Download English 1 Academic Vocabulary

English 1 Academic Vocabulary
Genre: a division or type of literature; there are three major genres: prose, poetry, drama
Author’s purpose: determining why an author creates a work and what he or she hopes to
accomplish by sharing it with others.
Tone: The manner of expression showing the author’s attitude toward characters, events, or
situations. Tone is reflected in the author’s “voice.”
Mood: Describes what the reader feels as he or she is experiencing the work. Also known as
atmosphere.
Prose:
all written work that is NOT poetry, drama, or song.
Prose includes articles, autobiographies, biographies, novels,
essays, short stories, and editorials.
Types of Prose:
 Autobiography: a person’s own account of his or her life
 Biography: a story about a person’s life but written by someone else
 Essay: a brief writing on a particular subject or idea
 Fable: a short, easy-to-read story that teaches a lesson about people.
 Fiction: novels and short stories that tell about imaginary people and events
 Folktale: a story handed down through generations
 Homily: literally means “sermon,” but more informally, it can include any serious talk,
speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice.
 Informational Text: nonfiction text that explains information
 Legend: a story that explains how something originated; usually based on historical fact,
but exaggerated
 Tall Tale: a folktale that exaggerates main events or a character’s abilities
 Myth: an ancient story explaining certain aspects of life and nature
 Humor: an amusing story that includes aspects of satire, irony, word play, and
exaggeration
 Memoir: a first-person writing about a shaping event(s)
 Novel: a long work of fiction with one main plot and several sub-plots
 Short Story: a narrative focusing on a single character and single event; meant to be read
in one sitting
 Vignette: a short literary sketch creating brief imagery or an important statement
Setting: Place, time, season
Conflict:
 Man vs. Man (external)
 Man vs. Nature (external)
 Man vs. Society (external)
 Man vs. Himself (internal)
Plot:
Climax
Rising action
Falling action
Exposition
Resolution/Dénouement
Plot: the sequence of events in a narrative work (story).
Exposition: the beginning of a story that introduces the characters, setting, and conflict.
Rising Action: the events which complicate the story and lead towards the climax of the story.
Climax: the highest point of interest and intensity in a story.
Falling Action: the events directly preceding the climax and leading towards the resolution of
the story.
Resolution: the outcome of a story.
Narrator: tells the story and is often a character in the work. A narrator can be reliable or
unreliable.
Point of view: the viewpoint from which the story is told.
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1st person point of view: a character within the story tells the story. “I” is first person.
2nd person point of view: uses the pronouns you, your, and yours to address a reader or
listener directly. Though the second-person point of view only rarely serves as
a narrative voice in fiction, it does appear in letters, speeches, and other forms of nonfiction,
including many types of business writing and technical writing.
3rd person limited point of view: the narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of
one character. All characters are described using pronouns, such as 'they,' 'he,' and 'she.'
But, one character is closely followed throughout the story, and it is typically a main
character.
3rd person omniscient point of view: the narrator tells the story, and the reader sees the
thoughts of more than one character. The narrator knows all the thoughts and feelings of all
the characters in the story. When writing in third person omniscient, the author will move from
character to character, allowing the events to be interpreted by several different voices, but
always maintaining an omniscient - or godlike - distance.
Character: any of the people, animals, or forces which interact to create the plot of a story.
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Protagonist: the central character in a literary work around whom the main conflict
revolves.
Antagonist: a person or force in society or nature that opposes the protagonist in a literary
work.
Round Character: a character who reveals various, and sometimes contradictory,
personality traits.
Flat Character: a character who reveals only one character trait.
Dynamic Character: a character whose personality goes through a transformation in a
story.
Static Character: a character whose personality remains unchanged throughout a story.
Direct characterization: the author or narrator makes direct statements about a
character’s traits.
Indirect characterization: the author or narrator reveals a character’s traits through his or
her actions and speech.
Theme defined as a main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work that may be stated
directly or indirectly.
Symbol: an image with significance beyond literal definition.
Archetype: a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal
patterns of human nature. An archetype, also known as universal symbol, may be a character,
a theme, a symbol or even a setting. Many literary critics are of the opinion that archetypes, which
have a common and recurring representation in a particular human culture or entire human race,
shape the structure and function of a literary work.
Motif: an object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work. In a literary work, a motif
can be seen as an image, sound, action or other figures that have a symbolic significance and
contributes toward the development of theme. Sometimes, examples of motif are mistakenly
identified as examples of symbols. Symbols are images, ideas, sounds or words that represent
something else and help to understand an idea or a thing. Motifs, on the other hand, are images,
ideas, sounds or words that help to explain the central idea of a literary work i.e. theme. Moreover,
a symbol may appear once or twice in a literary work, whereas a motif is a recurring element.
Figurative language: language used for descriptive effect, not to be taken literally.
Allegory: a tale in prose or verse in which characters, settings, and actions represent abstract
concepts
Alliteration: repetition of beginning sounds which provides emphasis to the words. (Peter Piper
picked a peck of pickled peppers.)
Anaphora (uh-naf-er-uh) – One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression
(word or words) is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences.
Assonance: repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, especially in stressed syllables, with
changes in the intervening consonants, as in the phrase tilting at windmills or how now, brown cow.
Consonance: repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds within a sentence or phrase. This
repetition often takes place in quick succession such as in pitter, patter. It is classified as a literary
term used in both poetry as well as prose. For instance, the words chuckle, fickle, and kick are
consonant with one and other due to the existence of common interior consonant sounds
(/ck/).William Harmon his book A Handbook on Literature notes that “most so-called eye
rhymes (such as ‘word’ and ‘lord,’ or ‘blood,’ ‘food,’ and ‘good’) are the most common examples.
Allusion: a reference to a well-known person, written work, art piece, historical figure or event,
etc. (If you keep playing basketball like that, you’ll be the next Lebron James.)
Anecdote: a short narrative relating an amusing or interesting event or incident
Simile: a figure of speech using LIKE or AS to compare two unlike things.
Metaphor: a figure of speech that compares or equates two unlike things by speaking of one as if it
is the other.
Extended metaphor: a metaphor that continues for more than one sentence.
Euphemism: a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh
or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.
Personification: giving human characteristics to non-humans.
Irony: the difference between appearance and reality.
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Situational irony: reader and characters are surprised by the outcome / actions.
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Dramatic irony: reader knows more than characters know.
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Verbal irony: opposite of what is meant is said. Sarcasm.
Idiom: an expression that is peculiar to itself either grammatically or in having a meaning that
cannot be derived from its parts. “It’s raining cats and dogs!”
Pun: a play on words.
Onomatopoeia: a word that suggests the sound it represents. (slash, gush, buzz, etc.)
Oxymoron: a combination of seemingly contradictory words. (loving hate, cold fire, deafening
silence)
Paradox: a contradictory statement that is somehow truthful (“Youth is wasted on the young.”
George Bernard Shaw. “Nobody ever eats at the restaurant because it’s always so packed.”)
Hyperbole: an extreme exaggeration used for emphasis. (That cat must weigh a million pounds!)
Litotes (lahy-toh-teez) – From the Greek word “simple” or “plain.” Litotes is a figure of thought in
which a point is affirmed by negating its opposite. It is a special form of understatement, where the
surface denial serves, through ironic contrast, to reinforce the underlying assertion.
Imagery: the “word pictures” that writers use to help create an emotional response in
readers. Imagery is effective when it appeals to the five senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, smell.
Parody – A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of
comic effect and/or ridicule. As comedy, parody distorts or exaggerated distinctive features of the
original. As ridicule, it mimics the work by repeating and borrowing words, phrases, or
characteristics in order to illuminate weaknesses in the original. Well-written parody offers
enlightenment about the original, but poorly written parody offers only ineffectual imitation.
Usually an audience must grasp literary allusion and understand the work being parodied in
order to fully appreciate the nuances of the newer work. Occasionally, however, parodies take on
a life of their own and don’t require knowledge of the original work.
Sarcasm – From the Greek meaning “to tear flesh,” sarcasm involves bitter, caustic language that
is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something. It may use irony is a device, but not all ironic
statements are sarcastic, that is, intended to ridicule. When well done, sarcasm can be witty and
insightful; when done poorly, it’s simply cruel.
Satire – A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for
reform or ridicule. Regardless of whether or not the work aims to reform human behavior, satire
is best seen as a style of writing rather than a purpose for writing. It can be recognized by the
many devices used effectively the satirist: irony, wit, parody, caricature, hyperbole,
understatement, and sarcasm. The effects of satire are varied, depending on the writer’s goal, but
good satire, often humorous, is thought provoking and insightful about the human condition.
Foreshadowing: the use of clues to hint at future events in a story.
Flashback: a literary device in which an earlier episode, conversation, or event is inserted into the
chronological sequence of a narrative.
Suspense: feeling of curiosity or uncertainty about the outcome of events in a literary work.
Dialect: form of language spoken by people in a particular region or group. (Southern dialect=y’all,
Northern dialect=you’s guys)
Diction = word choice
A study of diction is the analysis of how a writer uses language for a distinct purpose and effect,
including word choice and figures of speech.
“The difference between the right word and almost the right word is like the difference between
lightning and the lightning bug.” (Mark Twain)
Denotation – dictionary meaning of words
Connotation – emotional meaning of words, usually defined as positive, negative, or neutral.
Informal Diction (personal writing) e.g. bug, folks, job, kid, boss, get across
Formal Diction (academic or literary writing) e.g. germ, relatives, position, child, superior,
communicate
Colloquial – conversational language
Slang – highly informal
Jargon – the special language of a profession or group (lawyer talk, technical talk)
General – look, walk, sit, cry, throw, dog, boy
Specific – gaze, stride, slump, weep, hurl, black Labrador retriever, tall boy
Monosyllabic words – single syllable words
Polysyllabic words – more than one syllable in the words The greater the number of
polysyllabic words, the more complex the passage.
Abstract words – not material; representing a thought (pleasant tasting)
Concrete words – real or actual; specific, not general (sour tasting)
Syntax = sentence structure
Sentence patterns
Declarative sentence – Tom ate the rat.
Interrogative sentence – Did Tom eat the rat?
Exclamatory sentence – Tom ate the rat!
Imperative sentence – Eat the rat. (Subject of the sentence is understood to be
“you.”)
Simple sentence– A sentence that has only one subject and one verb, e.g. Tom ate the rat.
Complex sentence – A sentence made up of one independent clause and one or more
subordinate clauses, e.g. Because Tom ate the rat, he died.
Compound sentence – A sentence made up of two or more independent clauses. The
clauses are joined by a comma and a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) or by a semicolon, e.g. Tom ate the rat, and he died.
Compound-complex sentence – A sentence that contains two or more main clauses and
one or more subordinate clauses, e.g. Tom ate the rat when he was hungry, and he died.
Parallelism – Also referred to as parallel construction or parallel structure, this term comes from
Greek roots meaning “beside one another.” It refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing of
words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity. This can involve, but is not
limited to repetition of a grammatical element such as a preposition or verbal phrase. A famous
example of parallelism begins Charles Dickens’s novel A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of
belief, it was the epoch of incredulity . . .”
The effects of parallelism are numerous, but frequently they act as an organizing force to
attract the reader’s attention, add emphasis and organization, or simply provide a musical
rhythm.
Poetry:
literature in which words are selected and strung together for their
beauty, sound, and power to express feelings and ideas.
Types of Poetry
 Ballad: a story told in song form, often telling about adventure and love
 Lyric: brief, musical and conveying a speaker’s feelings
 Narrative: poetry that tells a story. This includes ballads and epics, plus other poems. This
type of poetry has plot, characters, and theme.
 Dramatic: poetry that uses the elements of a drama (one or more characters speak to
themselves or to the reader, a tense situation or emotional conflict is present, etc.)
 Epic: a long narrative poem centered on the actions of a hero who must embark on a
journey and battle human and non-human conflicts, The purpose of an epic poem is to
entertain, teach, and inspire the audience with examples of how people can strive to
succeed against great odds.
Enjambment in poetry it means moving over from one line to another without a terminating
punctuation mark. It can be defined as a thought or sense, phrase or clause in a line of poetry that
does not come to an end at the line break but moves over to the next line. In simple words, it is the
running on of a sense from one couplet or line to the next without a major pause or syntactical
break.
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and asleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.”
(Endymion by John Keats)
Blank verse: unrhymed poetry
Free verse: poetry without regular rhyme, rhythm or line length
Meter: the rhythm or beat of a poem created by stressed and unstressed syllables
Scansion: reading a poem to determine its meter (stressed or unstressed syllables)
Rhyme: the repeated use of identical (exact) or nearly identical sounds [slant]
Rhyme scheme: a regular pattern of words with same sound [abcb] [aabbcc]
Couplet: a pair of lines of poetry, each with the same end rhyme pattern.
Quatrain: a four-line poem of abcb or abac rhyme scheme
Sonnet: normally a fourteen-line iambic pentameter poem. The conventional Italian sonnet is
rhymed abba, abba, cde, cde; the English, or Shakespearean, sonnet is rhymed abab, cdcd, efef, gg.
Refrain: a line or group of lines repeated to reinforce ideas or musical effect
Stanza: a group of lines in a poem; similar to prose paragraphs
Foot: a group of stressed ( ‘ ) and unstressed ( u ) syllables in a line of poetry
Iambic meter: a foot of poetry with an unstressed ( u ) and stressed ( ‘ ) syllable
In Medias Res: literally “to begin in the middle”. The Odyssey is an epic poem which begins IN
MEDIAS RES.
Epic Hero: usually is a character of noble birth, must complete a quest, experiences the assistance
of various mythical, human, or animal helpers, has an antagonist (often supernatural), travels to a
magical world unable to be visited by normal humans, escapes from certain death, has a
resurrection of sorts, and is restored to the original position held when story started or placed
higher.
Epithet: a term used to characterize a person or thing; A term used as a descriptive substitute for
the name or title of a person, such as “The Great Emancipator” for Abraham Lincoln.
Drama:
literature intended to be performed in front of an audience.
Actors tell the story through words and action.
Foil: a character with character traits directly opposite another character within the same literary
work.
Chorus: a character position (usually a group) in drama which acts as the narrator, commenting on
the action, etc.
Prologue: the introductory lines of a literary work.
Epilogue: the closing lines of a literary work.
Dialogue: direct conversation between two or more characters.
Monologue: a speech by one character in a play, story, or poem
Soliloquy: a speech delivered by a character alone on stage.
Aside: a comment made by a character to the audience; other characters do not hear the comment