AP LANG FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE (A+ GUARANTEED)

Allegory correct answers The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. In some of these, for example, an author may intend the characters to personify an abstraction like hope or freedom. This meaning usually deals with oral truth or a generalization about human existence. Alliteration correct answers The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words (as in "she sells sea shells"). Allusion correct answers A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. They can be historical, literary, religious, topical, or mythical. There are many more possibilities, and a work may simultaneously use multiple layers of it. Ambiguity correct answers The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage. Analogy correct answers A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them. It can explain something unfamiliar by associating it with or pointing out its similarity to something familiar. It can also make writing more vivid, imaginative, or intellectually engaging. Anaphora correct answers 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 correct answers 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 correct answers The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. The AP language exam occasionally asks for it of a given pronoun in a long, complex sentence or in a group of sentences. Aphorism correct answers A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle (If the authorship is unknown, the statement is generally considered to be a folk proverb). It can be a memorable summation of the author's point. Apostrophe correct answers A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified, abstraction, such as liberty or love. It is an address to someone or something that cannot answer. The effect may add familiarity or emotional intensity. William