| A | B |
|---|
| 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 |
| metaphor | a figure of speech that expresses an idea through the image of another object |
| meter | the repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry |
| mood | the prevailing emotions of a work or of the author in his or her creation of the work |
| multiple-meaning words | words that have several meanings depending on how they are used in a sentence |
| narrative | text which conveys a story or which relates events or dialogue; may be fiction or nonfiction |
| nonfiction | prose writing that is not fictional; designed primarily to explain, argue, instruct, or describe rather than entertain; the emphasis is usually on the factual |
| omniscient | the narrative perspective from which a literary work is presented to the reader from a "godlike" perspective, unrestricted by time or space, from which to see into the minds and hearts of the characters |
| onomatopoeia | the use of words whose sounds express or suggest their meaning |
| paraphrase | restate passage in other words to clarify meaning |
| pattern book | a book with predictable language structure and predictable text |
| personification | an object or abstract idea given human qualities or human form |
| phonics | the relationship between letters and sounds fundamental in beginning reading |
| plot | the structure of a story |
| poetic purpose | text with literary devices and language peculiar to poetry (e.g., stanza, rhyme, meter, etc.) |
| poetry | writing that aims to present ideas and evoke emotional experience in the reader through the use of meter, imagery, connotative, and concrete words |
| point of view | the way in which an author reveals characters, events, and ideas in telling a story |
| possessive | the form of a noun or pronoun that indicates possession; usually formed by adding an apostrophe and an "s" |
| prefix | letter(s) that are added to the beginning of a word to alter its meaning |
| print media | newspapers, magazines, etc. |
| problem/solution essay | an essay where the author typically presents a problem and a possible solution to it |
| propaganda techniques | tactics and persuasive techniques used to inluence and audience; see the terms below |
| name-calling or ad hominem | an attack on a person rather than an idea |
| bandwagon appeal | an appeal based on the idea that "everyone is doing it" |
| red herring | an attempt to distract the reader with confusing, irrelevant details |
| emotional appeal | the use of words that create an emotional impact rather than a logical appeal |
| testimonial | using a famous person to endorse an idea or product |
| repetition | repeating a message over and over |
| sweeping generalization (stereotype) | on oversimplified statement about a group based on limited information |
| circular argument | states a conclusion as proof of the argument |
| appeal to numbers, facts, or statistics | attempts to use data to persuade |
