Benchmark

Question 1

Tone:

Answer 1

author’s attitude (toward subject, characters, or reader); NOT the same as mood;
often determined by the writer’s diction or word choice.

Question 2

Mood:

Answer 2

the way a text makes the reader feel (not the same as mood in grammar; don’t
confuse with tone.) The mood of Poe’s “Raven” is one of despair.

Question 3

Plot:

Answer 3

the series of interconnected events in a story. Parts of a Plot: Exposition, Rising
Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution (also known as denouement)

Question 4

Theme:

Answer 4

the moral, the message, or the main idea (often used to mean the topic or subject
but this meaning probably not relevant to benchmark)

Question 5

Imagery / Sensory Details:

Answer 5

words used to evoke any or all of the five senses

Question 6

Point of View:

Answer 6

View: In fiction, point of view refers to how the story is narrated (by a character
in the case of first-person point of view or by a narrator who is not in the story in the case
of third-person point of view).

Question 7

Figurative Language:

Answer 7

nonliteral use of words; talking about one thing in terms of
something else; figures of speech like simile, metaphor, personification, etc.

Question 8

Simile:

Answer 8

a comparison using like or as (“pretty as a picture”)

Question 9

Metaphor:

Answer 9

a comparison NOT using like or as (“You’re a nut!”)

Question 10

Diction:

Answer 10

word choice (memory device: A DICTIONary gives you a choice of words.)