AP Literary Terms Allegory-Antithesis

Antithesis

Balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by means of grammatical structure.

Anecdote

Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something, often shows character of an individual.

Analogy

Comparison made between two things to show how they are alike.

Ambiguity

Deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work. An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way - - this is done on purpose by the author, when it is not done on purpose, it is vagueness, and detracts from the work.

Anastrophe

Inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence. Purpose is rhythm or emphasis or euphony. It is a fancy word for inversion.

Antagonist

Opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist, in a story.

Allusion

Reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science or another branch of culture. An indirect reference to something.

Anaphora

Repetition of a word, phrase, or cause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer's point more coherent.

Alliteration

Repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together. EXAMPLE: "When two youths turned with the flag they saw that much of the REGIMENT had crumbled away, and the dejected REMNANT was coming slowly back."

Antimetabole

Repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order. EXAMPLE: "One should eat to live, not live to eat."

Allegory

Story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or abstract ideas or qualities. EXAMPLE: Animal Farm, Dante's Inferno, Lord of the Flies