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Term | Definition |
---|---|
Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers | |
Antagonist: The principal character in opposition to the protagonist or hero | |
Example: In “The Most Dangerous Game,” General Zaroff is the antagonist. | |
Dynamic - changes/learns something | |
Static - remains the same | |
Flat - not well-developed | |
Round - well-developed | |
Conflict: The problem or struggle between opposing forces in a story that triggers the action; there are five basic types of conflict: person against person, person against society, person against nature, person against self, and person against fate | |
Connotation: The surrounding emotional feelings associated with a word | |
Example: The word cuisine means cooked or prepared food; however, it has a connotation of elegance and sophistication. | |
Denotation: The dictionary definition of a word | |
Dialect: A form of language spoken by people of a certain region or group | |
Dialogue: A conversation between two or more characters | |
Diction: Word choice intended to convey a certain effect | |
Euphemism: the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt. | |
Figurative Language: Language that is expanded beyond its usual literal meaning; for example, simile, metaphor, and personification (most common) | |
Flashback: A part of the plot that moves back in time and then returns to the present | |
Foreshadowing: Clues that hint at what is going to happen later in the story | |
Example: In “The Most Dangerous Game,” the pistol shots that Rainsford hears on his yacht foreshadow the evil type of hunting that is taking place on the island and the fact that he will become the hunted. | |
Genre: A kind of writing based on its style, form, and content | |
Example: novel, short story, folktale, myth, poem, play, or non-fiction | |
Hyperbole: A figure of speech in which an exaggeration or the obvious stretching of the truth is used to emphasize strong feeling or to create a humorous effect | |
Example: I could sleep for a year. This book weighs a ton. | |
Idiom: an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements, as kick the bucket or hang one's head. | |
Imagery: A set of mental pictures; language that appeals to the five senses | |
Example: “I spot the hills/With yellow balls in autumn./I light the prairie cornfields/Orange and tawny gold clusters…” | |
–“Theme in Yellow” by Carl Sandburg | |
Irony: Incongruity between what actually happens and what might be expected to happen | |
Example: Rainsford swims back to the castle and surprises General Zaroff instead of drowning. | |
Types: | |
Verbal, | |
Situational | |
Dramatic | |
Juxtaposition: an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. | |
Foil characters | |
*Metaphor: A direct comparison of unlike things without using like or as | |
Example: “Morning is a new sheet of paper for you to write on.” | |
-“Metaphor” by Eva Merriam | |
Onomatopoeia: The use of words that imitate the sounds they describe | |
Example: buzz, bang, plop, crackle, moo, smack, pow, wham, or quack | |
Oxymoron: A rhetorical figure in which contradictory terms are combined | |
Example: deafening silence, cruel kindness, icy hot, or jumbo shrimp | |
Personification: Giving human characteristics to a non-human entity | |
Example: The clock is running. | |
Plot: Events in the story; what happened in the story | |
*Point of view: The vantage point from which a story is told | |
Example: First person (author uses I), third person limited (author uses he, she, or they, but is limited to a complete knowledge of one character), or third person omniscient (author uses he, she, or they and is all-knowing) | |
Protagonist: The main character or hero in a piece of work | |
Example: Priscilla or Rainsford | |
Pun: A play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings | |
Example: In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio is dying and says, “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.” | |
Satire: A literary device used to ridicule or make fun of human vices or weaknesses | |
Setting: The time and place in which a literary work takes place | |
Simile: The comparison of two unlike things using like or as | |
Example: “…And an orange moon rises/To lead them, like a shepherd, toward dawn.” | |
-“Stars” by Gary Soto | |
Symbol: A person, place, thing, or event used to stand for something abstract such as an idea or emotion | |
Syntax: The order of words in a sentence | |
Theme: The author’s statement in a literary work- Ex. Do not judge someone until you walk in his shoes. | |
Tone: Refers to the author’s attitude toward the subject, characters, or reader | |
Methods of Persuasion: | |
Ethos - ethical appeal | |
Pathos -emotional appeal | |
Logos - logical appeal |