Literary Devices & Elements for Literary Analysis - AP Literature & Composition

Give your AP English Literature and Composition students and budding literary analysts the tools they need to navigate challenging texts. This bundle includes a comprehensive list of literary devices and elements with student-friendly definitions and examples; a list of more than 90 common allusions in Western literature from the Bible and Greek/Roman mythology; and a unit plan for Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor. 

Reading and literary analysis in AP Literature and Composition demands a lot of our students. The more we can do as teachers to arm them with background knowledge and foundational understanding, the more likely it is they’ll experience success in their reading, and, we all know, everyone likes to do those things they feel they’re good at! 

We like to think of the resources in this bundle as an AP Literature and Composition student’s starter kit. It’s especially helpful at leveling the playing field in the AP classroom, ensuring all students know, or can refer to, a common “dictionary” of literary terms, providing those students who have less experience with the Bible or Greek/Roman mythology a quick, relatively easy, way to catch up, and, for most students, giving a behind the scenes look into how authors use common symbols and archetypes in their writing, to help demystify how experienced readers know “that’s what that means.”

Here’s a breakdown of what’s included in the bundle:

A Literary Terms List for PreAP/AP Students:

1. 115+ Key Literary Terms to Know List (PDF, includes digital and print versions)
2. Links to 5 Kahoot! Challenge review flashcard sets
3. Multiple-Choice Test (fully editable; two versions)
4. Resource Overview (includes content standards)

Allusions List and Exams: Mythological and Biblical Terms for PreAP/AP Preparation:

1. Common Mythological & Biblical Allusions List (PDF, includes combined lists, Biblical allusions only, mythological allusions only; digital and print versions)
2. Links to 4 Kahoot! Challenge review flashcard sets
3. Mythological and Biblical Allusions Exam (fully editable, multiple choice or matching; includes combined test, Biblical only, and mythological only)
4. Resource Overview (includes content standards)

How to Read Literature Like a Professor Study Guide and Exam (+ Escape Room):

1. How to Read Literature Study Guide (editable; 2 format options; digital and print; includes answer key and rubric)
2. How to Read Literature Escape Room activity (not editable; print only; 5 tasks, includes teacher directions and notes)
3. How to Read Literature assessment (editable; 50 questions - one final exam or 8 section quizzes; each includes 2 versions; answer keys)
4. How to Read Literature bookmark (not editable; black and white; double-sided bookmark with helpful tips from 6 chapters)
5. Unit overview (includes content standards)

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We hope you find these resources useful in your classroom. We have no problem with you sharing these materials with your course-alike colleagues and hope it earns you your favorite ☕! If you would like to share with other teachers, please purchase an additional, discounted license. Please do not publish, print, or post answer keys online for your students. To preserve the integrity of the resource, we kindly ask that you not post any of the materials on publicly accessible websites.