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Nirel Wiggins
Ms. Le
AP Lit, Per. 2
8 December 2021
Unit 3 Literary Terms
Term Definition
Paradox A statement that is contradictory
to itself yet still contains a small
bit of plausible truth. The phrase
may be contrary to what is
expected in the situation and
can lead to a conclusion which
is not logically acceptable.
Personification The attribution of a personal
nature or human characteristics
to something nonhuman, or the
representation of an abstract
quality in human form.
Repetition A literary device that uses the
same word or phrase over and
over again in a piece of writing
or speech.
Purpose Picture/Image
Allows the audience to be able
to understand concepts in
different and even non-
traditional ways.
A literary device that uses the
non-literal use of language to
convey concepts in a relatable
way. Writers use
personification to give human
characteristics, such as
emotions and behaviors, to
non-human things, animals,
and ideas.
Writers use this because of
how it can help emphasize a
point and make a speech
easier to follow. It also adds to
the powers of persuasion by
convincing people of truth
within the text.

Nirel Wiggins
Ms. Le
AP Lit, Per. 2
8 December 2021
Rhyme The correspondence of two or
more words with similar-
sounding final syllables placed
so as to echo one another.
Rhyme Scheme The pattern of rhymes at the
end of each line of a poem or
song that repeats at the end of
a line or stanza. It is usually
referred to by using letters to
indicate which lines rhyme; lines
designated with the same letter
all rhyme with each other.
Romantic The poetry of sentiments,
Poetry emotions, and imagination.
A focus on individual
experience, an idealization of
women, and an embrace of
isolation and melancholy.
Sestina A type of a poem that contains
six stanzas, each stanza having
six lines, while a concluding
seventh stanza has three lines
called “envoi,” which is also
known as “tornada. Hence, a
sestina follows the rule of an
end word pattern.
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Creates a sound pattern that
allows you to predict what will
come next by allowing the poet
to disrupt the pattern, which
can give you a jarred or
disoriented sensation or
introduce humor.
Moves the text smoothly and
adds substance to the words. It
can affect the mood and add
appeal to the poem.
The purpose is to emphasize
the idea of awareness and
acceptance of emotions,
glorification of nature, highlight
individualism, spontaneity;
freedom from rules; solitary life
rather than life in society; the
beliefs that imagination is
superior to reason and devotion
to beauty; love of and worship
of nature.
The basic function of sestina is
to highlight an idea by using its
lexical repetition to create
rhythm in the poem, bring
harmony among various
stanzas, enhance the subject
matter, keep the idea alive in
the reader's minds, and engage
them.

Nirel Wiggins
Ms. Le
AP Lit, Per. 2
8 December 2021
Simile A comparison of two unrelated
items or ideas using like or as.
Sonnet A fourteen line poem about a
single theme with a standard
rhyme scheme that expresses a
thought or idea and utilizes an
established rhyme scheme by
featuring two contrasting
characters, events, beliefs, or
emotions.
Stanza An arrangement of a certain
number of lines, usually four or
more, sometimes having a fixed
length, meter, or rhyme
scheme, forming a division of a
poem. A division of a poem
consisting of a series of lines
arranged together in a usually
recurring pattern of meter and
rhyme.
Symbol A word, object, action, or
character, that is something that
stands for or suggests
something else; it represents
something beyond literal
meaning.
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A simile’s purpose is to add
insight and depth into
descriptions that might be
difficult using literal language,
alone.
Poets use the sonnet form to
examine the tension that exists
between the two elements. The
volta or “turn” within a sonnet is
the point of this literary device
where there's a change from
one rhyme pattern to another
that signals a change in subject
matter.
A stanza is used to describe
the main building block of a
poem. It is a unit of poetry
composed of lines that relate to
a similar thought or topic
almost like a paragraph in
prose or a verse in a song.
Every stanza in a poem has its
own concept and serves a
unique purpose.
Often used to produce an
impact by taking something that
is usually concrete and
associating or affixing it to
something else in order to give
it a new and more significant
meaning. A form of a secret
language between the writer
and reader by adding a sense
of emotional resonance to a
story, which can create a

Nirel Wiggins
Ms. Le
AP Lit, Per. 2
8 December 2021
Synecdoche A figure of speech in which a
word or phrase that refers to a
part of something is substituted
to stand in for the whole, or vice
versa. The two main types of
synecdoche are microcosm and
macrocosm. A microcosm uses
a part of something to refer to
the entirety, while a macrocosm
is the opposite, using the name
of the entire structure of
something to refer to a small
part.
Syntax The ordering of words into
meaningful verbal patterns such
as phrases, clauses, and
sentences.
Tone A literary device that reflects the
writer’s attitude toward the
subject matter or audience of a
literary work.
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lasting impression on a reader.
Allows speakers to emphasize
certain parts of a whole,
highlighting their importance by
substituting them for the whole.
It can also elevate language by
making a sentence or phrase
sound more interesting or more
poetic. Synecdoche can also
help the writer create a strong
voice for a character or for a
narrator.
Writers utilize the function of
syntax to achieve certain
artistic effects, like mood, and
tone. Like diction, syntax aims
to affect the readers as well as
express the writer's attitude.
The purpose of syntax is to
study sentence structure and
formation, which involves
setting rules for creating
coherent and grammatically
correct sentences by focusing
on word order, phrases,
clauses, and the relationships
among them.
Expresses the writer's attitude
toward or feelings about the
subject matter and audience.
Writers convey a sort of attitude
through tone, by creating a
particular relationship with the
reader that, in turn, influences
the intention and meaning of
the written words. However,
though the writer’s tone may
reflect their personal attitude or
opinion, this literary device may
also strictly apply to conveying
the attitudes and feelings of a
certain character or narrator.

Nirel Wiggins
Ms. Le
AP Lit, Per. 2
8 December 2021
Understatement A manifestation of lesser
strength than what the speaker
or writer means or what is
typically expected. It is the
opposite of embellishment or
exaggeration. When you
represent something as less
than what it is.
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A tool that is often used to
develop other figures of
speech, such as irony and
sarcasm, by deliberately
decreasing the severity of a
situation, when an intense
response is expected by the
listeners or the readers.