Literary+Terms+Guide

adults read (e.g.,textbooks, newspapers,reports, directions, brochures,technical manuals). || result of a sequence of events and the expected result. Romanticism). || events. Examples include nature and traveltext, biography,memoir and the essay || food for thought.) || such as setting. The mood of a work is not always what might be expected based on its subject matter. || rising action,the climax,the falling action, and the resolution. The plot may have a protagonist who is opposed by an antagonist, creating what is called conflict. || rhythmic patterns. Poetry typically relies on words and expressions that have several layers of meaning (figurative language). It may also make use of the effects of regular rhythm on the ear and may make a strong appeal to the senses through the use of imagery. || depicted (e.g.,first person,third person limited,third person omniscient, etc). The perspective from which a speaker or author recounts a narrative or presents information. The author’s manner in revealing characters, events, and ideas;the vantage point from which a story is told. || point. || automatically be equated with the author. See also narrator and point of view. || behave in a play. || structure could include flashback and foreshadowing, for example. In nonfiction works,the structure could include sequence, question‐answer, cause‐effect, etc. || stated or implied. Clues to the theme may be found in the prominent and/or recurring ideas in a work. || character’s perception,much like the omniscient point of view, but the reader must understand the action as it takes place and without any special insight into characters’ minds or motivations. || period. ||
 * Literary Terms and Devices **
 * **Allegory** || A form of extended metaphor in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative are equated with meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The underlying meaning may have moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas such as charity, greed, or envy. ||
 * **Alliteration** || The repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words ||
 * **Allusion** || An implied or indirect reference in literature to a familiar person, place, or event. ||
 * **Character** || A person, animal, or inanimate object portrayed in a literary work.
 * **Protagonist**- the main character in a work of fiction
 * **Antagonist**- the character or force that blocks or conflicts with the protagonist in a work of fiction
 * **Dynamic Character**- a character who changes throughout the course of a story
 * **Static Character**- a character who does not change much in the course of a story
 * **Round Character**-a character with many different character traits, which sometimes contradict one another
 * **Flat Characte**r- a character with few traits and no depth
 * **Sympathetic Character**- a character in a work of fiction that the writer expects the reader to identify with and relate to
 * **Unsympathetic Character**- a character in a work of fiction that the writer expects the reader to dislike or not relate to. ||
 * **Characterization** || The method an author uses to reveal characters and their various traits and personalities
 * **Direct Characterization**-the author directly states what a character is like.
 * **Indirect Characterization**- the author shows the audience what a character is like through his/her speech, thoughts, effect on others, actions, and/or looks ||
 * **Climax** || The turning point in a narrative; the moment when the conflict is at its most intense. Typically, the structure of stories, novels, and plays. ||
 * **Conflict** || A struggle or clash between opposing characters, forces, or emotions.
 * **Person vs. Person**-a character comes into conflict with another character
 * **Person vs. Sel**f- a character struggles within him/herself and has trouble deciding what to do
 * **Person vs. Society**- a character comes into conflict with society or group of people (government, school, traditions)
 * **Person vs. Nature**- a character comes into conflict with a force of nature ||
 * **Cultural Significance** || The generally accepted importance of a work representing a given culture. ||
 * **Dialect** || A variety of a language distinct from the standard variety in pronunciation, grammar,or vocabulary. ||
 * **Dialogue** || In its widest sense, dialogue is simply conversation between characters or speakers in a literary work; in its most restricted sense, it refers specifically to the speech of characters in a drama. ||
 * **Diction** || An author’s choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language, which combine to help create meaning and tone. ||
 * **Drama** || The genre of literature represented by works intended for the stage; a work to be performed by actors on stage, radio, or television; play ||
 * **Dramatic Script** || The written text of a play, which includes the dialogue between characters, stage directions, and often other expository information. ||
 * **Exposition** || A narrative device, often used at the beginning of a work that provides necessary background information about the characters ||
 * **Falling Action** || The part of a literary plot that is characterized by diminishing tensions and the resolution of the plot’s conflicts and complications ||
 * **Fiction** || Any story that is the product of imagination rather than a documentation of fact. Characters and events in such narratives may be based in real life but their ultimated form and configuration is a creation of the author. ||
 * **Figurative Language** || language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling. ||
 * **First Person** || The “first-person” point of view relates event as they are perceived by a single character. The narrating character may offer opinions about the action and characters from those of the author. ||
 * **Flashback** || An organizational device used in literature to present action that occurred before current (present) time of the story. Flashbacks are often introduced as the dreams or recollections of one or more characters. ||
 * **Foreshadowing** || An organizational device used in literature to create expectation or to set up an explanation of later developments. ||
 * **Genre** || A category used to classify literary works, usually by form, technique, or content (e.g. prose, poetry) ||
 * **Hyperbole** || An exaggeration or overstatement (e.g. I had to wait forever) ||
 * **Imagery** || Descriptive or figurative language in a literary work; the use of language to create sensory impressions. ||
 * **Informational Text** || Nonfiction written primarily to convey factual information. Informational texts comprise the majority of printed material
 * **Irony** || The use of a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its literal or usual meaning; incongruity between the actual
 * **Dramatic Irony**- the audience is aware of something (that is going to occur) but the character is not
 * **Situational Irony**-an event that occurs is the complete opposite of what is expected
 * **Verbal Irony**-a person or character says one thing but means the complete opposite ||
 * **Literary Devices** || Tool used by the author to enliven and provide voice to the text(e.g., dialogue, alliteration). ||
 * **Literary Element** || An essential technique used in literature (e.g., characterization,setting, plot,theme). ||
 * **Literary Form** || The overall structure or shape of a work that frequently follows an established design. Forms may refer to a literary type (narrative,short story) or to patterns of meter, lines, and rhymes(stanza, verse). ||
 * **Literary Movement** || A trend or pattern of shared beliefs or practices that mark an approach to literature (e.g., Realism,Naturalism,
 * **Literary Nonfiction** || Text that includes literary elements and devices usually associated with fiction to report on actual persons, places, or
 * **Metaphor** || The comparison of two unlike things in which no words of comparison (like or as) are used (e.g., The speech gave me
 * **Monologue** || An extended speech spoken by one speaker, either to others or asif alone. ||
 * **Mood** || The prevailing emotions or atmosphere of a work derived from literary devices such as dialogue and literary elements
 * **Motif** || A recurring subject, theme, or idea in a literary work. ||
 * **Narrative** || A story, actual or fictional, expressed orally or in text. ||
 * **Narrator** || A person, animal, or thing telling the story or giving an account of something. ||
 * **Nonfiction** || Text that is not fictional; designed primarily to explain, argue, instruct or describe rather than entertain. For the most part, its emphasis is factual ||
 * **Omniscient** || The point of view in which the narrator is not a character in the story but is able to know and reveal what ever character thinks and feels. ||
 * **Onomatopoeia** || The use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning. e.g.- “agree to disagree” or “alone in a crowd” ||
 * **Oxymoron** || A figure of speech that combines contradictory terms. ||
 * **Personification** || An object or abstract idea given human qualities or human form(e.g., Flowers danced about the lawn.) ||
 * **Plot** || The structure of a story. The sequence in which the author arranges events in a story. The structure often includes the
 * **Poetry** || In its broadest sense,text that aims to present ideas and evoke an emotional experience in the reader through the use of meter, imagery and connotative and concrete words. Some poetry has a carefully constructed structure based on
 * **Point of View** || The position of the narrator in relation to the story, as indicated by the narrator’s outlook from which the events are
 * **Resolution** || The portion of a story following the climax in which the conflict is resolved. The resolution of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey is neatly summed up in the following sentence: “Henry and Catherine were married,the bells rang and everybody smiled. ||
 * **Rhetoric/Rhetorical Devices** || The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing.
 * **Ethos**- persuasion of an audience through the character of the speaker or writer
 * **Pathos**- persuasion of an audience by appealing to a reader or listener’s emotions
 * **Logos**- persuasion of an audience through reasoning or appealing to the reader or listener’s logic ||
 * **Rising Action** || The part of a story where the plot becomes increasingly complicated. Rising action leads up to the climax, or turning
 * **Satire** || A literary approach that ridicules or examines human vice or weakness in order to suggest change. ||
 * **Second Person** || A little used point of view where the narrator directly addresses the reader as “you”. ||
 * **Sentence Variety** || Various sentence structures,styles, and lengths that can enhance the rhythm of or add emphasis to a piece of text. The presence of multiple sentence structures in a text(simple, complex, compound, compound‐complex) and/or various sentence beginnings(e.g., dependent and independent clauses, phrases,single words). ||
 * **Setting** || The time and place in which a story unfolds. ||
 * **Simile** || A comparison of two unlike things in which a word of comparison (like or as)is used (e.g., The ant scurried as fast as a cheetah.) ||
 * **Soliloquy** || A dramatic speech,revealing inner thoughts and feelings,spoken aloud by one character while alone on the stage. ||
 * **Sound Devices** || Elements of literature that emphasize sound (e.g., assonance, consonance, alliteration,rhyme, onomatopoeia). ||
 * **Speaker** || The voice used by an author to tell/narrate a story or poem. The speaker is often a created identity, and should not
 * **Stage Directions** || A playwright’s written instructions provided in the text of a play about the setting or how the actors are to move and
 * **Structure of Poem** || The rhyming pattern,meter, grammar, and imagery used by a poet to convey meaning. ||
 * **Style** || The author’s choices regarding language,sentence structure, voice, and tone in order to communicate with the reader. ||
 * **Symbolism** || A device in literature where an object represents an idea. ||
 * **Syntax** || A word that is similar in meaning to another word (e.g.,sorrow, grief,sadness). ||
 * **Text Organization/Structure** || The author’s method of structuring a text;the way a text is structured from beginning to end. In literary works,the
 * **Theme** || A topic of discussion or work; a major idea broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary work. A theme may be
 * **Third Person** || A perspective in literature,the “third person” point of view presents the events of the story from outside of any single
 * **Tone** || The attitude of the author toward the audience, characters,subject or the work itself(e.g.,serious, humorous). ||
 * **Universal Character** || A character that symbolically embodies well‐known meanings and basic human experiences,regardless of when or where he/she lives(e.g., hero, villain, intellectual, dreamer). ||
 * **Universal Significance** || The generally accepted importance or value of a work to represent human experience regardless of culture or time
 * **Voice** || The fluency, rhythm, and liveliness in a text that make it unique to the author ||

** Reading Comprehension Terms ** balanced by the inclusion of counter arguments that illustrate opposing viewpoints. || his/her audience to do or not do something. || word. || typically are words or phrases in bold print that indicate a topic or the theme of a portion of text; graphics may be photographs, drawings,maps or any other pictorial representation; charts(and tables or graphs) condense data into a series of rows, lines or other shortened lists. || should be able to identify and comprehend the propaganda techniques and persuasive tactics listed below. 1.**Name‐calling** is an attack on a person instead of an issue. 2. **Bandwagon** tries to persuade the reader to do,think or buy something because it is popular or because “everyone” is doing it. 3. **Red herring** is an attempt to distract the reader with details not relevant to the argument. 4. **Emotional appeal** tries to persuade the reader by using words that appeal to the reader’s emotions instead ofto logic or reason. 5. **Testimonial** attempts to persuade the reader by using a famous person to endorse a product or idea (for instance,the celebrity endorsement). 6. **Repetition** attempts to persuade the reader by repeating a message over and over again. 7. **Sweeping generalization** (stereotyping)makes an oversimplified statement about a group based on limited information. 8. **Circular argument** states a conclusion as part of the proof of the argument. 9.**Appeal to numbers,facts, or statistics** attempts to persuade the reader by showing how many people think something is true. || an adverb, etc. || structure could include flashback and foreshadowing, for example. In nonfiction works,the structure could include sequence, question‐answer, cause‐effect, etc. || =Here it is in a printable document:=
 * **Affix** || one or more letters occurring as a bound form attached to the beginning, end, or base of a wod and serving to produce a derivative word or an inflectional form (e.g. a prefix or suffix). ||
 * **Analysis** || The process or result of identifying the parts of a whole and their relationships to one another ||
 * **Antonym** || A word that is the opposite in meaning to another word. ||
 * **Argument/position** || The position or claim the author establishes. Arguments should be supported with valid evidence and reasoning and
 * **Author’s Purpose** || The author’s intent either to inform or teach someone about something, to entertain people or to persuade or convince
 * **Bias** || The subtle presence of a positive or negative approach toward a topic. ||
 * **Bibliography** || A list of the books/works referred to in a scholarly work, usually printed as an appendix. ||
 * **Biography** || A written account of another person's life. ||
 * **Citation** || A quotation from or reference to a book, paper, or author, especially in a scholarly work. ||
 * **Compare/Contrast** || Place together characters,situations, orideasto show common and/or differing features in literary selections. ||
 * **Connotation** || The range of associations that a word or phrase suggests in addition to its dictionary meaning. ||
 * **Context Clue** || Words and phrases in a sentence, paragraph, and/or whole text, which help reason out the meaning of an unfamiliar
 * **Defense of a Claim** || Support provided to mark an assertion as reasonable. ||
 * **Differentiate** || Distinguish,tell apart, and recognize differences between two or more items. ||
 * **Draw Conclusion** || To make a judgment or decision based on reasoning rather than direct or implicit statement. ||
 * **Evaluate** || Examine and judge carefully. To judge or determine the significance, worth or quality of something;to assess. ||
 * **Explain** || To make understandable, plain or clear ||
 * **Explicit** || Clearly expressed or fully stated in the actual text. ||
 * **Fact** || A piece of information provided objectively, presented astrue. ||
 * **Focus** || The center of interest or attention. ||
 * **Generalization** || A conclusion drawn from specific information that is used to make a broad statement about a topic or person ||
 * **Headings, Graphics, Charts** || Any visual cues on a page of text that offer additional information to guide the reader’s comprehension.Headings
 * **Implicit** || Though unexpressed in the actual text, meaning that may be understood by the reader; implied. ||
 * **Inference** || A judgment based on reasoning rather than on a direct or explicit statement. A conclusion based on facts or circumstances; understanding gained by “reading between the lines.” ||
 * **Interpret** || To give reasons through an explanation to convey and represent the meaning or understanding of a text. ||
 * **Key/Supporting Details** || Points of information in a text that strongly support the meaning or tell the story. Statements that define, describe, or otherwise provide information about the topic,theme, or main idea ||
 * **Key Words** || Specific word choices in a text that strongly support the tone,mood, or meaning of the text. ||
 * **Main Idea** || The author’s central thought; the chief topic of a text expressed or implied in a word or phrase;the topic sentence of a paragraph. ||
 * **Multiple-Meaning Words** || Words that have several meanings depending upon how they are used in a sentence. ||
 * **Opinion** || A personal view, attitude, or appraisal. ||
 * **Prefix** || Groups of letters placed before a word to alter its meaning ||
 * **Propaganda** || Information aimed at positively or negatively influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people ||
 * **Propaganda Techniques** || Propaganda techniques and persuasive tactics are used to influence people to believe, buy or do something. Students
 * **Sequence of Steps** || A literary organizational form that presents the order in which tasks are to be performed. ||
 * **Suffix** || Groups of letters placed after a word to alter its meaning or change it into a different kind of word, from an adjective to
 * **Summarize** || To capture all of the most important parts of the original text(paragraph,story, poem), but express them in a much shorter space, and as much as possible in the reader’s own words. ||
 * **Synonym** || A word that is similar in meaning to another word (e.g.,sorrow, grief,sadness). ||
 * **Text Organization/Structure** || The author’s method of structuring a text;the way a text is structured from beginning to end. In literary works,the