Quarter 1-4 - Literary Terms

Novella

A fiction work that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel

Novel

a long work of fiction

author’s purpose

The reason an author writes; could be to inform, persuade, or entertain

author’s perspective

the author’s opinion and/or attitude about his or her topic

prediction

to tell in advance the outcome of a story or event

point of view

the perspective, or vantage point, from which a story is told

imagery

words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses

nonfiction

writing that gives infromation or states the author’s perspective about a subject

fiction

a form of writing that tells a story about made-up characters and events

autobiography

the story of a writer’s own life, told by the writer

biography

a form of non-fiction in which a writer tells the life story of another person

characters

a person or an animal that takes part in the action of a literary work

narrator

a speaker or character who tells a story

setting

the time and place in which events of a story happen

conflict

a struggle or problem in a story between two forces that creates a tension that must be resolved

genre

a divison or type if literature

historical ficiton

when writes base fictional stories on real events from the past

compare/contrast

pertaining to a written exercise about the similaraties and differences between two or more people, places or things

cause/effect

nothing a relationship between actions or events such that one or more are the result of the other or others

characterization

the act of creating and devolping a chacter

fact/opinion

things know for certain to be true vs. thiings believed to be true.

Figurative Language

Writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally.

Personification

A type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given a human characteristic.

Simile

A figure of speech that uses like or as to make a direct comparison between two unlike ideas

Metaphor

a figure of speech in which something is described as though it were something else, a comparison between two unlike ideas.

Alliteration

The repetition of intial constitant sounds

Concrete Poem

A poem with a shape that suggests its subject

Haiku

A three lined Japanese verse poem, 5-7-5

Idioms

A set expression of two or more words that means something other than the literal meanings of its indivual words.

Limerick

a humorous, ryming, five-line poem witha specific meter and rhyme scheme.

Onomatopei

The use of words that imitate sounds