AP Literature Lit. Terms

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What is an oxymoron?

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A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction, e.g., 'deafening silence.'

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What is a ballad?

Back

A poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas, often with a musical quality.

Front

What is hyperbole?

Back

Extreme exaggeration used for emphasis or effect, e.g., 'I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.'

Front

What is a stanza?

Back

A 'paragraph' in poetry, consisting of a grouped set of lines.

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What is a Petrarchian sonnet?

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A sonnet that has an octave with the rhyme scheme ABBA ABBA, followed by a sestet with the rhyme scheme CDE CDE.

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What is alliteration?

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The repetition of the same initial consonant sounds in a sequence of words, e.g., 'She sells sea shells by the sea shore.'

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What is assonance?

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The repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words, e.g., 'The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.'

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What is a sestina?

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A complex form of poetry consisting of six stanzas of six lines each, followed by a three-line envoi.

Front

What is a sonnet?

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A 14-line poem, typically written in iambic pentameter, with various rhyme schemes.

Front

What is metonymy?

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A figure of speech in which one thing is referred to by the name of something closely associated with it, e.g., 'The White House issued a statement.'