PSSA TERMSPSSA TERMSYou know you like them…

Literary Devices /Features Literary Devices /Features /Techniques:/Techniques:

• Dialogue- a conversation between characters *Uses quotes

• Flashback- details in a story that provide information about something that took place before the story takes place

• Foreshadowing- hints or clues given to the reader about events that may happen later in the story

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• Symbolism / Symbol- an image or object that stands for an idea beyond its dictionary meaning – Ex: heart = love, flag = freedom

• Allusion- a reference to a familiar person, place, or event – Ex: Noah, MLK, Zeus

• Irony-the use of a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its usual meaning – Ex: *Far Side comic

Elements of Fiction / Literary Elements of Fiction / Literary Elements:Elements:

• Characterization- reveals a character to the reader

– Character’s thoughts, words, actions- indirect– Other character’s thoughts, words, actions-

indirect– What the narrator reveals- direct

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• Plot- the sequence of events / what happens to the characters

• Rising Action- plot details that develop the conflict

• Climax- the moment when the conflict is at its most intense point

• Resolution- the conflict is resolved and the moral is typically revealed; the final outcome

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Plot Structure

(Conflict)

(Resolution)

(turning point)

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• Conflict / Problem- the story problem – Ex. Person vs. Person, Person vs. Self, Person vs.

Nature• Mood- the overall feelings /emotions of the story• Setting- the time & place of the story• Tone- the author’s attitude towards the reader and

characters – Ex: serious or humorous

• Theme- the life lesson or moral (broad) [THE[ME]SSAGE]

Poetry:Poetry:

• Alliteration- the repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words

– Ex: Peter Piper picked

• Onomatopoeia- a word used to represent a sound

– Ex: smack, hiss, pop

• Speaker- the person the reader is supposed to imagine is talking (don’t assume the author is the speaker)

Figurative Language:Figurative Language:

• Hyperbole- an exaggeration or overstatement – Ex: I’m so hungry I could eat a horse!

• Idiomatic Language- a saying that cannot be understood if taken literally

– Ex: It’s raining cats and dogs.

• Imagery- descriptive words that allow you to see, hear, smell, feel, and taste what you are reading

– Ex: The bubbling, oozing-over cherry pie sat on the table releasing its sweet, rich scent.

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• Metaphor- a comparison of two things that does not use the words “like” or “as” – Ex: Her hands were ice cubes.

• Personification- giving human characteristics to nonhuman things– Ex: The leaves danced across the lawn.

• Simile- a comparison of two things using “like” or “as” – Ex: Her hands were as cold as ice.

Genre:Genre:

• autobiography- a story of a person’s life written by himself or herself

• biography- a story of a person’s life written by someone other than that person

• fiction- any story that is made up by the author (not true)

• nonfiction- any written work that is based on facts (true)

Types of Text:Types of Text:

• expository- text written to provide information about a topic

• informational- synonym to expository

• narrative- text that tells a story

• poetry- text that aims to present ideas and stir up emotional experience; can have various layers of meaning

Author:Author:• author’s purpose- the reason the author is writing such as

to explain, describe, entertain, persuade, inform, or convince

• style- how an author writes; an author’s use of language (more to do with purpose)

• bias- a judgment based on a personal point of view -Ex: beach vs. mountains…Ford vs. Chevy

• voice- the personality of the author comes out in the writing

*** add this one***• propaganda- spreading rumors, ideas, or information in

order to help or hurt an organization or person

Point of View:Point of View:

• 1st person - the narrator is someone in the story; “I”, “Me”, “Us”

• 3rd person - the narrator is a bystander and not involved in the story’s plot; “them”, “he”, “she”

Text Features:Text Features:

• headings, graphics, and charts- any visual clues on a page that offer additional information to guide the reader’s understanding

– headings- bold print that indicates the topic or theme of the text

– graphics- photographs, drawings, maps– charts- condensed data in a series of rows,

lines, or lists

Actions:Actions:

• compare- placing together characters, situations, or ideas to show common or differing features in literary selections

• contrast- to compare differences• differentiate- to tell apart or recognize

differences between two or more items• evaluate- to examine or judge

carefully

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• infer / inference- to make a judgment based on reasoning; your understanding gained by “reading between the lines”

• paraphrase- to restate a text or a passage in your own words

• summarize- to capture the most important parts of an original work but to make them shorter and in your own words

Text Structure:Text Structure:

• cause and effect- cause comes from an action or event and the effects are what happens as a result of the action or event

• problem / solution- a organizational structure used in nonfiction where a problem is presented and possible solutions to it

• sequence- details told in order (ex. narrative, directions, process)

• question / answer- similar to problem/solution except a question is given and then answered (or possible answers are offered)

Word Meaning:Word Meaning:

• antonym- a word that is the opposite of another word

• synonym- a word that is similar to another word• homophone- words pronounced alike but with

different spellings and meanings• multiple-meaning word- words that have

several meanings depending on how they are used in a sentence

Word Meaning:-continuedWord Meaning:-continued• prefix- a group of letters placed before a word to alter

its meaning (ex. in, pre, post)• suffix- a group of letters placed after a word to modify

its meaning or change its part of speech (ex. ly, ion, ed, ing, er, ist)

• root word- one to which prefixes and suffixes can be added to form different words (ex. help…helpful, helper)

• context clues- information from the reading that identifies a word or group of words that’s helpful when figuring out meaning or understanding of the text

What’s the Topic:What’s the Topic:

• focus- the center of interest or attention

• main idea- the author’s central thought; the topic sentence of each paragraph

• thesis- the topic sentence for an entire piece of writing that the writer will defend throughout the written work

Test Words:Test Words:

• validity- statements that have the appearance of truth or reality

• conclusion- the ending of a story or the summarization of ideas

• generalization- a conclusion, drawn from specific information, used to make a broad statement about a topic or person