| A | B |
|---|
| a character that changes | dynamic character |
| writing the way real people speak | dialect |
| a character's reason for doing something | motivation |
| when the author tells you about a character | direct characterization |
| when the author lets you figure out things about a character | indirect characterization |
| a character with a big role in the plot | major/primary character |
| a character with a small role in the plot | minor/secondary character |
| characteristics that describe a character | traits |
| the main bad character | antagonist |
| the main good character | protagonist |
| a character that stays the same | static character |
| static | character doesn't change |
| dynamic | character makes a major change |
| protagonist | main good character |
| antagonist | main bad character; villain |
| major/primary | character in most of the plot |
| minor/secondary | character pops in and out; not in all plot |
| trait | characteristic; describing word for a character |
| motive | reason a character does something |
| emotion | character's feeling |
| reaction | how character acts in a situation |
| example traits | blonde, tall, bossy |
| example motive | because he wanted Sally to notice him |
| example reaction | hit him in the nose |
| example emotion | sad, funny, serious |
| dialect | the real way someone speaks (ie. y'all) |
| direct characterization | telling something about the character |
| indirect characterization | letting readers infer something about the character |
| characterization | everything an author shows/tells us about a character |
| Alliteration | The repetition of usually initial consonant souds in 2 or more neighboring words or syllables |
| Assonance | repeated vowel sounds |
| cliche' | A familiar phrase |
| hyperbole | big exaggeration usually with humor |
| Idiom | not meant to be taken seriously |
| Irony | saying something unexpected or not what you mean |
| Metaphor | comparison without using like or as |
| Onomatopoeia | a word that imitates a real sound |
| Oxymoron | words that contradict each other but still make sense together |
| Personification | giving human qualities to something that isn't human |
| simile | comparison using like or as |
| idiom | bed of roses; My books weigh a ton! |
| cliche | practice makes perfect; boys will be boys |
| alliteration | Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. |
| assonance | Fan my hand with a plaster band. |
| personfication | wind whistled; trees clapped their branches |
| onomatopoeia | buzz; woof; meow |
| oxymoron | jumbo shrimp |
| simile | as light as air |
| metaphor | He was iron. |
| hyperbole | It cost a million dollars for that kind of shoe. |
| irony | Watching the snow fall, he said, "Let's wear shorts today!" |
| table of contents | front of book; chapter names and page #s |
| glossary | back of book; definitions of terms |
| index | back of book; locations of important terms in book |
| topic sentence | gives preview of important info in paragraph |
| text structure | way a text is set up |
| compare/contrast | shows a before and after or differences/similarities |
| cause-effect | shows why an event happened |
| chronological order | time order; the true sequence of events |
| tone | author's attitude toward a subject |
| bibliography | list of references |
| reliable | trustworthy (such as a source) |
| context clues | reading around an unknown word to figure out what it means |
| point of view | author's perspective |
| first person | narrator involved as a character; uses I |
| second person | narrator speakers to the reader using you |
| 3rd person limited | outside narrator knows one character's thoughts |
| 3rd person omniscient | outside narrator knows all characters' thoughts |
| biography | written about a person's life by another person |
| autobiography | written by a person about his/her own life |
| memoir | written by a person about portions of his/her own life |
| main idea | the "jist" of one piece of literature |
| theme | universal moral, lesson, or message |
| author's purpose | author's reason for writing something |
| persuade | writing to convince |
| inform | writing to give facts |
| entertain | writing to tell a story |
| 5Ws | who, what, when, where, why |
| fiction | fake: stories, plays, poetry, etc. |
| nonfiction | real: newspapers, textbooks, etc. |
| footnote | at the bottom of the page; denotes more information |
| chart | organizes information like a table |
| diagram | a picture that shows how something works |
| logos | ad appeal to the mind |
| ethos | ad appeal to the moral |
| pathos | ad appeal to the emotional |
| bandwagon | type of propaganda that says everyone is doing it |
| testimonial | a famous person says he uses a product |
| emotional words | propaganda using "luxury" or "restful" to sell a product |
| repetition | repeating a product name |
| propaganda | persuasive, one-sided advertising |
| reading strategy | tool for comprehending text |
| predict | guess what might happen next |
| connect | relate a text to one's own life, the world, or another text |
| reread | read a difficult part again to comprehend it |
| visualize | make a mental picture |
| allusion | reference to an outside work |
| aside | speech given with other characters on stage but out of their hearing |
| auditory | sound imagery |
| blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| cast of characters | list of characters in a play |
| character | person or animal in a play |
| climax | turning point of the plot |
| comic relief | humorous break in a tragedy |
| man vs. man | conflict between two characters |
| conflict | problem in a text |
| man vs. nature | character in conflict with a force of nature |
| man vs. society | character in conflict with a group or law |
| man vs. self | internal conflict (making a decision) |
| connotation | societal meaning of a word |
| couplet | two back to back rhyming lines |
| denotation | dictionary definition |
| denouement | resolution of the plot |
| dialogue | conversation |
| diction | word choice, formal or informal |
| double entendre | two layers of meaning |
| drama | play |
| dramatic irony | audience knows what the character doesn't |
| epic | long poem about a hero |
| epic hero | hero of an epic |
| epic simile | extended simile used in an epic |
| epithet | phrase commonly associated with someone's name |
| exposition | setting and characters of a plot |
| external conflict | all conflicts except man vs. self |
| falling action | leads to a resolution |
| flashback | character relates events from the past |
| foil | character who is opposite in a play |
| foreshadowing | hints about future events |
| free verse | unrhymed poem without rhythm |
| genre | type of literature |
| gustatory | taste imagery |
| haiku | three-line Japanese nature poem |
| iambic pentameter | lines of five unstressed stressed feet |
| imagery | language that appeals to the senses |
| in media res | in the middle of things |
| invocation of the muse | calling on the muse to bless an epic |
| limerick | funny five-line poems |
| lines | "sentences" in a poem |
| lyric poem | poem with a musical quality |
| meter | rhythm of a poem |
| mood | atmosphere of a text |
| myth | story of the earth's origins |
| narrative | poem that tells a story |
| narrator | person relating a text |
| ode | a tribute poem |
| olfactory | smell imagery |
| plot | what happens |
| prologue | introduction to a drama |
| pun | a play on words |
| resolution | end of the plot |
| internal rhyme | rhyme that happens in the middle of a line |
| end rhyme | rhyme at the end of lines |
| rising action | leads to the climax |
| satire | making fun to create change |
| setting | where and when of a text |
| situational irony | events opposite of the expected |
| soliloquoy | monologue made alone on stage |
| sonnet | fourteen line rhymed poem |
| stage directions | tell actors what to do on stage |
| stanza | group of poetic lines |
| suspense | tense excitement during a text |
| symbolism | one things stands for another |
| tactile | touch imagery |
| tragedy | sad drama |
| tragic hero | hero of a tragedy |
| verbal irony | sarcasm |
| visual | sight imagery |
