AP English Literary Terms 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which literary device involves giving human qualities to non-human things?
- Personification (Correct answer)
- Metaphor
- Hyperbole
- Alliteration
Correct answer: Personification
Personification attributes human characteristics to animals, objects, or ideas.
Personification is a figure of speech where human traits, feelings, or actions are attributed to non-human entities. For example, 'The wind whispered through the trees' gives the wind the human ability to whisper.
Question 2: What is the term for a recurring symbol or motif throughout a literary work?
- Leitmotif (Correct answer)
- Allegory
- Allusion
- Anaphora
Correct answer: Leitmotif
A leitmotif is a recurrent theme or symbol associated with a particular idea or character.
A leitmotif is borrowed from musical terminology where it refers to a recurring melodic phrase. In literature, it describes a dominant or recurring thematic element—a symbol, image, or phrase—that appears throughout a work to reinforce meaning.
Question 3: Which rhetorical device uses three parallel elements for emphasis?
- Tricolon (Correct answer)
- Anaphora
- Epistrophe
- Chiasmus
Correct answer: Tricolon
A tricolon is a series of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses used for rhetorical effect.
Tricolon is a rhetorical device consisting of three parallel elements of similar length and grammatical structure. Famous examples include 'Veni, vidi, vici' (I came, I saw, I conquered) and Lincoln's 'government of the people, by the people, for the people.'
Question 4: What literary term describes a seemingly contradictory statement that reveals a deeper truth?
- Paradox (Correct answer)
- Oxymoron
- Irony
- Satire
Correct answer: Paradox
A paradox is a statement that appears self-contradictory but contains an underlying truth.
A paradox presents a statement that initially seems logically impossible or self-contradictory, yet upon reflection reveals a deeper meaning or truth. For example, Oscar Wilde's 'I can resist everything except temptation' highlights human weakness through apparent contradiction.
Question 5: Which poetic device involves the continuation of a sentence beyond the end of a line?
- Enjambment (Correct answer)
- Caesura
- End-stop
- Stanza break
Correct answer: Enjambment
Enjambment occurs when a sentence or phrase runs over from one line of poetry to the next without a pause.
Enjambment (from the French 'enjamber,' meaning to stride over) is when a syntactic unit extends beyond the end of a poetic line. This creates momentum and can convey urgency or fluidity in verse, contrasting with end-stopped lines that conclude with punctuation.
Question 6: What is the narrative technique where the story is told from the perspective of an untrustworthy narrator?
- Unreliable narrator (Correct answer)
- Stream of consciousness
- Free indirect discourse
- Third-person omniscient
Correct answer: Unreliable narrator
An unreliable narrator is a storyteller whose credibility is compromised, forcing readers to question the narrative.
An unreliable narrator is a character whose telling of the story is not entirely credible. This technique, identified by Wayne C. Booth, creates layers of meaning as readers must distinguish truth from the narrator's distortions. Classic examples include Humbert Humbert in 'Lolita' and the narrator in 'The Tell-Tale Heart.'
AP English Literary Terms 2
Which literary device involves giving human qualities to non-human things?