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Literary Terms

Allusion- indirect reference to another text, character, historical event, or real personAntonym—word that has the opposite meaning to another Assonance—repetition of vowel sounds Author’s purpose - the different reason why an author writes: persuade, inform, entertainConnotation— emotional feeling associated with a wordDenotation – dictionary/literal meaning of a wordDrama - a story intended to be acted on the stage; a playFiction – prose that tell about imaginary people and events Flat character – a two-dimensional character, usually having one point of view about lifeFree Verse - poetry with no regular rhythm or rhymeGenre - a category in literatureNon-fiction - prose writing that is based on facts, real events, and real people, such as biography or historyPerspective/Point of View - the viewpoint from which a story is told

Example – first person, second person, third person objective, third person limited, third-person omniscient

Poetry – writing that expresses the writer’s imagination and builds images in the reader’s mindProse - written or spoken language in its ordinary formRhyme scheme—the pattern of rhyme in a poem Round character – fully developed and showing complex traits, like real peopleStanza - a division of a poemSynonym – word that has the same meaning as another Word choice - a writer’s selection of precise words to help the reader visualize the text or have some type of impact on the reader

Example - joyous vs. happy, gloomy vs. bad

Non-Fiction Terms

Text Structure – the way an author organizes information in a text. An entire text may have the same structure, but in many cases different sections or paragraphs of a text have different structures – in other words, one text may contain multiple structures. There are five main structures:

1. description: The author provides a detailed description to give the reader a mental picture. If you see words and phrases like for instance, such as, for example, including, it like, to illustrate, and characteristics, those are the clues that the text structure of what you are reading is description.

2. sequence: The author lists items or events in chronological order (in other words, in the order in which they happen) or presents the reader with step-by-step directions. If you see words and phrases like first, second, third, next, then, before, later, finally, now, when, previously, and before long, those are clues that the text structure of what you are reading is sequence.

3. problem and solution: The author presents a problem and explains one or more solutions to the problem. If you see words and phrases like problem is, dilemma is, if…then, so that, and answer is, those are clues that the text structure of what you are reading is problem and solution.

4. cause and effect: The author presents ideas, events, or facts as a cause, and what happens as a result. If you see words and phrases like so, because, since, therefore, if…then, this led to, reason why, as a result, effect of, and consequently, those are clues that the text structure of what you are reading is sequence.

5. compare and contrast: The author provides information about the similarities and differences between two or more people, events, ideas, objects, etc. If you see words and phrases like same as, similar, alike, as well as, although, also, in the same way, either….or, in comparison, but, on the other hand, however, and in contrast, those are clues that the text structure of what you are reading is sequence.

Text features – part of a text that helps readers understand what they read Examples – headline, subheading, graph, photo, sidebar, timeline, captions

Name _____________________

Academic Terms

analyze- examine, look at closelyargue – convince the reader using text evidence / argument – your opinion backed up by text evidencecentral idea – main point that the author is making – a text may have more than one central idea. A central idea is always be supported with details from the text.characterize - describe cite - quote from the textclaim – statement that will be proven in a response, essay, or researchclassify – group according to characteristicscompare/contrast - similarities and differences credible - something that is worthy of belief, is trustworthy and convincingdirect quotation - a report of the exact words of an author or a speaker, surrounded by quotation marks (“”)discuss - examine, analyze carefully, and present evidence pro and con regarding the problems or items involvedevaluate - present a careful appraisal of the problem stressing both advantages and limitationsexamine – look at carefullyexplain - state the “how or why”explicit - stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubtgist - essence of a speech or text; the heart of the matterillustrate – make clear, explain, show with words/picturesimplicit - suggested but not directly expressedinference – conclusion or opinion that draws on known facts, evidence or intuition to fill in missing information; combination of what’s in the text with one’s own ideas to make an interpretationinterpret - translate, exemplify, solve, or comment upon the subject and usually to give your judgment or reaction to the problemjustify - prove or show grounds for your decisionparaphrase - restate in your own words something written or spoken by someone elseplagiarism - taking someone else’s words and writing them as your ownreasons - statements or facts that explain why something is the way it is relevant – important; having to do with the topic/questionsource - print or digital text (clip) used to gather information about a topicsummary - short statement of a text that gives the main points or ideas of something. It does not include opinions.support - evidence, facts, and/or details that help an argument, idea or claimsynthesize - combining ideas; put pieces together to see things in a new waytext - a written or printed document, the words of a speakertext evidence – supporting evidence that comes from a text you are writing about, in the form of a direct quotation or paraphrase.transitional words - words, phrases or clauses that link ideas so the text reads smoothly from one point to the next