1
2
3
4
5
100
The environment in which a story takes place, including the time period, the location, and the physical characteristics of the surroundings.
What is setting
100
The conversation between characters in a work of literature.
What is dialogue
100
A struggle between opposing forces. A conflict may be external (between the character and another person, society, nature, or technology) or internal (a struggle within the character).
What is conflict
100
The story's main message or moral
What is theme
100
The point in a play, novel, short story, or narrative poem at which the conflict reaches its greatest intensity and is then resolved. The climax is also the part of a narrative when the reader or audience member experiences the most-intense emotions. See also: plot.
What is climax
200
The sequence of events in a story. The plot includes the opening event (what happens at the beginning/the main problem that the main character faces), the rising action (what happens to intensify the problem), the climax (when the problem reaches its most intense point and begins to be resolved), the falling action (what happens to solve the problem), and the resolution (how things end).
What is plot
200
The author’s attitude toward the subject matter or toward the reader or audience. Words that could describe tone include doubtful, humorous, gleeful, serious, and questioning. Tone is conveyed through the author’s word choices and the details that he or she includes.
What is tone
200
A scene in a story that occurred before the present time in the story. Flashbacks provide background information about events happening during the current narration. They may be presented as memories, dreams, or stories of the past told by characters
What is flashback
200
A main or important character; a character who plays a large role in a story. Major characters usually face some sort of obstacle, and they will be present throughout all, or almost all, of a story. A story can have one major character or several.
What is major character
200
The feeling the reader gets from a work of literature. Another way to describe a story’s mood is atmosphere. When you walk into a place, it has an atmosphere that makes you feel a certain way; when you “walk into” a story, it too has an atmosphere that makes you feel a certain way. For example, the mood could be calm, creepy, romantic, sad, or tense. Authors create mood through word choice, imagery, dialogue, setting, and plot. The mood can stay the same from the beginning to the end of a story, or it can change. onomatopoeia
What is mood
300
Language that portrays sensory experiences, or experiences of the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Authors use imagery to describe actions, characters, objects, and ideas, and to heighten the emotional effect of their writing. One way authors create imagery is through the use of figurative language.
What is imagery
300
When two unlike things are compared—using like or as—in order to illuminate a particular quality or aspect of one of those things. For example, “Randy’s voice is like melted chocolate” is a simile in which Randy’s voice is compared to melted chocolate. The simile suggests that Randy’s voice is rich, smooth, sweet, warm—qualities we associate with melted chocolate. See also: figurative language, metaphor.
What is simile
300
The comparison of two unlike things to illuminate a particular quality or aspect of one of those things. For example, “Karen was a ray of sunshine” is a metaphor in which Karen is compared with a ray of sunshine. The metaphor suggests that Karen was cheerful, happy, warm, hopeful—qualities we associate with the sun. Metaphors state that one thing is something else; they do not use the words like or as. See also: figurative language, simile.
What is metaphor
300
Clues or hints about something that is going to happen later in the story. Authors use foreshadowing to build suspense and to prepare the reader for what happens later.
What is foreshadowing
300
There are three types
What is irony
400
Words spoken to the audience by a character in a drama that are not supposed to be heard by the other characters onstage. An aside is usually used to let the audience know what a character is thinking.
What is aside
400
when the reader or audience member is aware of something that the characters are not aware of;
What is dramtatic irony
400
The literal meaning of a word is its definition as you would find it in a dictionary. Figurative language uses words in some way other than for their literal meanings to make a comparison, add emphasis, or say something in a fresh and creative way. Examples of figurative language include alliteration, hyperbole, idiom, imagery, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification, and simile.
What is figurative language
400
when something happens that is the reverse of what you expected;
What is situational irony
400
when the name or description of something implies the opposite of the truth (for example, calling a very tall person “Tiny”). major character
What is verbal irony
500
When two or more words in a group of words begin with the same sound (usually, the same letter or group of letters). For example: Anne’s awesome apple; Fred’s frozen french fries.
What is alliteration
500
An expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its individual words. For example, “it’s raining cats and dogs” is an idiom that means it’s raining really hard—but there is no way to know that from the meanings of its individual words.
What is idiom
500
The use of words whose sounds imitate the sounds of what they describe, such as hiss, murmur, growl, honk, buzz, woof, etc.
What is onomatopoeia
500
Extreme exaggeration used for emphasis or effect; an extravagant statement that is not meant to be taken literally. For example: “I almost died of boredom.” Hyperbole is frequently used in humorous writing.
What is hyperbole
500
Describing nonhuman animals, objects, or ideas as though they possess human qualities or emotions. For example: “The moon smiled down at her,” “I felt the cold hand of death on my shoulder,” “There is a battle being fought in my garden between the flowers and the weeds.”
What is personification
M
e
n
u