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Cooney's Lit. Terms
Literary & Poetry Terms to Know for the ELA 7 NYS Exam
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Alliteration | Repetition of similar consonant sounds at the beginning of words |
Allusion | A reference to something with which the reader is likely to be familiar, such as a person |
Metaphor | A direct comparison between two unlike things. It does not use the words like or as |
Simile | A comparsion between two unlike things that uses the words like or as |
Personification | A type of figurative language in which writers give an animal, object, or idea human qualities such as the ability to hear, feel, talk, and make decisions |
Onomatopoeia | The use of words that sound like the noises they describe |
Imagery | Language that appeals to the five senses - touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight |
Mood | The feeling created |
Tone | The attitude the writer takes toward the audience, subject, or character |
Stanza | Groups of lines in a poem |
Static Character | A character that stays the same throughout a story |
Dynamic Character | A character that changes from beginning to end |
Epilogue | A concluding section that rounds out a literary work |
Prologue | An introduction to a story that occurs before the exposition |
Hyperbole | An exaggeration or overstatement |
Flashback | When the main story stops and goes back in time |
Forshadowing | Hints of events that will come later in the story |
Antagonist | The person, thing, or force working against the main character |
Protagonist | The main character of a story |
Author's Purpose | The author's reason for creating a work. The purpose may be to explain or inform, entertain, or persuade. |
Character | A person, animal, or imaginary creature that takes part in the action of a story |
Dialogue | The words spoken by characters in a story |
Dialect | A form of language spoken in a particular place or by a partciular group of people |
Genre | The category or type of literature |
Mood | The feeling that a literary work gives to a reader |
Plot | The sequence of events in a story |
Exposition | The first part of a story that establishes the setting, introduces characters, and gives background information |
Rising Action | The series of conflicts or struggles that build a story or a play toward a climax |
Climax | The high point, or turning point, of a story |
Falling Action | The action that works out the result of the climax |
Resolution | The ending of a story |
Person vs. Person Conflict | Problem with another character |
Person vs. Society Conflict | Problem with the laws or beliefs of a group of people |
Person vs. Nature Conflict | Problem with the environment |
Person vs. Self Conflict | When a character has a problem deciding what to do or think |
Person vs. Fate Conflict | Problem that seems to be uncontrolable |
Point of View | The perspective, or vantage point, from which an author presents a story |
First-Person Point of View | The story is told by one of the characters, the author uses I |
Second-Person Point of View | Primarily used for the purpose or giving directions of instructions, the author uses you to speak to the reader |
Third-Person Limited Point of View | When the narrator is telling events from outside the story and can see into the heart and mind of one of the characters |
Third-Person Omniscient Point of View | When the narrator is telling events from outside the story and can see into the heats and minds of ALL of the characters |
Setting | The time and place of a story |
Style | The way the authors uses words, phrases, and sentences to express him or herself |
Symbol | A person, place, thing, or event used to represent something else |
Theme | The statement about life that the author wants to convey to the reader |
Synonyms | Words that have similar meanings |
Antonyms | Words that have different meanings |
Homonyms | Words that sound and look similar, but have different meanings |
Prefixes | Word parts added to the beginning of root words to create new meanings |
Suffixes | Word parts added to the ends of words to tell the part of speech and verb tense |
Root Words | Base words to which prefixes and suffixes are added to create new meaning |
Noun | Person, place, thing, or idea |
Verb | Action word |
Adjective | Describes a noun |
Adverb | Describes a verb or adjective |
Preposition | Shows the loctaion and replationship between nouns |
Pronoun | Takes the place of a noun |
Interjection | Shows strong feeling |
Conjunction | Joins words or groups of words in a sentence |