Literary Device Definitions
When the words being spoken don't match the intended meaning
Verbal Irony
Merry and tragical? Tedious and brief?; That is hot ice, and wondrous strange snow!; How shall we find the concord of this discord? - A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
Juxtaposition
The author of The Stranger
Albert Camus
Spell the last name of William who has written plays such as Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, et al.
S-H-A-K-E-S-P-E-A-R-E
The AP Exam has ____ multiple choice questions and ____ essays.
55; 3
An expression designed to call something to mind; an indirect or passing reference
Allusion
"And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea" - Lord Bryon
Alliteration (or Simile)
In Invisible Man, he is eventually revealed to have a false eye, continuing the motif of lacking vision and distorted perceptions of reality.
Brother Jack
Name all 6 members of the Price family from The Poisonwood Bible
Nathan, Orleanna, Rachel, Leah, Adah, Ruth May
An allusion to Achilles is most likely meant to make the reader think about
A fatal weakness
The speaker addresses something or someone that cannot answer, something nonliving or inanimate.
Apostrophe
“I had to wait in the station for ten days – an eternity.” - Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Hyperbole
The Handmaid's Tale takes place in this fictional country.
Gilead
In No Exit, which character leaves the room when the door opens?
None of them
Type of humor signaled by wordplay and witty language, poking fun at proper decorum.
Comedy of Manners
When a sentence or phrase runs over from one line, couplet, or stanza to the next without terminal punctuation
Enjambment
"Grim death, how foul and loathsome is thine image!"” - William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew
Apostrophe
What was Gregor Samsa’s occupation
Traveling Salesman
What is the name of Ifemelu’s blog in Americanah? (First word only is acceptable)
Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black
The belief that the universe is chaotic, irrational, and has no inherent meaning.
Absurdism
A conjunction that is purposely removed from a part of a sentence
Asyndeton
“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” - Daffodils by William Wordsworth
Imagery
The name of Jane Bennet's love interest in Pride & Prejudice?
Mr. Bingley
What is the name of the plantation where Sethe originally works as a slave in Beloved?
Sweet Home
The literary movement Modernism came about mostly as a response or reaction to what? (We're looking for both feelings & events.)
Instability and uncertainty of changing times after the industrial revolution and World Wars (similar answers accepted).