English Final Exam Terms

Question 1

author’s purpose

Answer 1

to persuade, to inform, to entertain

Question 2

non-fiction

Answer 2

writing based on actual facts and events

Question 3

fiction

Answer 3

writing based on imaginary characters or events

Question 4

drama

Answer 4

writing intended to be performed by actors

Question 5

symbolism

Answer 5

anything that stands for itself and something else

Question 6

opinion

Answer 6

a personal idea, feeling, or perspective that cannot be proven

Question 7

fact

Answer 7

information that can be proven

Question 8

context clues

Answer 8

words, sentences, or situations that surround a word, sentence, or passage and make clear its meaning

Question 9

central idea

Answer 9

the main idea or topic of a non-fiction piece of writing

Question 10

main idea

Answer 10

the most important or central thought of a paragraph or larger section of text, which tells the reader what the text is about: Find the main idea in each paragraph

Question 11

oxymoron

Answer 11

two contradictory (opposite) words are used together for effect

Question 12

figurative language

Answer 12

language that puts a picture in the reader’s mind by appealing to one or more of the five senses. The five senses are touch, taste, hearing, seeing, and smell

Question 13

theme

Answer 13

the central message, concern or purpose in a literary work

Question 14

flashback

Answer 14

a literary device that interrupts the sequence of events of a story to relate an event from an earlier time

Question 15

foreshadowing

Answer 15

the literary device an author uses to give clues or hints about events that have yet to occur in the story

Question 16

simile

Answer 16

a comparison between unlike things using like, as, or than

Question 17

metaphor

Answer 17

a comparison between unlike things without using like, as, or than

Question 18

personification

Answer 18

gives non-human things human qualities

Question 19

mood

Answer 19

the feeling created in the reader based on the literary work.
(How does this make ME feel?)

Question 20

tone

Answer 20

the basic attitude expressed by the author in a poem

Question 21

point of view

Answer 21

the perspective or vantage point from which a story is told

Question 22

first person POV

Answer 22

the narrator is a character in the story and refers to himself/herself as I

Question 23

third person POV

Answer 23

the narrator is NOT a character in the story and refers to the characters by name or he, she, or they

Question 24

conflict

Answer 24

a struggle between opposing forces that drives the action in a literary work

Question 25

narrator

Answer 25

the one who is telling the story

Question 26

irony

Answer 26

the opposite of what someone would expect

Question 27

plot

Answer 27

the series of related events in a story

Question 28

setting

Answer 28

where (place) and when (time) a story takes place

Question 29

protagonist

Answer 29

the leading character of the story; this character often takes on the role of the “good person” or the hero

Question 30

antagonist

Answer 30

one of the central characters in the story that provides a source of conflict or opposition to the protagonist; the “bad person” in the story

Question 31

stanza

Answer 31

resembles and functions like a paragraph in the poem

Question 32

rhyme scheme

Answer 32

the arrangement or pattern of rhyming sounds at the end of each line (using the alphabet–Examples-aa,bb,cc,dd/abab,cdcd/ abba,cddc/)

Question 33

rhyme

Answer 33

the repetition of sounds at the ends of words

Question 34

alliteration

Answer 34

the repetition of initial consonant sounds usually at the beginning of words

Question 35

onomatopoeia

Answer 35

the use of words that sound like their meaning

Question 36

hyperbole

Answer 36

an obvious exaggeration that puts a vivid image in your mind

Question 37

repetition

Answer 37

the repeating of phrases, words, or sentences, used to emphasize importance

Question 38

trans-

Answer 38

across, through

Question 39

inter-

Answer 39

between, within

Question 40

mal-

Answer 40

evil

Question 41

uni-

Answer 41

one

Question 42

re-

Answer 42

again

Question 43

dict

Answer 43

speak

Question 44

just

Answer 44

lawful

Question 45

rupt

Answer 45

break

Question 46

viv, vit

Answer 46

live, life

Question 47

tract

Answer 47

pull

Question 48

leg

Answer 48

read