AP -- Figurative Language Boot Camp Flashcards

2922384164	Allegory	A form of extended metaphor in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative are equated with meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The underlying meaning may have moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas such as charity, greed, or envy.	0
2922384165	Character Allegory	Characters that represent various ideal qualities an allegory specific to one or more characters, where a character represents a virtue/vice/concept/etc	1
2922384166	Apostrophe	Related to personification. Addressing something (or someone) non-living or incapable of response as if it could hear and respond, such as "O, howling wind..."	2
2922384168	Metaphor	A comparison between two objects with the intent of giving clearer meaning to one of them. Often forms of the "to be" verb are used, such as "is" or "was", to make the comparison	3
2922384169	Metonymy	Use of a closely related detail for the thing actually meant, such as using "The White House" to refer to the president	4
2922384170	Hyperbole	A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement. (The literal Greek meaning is "overshoot.") Hyperboles often have a comic effect; however, a serious effect is also possible. Often, hyperbole produces irony. The opposite of hyperbole is understatement.	5
2922384171	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....")	6
2922384172	Personification	Attributing human qualities or characteristics to non-living or non-human things in order to create empathy.	7
2922384173	Simile	A metaphor that uses "like" or "as" or "seems."	8
2922384174	Epic or Homeric Simile	An extended simile used in epic poems and Greek dramas. A typical epic similes uses "just as" or "so then" to signal the comparison, though that is not always the case. An elaborated comparison; differs from ordinary simile in being more involved and ornate	9
2922384175	Synecdoche	The use of a part for the whole, such as "all hands on deck" or "the meeting can begin now that all the suits are here." Note: Synecdoche is sometimes represented as metonymy.	10
2922384176	Symbol	A thing, person, or idea that stands for something else.	11
2922384177	Understatement	Saying less than the situation warrants. The contrast illuminates the truth. The ironic minimalizing of fact, understatement presents something as less significant than it is. The effect can frequently be humorous and emphatic. Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole. Example: Jonathan Swift's A Tale of a Tub: "Last week I saw a woman flayed, and you will hardly believe how much it altered her person for the worse."	12
2922422816	Idiom	An expression that cannot be understood if taken literally (ex- "Get your head out of the clouds").	13