English FInal

Noun

Noun

Person, Place, Thing or Idea

Pronoun

A word that can substitute for a noun

Adjective

Describing word

Preposition

preceding, a noun or pronoun and expressing a relation to another word or element in the clause

Verb

a word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence, and forming the main part of the predicate of a sentence

Allegory

A story in which people, things, and actions represent an idea or generalization about life; often have a strong moral or lesson.

allusion

A brief reference to a person, place, or event (real or fictitious) or to a work of art.  References to the Bible, classical mythology, and Shakespeare are common in Western literature.

archetype

An image, a descriptive detail, a plot pattern, or a character type that occurs frequently in literature, myth, religion, or folklore and is, therefore, believed to evoke profound emotions.

characterization

The method a writer uses to develop characters. There are four basic methods: (a) description of the character’s physical appearance; (b) revelation of the character’s nature through his/her own speech, thoughts, feelings, or actions; (c) description of a character through the speech, thoughts, feelings, or actions of other characters; and (d) a narrator’s direct comments about a character.

climax:

The high point, or turning point, in a story—usually the most intense point near the end of a story.

conflict

In narration, the struggle between opposing forces that moves the plot forward; can be internal, occurring within a character, or external, between characters or between a character and an abstraction such as nature or fate.

connotation

Is an implied meaning of a word.  The attitudes and feelings associated with a word.

denotation:

Is the literal meaning of a word; the dictionary’s definition.

diction

“Word choice”; An author’s choice of words based on their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness.

flashback

Is action that interrupts to show an event that happened at an earlier time which is necessary to better understanding.

prologue

Information at the beginning of story essential to understanding the main story being told.

foreshadowing

A writer’s use of hints or clues to indicate events that will occur in a story. Creates suspense and at the same time prepares the reader for what is to come.

genre

A category of literature. The main ones are fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.

imagery

Words and phrases that create vivid sensory experiences for the reader. Most are visual, but may also appeal to the senses of smell, hearing, taste, or touch.

irony

The contrast between expectation and reality. Departure (often opposite) from what is expected to happen.  This incongruity has the effect of surprising the reader or viewer. Techniques include hyperbole, understatement, and sarcasm.

juxtaposition

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences.

oxymoron

Is putting two contradictory words together.

paradox

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

personification

Is giving human qualities to animals or objects.

plot:

The action or sequence of events in a story. It is usually a series of related incidents that builds and grows as the story develops. There are five basic elements: (a) exposition; (b) rising action; (c) climax; (d) falling action; and (e) resolution or denouement.

point-of-view

 The vantage point from which a story is told, chiefly occurring in literary texts. For example, in the first-person, the story is told by one of the characters; in the third-person, the story is told by someone outside the story. More broadly, the position or perspective conveyed or represented by an author, narrator, speaker, or character.

metaphor

Is an implicit comparison of two unlike things.

mood

The feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader. The use of connotation, details, dialogue, imagery, figurative language, foreshadowing, setting, and rhythm can help establish it.

satire

A literary technique in which ideas, customs, behaviors, or institutions are ridiculed for the purpose of improving society. It may be gently witty, mildly abrasive, or bitterly critical, and often uses exaggeration for effect.

setting

Is determining time and place.

simile

Is an explicit comparison of two unlike things generally using like or as.

symbol

Is using an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning.

theme

A central idea or abstract concept that is made concrete through representation in person, action, and image. Not simply a subject or an activity. Like a thesis, it implies a subject and predicate of some kind—for instance, not just vice as a standalone word, but a proposition such as, “Vice seems more interesting than virtue but turns out to be destructive.” Sometimes it is directly stated in the work, and sometimes it is revealed indirectly. There may be more than one in a given work.

tone

The writer’s attitude toward a subject. Unlike mood, which is intended to shape the reader’s emotional response, it reflects the feelings of the writer.  It can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, playful, ironic, bitter, or objective.

tragedy

Broadly defined, a literary and particularly a dramatic presentation of serious actions in which the chief character has a disastrous fate. There are many different kinds and theories: starting with the Greeks and Aristotle's definition in The Poetics, "the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself...with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions." In the Middle Ages, it merely depicted a decline from happiness to misery because of some flaw or error of judgment.

voice

A writer’s unique use of language that allows a reader to perceive a human personality in his or her writing. The elements of style that determine it include sentence structure, diction, and tone.  It can be active or passive.

1st Person

2nd Person

3rd Person