literary genres Flashcards
logical appeal
using figures, graphs, statistics, historical analogues, or studies to persuade an audience from a fact-based perspective
Example: an advertisement that claims a certain type of cleaner removes 99% more germs than their competitor
alliteration
A sentence or phrase in which most of the beginning letters or sounds begin with the same consonant sound.
Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
drama
using elements in design to create a sense of action or intensity
Example: using strong lighting contrasts to add drama to a scene
fiction
Writing that describes imaginary events and/or people.
Example: Alice and Wonderland is an example of fictional writing.
symbolism
When an item stands for an idea or larger meaning. Usually used throughout a piece of literature.
Example: dove = peace, red rose = love and romance
metaphor
a literary device that describes a person, object, or concept by asserting that it is something else, creating a figurative comparison between the two.
Example: Her voice is music to my ears
idiom
a phrase or expression that does not mean the same as the literal words
Example: “Break a leg” “back to the drawing board” “spill the beans”
Onomatopoeia
words that make the sound of what the text is describing
Example: The buzzing bee flew into the room
genre
Various forms of texts including short stories, essays, folktales, fairy tales, poetry, historical fiction, biographies and autobiographies, memoirs, comedies and tragedies.
Example: Night by Elie Wiesel is an example of a memoir
appeal to authority
using someone’s status, position, or background as a way to persuade an audience
Example: celebrity endorsements
oxymoron
Using contradictory terms in conjunction with each other.
Example: Walking dead or disgustingly delicious
irony
an incongruity between what the reader expects the author to mean and what they actually mean
Hyperbole
To exaggerate or overstate something that is being described.
Example: Some of my clothes seem as old as the hills.
author’s purpose
The author’s intention for writing. Could be persuasive, narrative, expository, or informative. Organization and style choices should reflect the purpose for writing.
Informational Text
Text that provides factual information such as in newspapers, magazines, chapters in a textbook, how-to manuals or directions.
Example: The school newspaper is considered an informational text
figurative language
A word or phrase that does not have its normal everyday, literal meaning
Example: hyperbole: I’m so hungry I could eat a horse!
simile
Making a comparison of two or more things including the use of the words “like” or “as.”
Example: My brother was as strong as an ox
memoir
A story or account of someone’s life or a part of that person’s life.
Example: A Moveable Feast is a memoir written by Ernest Hemingway during his time of living in Paris.
emotional appeal
using strong language to persuade an audience by evoking feelings
Example: commercials advertising animal welfare organizations might show ill or unhealthy puppies and kittens in an effort to engage the audience’s feelings
analogy
Term definition.
comparisons between two things, often to drive home a point.
Example: “That’s as useful as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic”
personification
Term definition.
Giving human traits to inanimate, non-living objects
Example: The stars seemed to dance in the glow of the moon
rhetorical appeal
arguments using people’s desire to elevate their status
Example: a commercial suggesting that buying a certain smartphone will make the buyer popular
nonfiction
Writing based on factual information and that may tell a story or give information such as how to do something.
Example: An example of a nonfiction (factual) book for children is The Evolution of Video Games
narrative text
Fictional stories, plays, poems. Usually contains some element of plot or conflict.
Example: Peter Pan, Romeo and Juliet
