Literary Devices
Gives human-like qualities to an inanimate object or animal, often used to make abstract ideas more vivid or to emphasize an emotional effect.
What is personification
The length of time and amount of questions for the multiple-choice section of the AP Literature exam
What is 1 hour and 55 questions?
The length of time and essay prompts for the FRQ section of the AP Literature exam.
What is 2 hours and 3 essays?
In this novel, multiple characters dealt with their trauma of their past to change their future?
What is Beloved?
This type of poem has 14 lines and is often written in iambic pentameter, commonly associated with Shakespeare.
What is a sonnet?
An author’s use of vivid, descriptive language, often intended to create sensory detail and help the reader visualize a scene or experience.
What is imagery
What is the #1 goals when completing the MCQ on the AP Literature Exam?
What is Answer Every Question?
The three different prompts on the FRQ section of the AP Literature exam.
What is prompt 1: poetry, prompt 2: short fiction, prompt 3: literary argument?
In this text, a specific group of characters must contend with society norms placed on them due to their genders
What is A Streetcar Named Desire?
This narrative perspective uses “he” or “she” and allows the reader access all of the thoughts and feelings of every character.
What is third-person omniscient point of view?
When a comparison is made without using “like” or “as,” often stating one thing is another to highlight a shared quality.
What is a metaphor
If you do not know what a word means in the text, you can make an educated guess or use hints and extra information in a sentence or passage that help you understand the meaning of an unknown word called?
What are context clues?
On a FRQ when you see "interpretation or meaning of the work as a whole" you should immediately think of this term
What is a theme?
This text highlights what happens when characters suffer the consequences of their actions
What is Hamlet?
This literary element reflects the author’s attitude toward the subject, often revealed through diction and syntax.
What is tone?
The intentional choice and use of words and phrases in writing, often analyzed for its effect on tone, meaning, and characterization.
What is diction?
On AP Lit MCQs, the “best” answer is usually the one that
A. sounds the most sophisticated
B. includes the most literary devices
C. is most fully supported by the text
D. matches personal interpretation
What is C. is most fully supported by the text?
The poetic and prose analysis FRQ (Q1 and Q2) will always ask for you to analyze the author's use of what?
What are literary/poetic elements and techniques?
In this novel, various characters were impacted by the environment/ culture/ society around them and must find a way to get back to their true identities
What is Ceremony?
This method of characterization reveals a character’s traits through their actions, dialogue, and interactions rather than direct description.
What is indirect characterization?
The placement of two or more, often contrasting, elements side-by-side to highlight their differences, create irony, or evoke a dramatic, emotional, or intellectual response.
What is juxtaposition?
In AP Lit MCQs, questions that ask “the effect of a line” are primarily testing your ability to
A. summarize the plot
B. identify historical context
C.define vocabulary words
D. analyze how language creates meaning
Answer: What is D. analyze how language creates meaning?
In AP Literature essays, what should commentary focus on instead of summarizing the plot or just naming literary devices?
What is explaining how the writer’s choices create meaning and support a larger idea or theme?
The authors and titles of the novels/plays we've read this year.
Hamlet, Shakespeare
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko
A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams
When reading a prose passage for AP Lit Q2, you should primarily look for patterns in language, shifts in tone or focus, and repeated literary choices that help reveal meaning.
What are patterns, shifts, and significant authorial choices in language and structure?