7926993880 | Allusion | A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. Allusions can be historical (like referring to Hitler), literary (like referring to Lennie in Of Mice and Men), religious (like referring to Noah and the flood), or mythical (like referring the Zeus). There are many more possibilities and a piece of writing may simultaneously use multiple layers of allusion. | 0 | |
7927020146 | Analogy | A similarity or comparison made between two different things to show how they are alike or to show a relationship between the two. An analogy can explain something unfamiliar by associating it with something more familiar. Analogies also make writing more vivid, imaginative, or intellectually engaging. | 1 | |
7927032786 | Anthropomorphism | Attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object (this is a form of personification). Or, anthropomorphism is the describing of gods or goddesses in human forms and possessing human characteristics such as jealousy, hatred, or love. | 2 | |
7927049046 | Apostrophe | Calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea. An exclamatory rhetorical figure of speech, which a speaker or writer breaks off and directs speech to an imaginary person or abstract quality or idea. In dramatic works and poetry, it is often introduced by the word "O"; (not to be confused with the exclamation "Oh"). If the character is asking a god or goddess for inspiration it is called an Invocation. | 3 | |
7927069813 | Conceit | An elaborate, extended metaphor that compares two things that are startlingly different (fanciful or startling). | 4 | |
7927073421 | Epithet | An objective or objective phrase applied to a person or thing that is frequently used to emphasize a characteristic quality. | 5 | |
7927081046 | Hyperbole | A figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement for effect. | 6 | |
7927083932 | Image | A word or words, either figurative or literal, used to describe a sensory experience or an object perceived by the sense. An image is always a concrete representation. | 7 | |
7927092158 | Imagery | The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience. | 8 | |
7927099033 | Irony | A discrepancy between appearances and reality. | 9 | |
7927102582 | Verbal Irony | Occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else. | 10 | |
7927108269 | Situational Irony | Takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen. | 11 | |
7927114132 | Dramatic Irony | Is so called because it is often used on state. A character in the play or story thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better. | 12 | |
7927119781 | Litotes | Is a form of understatement in which the positive form is emphasized through the negation of a negative form. A figure of speech in which the speaker either strengthens or weakens the emphasis of a claim by denying its opposite. | 13 | |
7927132194 | Metaphor | A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles. | 14 | |
7927139463 | Implied Metaphor | Does not state explicitly the two terms of the comparison. | 15 | |
7927142585 | Extended Metaphor | Is a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it. | 16 | |
7927145856 | Dead Metaphor | Is a metaphor that has been used so often that the comparison is no longer vivid. | 17 | |
7927162832 | Mixed Metaphor | Is a metaphor that has gotten out of control and mixes its terms to that they are visually or imaginatively incompatible. | 18 | |
7927175465 | Metonymy | A figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing is referred to by something closely associated with it. | 19 | |
7927180985 | Mood | An atmosphere created by a writer's diction and the details selected; the atmosphere or pervading tone of a place or situation. | 20 | |
7927185904 | Motif | A recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the work by tying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme. | 21 | |
7927195653 | Oxymoron | A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. | 22 | |
7927199991 | Personification | A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes. | 23 | |
7927204121 | Simile | A figure of speech that makes an explicitly comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as, than, or resembles. | 24 | |
7927212400 | Symbol | A person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself. | 25 | |
7927217690 | Understatement | A statement that says less than what is meant. | 26 |
AP Language Terms: Tropes Flashcards
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