Download LITERARY TERMS 1. onomatopoeia: The use of words whose

LITERARY TERMS
TYPES OF SENTENCES
1. onomatopoeia: The use of words whose sounds imitate or
suggest their meaning. (Wow! Bang! Screech!)
2. personification: An animal or object is given human
characteristics (The cat requested food for a reward, the train
lazily ascended the hill)
3. metaphor: compares two things without using like or as (Her
soft voice was a euphony to his ears)
4. alliteration: The repetition of initial sounds in words (Peter
Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers)
5. prose: anything that is NOT poetry (essay, story, journal
entry, novel)
6. simile: comparing two things using like or as (The warrior
fought like a lion)
7. irony: When the unexpected happens (A man won the
lottery and died the next day.) Can also be when things seem
one way but actually are another (spending thousands of
dollars to replace a diamond ring you borrowed only to find out
it wasn’t a real diamond) Sarcasm is another type of irony (It
was as pleasant as a root canal procedure)
8. hyperbole: huge exaggeration (The path seemed to go on
forever)
9. imagery: words that help you create a picture in your mind
using the senses (sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell)
10. foreshadowing: hints or clues of what will happen next
11. pun: a play on words (The coach keeps giving me the runaround when I ask him if I made the track team.)
12. idiom: when the phrase is not taken literally (We were just
shooting the breeze – meaning not talking about anything
important)
13. symbol: when something stands for something else. (The
pearl represents avarice or greed in THE PEARL)
14. flashback: interruption in the present action to show what
has happened in the past
15. Allusion: A reference to someone or something from
literature, history, religion mythology, politics, sports or
another field that many people are familiar with.
16. protagonist: The main character in a work of literature.
Simple Sentence: has only a subject and a verb (predicate)
Example: The enormous dog ran away quickly.
PHRASES
Participial phrase: verb form used as an adjective; -ed or –ing.
Example: The man yelling at the cat woke me up.
Prepositional phrase: begins with a preposition and ends with
a noun or pronoun.
Example: over the hill
Gerund phrase: verb form used as a noun; -ing
Example: Running around the track gets tiring.
Example: They do not appreciate my singing.
Example: My favorite activity is sleeping.
Example: The principal gave the student ISS for running.
Appositive: noun or pronoun phrase that describes another
Example: Mrs. Giesey, my favorite teacher, went to all
the basketball games this year!
Infinitive phrase: to + an action verb
Example: He is going to conceal the toy from his sister.
PARTS OF SPEECH
Noun: person, place, thing, or idea (woman, school, desk,
justice)
Verb: shows action / state of being (galloping, singing /
is, seems
Adjective: describes a noun (splendiferous, monumental,
attractive)
Adverb: tells how, when, where, or why (greatly, today,
there, since)
Pronoun: takes the place of a noun (he, she, it, we, they,
them, our)
Preposition: a word which introduces a prepositional
phrase and has a relationship with a noun (over the hill)
Interjection: shows strong emotion (Wow! Wonderful!
Tragic…)
Expanded Simple Sentence: a simple sentence with word(s)/phrase(s) added
Example: The enormous dog ran away and into the tree.
Compound Sentence: Two sentences connected with a conjunction
(and, but, or, so, yet, for) or a semicolon (;).
Example: The enormous dog ran away quickly, and he yelped
as he ran into the tree.
Complex Sentence: a complete sentence (independent clause) and a
dependent clause. A dependent clause begins with a subordinating
conjunction or a relative pronoun.
Example: While I was sleeping, the huge dog ran into a tree.
Example: The huge dog ran into a tree while I was sleeping.
Compound-Complex Sentence: two complete sentences and a
dependent clause (begins with a subordinating conjunction or a relative
pronoun).
Example: While I was sleeping, the dog ran into a tree and he
barked furiously at the stranger.
Example: The dog ran into a tree, and he barked furiously
while I was sleeping.
KINDS OF SENTENCES
Declarative: a statement (I looked at the young man’s shoes.)
Interrogative: a question (Did you see the young man’s shoes?)
Imperative: a command (Look at the young man’s shoes!)
Exclamatory: a strong feeling (I don’t want to look at those shoes!)
Common Subordinating Conjunctions:
after
as though
since
although because
so that
as
before
than
as if
how
thought
as long
as if
unless
until
while
as soon as
when
whenever
wherever
whether
where
in order that
Relative Pronouns: that, which, who, whom, whose
Demonstrative Pronouns: this, that, these, those