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8th Grade School > Literary Terms > Flashcards

Literary Terms Flashcards

1
Q

Alliteration

A

The repetition of initial consonant sounds

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2
Q

Analogy

A

A comparison between two or more things that are similar in some ways but otherwise unalike

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3
Q

Anecdote

A

A brief story about an interesting, amusing, or strange event

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4
Q

Antagonist

A

A character or force in conflict with the main character

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5
Q

Atmosphere

A

Mood

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6
Q

Autobiography

A

The story of the writer’s own life, told by the writer

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7
Q

Biography

A

A form of nonfiction in which a writer tells the life story of another person

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8
Q

Character

A

A person or an animal that takes part in the action of a literary work

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9
Q

Main/Major Character

A

The most important character in a story

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10
Q

Minor Character

A

A character who takes part in the action but is not the focus of attention

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11
Q

Flat Character

A

A character that is one-sided and often stereotypical

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12
Q

Round Character

A

A character who is fully developed and exhibits many traits–often both faults and virtues

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13
Q

Dynamic Character

A

A character who changes or grows during the course of the work

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14
Q

Static Character

A

A character who does not change

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15
Q

Characterization

A

The act of creating and developing a character

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16
Q

Climax

A

Turning Point

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17
Q

Comedy

A

A literary work, especially a play, which is light, often humorous or satirical, and ends happily

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18
Q

Concrete Poem

A

A poem with a shape that suggests its subject

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19
Q

Conflict

A

A struggle between opposing forces

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20
Q

External Conflict

A

A conflict in which a character struggles against some outside force

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21
Q

Internal Conflict

A

A conflict that takes place within the mind of a character

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22
Q

Connotations

A

The set of ideas associated with a word it in addition to its explicit meaning

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23
Q

Denotation

A

The dictionary definition of a word

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24
Q

Description

A

A portrait, in words

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25
Q

Development

A

The increasing of the conflict in the plot

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26
Q

Dialect

A

The form of a language spoken by people in a particular region or group

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27
Q

Dialogue

A

A conversation between characters

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28
Q

Drama

A

A story written to be performed by actors that is divided into acts, which are divided into scenes

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29
Q

Essay

A

A short nonfiction work about a particular subject

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30
Q

Informal Essay

A

An essay that uses casual or conversational language

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31
Q

Historical Essay

A

An essay that gives facts, explanations, and insights about historical events

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32
Q

Expository Essay

A

An essay that explains an idea by breaking it down

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33
Q

Narrative Essay

A

An essay that tells a story about a real-life experience

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34
Q

Informational Essay

A

An essay that explains a process

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35
Q

Persuasive Essay

A

An essay that offers an opinion and supports it

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36
Q

Exposition

A

The introduction, or the part of the work that introduces the characters, setting, and basic situation

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37
Q

Expository Writing

A

Writing that explains or informs

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38
Q

Fable

A

A brief story or poem, usually with animal characters, that teaches a lesson, or moral, which is usually stated at the end of the fable

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39
Q

Fantasy

A

Highly imaginative writing that contains elements not found in real life

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40
Q

Fiction

A

Prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events

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41
Q

Figurative Language

A

Writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally

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42
Q

Figure of Speech

A

A type of figurative language, which is writing that is not meant to be taken literally

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43
Q

Flashback

A

A scene within a story that interrupts the sequence of events to relate events that occurred in the past

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44
Q

Folk Tale

A

A story composed orally and then passed from person to person by word of mouth

45
Q

Foot

A

A group of weak and strong stresses in a meter divided by vertical lines

46
Q

Foreshadowing

A

The author’s use of clues to hint at what might happen later in the story

47
Q

Free Verse

A

Poetry not written in a regular, rhythmical pattern, or meter

48
Q

Genre

A

A division or type of literature, the three major ones being poetry, prose, and drama

49
Q

Haiku

A

A three-line Japanese verse form, where the first and third lines each have five syllables, the second line has seven syllables, and the poem is generally of a scene from nature

50
Q

Hero/Heroine

A

A character whose actions are inspiring, or noble

51
Q

Historical Fiction

A

A literary work where real events, places, or people are incorporated into a fictional or made-up story

52
Q

Images

A

Words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses, and writers use images to describe how their subjects look, sound, feel, taste, and smell

53
Q

Imagery

A

The use of images, which are words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses, and writers use images to describe how their subjects look, sound, feel, taste, and smell

54
Q

Irony

A

Literary techniques that involve surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions

55
Q

Journal

A

A daily, or periodic, account of events and the writer’s thoughts and feelings about those events

56
Q

Legend

A

A widely told story about the past–one that may or may not have foundation in fact

57
Q

Letters

A

Written communication from one person to another

58
Q

Limerick

A

A humorous, five-line poem with a specific meter and rhyme scheme, the rhyme scheme being aabba

59
Q

Lyric Poem

A

A highly musical verse that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker

60
Q

Media Accounts

A

Reports, explanations, opinions, or descriptions written for television, radio, newspapers, and magazines

61
Q

Metaphor

A

A figure of speech in which something is described as though it were something else, where it works by pointing out a similarity between two unlike things

62
Q

Meter

A

The rhythmical pattern of a poem

63
Q

Mood

A

Atmosphere

64
Q

Moral

A

A lesson taught by a literary work, which is usually directly stated at the end of a fable

65
Q

Motivation

A

A character’s motivation can be needs, such as food and shelter, or feelings, such as fear, love, and pride, and a motive is a reason that explains or partially explains a character’s thoughts, feelings, actions, or speech

66
Q

Motive

A

A reason that explains or partially explains a character’s thoughts, feelings, actions, or speech, which can be needs, such as food and shelter, or feelings, such as fear, love, and pride

67
Q

Myth

A

A fictional tale that explains the actions of gods or heroes or the origins of the elements of nature

68
Q

Narration

A

Writing that tells as story

69
Q

Narrative

A

A story that can be either fiction or nonfiction

70
Q

Narrative Poem

A

A story told in verse that often has all the elements of short stories

71
Q

Narrator

A

A speaker or character who tells a story, and the narrator can be from the first-person or third-person point of view

72
Q

Nonfiction

A

Prose writing that presents and explains ideas or that tells about real people, places, objects, or events

73
Q

Novel

A

A long work of fiction

74
Q

Novella

A

A fiction work that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel

75
Q

Onomatopoeia

A

The use of words that imitate sounds

76
Q

Oral Tradition

A

The passings of songs, stories, and poems from generation to generation by word of mouth

77
Q

Personification

A

A type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics

78
Q

Perspective

A

The perspective is the point of view, or vantage point, from which the story is told, which can be third-person, where the narrator is outside of the story, or first-person, where the narrator is a character in the story

79
Q

Persuasion

A

Writing or speech that attempts to convince the reader or listener to adopt a particular opinion or course of action

80
Q

Playwright

A

A person who writes plays

81
Q

Plot

A

The sequence of events

82
Q

Poetry

A

One of the three main types/genres of literature, the others being prose and drama

83
Q

Point of View

A

The point of view is the perspective, or vantage point, from which the story is told, which can be third-person, where the narrator is outside of the story, or first-person, where the narrator is a character in the story

84
Q

Problem

A

A conflict, or a struggle between opposing forces

85
Q

Prose

A

The ordinary form of written language, and also one of the three main types/genres of literature, the others being poetry and drama

86
Q

Protagonist

A

The main character in a literary work

87
Q

Refrain

A

A regularly repeated line or group of lines in a poem or song

88
Q

Repetition

A

The use, more than once, of any element of language–a sound, word, phrase, clause, or sentence

89
Q

Resolution

A

The outcome of the conflict in the plot

90
Q

Rhyme

A

The repetition of sounds at the ends of words

91
Q

Rhyme Scheme

A

A rhyme scheme is a regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem, an example being abab, where the first and third lines rhyme with each other and the second and fourth lines rhyme with each other

92
Q

Rhythm

A

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in spoken or written language

93
Q

Scene

A

A section of uninterrupted action in the act of a drama

94
Q

Science Fiction

A

The combination of elements of fiction and fantasy with scientific fact, and many science fiction stories are set in the future

95
Q

Sensory Language

A

Writing or speech that appeals to one or more of the five senses

96
Q

Setting

A

The time and place of the action of a literary work

97
Q

Short Story

A

A brief work of fiction

98
Q

Simile

A

A figure of speech that uses like or as to make a direct comparison between two unlike ideas

99
Q

Speaker

A

The imaginary voice a poet uses when writing a poem

100
Q

Stage Directions

A

Notes included in a drama to describe how the work is to be performed or staged

101
Q

Staging

A

The setting, the lighting, the costumes, special effects, music, dance, and so on that go into putting on a stage performance of a drama

102
Q

Stanza

A

A group of lines of poetry that are usually similar in length and pattern and are separated by spaces

103
Q

Surprise Ending

A

A conclusion that is unexpected

104
Q

Suspense

A

A feeling of anxious uncertainty about the outcome of events in a literary work

105
Q

Symbol

A

Anything that stands for or represents something else

106
Q

Theme

A

A central message, concern, or purpose in a literary work

107
Q

Tone

A

The writer’s attitude toward their audience and subject

108
Q

Tragedy

A

A work of literature, especially a play, that ends in catastrophe for the main character

109
Q

Turning Point

A

Climax

8th Grade School (8 decks)

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