| A | B |
|---|
| Oral literature | Stories that were first told, rather than being written down |
| Pamphlet | A short printed essay with no cover, or with a paper cover |
| Pen Name | A false name used for writing |
| Personification | Giving characters such as animals or objects the characteristics of humans |
| Persuasive | Meant to influence |
| Playwright | A writer of plays |
| Point of view | The relationship of the narrator to the story |
| Pun | A joke formed by a play on words |
| Purpose | A nonfiction writer's main idea or goal |
| Realistic drama | Plays that tell the stories of ordinary people in a lifelike manner |
| Reflective essay | A personal essay exploring an author's feelings |
| Refrain | Repeated words or phrases that create a mood or give importance to something |
| Regionalism | A word or phrase that comes from a particular area |
| Repetition | Using a word, phrase, or image more that once, for emphasis |
| Rhyme | Words that end with the same or similar sounds |
| Rhythm | A pattern created by the stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry |
| Rising action | The events of the plot that add to the conflict |
| Round character | A well-developed character possessing a variety of traits |
| Satire | Humorous writing that makes fun of foolishness or evil |
| Scene | A unit of action in a play that takes place in one setting |
| Script | The written text of a play, used in production or performance |
| Sequence | The order of events |
| Short story | A brief work of prose fiction that includes plot, setting, characters, point of view, and theme |
| Simile | A figure of speech in which two things are compared using a phrase that includes the words "like" or "as" |
| Stage directions | Notes by playwrights describing such things as setting, lighting, sound effects, and how the actors are to look, behave, move, and speak |
| Stanza | A group of lines that forms a unit in a poem |
| Story-within-a-story | A second story told within another story |
| Style | An author's way of writing1 |
| Subject | The ain topic of a play |
| Subtitle | A second, less important title under the first that gives more information about the writing |
| Sudden fiction | Brief short stories |
| Suspense | A quality in a story that makes the reader uncertain or nervous about what will happen next |
| Symbol | A person, place, or object that stands for something beyond itself |
| Symbolism | The larger meaning of a person, place, or object |
| Tall tale | A story from folklore that features exaggerated characters who have fantastic adventures |
| Third-person | A point of view where the narrator is not a character, and refers to characters as "he" or "she" |
| Tone | The attitude an author takes toward a subject |
| Tragedy | A play that ends with the sffering or death of one or more of the main characters |
| Turning point | Climax |
| Unreliable Narrator | A first-person narrator whose views cannot be depended on to be completely true |
| Verse | Word patterns that follow a definite rhythm and rhyme |
| Voice | The way a writer expresses ideas through style, form, content, and purpose |
| Web site | A collection of linked pages on the Internet, available to the publi for information and entertainment |
| Ritual | A ceremony |
| Obstacle | Something that gets in the way |
| Notorious | Well known, especially for something bad |
| Prophet | Someone who sees the future |
| Animated | Made lively, happy |
| Ballad | A simple song |
| Act | A major unit of action in a play |
