Ap English Literary Terms Page 3

Front 1

Brief reference to a well-known person, place, or happening

Back 1

Allusions

Front 2

Facts are unknown to characters but open to audience

Back 2

Irony, Dramatic

Front 3

Events turn out the opposite of how they are expected.

Back 3

Irony, Situational

Front 4

Words literally state opposite of writer's true meaning.

Back 4

Irony, Verbal

Front 5

Using words in a sense very different from their usual meaning.

Back 5

Irony

Front 6

An implicit comparison, less direct than the simile.

Back 6

Metaphor

Front 7

Referring to inanimate objects as if they were human.

Back 7

Personification

Front 8

A brief comparison, introduced by like or as.

Back 8

Simile

Front 9

A writer's intellectual position or emotion regarding the subject of the writing. Often the attitude will have several facets in the writing - deal with this complexity in your writing rather than trying to apply a single label on the whole piece.

Back 9

Attitude

Front 10

Look for sensory description; visual detail is often the most predominant. After you identify the descriptive detail, talk about the effect.

Back 10

Descriptive detail

Front 11

Tools of the storyteller such as ordering events to build to a climactic moment or withholding information until an appropriate of crucial moment to create a desired effect.

Back 11

Narrative devices

Front 12

Look for words that have strong connotations, to intensify emotional effect. Analyze how these words complement the writer's argument.

Back 12

Persuasive Devices

Front 13

Look at organization and how the writer combines images, details, or arguments to serve his or her purpose.

Back 13

Rhetorical Features

Front 14

Note and analyze elements of language that contribute to style: diction, syntax, attitude, tone, figures of speech, connotations, and repetition.

Back 14

Stylistic Devices