| A | B |
| author's style | the way the author uses language |
| biography | nonfiction story of a life written by someone else |
| autobiography | story of the writer's own life |
| essay | short nonfiction work about a topic |
| narrative essay | true story that focuses on someone other than the writer |
| expository essay | explains and informs |
| personal essay | informal account of a person's experiences |
| reflective essay | reveals a writer's thoughts about an idea or experience |
| persuasive essay | presents arguments to convince |
| moral | a lesson taught by a literary work |
| bias | a preconceived attitude toward something |
| stereotype | using a small group to represent the whole group |
| theme | the central message of a literary work |
| tone | the writer's attitude toward his subject |
| idiom | has a meaning particular to a region |
| alliteration | repetition of initial consonant sounds |
| internal rhyme | rhyme within a line of poetry |
| end rhyme | repetition of sounds at the end of lines |
| metaphor | two unlike things are compared |
| extended metaphor | a comparison througout several lines or stanzaz |
| half rhyme | rhyme that is similar but not exact |
| onomatopoeia | words that imitate sounds |
| personification | a nonhuman subject is given human traits |
| repetition | the use of a sound, word, phrase more that once |
| simile | a comparison between two unlike things using like or as |
| symbol | anything that represents itself and something else |
| lyric poem | highly musical verse that expresses feelings |
| narrative poem | verse that tells a story |
| sonnet | fourteen line lyric poem with a single theme |
| concrete poem | a poem whose shape suggests the subject |
| haiku | three line Japanes verse |
| epic | a long narrative poem about a hero or god |
| free verse | poetry without regular rhyme or meter |
| blank verse | verse written in unrhymed iambic pentatmeter |
| ballad | a songlike poem that tells a story of romance or adventure |
| figurative language | writing or speech not meant to be taken literally |
| meter | a poem's rhythmical pattern |
| limerick | a humorous, rhyming five line poem |