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Reading Lit 8th
Milestones Review
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Inference | To infer means to come to a reasonable conclusion based on evidence found in the text. By contrast, an explicit idea or message is fully stated or revealed by the writer. The author tells the reader exactly what they need to know. (RL1) |
Theme | The theme of a literary text is its lesson or message. For example, a story could be about two friends who like to do things together, and the theme might be the importance of friendship. (RL2) |
Plot | The series of events that form a story in a specific order. (RL3) |
Resolution | In most stories there is a conflict or problem. The resolution is the solution to the problem or the end of the main dramatic conflict. (RL3) |
Allusion | An indirect reference to something. When a writer refers to something without mentioning it explicitly, it is an allusion. For example, He didn’t want to give gifts to anyone at Christmas; he was being a scrooge. In this sentence, the writer is alluding to Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. (RL.4) |
Figurative language | To understand figurative language, you need to distinguish between literal and figurative meanings of words and phrases. Literal refers to the actual meaning of a word or phrase. For example, if someone tells you to open the door, you can open a physical door. If someone tells you to “open the door to your heart,” you are opening up your feelings and emotions. |
Personification | When a writer describes an object as if it were a person. For example, The trees sighed in the afternoon breeze. The trees cannot really sigh but seemed to as they blew gently in the breeze. (L5a) |
Simile | A comparison using like or as. For example, She is as pretty as a picture. (L5a) Similes make a comparison using a linking word such as like, as, or than (her eyes shone like the stars). |
Metaphor | A direct comparison that states one thing is another. It isn’t meant to be literal, but descriptive. For example, He is an animal on the soccer field does not mean that the boy is really an animal, but it is a metaphor for how he plays soccer (very aggressively). (RL.4) A metaphor makes a comparison without a linking word; instead of being like another, one thing is another (her eyes were shining stars). (RL4) |
Alliteration | The use of the same sound to start several words in a row. For example, The beautiful butterfly blew by the bay. Literary devices such as alliteration can have a big impact on poems, stories, and dramas. (RL4) |
Point of View | The perspective from which a story is told. The point of view depends upon who the narrator is and how much he or she knows. The point of view could be first person (I went to the store), second person (You went to the store), or third person (He went to the store). (RL6) |
Compare v Contrast | Though similar, comparing is analyzing two things such as characters or stories in relation to each other, while contrasting is specifically analyzing the differences between two things, such as two different characters or stories.(RL7/RL9) |
Genre | A genre is a category of passages, such as fiction and nonfiction. Each genre has a particular style, form, and content. (RL9) |