1. memoir - is an autobiographical writing from a person's own life.
2. narrative - tells a story, account of events or experience whether true or fiction.
3. autobiography - an account of the life of a person written by the person.  Ex. memoir
4. theme - a writer's message or main point of the story.  The universal message conveyed by the writer.
5. stated theme - the theme is directly stated in the story.
6. implied theme - the theme is not directly stated and the reader must infer to determine the theme.
7. short story - a brief work of fiction usually concentrating on a single theme.
8. antagonist - is the person or thing working against the protagonist or hero of the story.
9. protagonist - the main character of the story.
10. setting - the time and place of the story.
11. idiom - is an expression that has a certain understanding in a particular region.
12. symbol - anything that stands for or represents something else.
13. genre - the classification of literature.
14. character - a person or an animal that takes part in the action of a literary work.
15. characterization - the act of creating and developing a character.  The two major methods of characterization is direct and indirect.
16. simile - is a figure of speech that uses like or as to make a direct comparison between two unlike ideas or things.
17. paraphrase - restating or putting something into your own words
18. inference- is a logical conclusion reached by putting details together and determining what they mean or indicate.
19. imagery - painting a picture with words appealing to the five senses.
20. character’s motives - is the reason for the character's action.
21. stereotypes- are beliefs that my be adopted about specific people based on race, a certain way of doing something, or the foods that they eat, but the belief may or may not accurately reflect reality.
22. internal conflicts - is a struggle that takes place within the mind of the character.  Referred to as man vs. himself.
23. external conflicts - is a struggle between a character and an outside force.
24. dialect - is a form of language spoken by people in a particular region or group.
25. dialogue - is a conversation between characters in a  drama, narrative, etc.
26. analogy - the comparison between two or more things that are similar is some way but otherwise unlike.
27. metaphor - is a figure or speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things or objects without using like or as.
28. figurative language - is writing or a speech that is not meant to be taken literally.  Writers use this type of language to state ideas in vivid and imaginative way.  Some of the most common examples include simile, metaphor, and personification.
29. descriptive details- are details that appeal to the five senses to bring their memories to life.
30. plot diagram - is a map of a story's plot, showing exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
31. exposition - the essential background information(including setting, characters, and conflict) at the beginning of a literary work.
32. rising action - the development of conflict and complications in a literary work.
33. falling action - the action that takes place in a story after the climax and that resolves the conflict.
34. climax- the turning point or high point of a literary work.
35. denouncement or resolution - how the conflict is solved; the final result of the conflict.
36. conflict - a struggle between opposing forces; the problem in a literary work.
37. plot - the sequence of events in a narrative text.
38. narrator - is the person speaking or telling the story.
39. major character - plays an important or main role in a piece of literature.
40. minor character - plays a supporting or minor role in piece of literature.
41. personification - a figure of speech in which non-human things are given human characteristics.  Example:  The wind sang a mournful song.
42. connotation - the emotion associated with the meaning of a word.
43. denotation - the dictionary meaning of a word - the literal meaning.
44. direct characterization - the writer directly states characters' traits.
45. indirect characterization - the writer depends on the reader to draw inferences and conclusion about characters' traits. 
46. onomatopoeia - use of a word which imitates its meaning - hiss, sizzle, shush.
47. alliteration - repetition of beginning consonant sounds - "While I pondered weak and weary ..."
48. round character - is complex and has many different traits.
49. flat character - has only one or two personality traits and can be summed up in a simple phrase.
50. dynamic character - changes in some important way as a result of the story's action.
51. static character - does not change much in the story.
52. hyperbole - figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion or create a comic effect.
53. foreshadow - the author's use of hints or clues to indicate something that might happen later in the story.
54. flashback - a science from an earlier point in a selection that relate events that occurred in the past.
55. tone - the attitude of the author toward his audience and characters.
56. mood - the feeling created by a literary work or passage.
57. oxymoron - A figure of speech that combines two contradictory words together. Examples: jumbo shrimp, working vacation, sweet sorrow, friendly fire, pretty ugly, same difference, found missing, etc.
58. traits - attributes that describes a character.
59. empathy - putting yourself in someone's else's place and imaging how that person feel.
60. essay - usually a nonfiction selection about a particular subject; have a single major focus and a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.
61. novel - long fictional prose narrative, usually more than fifty thousand words.
62. suspense - the technique of creating anxious uncertainty about the outcome of events in a literary work.
63. irony- literary techniques which involves surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions.
64. dramatic irony - when the reader or audience know something that a character does not.
65. situational irony - when there is a difference between what is expected and what actually occurs.
66. verbal irony - when the speaker says one thing but means the opposite.
67. rhyme- repetition of similar or identical sounds at the ends of words "nook and hook".
68. rhyme scheme - the pattern of ending rhymes in lines of poetry [denoted using letters, as in ABAB CDCD EE].
69. stanza - a group of lines forming a unit in a poem.
70. speaker - the person or thing that is speaking in a poem.
71. objective point of view - informational literature in which the writer only tells facts or an account of events.  The author's own opinions about the subject are not included.
72. subjective point of view - informational literature that includes a writer's opinions and feelings.
73. point of view - the perspective from which a narrative text is told; the narrator's position in relation to the story.
74. first person point of view - a narrative text is told from the perspective of an "I" or "we".
75. third person limited point of view - a point of view in which the narrator knows only the thoughts and feelings of a single character in a narrative text.
76. second person narrative/point of view- the narrator tells the story to another character using "you"; the story is being told from your point of view.
77. allusion - a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art.

78.  author's purpose - the reason for writing (e.g. to persuade, to entertain, to inform, to describe, to summarize).  

79.  fact - is something that is true about a subject and can be tested or proven.

80.  opinion - is what someone think or feel about a subject.  It cannot be proven.

81.  historical fiction - A fictional story with real and invented characters that take place during a historical time.

82.  mystery- A suspenseful story about a puzzling event that is not solved until the end of the story.

83. fantasy - A story including elements that are impossible such as talking animals or magical powers.

84.  folktale - A story, often with a message, that was initially passed on by word of mouth.

85. poetry- A verse written to inspire thought by the reader.

86. non-fiction - All of the information is based on true facts and not made up.

87. fiction - All of the information is made up.

88. biography - The story of a real person's life that is written by another person.

89. realistic fiction - A story using made up characters that takes place in modern times.

90. science fiction - A story that blends futuristic technology with scientific facts and fictional elements.

91.  allegory - is a device in which characters or events in a story, poem, or picture represent or symbolize ideas or concepts.

92.  ballad - is a poem which tells a story of a person from the past and is often set to music.

93.  cliche - is a word or phrase that is so overused, like "busy as a bee" or "I slept like a log"/

94.  epic poetry - is a long narrative poem about the adventures of an almost superhuman character.

95.  fable - is a story that is meant to teach a lesson.

96.  limerick - is a humorous (verse with five lines) poem.

97.  ode - is a meditative poem written about a celebration.

98.  satire - is a literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, ridicule, or wit.

99.  sonnet - fourteen lines of iambic pentameter - a very common form of poetry.

100.  anecdote - a short summary or a funny event.

101.  aside - when a character in a play speaks to the audience and not to the other characters.

102.  epithet - is a word or phrase used in place of a person's name to help characterize the person.

103.  free verse - is poetry that is not written with a regular pattern of rhythm and rhyme.

104.  hero - a character whose actions are inspiring or noble, and who overcomes difficulties.

105.  haiku - a Japanese form of poetry with three line of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables.

106.  lyric poetry - is poetry that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker.

107.  meter - the repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.

108.  monologue - is a speech or performance given entirely by one person or one character.

109.  myth - is a fictional tale that explains the actions of gods or heroes, or the causes of natural phenomenon, or both.  Myths can be Greek, Roman, Norse, or Celtic in origin.

110.  paradox - is a statement that seems to be contradictory but actually  presents a truth.

111.  parallelism - is repetition of phrases that have similar grammatical patterns.

112.  poetic justice - when a character gets what he deserves.

113.  prologue - is opening lines of a drama that gives background information.

114.  pseudonym - is the assumed or false name of an author.  Ex. Samuel Clemens pseudonym is Mark Twain.

115.  pun - is a play on works when a word has more than one meaning.

116.  refrain - is the regularly repeated group of lines in poem or song.

117.  soliloquy - is a speech delivered by a character when he is alone on stage.

118.  stream of consciousness - is a narrative technique, or point of view, that presents thoughts as if they were coming straight from a character's mind, with story events and character feeling combined.

119.  style - in an author's unique way of writing that involves word choice and sentence pattern.

120.  tragedy - is a type of story that portrays the fall of  a noble person, usually due to a tragic weakness or flaw in his or her character.

 

 

 

Mrs. R. Hardy

7th Grade ELA

Midway Middle School 

Team 7-2

Literary Terms issued to students: 8/31/2023.