AP® English Literature and Composition review sheet from Aim for Five (aimforfive.com/lit/units/2/2-4)
Unit 2 · Topic 2.4
2.4 Word choice, repetition and sound
Poets choose words for their connotations and sounds, not just their dictionary meanings. You learn to explain why a particular word was chosen, how repeated words or sounds build emphasis, and how a pronoun that could point to more than one thing can open up more than one reading.
Key terms
- diction
- connotation
- denotation
- repetition
- alliteration
- antecedent
Denotation, connotation and diction
Denotation is a word's dictionary meaning. Connotation is the feeling or association that comes with it. "Slim," "skinny" and "scrawny" have similar denotations but very different connotations. Diction means a writer's overall word choice: formal or casual, plain or fancy, gentle or harsh.
When a word stands out, try swapping in a synonym. If the line feels different, the original word was doing something, and that something is what you analyze.
Repetition
Repeating a word or phrase emphasizes it. Repetition can build intensity, create a chant-like rhythm, tie distant parts of a poem together or show a speaker who can't let go of a thought. Pay attention when a repeated phrase comes back slightly changed; the difference is usually the point.
Sound: alliteration and more
Alliteration is the repetition of the same beginning sound in nearby words: "soft summer sky." It draws those words together and makes you linger on them. Sounds can also suggest feelings. Soft sounds (s, sh, l, m) can feel gentle; hard sounds (k, t, g, b) can feel harsh or abrupt. This isn't a rule, so always connect a sound to the meaning of the words carrying it.
Antecedents and ambiguous pronouns
An antecedent is the word, phrase or clause a pronoun (or other referring word) points back to. In "The girl dropped her book," "her" points back to "the girl." The thing doing the pointing is called the referent.
Sometimes a pronoun could point to more than one thing. Look at this sentence, written for this practice set: "The mother told her daughter that she had been wrong." Who was wrong? The mother or the daughter? When poems do this, it can be a deliberate way to hold two meanings at once. Multiple-choice questions like to ask what a pronoun refers to, so when you see "it," "this," "they" or "which," check carefully, and consider whether more than one answer could fit.
Worked examples
Try each one yourself first, then open the solution.
- Example 1
Sound and repetition working together
Here are lines 1–2 and 7–10 of Sara Teasdale's "There Will Come Soft Rains," written during World War I and collected in Flame and Shadow (1920): "There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground, / And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;" ... "And not one will know of the war, not one / Will care at last when it is done. / Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree / If mankind perished utterly;". Explain how word choice, sound and repetition shape the poem's meaning.
Show the solutionHide the solution
- Step 1: Look at diction. "Soft," "smell of the ground" and "shimmering" are gentle, pleasant words. Nature seems peaceful.
- Step 2: Listen to the sound. "Soft," "smell," "swallows," "circling," "shimmering" and "sound" repeat soft s and sh sounds. The lines sound hushed and smooth.
- Step 3: Find the repetition. "Not one" appears three times in lines 7–9. It hammers home that nothing in nature will notice the war.
- Step 4: Connect them. The gentle sounds make nature seem calm and lovely, and the repeated "not one" reveals that this calm is indifference to whether humans survive.
Answer: Model paragraph: Teasdale lulls the reader with soft sounds before delivering a hard truth. The opening lines are full of hushed s and sh sounds, "soft rains," "swallows," "shimmering sound," so that nature seems gentle and soothing, untouched by the war. Then the poem repeats "not one" three times in three lines: "not one / Will care," "Not one would mind." The repetition works like a slow drumbeat, insisting that no bird or tree would notice "If mankind perished utterly." The beautiful sounds of the first lines take on a chilling new meaning: nature is peaceful not because it comforts humans, but because it has no need of them.
Common mistakes
- Calling a word "powerful" or "effective" without saying what it does. Name the connotation and connect it to meaning.
- Pointing out alliteration as if it were the meaning. Sound only matters when you link it to what the words say.
- Assuming a pronoun's antecedent is the nearest noun. Read the whole sentence, and consider whether the ambiguity is intentional.
On the exam
- Expect multiple-choice questions on what a word conveys in context, what a pronoun refers to, and what a repeated word emphasizes. Reread the full sentence each time.
- In essays, zooming in on one or two loaded words and explaining their connotations is an efficient way to build specific commentary.
Connected topics
Videos
Check yourself
5 questions on 2.4 Word choice, repetition and sound. Pick an answer to see if you got it, and why.
Paul Laurence Dunbar, “We Wear the Mask” (1895), from Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896)
In line 8, “them” refers to
The refrain “We wear the mask” in lines 9 and 15, indented and much shorter than the other lines, mainly serves to
The mask is said to “grin” and “lie” in line 1, and the speakers “mouth with myriad subtleties” in line 5. These word choices suggest that the speakers' outward behavior is
William Shakespeare, Sonnet 29, from Shake-speares Sonnets (1609). “bootless”: useless. “Haply”: by chance.
The grammatical subject of the verb “sings” in line 12 is
The phrase “deaf heaven” (line 3) suggests that the speaker
0 of 5 answered