Download Literary Terms

Literary Terms
Vocabulary Week One (1-15)
1. Main Idea – What the writing is mostly about (central idea, summary)
2. Theme – The main message the author is trying to tell the reader(main purpose)
What the author is trying to teach you about life.
3. Inference –Logical guess based on evidence not clearly stated in the writing.
Questions may start with MOST LIKELY or PROBABLY.
4. Details, facts – supports the author’s main idea.
5. Dialect – A variety of language which is written exactly how the character
pronounces them
6. Prediction – What will most likely happen next.
7. Prose – Language written in sentences and paragraphs
8. Genre – A type or category of written work: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and
drama (play)
9. Fiction – Tells a made-up story: horror, mystery, fantasy, folktale, outdoor
adventure, sports fiction, science fiction, historical fiction.
10. Nonfiction – Tells about factual true real life: biography, autobiography,
information, opinion letters, speeches, essays, and etc.
11. Biography – story of a person’s life, written by someone else.
12. Autobiography – a person tells the story of his life.
13. Poetry – Language written in lines, refrains, and or stanzas; which is used to
touch your senses and emotions
14. Drama – or a play, the written form of a play is a script
15. Act – a major part or unit of a play (drama)
Vocabulary Week Two (16-31)
16. Scene – a part of an act in a play , events in one place and time
17. Characters – People, animals, or actors in a fiction or nonfiction story
18. Protagonist – central character or hero
19. Antagonist – a force working against the main character, person, group or
force of nature
20. Plot – related events that make up a story
21. Setting – the time and place of the action
22. Mood – is a feeling the author conveys in his writing to the reader ( happy,
fearful, peaceful, angry)
23. Tone – the writers attitude toward his subjects; positive, negative, or neutral
24. Conflict – problem in the story
25. Internal Conflict – character struggles with a problem inside himself
26. External Conflict – character struggles against another person or outside force
27. Climax – the most exciting part of the story when the conflict is being solved;
the “AHA !” moment.
28. Resolution – the part in the story that tells how the conflicts are solved
29. Conclusion – the end of the story
30. Flashback – an interruption of the action to put in events that happened at an
earlier time
31. Foreshadowing – author gives clues or hints about something that will happen
later in the story
Vocabulary Week Three (32-47)
32. Figurative Language – writers use this to create descriptions that are not
literally true
33. Metaphor – a comparison of two things and DOES NOT use like or as
34. Personification – giving human qualities to an animal, object, or idea
35. Simile – a comparison of two things and USES LIKE OR AS.
36. Hyperbole – over exaggeration: I’m so hungry I could eat a horse
37. Analogy – a comparison of two unlike or dissimilar things
38. Imagery – words that create mental pictures
39. Context Clues – hints or suggestions that are around an unknown word that
help you decide the meaning of the word
40. Compare and Contrast – compare means to tell how two ideas or things are
alike; contrast means to tell how they are different
41. Propaganda – material written to persuade readers to believe in false
information, often distorts the truth, advertisements may use propaganda
42. Irony – a technique where something happens in a story that is opposite of what
the reader is expecting
43. Onomatopoeia – words that imitate sounds (meow, splat, wham, hiss, buzz)
44. Narrative Poem – long poem that tells a story
45. *Haiku – Japanese poem about nature (contains 3 lines with a 5,7,5 pattern of
lines) #45 originally “Pastoral” > now Haiku
46. Epic – a long narrative poem about a hero
47. Ballad – poem that tells a story and is meant to be sung or recited
Vocabulary Week Four (48-63)
48. Free verse – poetry without regular patterns of rhyme and rhythm
49. Couplet – a rhymed pair of lines in a poem
50. Stanza – is a grouping of 2 or more lines in poetry
51. Alliteration – the use of two or more words that begin with the same consonant
sound (“A flea and a fly in a flue”)
52. Repetition – the use of the same word, line, or similar events to emphasize them
53. Rhythm – the beat of a poem
54. Rhyme – like sounds at the end of lines
55. Allusion – a reference to a well-known person, event, place, literary work, or
work of art.
56. Anecdote – a brief story about an interesting, amusing, or strange event.
57. *Limerick – short humorous poem of 5 lines (aabba)
#57 originally “Author’s argument” > now “limerick”
58. Author’s purpose – his or her main reason for writing. (To entertain, persuade
or inform)
59. Comedy – a literary work, especially a play, which is light, often humorous or
satirical, and ends happily.
60. Connotations – the set of ideas associated with a word in addition to its explicit
meaning. May be personal and based on one’s experiences. Cultural connotations
usually determine a writer’s word choices. *The positive or negative spin
61. Cultural Context – the economic, social, and historical environment of the
characters.
62. Denotation – the dictionary meaning of a word
63. Dialogue – a conversation between characters. In poems, novels, and short
stories, dialogue is usually set off by quotation marks to indicate a speaker’s
exact words.
Vocabulary Week Five (64-78)
64. Essay – a short nonfiction work about a particular subject. Most essays have a
single major focus and a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.
65. Exposition – the part of a literary piece that introduces the characters, setting,
and basic situation.
66. Fable – a brief story or poem, usually with animal characters, that teaches a
lesson, or moral. The moral usually comes at the end of the fable.
67. Fantasy – a highly imaginative writing that contains elements not found in real life.
68. Folk tale – a story composed orally and then passed from person to person by
word of mouth.
69. Historical context – includes the actual political and social events and trends
of the time.
70. Idiom – an expression that has a meaning particular to a language or region.
71. Internal conflict – a conflict that takes place within the mind of a character.
72. External conflict – a conflict where a character struggles against some outside
force, such as another person.
73. Lyric poem – a highly musical verse that expresses the observations and
feelings of a single speaker. It creates a single, unified impression.
74. Meter – the meter of a poem is its rhythmical pattern. This pattern is
determined by the number of stresses, or beats, in each line.
75. Moral – a lesson taught by a literary work. A fable usually ends with a moral
that is directly stated. A poem, novel, short story, or essay often suggests a
moral that is not directly stated. The moral must be drawn by the reader, based
on other elements in the work.
76. Motive – a reason that explains or partially explains a character’s thoughts,
feelings, actions, or speech.
77. Myth – a fictional tale that explains the actions of gods or heroes or the origins
of elements of nature.
78. Narrator – a speaker or a character who tells a story.
Vocabulary Week Six (79-91)
79. Novel – a long work of fiction.
80. Novella – A fiction work that is longer than a short story but shorter than a
novel.
81. Oral tradition – the passing of songs, stories, and poems from generation to
generation by word of mouth.
82. Oxymoron – a figure of speech that links two opposite or contradictory words,
to point out an idea or situation that seems contradictory or inconsistent but on
closer inspection turns out to be somehow true.
83. Persuasion – used in writing or speech that attempts to convince the reader or
listener to adopt a particular opinion or course of action.
84. Point of View – the perspective, or vantage point, from which a story is told.
85. Refrain – a regularly repeated line or group of lines in a poem or a song.
86. Sound devices – techniques used by writers to give musical effects to their
writing. (onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhyme, meter, and repetition)
87. Stage directions – notes included in a drama to describe how the work is to be
performed or staged. Stage directions are usually printed in italics and enclosed
within parentheses or brackets.
88. Symbol – anything that stands for or represents something else. A dove with an
olive branch in its beak is a symbol of peace.
89. Symbolism – the use of symbols.
90. Universal theme – a message about life that is expressed regularly in many
different cultures and time periods.
91. Satire – a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice
are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule; the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or
the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
Argumentative Writing Terms
101. Alternative Point of View – the ideas, beliefs, and opinions held by someone
feels differently about an issue than you do.
102. Anecdote – a short, concise story used to illustrate a point.
103. Argumentative Pillar – the graphic organizer authors may refer to which will
provide shape and structure to their argumentative writing. This is a guide to help
authors organize well and fully elaborate their thoughts.
104. Audience Awareness – an understanding of differing points of view, and a
sensitivity in acknowledging, and possibly, refuting these views.
105. Bandwagon – assigning positive attributes or adjective to people who agree with
your point of view. (Ex. Intelligent people agree that lowering taxes is the best
solution) The assumption is that your audience will want to “jump on the
bandwagon” and be part of this “intelligent,” “well informed,” “stylish,”
successful,” “capable” group.
106. Call to Action - often found in the conclusion paragraph, a “call to action” urges
the reader to do something. It might be to simply take a stand on an issue, or
might be a request to join a group, take up an activity, speak out, or otherwise do
something that supports the author’s point of view.
107. Con – a position against or opposing a particular issue.
108. Conclusion – the final paragraph in an argumentative essay in which the author
restates each argument, highlighting or reemphasizing the strongest points, and
presents a “call to action”
109. Connotation – the implied or suggested meaning of a word or phrase – often used
to “spin” or “slant” the meaning in argumentative writing.
110. Introduction – the first paragraph in a persuasive essay which contains an
attention grabbing lead and a clear issue statement.
111. Issue – a matter of importance that needs to be examined and resolved.
112. Issue Statement – a sentence in the introduction of an argumentative essay that
presents the issue to be examined, or the questions placed before the audience for
conclusion.
113. Lead – generally, the opening sentence in the introduction of an argumentative
essay, which is designed to grab the reader’s attention and encourage them to read
on.
114. Main Argument – a compelling reason to agree with the author. An
argumentative essay needs at least several specific, well developed arguments that
are broad enough to develop with a variety of supporting details, and are distinct
from the other arguments within the piece.
115. Point of View – a specific opinion or perspective on an issue
116. Position – an attitude, opinion, or particular stand on an issue.
117. Pro – a position in support of or in favor of (for) a particular issue (opposite of
“con”)
118. Quote – to cite the words of an expert on a subject – a direct quote involves the use
of quotation marks and a “tag” (Ex. Barbara Pace, Executive Assistant, says, “It is
critical to back up all documents on a removable disk.”)
119. Rhetorical Question – a question within which the answer is implied.
120. Scare Tactic – presenting the “worst possible case scenario” as a means of
scaring your audience in agreeing with you.
121. Slant – to carefully select and highlight facts or ideas in order to support your
position. This might involve playing up positive points and minimizing negative
points.
122. Spin – to draw out, twist, or slant information and ideas in order to support your
position.
123. Statistic – information presented as a number, ratio, or percentage used to support
a position.
124. Testimonial – an anecdote from an expert or a respected individual that supports
your view.
125. Tone – the predominating mood, feeling, attitude, or sentiment of piece of
writring, reflected through word choice, slant, connotation, and spin. (a piece
might be serious, foreboding, optimistic, etc.)
Grammar Terms
126. Noun – the name of a person, place, or thing
*Answers: Who? Who took the action?
EXAMPLES: swimmer, sun, Pacific Ocean, ocean
127. Verb – a word that shows action, being, or links a subject to a subject compliment
*Find the Action.
EXAMPLES: grow, dive, eat, were, is, am, was
128. Adverb – a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb
*Answers the questions: When? Where? How?
EXAMPLES: here, happily, often, fast
129. Pronoun – a word that takes the place of a noun
Subject pronouns – pronouns used for subjects and subject compliments
List them: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they
Objective pronouns – pronouns used for direct or indirect objects of prepositions
List them: me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them
130. Adjective – A word that modifies a noun or pronoun
*Answers: How much? What kind? How many? Whose? Which one?
EXAMPLES: bright, red, many, huge, sparkling
131. Article – the 3 adjectives a, an, and the
Definite article: the
Indefinite article: a and an
132. Preposition – a word that shows the relationship between its object and another
word in the sentence
EXAMPLES: under, above, at, on, with, about
133. Conjunction – a word that joins two words or two groups of words
Coordinating conjunctions: most common way of joining independent clauses
EXAMPLES: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So (FANBOYS)
Subordinating conjunctions: begins a dependent clause
EXAMPLES: Whenever, When, Since, Though, Assuming that
134. Interjection – a word that shows emotion, but has no grammatical function.
Always punctuated with an exclamation point.
EXAMPLES: Hooray! Wow! Yes! Ouch!
135. Participle – a word that looks like a verb, but works like an adjective
*Answers: How much? What kind? How many? Whose? Which one?
EXAMPLES: The swimming team won. Laughing hyenas live in Africa.
136. Subject – the noun that performs the verb
137. Active voice – when the subject is the “doer” of the action.
EXAMPLE: Sandy saw Todd.
138. Passive voice – when the subject receives the action of the verb
EXAMPLES: Todd was seen by Sandy.
139. Subject/Pronoun agreement – when some words in a sentence determine the
form of another. The pronoun must agree with the original subject (the antecedent).
140. Antecedent – the original noun that a pronoun refers back to from earlier in the
sentence, or even from a previous sentence. EXAMPLE: Bobby is a fast runner. He is
on the soccer team.
141. Clause – a clause contains at least one subject and one verb
142. Independent clause – a clause that can always stand alone as a complete
sentence
143. Dependent clause – a clause that cannot be used as a complete sentence by itself
144. Essential/Relative clause – a clause that limits or defines the meaning of a
noun.
Never set off by commas. EXAMPLE: Sally met the neighbor who just moved in next
door. (“who just moved in next door” limits which neighbor Sally met.
145. Nonessential clause – a clause that renames a noun, but does not limit or further
define the meaning of a noun. Always set off by commas. EXAMPLE: Sally, my best
friend, met the new neighbor. (“my best friend” only renames the noun “Sally”)
146. Fragment – a part of a sentence that is punctuated as though it were a complete
sentence
147. Transitional term – a word that shows how the meaning of a second sentence is
related to the meaning of the first sentence
EXAMPLES: However, Nevertheless, Moreover, Therefore, Although