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PSSA Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Alliteration | the repeating of beginning consonant sounds in words in a sentence.Ex. sweet smell of success, a dime a dozen, bigger and better, jump for joy |
| Antonym | a word that is the opposite of another word. |
| Antagonist | main character working against the protagonist. Sometimes not a person but an obstacle such as a force of nature, society or inner conflict. |
| Author's purpose | the author's reason or intention for writing the selection. Always ask youself- is the purpose to entertain, to inform, or persuade. |
| Autobiography | the story of a person's life written by the person |
| Biography | the story of a person's life written by another person |
| Characterization | the method an author uses to communicate information about the characters. |
| Climax | the moment when the action of the story comes to its highest point. This usually occurs at the end of the story just before the resolution. |
| Conclusion | the end of the selection |
| Conflict | struggle between opposing forces in literature. |
| Context clues | information within the reading selection that helps the reader figure out the meanings of challenging words |
| Dialogue | the actual words/ conversation that the character says to another character. |
| Evaluate | the examine and judge; to say if something is good or bad |
| Expository text | text written to explain and convey information about a specific topic. |
| Fable | a narrative intended to convey a moral or lesson to the reader |
| Fiction | any story that is a product of imagination rather than fact |
| Figurative language | language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create speacial effect |
| Flashback | technique in which the author interrupts the plot of the story to recreate an incident of an earlier time |
| Foreshadowing | technique in which the author provides the reader with clues about events that will happen later in the story |
| Generalizations | when you make assumptions about different events and/or characters apply them to new situations. |
| Genre | catagories of literature such as biography, mystery, historical, sports, and romance. |
| Homophone or homonym | two or more words that are pronounced alike but have a different meaning |
| Hyperbole | an exxaggerated statement used to make a stong effect. |
| imagery | words and phrases used specifcally to help the reader to imagine each of the senses. |
| inference | reading between the lines. taking what the author worte and adding it to what you already know to make an assumption. |
| irony | a difference between what is expected and what actually happens. |
| Metaphor | a comparison between two unlike things without using the word like or as. |
| Mood | the overall feeling created by the author's words. |
| Narrator | the speaker of the story |
| nonfiction | writing that is true and the purpose is to inform. |
| onomatopoeia | words whose sounds express their meaning. Ex. buzz crash cland hiss boom hush |
| plot | the events that occur in the story beginning with the setting and ending with the resolution |
| point of view | perspective from which the story is being told |
| prefix | letters added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning. |
| protagonist | the central character in a story that is the good guy or the one with whom the reader identifies |
| personification | giving lifelike characteristics to inanimated objects |
| resolution | occurs at the end of a story and includes how the conflict is solved |
| setting | the time and place where the action of a story occurs. |
| simile | a comparison between two unlike things by using the word like or as . |
| suffix | letters placed at the end of a word to change its meaning |
| summary | retelling what happened in order in your own words |
| supporting details | details that support or back up the main idea of the passage. |
| symbol | an image, object, character, or action that stands for an idea beyond its literal meaning. |
| synonym | two or more words that have highly similar meanings. |
| theme | the underlying message of the selection that the author is trying to convey or communicate to the reader. |
| tone | the clues of the story that suggest the writer's own attitude toward elements in the stoy. |
| voice | the author's style the quality that makes his or her writing unique |
| Compare and contrast | compare means to show similarities, contrast means to show differences |
| Conflict: character vs. character | a conflict between characters, such as a family feud, trouble with a bully, or romantic difficulties |
| Conflict: character vs. nature | conflict between a character and a force of nature, such as a tornado |
| Conflict: character vs. self | an internal conflict that takes place in a character's mind. (character may have to decide between right and wrong or between 2 solutions to a problem.) |
| fact vs. opinion | a fact can be proven to be true, an opinion is someones feelings |
| point of view (limited 3rd Person) | the story is told from the viewpoint of a character. As a result the reader is only exposed to what that character experiences. |
| point of view (1st person) | the narrator uses I, me, we and other first-person pronouns to relate his thoughts, experiences, and observations in a work of fiction or nonfiction. |
| root word | a word to which prefixes and/or suffixes are added |
| analyze | to explain in great detail |
| essay | a multi-paragraph writing |
| text structure: compare and contrast | the author organizes the text by telling how two or more things are alike and different |
| text structure: problem and solution | the author presents a problem and provides steps that lead to the solving of the problem; the solution |
| text structure: sequential | the author tells all events in order from first to last |
| text structure: desciption | the author gives great detail about a topic |
| text structure: cause and effect | the author presents something that causes something else to happen |
| line | a series of words in a poem |
| stanza | a group of lines in a poem |
| prose | writing made up of sentences and paragraphs (not poetry) |
| chronological | when events happen in order from earliest to the last (like sequential) |
| revision | to make something better by changing it |
Created by:
2014HeiLeiA
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