The third and most advanced pass through poetry in the AP Lit course, synthesizing form and figurative language from Units 2 and 5 into a study of genuinely sophisticated devices.
Placing two contrasting elements side by side to highlight their differences and generate meaning through the comparison itself.
A gap between expectation and reality, or between what is said and what is meant. Irony forces a reader to hold two meanings in mind at once.
A statement in which the literal meaning differs from, or contradicts, the intended meaning — saying one thing while meaning another.
Situational irony is an outcome that contradicts what would reasonably be expected. Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows something a character does not.
A statement that seems self-contradictory or absurd but reveals a deeper truth on closer examination.
A condensed paradox combining two contradictory terms in a single phrase, such as "deafening silence."
Language that intentionally supports more than one valid interpretation at once, requiring a reader to hold multiple readings simultaneously rather than resolving to a single meaning.
A single word or phrase carrying multiple related meanings at once, a specific linguistic source of ambiguity in poetry.
An elaborate, intellectually startling extended metaphor that sustains a comparison across an entire poem, common in Metaphysical poetry.
A specific type of conceit, associated with poets like John Donne, that draws a surprising comparison and develops it through intellectual, logical argument.
A metaphor developed across multiple lines or an entire poem — the broader category to which conceit belongs, though a conceit is more elaborate and surprising.
A brief reference to another text, historical event, person, or myth that imports outside meaning into a poem without fully explaining it.
A reference to a story, figure, or phrase from the Bible, one of the most common sources of allusion in English-language poetry.
A reference to Greek or Roman mythology, literature, or history, another major source of allusion in the Western poetic tradition.
The broader concept of texts referencing, echoing, or depending on other texts for full meaning, of which allusion is one specific technique.
The fourth, most advanced point on the AP Lit FRQ rubric, earned through nuanced analysis of devices like irony, paradox, and ambiguity rather than simple identification.
The unresolved pull between two competing meanings, expectations, or truths within a poem, often the direct product of irony, paradox, or ambiguity.
The skill of combining multiple devices — juxtaposition, irony, conceit, allusion — into a single, unified interpretive argument rather than analyzing each in isolation.