AP Lit Devices

Repetition of a consonant sound

Applied to any verse that does't rhyme. Iambic pentameter. Shakespeare's plays

Reference to another person, historical vent, or work

Direct address to someone who is not present

A pause in a line of poetry in order to make the meaning clear or to follow the natural rhythm of speech

Associations or moods attached to a word

Repetition of a sequence of two or more consonants with a change in the intervening vowel

A pair of rhymed lines

Dictionary definition

Regional speech pattern

Word choice

Combination of stressed and unstressed syllables that m ake up the metric unit of a line

Poetry that doesn't follow a prescribed form but is characterized by irregularity in length of lines and lack of regular metrical pattern and rhyme

Extreme exaggeration

Language that appeals to the senses

Placement of one idea next to its opposite to make it more dramatic

Implicit comparison between two things essentially dissimilar without like or as

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables or the units of stress patterns

Word when spoken imitates the sounds associated with the words

Seeks to create mental ambiguity, which then forces the reader to pause and seek clarity

Giving human characteristics to nonhuman things

The repeating of a word or phrase for emphasis

Play on words to create humor or comic relief

Echo or imitation of a sound

Sense of movement attributable to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

Change in setting, tone, or speakers

Explicit comparison using like, as, or than between two very different things

Fixed form of fourteen lines, iambic pentameter

Group of lines that forms one division of a poem

Object that signifies something greater than itself

Lines of poetry or metrical language in general, in contrast to prose

The use of words to express something other than the literal meaning

Last word of the clause begins the next clause

Deliberate repetition of a word at the beginning of several successive poetic lines

Reversal of the natural order of words in a sentence or line of poetry

Figure of speech in which the name of one thing is substituted for another which it is closely associated to

Patter of language that creates rhythm of repetition often combines with some other language of repetition

Question whose answer is assumed

Occurs when author significantly alters diction, syntax, or both

Sentence with three equally distinct and equally long parts

Creates exaggeration by showing restraint

Minor device in which two or more elements in a sentence are tied by the same verb or noun