| A | B |
| characterization | the act of creating or describing a character |
| climax | the highest point of interest or suspense in the story |
| dialogue | conversation involving two or more people or characters |
| first-person point of view | the narrator takes a part in the action and refers to himself using words such as I and we |
| free verse | poetry that does not use regular rhyme, rhythm, or division into stanzas |
| image | language that creates a concrete representation of an object or an experience; a vivid mental picture created in the reader's mind by that language |
| imagery | the images in a literary work when considered altogether |
| inciting incident | the event that introduces the central conflict |
| irony of situation | an event that contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience of a literary work |
| irony | a difference between appearance and reality |
| narration | writing that tells a story, either true or invented, about an event or sequence of events |
| plot | sequence of events that introduce, develop, and resolve a conflict in a literary work |
| Point of view | the vantage point from which a story is told |
| resolution | the point at which the central conflict is ended |
| speaker | the voice that narrates a poem |
| tag lines | words and phrases such as he said or she replied that tell who is speaking |
| theme | a central idea in a literary work |
| tone | a writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject or the reader |
| ammonia | a strong-smelling compound often used for cleaning |
| cloddish | stupid, clumsy, slow-witted |
| compost | a mixture consisting largely of decaying organic matter and used for fertilizing soil |
| confines | limits or boundaries |
| fatigue | extreme weariness or exhaustion |
| forlorn | sad because of isolation or desertion |
| heirloom | something of special value passed from one generation to another |
| inexpressible | that which cannot be expressed or described |
| iridescent | exhibiting a lustrous rainbowlike play of color |
| memorabilia | mementos, souvenirs kept to remind one of past happenings |
| morgue | a place where the bodies of people found dead are kept until released for burial |
| orderly | a hospital attendant who performs tasks such as cleaning, carrying supplies, moving patients |
| parchment | the skin of a sheep or goat prepared for writing on |
| protestation | objection |
| purify | cleanse |
| reinforce | strengthen |
| rouse | up, as to anger or action |
| sheepishly | in an awkwardly shy or embarrassed manner |
| stately | dignified |
| thong | narrow strip of leather |
| unseemly | not decent or proper |
| wayward: | unpredictable, opposite to what is desired or expected |
| wearisome | causing weariness, tiresome |