literary genres

Question 1

logical appeal

Answer 1

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

Question 2

alliteration

Answer 2

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.

Question 3

drama

Answer 3

using elements in design to create a sense of action or intensity

Example: using strong lighting contrasts to add drama to a scene

Question 4

fiction

Answer 4

Writing that describes imaginary events and/or people.

Example: Alice and Wonderland is an example of fictional writing.

Question 5

symbolism

Answer 5

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

Question 6

metaphor

Answer 6

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

Question 7

idiom

Answer 7

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”

Question 8

Onomatopoeia

Answer 8

words that make the sound of what the text is describing

Example: The buzzing bee flew into the room

Question 8

genre

Answer 8

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

Question 9

appeal to authority

Answer 9

Term definition.
using someone’s status, position, or background as a way to persuade an audience

Example: celebrity endorsements

Question 10

oxymoron

Answer 10

Using contradictory terms in conjunction with each other.

Example: Walking dead or disgustingly delicious

Question 11

irony

Answer 11

an incongruity between what the reader expects the author to mean and what they actually mean

Question 12

Hyperbole

Answer 12

To exaggerate or overstate something that is being described.

Example: Some of my clothes seem as old as the hills.

Question 13

author’s purpose

Answer 13

The author’s intention for writing. Could be persuasive, narrative, expository, or informative. Organization and style choices should reflect the purpose for writing.

Question 14

Informational Text

Answer 14

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

Question 15

figurative language

Answer 15

A word or phrase that does not have its normal everyday, literal meaning

Example: hyperbole: I’m so hungry I could eat a horse!

Question 16

simile

Answer 16

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

Question 17

memoir

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

emotional appeal

Answer 18

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

Question 19

analogy

Answer 19

Term definition.
comparisons between two things, often to drive home a point.

Example: “That’s as useful as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic”

Question 20

personification

Answer 20

Term definition.
Giving human traits to inanimate, non-living objects

Example: The stars seemed to dance in the glow of the moon

Question 21

rhetorical appeal

Answer 21

arguments using people’s desire to elevate their status

Example: a commercial suggesting that buying a certain smartphone will make the buyer popular

Question 22

nonfiction

Answer 22

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

Question 22

narrative text

Answer 22

Fictional stories, plays, poems. Usually contains some element of plot or conflict.

Example: Peter Pan, Romeo and Juliet

Question 23

poetry

Answer 23

Creative writing written in verse and often including rhymes or heavy use of figurative language