APEL (allegory-connotation) Questions and Answers Updated.

allegory - Answer The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. In some allegories, for example, an author may intend the characters to personify an abstraction like hope or freedom. The allegorical meaning usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence. alliteration - Answer The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words (as in "she sells sea shells"). Although the term is not used frequently in the multiple-choice section, you can look for alliteration in any essay passage. The repetition can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of the passage. allusion - Answer A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. Allusions can be historical, literary, religious, topical, or mythical. There are many more possibilities, and a work may simultaneously use multiple layers of allusion. ambiguity - Answer The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage. anadiplosis - Answer The repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause. "Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering." Yoda. analogy - Answer A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them. An analogy can explain something unfamiliar by associating it with or pointing out its similarity to something more familiar. Analogies can also make writing more vivid, imaginative, or intellectually engaging. anaphora - Answer One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression (word or words) is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences. "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." anecdote - Answer A short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event. The term most frequently refers to an incident in the life of a person. antecedent - Answer The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. The AP language exam occasionally asks for the antecedent of a given pronoun in a long, complex sentence or in a group of sentences.