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Literary Devices
AP language terms
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| ALLEGORY | device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literary meaning. The allegorical meaning usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence. Ex.Poe's "Masque of Red Death" |
| ALLITERATION | repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words; repetition can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of the passage. Ex. "she sells seas shells" |
| ASSONANCE | the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, usually in successive or close words in proximity Ex. "the sergeAnt asked him to bOmb the lAwn with hOtpOts." |
| ALLITERATION | repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words; repetition can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of the passage. Ex. "she sells seas shells" |
| ASSONANCE | the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, usually in successive or close words in proximity Ex. "the sergeAnt asked him to bOmb the lAwn with hOtpOts." |
| ALLUSION | direct or indirect reference to something commonly known such as a book, event, myth, place, person or work of art to convey tone, purpose, or effect. Allusions can be historical, literary, religious, topical, mythical, etc. |
| CONCEIT | extended metaphor with complex logic that governs a poetic passage or entire poem; archaic word for concept Ex. The romantic images that Donne draws up in his poem "Valediction: Forbidden Mourning": he compares his and his love's souls to gold and then.. |
| CONSONANCE | repetition of two or more consonants Ex. pitter-patter, splish-splash, click-clack |
| DEUS EX MACHINA | as in Greek theater, use of an artificial device or contrived solution to solve a difficult situation, usually introduced suddenly and unexpectedly |
| FORESHADOW | to hint at or present actions to come in a story or a play; also termed flashback at times Ex. Calpurnia's dream, omens around Roman city, etc. in Julius Caesar |
| FOIL | person or thing that makes another seem better by contrast (juxtaposition is used more with objects) Ex. Gene's actions in ASP magnify how great/good Finny is |
| IRONY | contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant |
| VERBAL IRONY | a discrepancy between the true meaning of a situation and the literal meaning of the written or spoken words Ex. in Night, when Elie describes Hitler as a type of God who keeps His promises |
| SITUATIONAL IRONY | a situation that is the opposite of what the reader expects Ex. in ASP, Gene believes he has found an escape from his past |
| DRAMATIC IRONY | a technique in which the author lets the audience or reader in on a character's situation while the character himself remains in the dark. When used in a tragedy, dramatic irony is called tragic irony |
| MOTIF | a recurring structure, contrast, or other device that develops or informs a work's major themes Ex. The tree or steps in ASP; smoke, night, father-son relationships in Night |
| ANECDOTE | the brief narration of a single event or incident |
| CONCRETE | as opposed to abstract, concrete refers to something that actually exists and can be seen and known; abstract pertains to ideas, concepts, or qualities, as opposed to physical attributes |
| ANACHRONISM | the incorporation of an event, scene, or person who does not correspond with the time period portrayed in the work; as Shakespeare's use of a cannon in King John or a clock in JC |
| CARICATURE | a grotesque likeness of striking characteristics in persons or things; verbal description to exaggerate or distort, for comic effect, a person's distinctive physical feature or characteristics |
| POINT OF VIEW | perspective from which a story is told. Includes first person, second person, third person, third person omniscient, and third person narrative. |
| PROTAGONIST/ANTAGONIST | protagonist may not be the hero, but the character the audience feels the most sympathy for; antagonist is the character or force in a literary work that opposes the main character; the antagonist may be an object |
| STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS | technique characterized by the continuous, unedited flow of experience through the mind recorded on paper (talking off the cuff); often used as interior monologue, when the reader is privy to a character or narrator's thoughts |
| SYMBOL | an object, character, figure, or color that is used to represent an abstract idea or concept Ex. conventional symbols versus contextual symbols |
| THEME | a fundamental and universal idea explored in a literary work |
| ATMOSPHERE | the emotional mood created by the entirety of a literature work, est. partly by the setting and partly by the author's choice of objects that are described. Description of weather/nature (pathetic fallacy) contribute greatly to the atmosphere...see more. |
| SETTING | total environment for the action of a fictional work. Setting includes time period, the place, the historical milieu, as well as the social, political, and perhaps even spiritual realities. Setting is usually established primarily through description... |
| SETTING (CONTINUED) | though narration is used as well; some novels include a "frame" to supply an extended description of the setting (where a character looks back to an earlier era, an "editor" describing the characters or context of the tale, such as in ASP |
Created by:
randomosity123
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