Rationale

My previous AP Lit classes have followed a simple model for literary device glossaries that I learned at a workshop for AP Lit teachers. Students wrote glossary entries (drawn from assigned literature) that defined the literary device, gave an example from the literature, and discussed the function of the device in that literature. They each did about eight of these during the year, sharing them with me on Google docs. In some years I compiled them (weeding out duplicate devices), and then we used the compilation for review before the AP exam.

I noted several things I wanted to improve about this process, and I’m trying to address them by using this digital format. Here are the problems I’ve seen:

1) Students are not familiar enough with literary devices to begin with, so they have trouble finding new ones in the literature. Some make the effort to go to resources I tell them about to learn new devices, but too many just fall back on devices they are already familiar with, which defeats the purpose of learning new ones!

2) Students benefit only minimally from the compilation, partly because I do it instead of them, and partly because they only have the benefit of seeing other students’ entries for a limited time, which is not really enough to internalize them.

3) While giving one example of a device and describing its function is good, I think seeing more examples of the device in other texts will help you better understand and remember the device. I also hope that making more in-depth entries about just two devices during the year and adding “multi-modal” content to them will help you understand “your” devices better, as well as making them easier for your classmates to remember.

4) Both the multiple choice and essay portions of the AP exam expect extensive knowledge of literary devices, and I wanted to do more to prepare you for this. Plus, of course, that knowledge will enrich your literary experiences.

By the way, the picture above is an example of a literary device. Guess which one?

Metonymy
Synecdoche
Chiasmus

Click here for the answer.