English 11 Reading Virginia SOL vocabulary

Biography

A novel about a person, written by someone else

Analogy

Comparison between two things or concepts

Theme

Author's message about life or human nature throughout a story

Plot

Pattern of events in a story

Setting

Place and time of the story

Metaphor

Comparing 2 unlike things without using like or as

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration. Example: She laughed her head off

Personification

Giving human characteristics to non-human objects.

Oxymoron

2 words used together that are opposite in meaning. Example: "Pretty ugly" , "icy hot"

Foreshadow

Clues or hints at coming events in a story

Autobiography

A novel based on the author's life

Denotation

The meaning of a word found in the dictionay

Connotation

The feeling that a word gives

Narrative

Tells a story

Persuasive

Influences the reader to believe what the author suggests

Expository

Writing that explains information

Alliteration

Repetition of beginning sounds "Larry likes lizards"

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds "mad hatter"

Consonance

Repetition of final consonant sounds "east, west"

Onomatopoeia

A word whose sound suggest its meaning "buzz, ring"

Simile

Comparing using "like" or "as". Example: She is like a rose.

Repetition

Repeated use of words for emphasis

Meter

Pattern of accented and unaccented syllables to create rhythm.

Rhyme

Identical final word sounds at the end of lines of poetry

Protagonist

The leading character or hero

Antagonist

The character opposite the protagonist causing conflict

Allusion

A reference to a well-known fictional, mythological, biblical or historical person, place, or event

Allegory

A comparison made to an entire work of literature

Tone

The author's attitude towards the subject

Mood

The feeling or emotion the reader gets from reading.

Symbolism

The use of things/objects to represent ideas

Couplet

2 rhyming lines

Quatrain

4 lines in a stanza

Stanza

Groups of lines (paragraphs) in a poem

Conflict

The problem in a piece of writing. Example: man vs self, supernatural, nature, society, technology

Point of View

The voice of the story. Examples: 1st person, 3rd person limited, 3rd person omniscient

Irony

When the actual is quite different from what is presented. Examples: verbal irony, dramatic irony, situational irony

Imagery

Words that use the 5 senses to create a picture in the reader's mind

Rhyme Scheme

The pattern of rhyme in the lines of a poem. Pattern is marked using lower and upper case letters. Example: "aabb aabb"

Rhetorical Question

A question asked for effect with no expected answer

Parallelism

Similar phrases or sentences within a body of writing. "give me liberty or give me death!"

Paradox

A statement that appears to contradict itself, but holds some truth "ignorance is strength"

Dialogue

The conversation of characters

Genres

Categories of literature. Example: Play, novel myth, short story.

Myth

Stories passed down between generations by word of mouth. Explain the word, history and traditions

Monologue

A speech by a single character without another character's response

Drama

A play involving conduct and emotions

Epic

long narrative poem

Comedy

Writing that entertains or amuse

Tragedy

A drama that tells the story of a tragic hero's downfall

Free verse

A poem without patterns

Sonnet

A poem with 14 line stanzas

Idiom

An expression that is not meant to be taken literally

Overstatement

When the speaker over exaggerates what she means

Flashback

An event or situation that occurred before the time in which the work's action takes place.

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or verses to create emphasis, rhythm, and emotional impact.