AP Lit Devices

a part standing for the whole

• synecdoche
• metonymy
• hyperbole
• paradox

treating something nonhuman like it's human

• personification
• metonymy
• hyperbole
• metaphor

mixing of the senses

• synesthesia
• simile
• onomatopoeia
• synecdoche

the formation of a word from the sound for which it is named

• syntesthesia
• onomatopoeia
• assonance
• litotes

repeated consonant sounds

• alliteration
• assonance
• parallel structure
• anaphora

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

• anaphora
• alliteration
• assonance
• metonymy

repetition using the same grammatical pattern

• parallel structure
• alliteration
• litotes
• anaphora

the opposite of what is meant or expected

• irony
• simile
• hyperbole
• synesthesia

repetition of vowel sounds (usually within words)

• assonance
• alliteration
• synecdoche
• metonymy

reference to something historical or literary outside the text

• allusion
• antithesis
• alliteration
• litotes