shared language vocab

author

The person who has written the text.

prose

Written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structures.

poetry

Literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings or ideas by the use of distinctive style and metrical structures.

speaker

The person who is telling the story, or “speaking” to the reader. Sometimes this is the author, but often it is a character within the story, or some other narrator.

audience

The reader, or intended reader, of a text.

tone

The author's or speaker's attitude towards what they are writing about.

mood

The feeling a text is meant to evoke in the reader.

setting

Where and when a story takes place. Can include location, time of day, year, or time period. Can include the weather conditions, season, and other such considerations.

imagery

Vivid descriptions within a text. Generally appeals to one or more of the five senses.

symbol

 An object, character, or similar facet of a text which is representative of some larger idea or issue. Generally results in a deeper understanding of the text.

metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things.

simile

A comparison between two unlike things using “like” or “as.”

hyperbole

A huge exaggeration.

personification

Describing an object or animal as having human characteristics.

topic

A matter dealt with in a text - change, friendship, loss, innocence, etc.

motif

A repeated image or element in a text which has symbolic significance - fire, birds, trees, etc.

theme

An overarching idea or argument explored in a text. This is not one word. It is a complex idea or question that the author develops over the course of a piece of literature - the power of friendship to help one overcome obstacles; how different people deal with the loss of a loved one; the ways that mental health can strain a close relationship.

characterization

 The way an author chooses to develop the characters over the course of a text.

verbal irony

Communicating a message to the reader that is the opposite of what is directly stated.

dramatic irony

When we, the audience, know something the characters do not.

situational irony

An unexpected chain of events (the opposite of what you expect happens)

allusion

A reference to another literary work.

juxtaposition

Placing two unlike things next to one another to make their differences more obvious.

foil

One character who is so different from another that their differences become extremely obvious as a result of the comparison.