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| 3025388469 | allegory | A story in which people, things, and actions represent an idea or generalization about life, often have a strong moral or lesson. | 0 | |
| 3025388470 | aphorism | A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle. (If the authorship is unknown, the statement is generally considered to be a folk proverb.) An aphorism can be a memorable summation of the author's point | 1 | |
| 3025390451 | apostrophe | A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. | 2 | |
| 3025390452 | archetype | A detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and to evoke a response | 3 | |
| 3025390453 | conceit | A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects. | 4 | |
| 3025392408 | euphemism | An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasantFrom the Greek for "good speech," euphemisms are a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept - POLITICALLY CORRECT | 5 | |
| 3025393156 | genre | The major category into which a literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry, and drama.However, genre is a flexible term; within these broad boundaries exist many subdivisions that are often called genresthemselves. For example, prose can be divided into fiction (novels and short stories) or nonfiction (essays, biographies,autobiographies, etc.). Poetry can be divided into lyric, dramatic, narrative, epic, etc. Drama can be divided into tragedy,comedy, melodrama, farce, etc. On the AP language exam, expect the majority of the passages to be from the following genres: autobiography, biography, diaries, criticism, essays, and journalistic, political, scientific, and nature writing. There may be fiction or poetry. | 6 | |
| 3025393157 | juxtaposition | a device by which a writer or speaker juxtaposes, or places two items side by side. This is done to create an ironic contrast or effect. A famous photograph from the Depression shows a long line of men waiting for bread who are standing in front of a billboard that says, "America, Land of Opportunity." The picture of men who are out of work and must rely on food hand-outs is juxtaposed with the message that America provides opportunities for all. | 7 | |
| 3025393960 | litotes | A form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite. _____ is the opposite of hyperbole. Examples: "Not a bad idea," "Not many," "It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain" (Salinger, Catcher in the Rye). | 8 | |
| 3025393961 | metonymy | A term from the Greek meaning "changed label" or "substitute name," _____ is a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it. For example, a news release that claims "the White House declared" rather than "the President declared" is using metonymy; Shakespeare uses it to signify the male and female sexes in As You Like It: "doublet and hose ought to show itself courageous to petticoat." The substituted term generally carries a more potent emotional impact. | 9 | |
| 3025394957 | paradox | A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity. (Think of the beginning of Dickens' Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....") | 10 | |
| 3025396237 | parody | A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule. It exploits peculiarities of an author's expression (propensity to use too many parentheses, certain favorite words, etc.) Well-written parody offers enlightenment about the original, but poorly written parody offers only ineffectual imitation. nuances of the newer work. Occasionally, however, parodies take on a life of their own and don't require knowledge of the original. | 11 | |
| 3025396238 | satire | A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule. Regardless of whether or not the work aims to reform human behavior, satire is best seen as a style of writing rather than a purpose for writing. It can be recognized by the many devices used effectively by the satirist: irony, wit, parody, caricature, often humorous, is thought provoking and insightful about the human condition. Some modern satirists include Joseph Heller (Catch 22) and Kurt Vonnegut (Cat's Cradle, Player Piano). | 12 | |
| 3025396239 | synechdoche | A figure of speech in which a part of something us used to represent the whole, or occasionally, the whole is used to represent a part. Examples: To refer to a boat as a "sail"; to refer to a car as "wheels"; to refer to the violins, violas, etc. in an orchestra as "the strings". **Different than metoynomy, in which one thing is represented by another thing that is commonly physically associated with it (but is not necessarily part of it), i.e., referring to a monarch as "the crown" or the President as "The White House". | 13 | |
| 3025397341 | understatement | A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker says less than what he or she means; the opposite of exaggeration. | 14 |
