.

Syntax

Arrangement of words and phrases to create sentence structure.

Tone

The poet’s attitude toward the subject.

Understatement

Intentionally downplaying something to create emphasis, irony, or humor.