AP Literature and Composition Literary Terms List

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Metaphor

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A figure of speech that compares two unlike things by saying one thing is another.

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Personification

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A figure of speech in which non-human things are given human characteristics.

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Simile

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A figure of speech that compares two unlike things using 'like' or 'as'.

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Synecdoche

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A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole or vice versa.

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Metonymy

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

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Overstatement/Hyperbole

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An exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally.

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Understatement

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A figure of speech in which something is presented as less important or serious than it actually is.

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Trope

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A figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression.

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Situational Irony

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A situation in which the outcome is very different from what was expected.

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Dramatic Irony

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When the audience knows something that the characters do not.