Praxis 5156 - ELA Grades 4-8

alliteration

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

example of an alliteration

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

allusion

an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.

example of an allusion

"He is a real Romeo with the ladies" alludes to Romeo & Juliet

personification

the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.

example of personification

My alarm clock yells at me every morning.

analogy

a comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification.

example of an analogy

Finding a good man is like finding a needle in a haystack

similie

a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid; uses like or as

example of similie

"Her hair is as dark as the night"

metaphor

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

example of metaphor

"Her hair is the night"

assonance

in poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in non-rhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible

example of an assonance

"Hear the mellow wedding bells" by Edgar Allen Poe.

paradox

a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.

example of paradox

You can save money by spending it.

oxymoron

figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect

example of an oxymoron

as in "cruel kindness" or "to make haste slowly."

parody

is an imitation of a particular writer, artist, or genre, exaggerating it deliberately to produce a comic effect.

examples of parody

"Police Academy" (spoof on police movies of the 1980s)

"Austin Powers" (spoof on James Bond movies)

"Spaceballs" (spoof on Star Wars movies)

"Airplane!" ...

"Blazing Saddles" (spoof on American Western movies)

"Young Frankenstein" (spoof on classic monster movies)

satire

the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

example of satire

First Political Cartoon in America

It was one of the founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, who is credited with creating, and printing the first political cartoon in America. Franklin was attempting to rally support for his plan for an inter-colonial association, in order to deal with the Iraquois Indians at the Albany Congress of 1754.

Franklin's cartoon depicts a snake, cut into pieces, with each piece representing one of the colonies. The cartoon was published in every newspaper in America, and had a major impact on the American conscience.

The words "Join, or Die" eluded to the Indian threat, but much of the effectiveness of this image was due to a commonly held belief at the time, that a dead snake could come back to life if the severed pieces were placed back together. Franklin's cartoon effectively grabbed the American peoples minds, and implanted an idea that endured even though the Albany Congress turned out to be a failure.

The image of the snake became the symbol for colonial unification, and was transferred to the colonial battle flag "Don't Tread on Me", and became part of the American spirit.

syntax

the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

example of syntax

The boy jumped happily.

The boy happily jumped.

Happily, the boy jumped.

synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

example of synecdoche

as in Cleveland won by six runs (meaning "Cleveland's baseball team").

parallelism

the state of being parallel or of corresponding in some way.

example of parallelism

"He likes playing baseball and running." "He likes to play baseball and to run."

aphorism

a pithy observation that contains a general truth

example of aphorism

"if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

myth

a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.

fable

a short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral.

folktale

a story originating in popular culture, typically passed on by word of mouth.

legend

a traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but unauthenticated.

epic

a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation.

allegory

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

parable

a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels.

orthography

the conventional spelling system of a language.

deductive reasoning

is a logical process in which a conclusion is based on the concordance of multiple premises that are generally assumed to be true; referred to as top-down logic

inductive reasoning

is a method of reasoning in which the premises are viewed as supplying some evidence for the truth of the conclusion; referred to as bottom-up logic

pathos

a quality that evokes pity or sadness.

ethos

the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations.

haiku

a major form of Japanese verse, written in 17 syllables divided into 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, and employing highly evocative allusions and comparisons, often on the subject of nature or one of the seasons.

ballad

a poem that is typically arranged in quatrains with the rhyme scheme ABAB.

limerick

is a humorous poem consisting of five lines.

elegy

a sad poem, usually written to praise and express sorrow for someone who is dead.

pastoral

a literary work (such as a poem or play) dealing with shepherds or rural life in a usually artificial manner and typically drawing a contrast between the innocence and serenity of the simple life and the misery and corruption of city and especially court life.

drama

an exciting, emotional, or unexpected series of events or set of circumstances.

hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

phoneme

any of the perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified language that distinguish one word from another, for example p, b, d, and t in the English words pad, pat, bad, and bat.

compound-complex sentence

a sentence having two or more coordinate independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses; EXAMPLE: Though Mitchell prefers watching romantic films, he rented the latest spy thriller, and he enjoyed it very much.

compound sentence

is made up of two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so) and a comma or by a semicolon alone; EXAMPLE: This house is too expensive, and that house is too small.'

complex sentence

a sentence containing a subordinate clause or clauses; EXAMPLE: "I burned dinner but not the cake."

simple sentence

has one independent clause which contains one subject; EXAMPLE: Joe waited for the train. "Joe" = subject, "waited" = verb.

denotation

the literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.

examples of denotation

Bear - Teaches people to fish and pick berries.

Eagle - Rules the sky and can transform into a human.

Frog - Brings wealth.

connotation

an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

examples of connotation

For example, the words childish, childlike and youthful have the same denotative, but different connotative, meanings. Childish and childlike have a negative connotation, as they refer to immature behavior of a person. Whereas, youthful implies that a person is lively and energetic.