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Literary Terms
NRHS Terms and Definitions
129
English
11th Grade
02/12/2008

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Term
DESCRIPTIVE WRITING
Definition
Descriptive writing is one of the four major forms of dicourse, in which language is used to create a mood or emotion.
Term
EXPOSITORY WRITING
Definition
Expository writing is one of the four major forms of discourse in which something is explained or set forth. Usually nonfictional information or background information.
Term
NARRATIVE WRITING
Definition
Narrative writing is the form of discourse that tells about a series of events usually in chronological order.
Term
PERSUASIVE WRITING
Definition
Persuasive writing is one of the four forms of discourse, which uses reason and emotional appeals to convince a reader to think or act in a certain way.
Term
BODY
Definition
The body of an essay is made up of paragraphs that develop and elaborate on the major points of an essay.
Term
CONCLUSION
Definition
The conclusion is the the final part that provides the readers with a sense of completion, reinforces the main ideas, summarizes the major points, offers a solution, or makes a recommendation.
Term
DETAILS
Definition
Details are made up of information that supports the main ideas of a paragraph.
Term
INTRODUCTION
Definition
An introduction is the beginning that catches the reader's attention, sets the tone, and presents the thesis.
Term
MAIN IDEAS
Definition
The main ideas are the major points of the paragraphs.
Term
PARAGRAPH
Definition
A paragraph is a group of sentences that presents and supports a main idea often stated in a topic sentence. It contains a topic sentence, body and a clincher sentence.
Term
THESIS STATEMENT
Definition
The thesis statement is the controlling idea of the essay.
Term
TOPIC SENTENCE
Definition
A topic sentence is a sentence that states the main idea of a paragraph.
Term
DRAMA
Definition
Drama is an art form that tells a story through the speech and actions of the characters in the story.
Term
ESSAY
Definition
An essay is a short literary composition on a single subject usually presenting the author's viewpoint.
Term
NARRATIVE
Definition
The narrative is a form of discourse that tells about a series of events.
Term
AUTHOR'S STYLE
Definition
An author's style is composed of the unique elements of an author's writing.
Term
ARCHETYPE
Definition
An archetype is an original or fundamental imaginative pattern that is repeated through the ages.
Term
CHARACTERS
Definition
Characters are individuals in a story or play.
Term
CLIMAX
Definition
The point in a plot that creates the greatest intensity, suspense, or interest.
Term
CONFLICT
Definition
The struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story. (Man vs. Himself, Man vs. Man, Man vs. Society, Man vs. Nature)
Term
LITERARY EFFECT
Definition
The influences of a literary work.
Term
MOOD
Definition
The mood of a literary work is the overall emotion created by a work of literature.
Term
PLOT
Definition
The series of related events in a story or play, sometimes called the story line.
Term
POINT OF VIEW
Definition
The point of view is the vantage point from which the writer tells a story.
Term
RESOLUTION
Definition
The resolution is the conclusion of a story, when all or most of the conflicts have been settled.
Term
SETTING
Definition
The setting is the time and location in which a story takes place.
Term
SPEAKER
Definition
The speaker is the voice that addresses the reader in a poem.
Term
THEME
Definition
The theme is the insight about human life that is revealed in literary work. It is the author's message to the reader.
Term
TONE
Definition
The tone is the attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience.
Term
ALLITERATION
Definition
Alliteration is the repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together.
Term
ASSONANCE
Definition
Assonance is the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds, especially in words close together.
Term
CONSONANCE
Definition
Consonance is the repetition of the same or similar final consonant sounds on accented syllables or in important words.
Term
DICTION
Definition
Diction is a speaker's or writer's choice of words.
Term
IAMBIC PENTAMETER
Definition
Iambic pentameter is a line of poetry that contains five iambic feet.
Term
METER
Definition
A meter is a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.
Term
ONOMATOPOEIA
Definition
Onomatopoeia is the use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning.
Term
RHYME
Definition
The repetition of vowel sounds in accented syllables and all succeeding syllables. When words within the same line of poetry have repeated sounds, we have an example of internal rhyme. End rhyme refers to rhyming words at the end of the lines.
Term
RHYTHM
Definition
Rhythm is the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language.
Term
ALLUSION
Definition
An allusion a reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some other branch of culture.
Term
ANALOGY
Definition
An Analogy is a comparison made between two things to show how they are alike. Analogies show the relationships of words.
Term
IMAGERY
Definition
Imagery is the use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience.
Term
METAPHOR
Definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles.
Term
OXYMORON
Definition
An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.
Term
PARADOX
Definition
A paradox is a statement that appears self-contradictory but reveals a kind of truth.
Term
PERSONIFICATION
Definition
Personification is a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.
Term
SIMILE
Definition
A simile is a figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things, using a word such as like, as than, or resembles.
Term
SYMBOLISM
Definition
Symbolism is a literary movement that originated in the late-nineteenth-century France, in which writers rearranged the world of appearances in order to reveal a more truthful version of reality.
Term
BLANK VERSE
Definition
p Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Term
COUPLET
Definition
A couplet is two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry.
Term
END RHYME
Definition
End rhyme is when the rhyming words are located at the end of each line of verse.
Term
FREE VERSE
Definition
Free verse is poetry that does not conform to regular meter or rhyme scheme.
Term
INTERNAL RHYME
Definition
Internal rhyme is rhyme that occurs within a line of poetry or within consecutive lines.
Term
REFRAIN
Definition
A refrain is a word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated, for effect, several times in a poem.
Term
REPETITION
Definition
Repetition may be used as a unifying property of repeated words, sounds, syllables, and other elements that appears in a work.
Term
RHYME SCHEME
Definition
The pattern of rhymes in a poem.
(Sonnet: abab, cdcd, efef, gg)
Term
SLANT RHYME
Definition
A slant rhyme is a rhyming sound that is not exact.
Term
BALLAD
Definition
A ballad is a song or poem that tells a story.
Term
LYRIC POETRY
Definition
A lyric poem is a poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of a speaker.
Term
NARRATIVE POETRY
Definition
A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story--a series of related events with a beginning, a middle and an end.
Term
SONNET
Definition
A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem, usually written in iambic pentameter.
Term
CLICHE
Definition
A cliche is a word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless because of overuse. ("quiet as a mouse")
Term
CONNOTATION
Definition
Connotations are the associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition.
Term
DENOTATION
Definition
The denotation is the explicit meaning of a word.
Term
DIALECT
Definition
A dialect is a way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area.
Term
HYPERBOLE
Definition
A hyperbole is a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration, or overstatement, for effect.
Term
PUN
Definition
A play on words based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things.
Term
RHETORICAL QUESTION
Definition
A rhetorical question is a question that is asked for effect and that does not actually require an answer.
Term
UNDERSTATEMENT
Definition
A understatement is a statement that says less than what is meant.
Term
VERBAL IRONY
Definition
Verbal irony occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else.
Term
ACT
Definition
An act is a major division of a play.
Term
ANTAGONIST
Definition
The antagonist is the opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist, in a story.
Term
ASIDE
Definition
An aside is used as a casual side message to the audience.
Term
DIALOGUE
Definition
Dialogue is the directly quoted words of people speaking to one another.
Term
DRAMATIC STRUCTURE
Definition
The dramatic structure contains the elements of a drama including exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and a resolution.
Term
FOOT
Definition
A foot is a metrical unit of poetry containing at least one stressed syllable and usually one or more unstressed syllables.
Term
FLASHBACK
Definition
A flashback is a scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time.
Term
FOIL
Definition
A foil is a character who acts as a contrast to another character.
Term
FORESHADOWING
Definition
t foreshadowing is the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot.
Term
MONOLOGUE
Definition
A monologue is when one person speaks to the audience.
Term
NARRATOR
Definition
A narrator in fiction is the one who tells the story.
Term
PARAPHRASE
Definition
To paraphrase is to state a text in your own words.
Term
PROTAGONIST
Definition
The protagonist is the central character in a story; the one who initiates or drives the action.
Term
SCENE
Definition
A scene is a division of an act.
Term
SOLILOQUY
Definition
A long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are onstage.
Term
SPEAKER
Definition
The voice that addresses the reader in a poem.
Term
STAGE DIRECTIONS
Definition
Directions for the characters on the stage.
Term
STANZA
Definition
A group of consecutive lines that forms a structural unit in a poem.
Term
VERSE
Definition
A line of poetry.
Term
CARICATURE
Definition
An exaggerated picture that places an emphasis on a person's character traits.
Term
CHARACTERS ACTIONS
Definition
What a character does in a play.
Term
CHARACTERS THOUGHTS
Definition
What a character thinks in a play.
Term
DIRECT EXPOSITION
Definition
Background information that is relevant to the story.
Term
DYNAMIC CHARACTER
Definition
A character who changes in some important way as a result of the story's action.
Term
FLAT CHARACTER
Definition
This is a character who has few personality traits and can be summed up in a single phrase: the loyal sidekick, the buffoon, the nosy neighbor, etc.
Term
ROUND CHARACTER
Definition
These characters have dimensions to their personalities. They are as complex as real people.
Term
STATIC CHARACTER
Definition
He is one who does not change much in the course of a story.
Term
STEREOTYPE
Definition
A fixed idea or conception of a character or a group of people that does not allow for any individuality and it often based on religious, social, or racial prejudices.
Term
BASE WORD
Definition
It is the root word.
Term
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
Definition
Events that are placed in the order in which they occurred in time.
Term
COMPARISON
Definition
It is to show how things are alike.
Term
CONCLUSIONS
Definition
A conclusion contains the ending remarks.
Term
CONTEXT CLUES
Definition
Context clues are clues from the surrounding text.
Term
CONTRAST
Definition
To show contrast is to show how things are different.
Term
INFERENCES
Definition
Term
ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERN
Definition
This is the pattern of the structure or a literary work.
Term
PLAGIARISM
Definition
To use someone elses words without giving them credit.
Term
PREFIX
Definition
Syllables added to the beginning of words to change their meaning.
Term
PROBLEM-SOLUTION
Definition
The format of stating a problem and then offering a solution.
Term
QUESTION/ANSWER
Definition
The format of asking a question and then offering a viable answer.
Term
SPATIAL
Definition
The order of logically describing where things are located or how they are situated.
Term
SUFFIX
Definition
The syllables added to the endings of words to change their meaning.
Term
TEXT STRUCTURE
Definition
The text structure is the format of the text.
Term
ALMANAC
Definition
Term
ATLAS
Definition
An atlas is a book of maps.
Term
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY
Definition
A biographical dictionary contains biographies of famous people.
Term
DICTIONARY
Definition
A dictionary is a book of words arranged in alphabetical order and their definitions.
Term
ENCYCLOPEDIA
Definition
An encyclopedia is a book of general knowledge.
Term
MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION
Definition
An associtaiton that devises a prescribed format for writing a research paper known as the MLA format.
Term
READER'S GUIDE TO PERIODICAL LITERATURE
Definition
This is a guide to finding magazine articles on specific topics.
Term
THESAURUS
Definition
A thesaurus is a book of synomyms.
Term
FABLE
Definition
A fable is a very short story that is told in prose or poetry that teaches a a pratcical lesson about how to succeed in life.
Term
SUSPENSE
Definition
Suspense is a feeling of uncertainty and curiosity about what will happen. next in a story.
Term
SARCASTICALLY
Definition
Using mocking or contemptuously ironic remarks intended to wound another.
Term
FIGURATIVELY
Definition
This is speech that is not meant to be taken literally.
Term
OBJECTIVELY
Definition
An action that is uninfluenced by emotion, surmise, or personal opinion.
Term
LITERALLY
Definition
It means using words without embelishment or exaggeration.
Term
LEGEND
Definition
A legend is a popular story handed down from earlier times.
Term
BIOGRAPHY
Definition
A biography is a story written about someone's life.
Term
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Definition
An autobiography is a story based on the author's life.
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