AP English III
AP Literature and Composition Summer Preparation
#1. Completely define and give two meaningful examples from literature that you have read
during your time at Prep of the following literary techniques:
Example: Dramatic Irony
Definition: The words or actions of a character carry a meaning unknown to the character but understood by the
audience:
Example: When Romeo commits suicide over the body of Juliet believing she has died. Romeo sees this action as
romantic, while the audience views it as tragic.
Each student should organize their glossary as either paper flashcards or a flashcard app.
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Abstract
Adage
Allegory
Alliteration
Allusion
Ambiguity
Anachronism
Analogy
Annotation
Antagonist
Antithesis
Aphorism
Apostrophe
Archetype
Assonance
Ballad
Bildungsroman
Caesura
Catharsis
Climax
Connotation
Consonance
Couplet
Denotation
Denoument
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Diction
Dramatic Irony
Elegy
Ellipsis
Enjambment
Euphemism
Farce
Figurative Language
Flashback
Foot
Foreshadowing
Free Verse
Genre
Hubris
Hyperbole
Imagery
Irony
Metaphor
Metonymy
Mood
Motif
Narrative
Ode
Onomatopoeia
Oxymoron
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Paradox
Parody
Pastoral
Pathos
Persona
Personification
Point of View
Protagonist
Realism
Rhetoric
Sarcasm
Satire
Setting
Simile
Sonnet
Style
Symbolism
Synecdoche
Syntax
Theme
Tone
Tragedy
Verisimilitude
Voice
Wit
#2. Create a 7-10 minute presentation on Melville’s use of symbolism in Moby
Dick.
How does Melville use symbols to help deliver his message?
Don’t just focus on what each symbol signifies, but on the mind and mood of the
individual who creates and gravitated to the symbol. In other words, if symbols
can be interesting as provisional attempts to penetrate to truth, or express
transient perceptions, or seasons of the mind, then the act of reading becomes
much less mechanical than a simple decoding of “the whale”.
You may choose to do a short film, prezi or power-point.
You must use 3 direct quotes from the novel in your presentation.
You are free to work on your own or in groups of 3.
Have fun and be creative.