AP Lit

is a poetic phrase or speech made by a character that is addressed to a subject that is not literally present in the literary work. The subject may be dead, absent, an inanimate object, or even an abstract idea

• aside

• soliloquy

• apostrophe

• monologue

refers to a technique adopted by writers to present ideas, characters, or places in such a manner that they appeal to more than one sense, like hearing, sight, smell, and touch at a given time.

• Caesura

• synecdoche

• synesthesia

• portmanteau

a literary device that refers to the linguistic choices made by a writer to convey an idea or point of view, or tell a story, in an effective way.

• connotation

• syntax

• denotation

• diction

a figure of speech in which one object or idea takes the place of another with which it has a close association.

• juxtaposition

• synecdoche

• metonymy

• zeugma

is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two non-similar things. As a literary device, metaphor creates implicit comparisons without the express use of “like” or “as.”

• simile

• juxtaposition

• metaphor

• personification

is an object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work.

• theme

• climax

• parallelism

• motif

is a stylistic device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect.

• asyndeton

• repetition

• colloquialism

• polysyndeton

It is a stylistic device used in literature and poetry to intentionally eliminate conjunctions between the phrases, and in the sentence, yet maintain grammatical accuracy.

• repetition

• asyndeton

• polysyndeton

• parallelism

Excessive pride that often leads to the downfall of a tragic hero

• Deux Ex Machina

• Catharsis

• Hubris

• In media res

Love is an ideal thing; marriage is a real thing.

• Apostrophe

• Anapest

• Antithesis

• Anecdote