LITERARY TERMS
LITERARY TERMS
PERIODS OF AM LIT
RESEARCH AND THE WRITING PROCESS
Author's Elements of Style
100

Aristotle's three appeals.

What is ethos, logos, and pathos?

100
A character in the story who speaks directly to us and uses I
What is First Person Point of View?
100
This period of American literature reflects a sense of disillusionment and loss of faith in the American dream.
What is Modernism?
100
The use of another's words or ideas, whether intentional or unintentional, and claiming them as your own.
What is plagiarism?
100

Represents the social, cultural, or emotional meaning associated with a word.

What is connotation?

200
A writer's attitude toward his subject, communicated through diction, choice of details, or ditect statements of his or her position. It reflects the feelings of the writer.
What is tone?
200
The author uses descriptive or figurative language to create word pictures for the reader.
What is imagery?
200
"He tried to poke them together again, but in spite of the tenseness of the effort, his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered. Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out." In this passage from the _____ period, the writer views life as a losing battle against an uncaring universe.
What is Naturalism?
200
Brainstorming, diagramming your thoughts with a web or other visual aid, and outlining those ideas for a writing activity.
What is prewriting?
200

The way the words are arranged within sentences.

What is syntax?

300

The author's word choice is 

What is diction?

300

A technique that uses repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences.

What is anaphora?

300
Writers from this time period, including Jonathan Edwards, William Bradford, and Anne Bradstreet, share religious enlightenment and provide a history of the time.
Who are Puritan writers?
300

This usually appears at the end of your first paragraph in a informational essay and should cover only what you will discuss in your essay.

What is a thesis statement?

300

When two independent clauses are joined by a conjunction or a semicolon.

What is a compound sentence?

400

An implied comparison between objects that are different from each other

What is a metaphor?

400
"Small yellow creatures bob like dandelions in the field," is an example of the use of what literary device.
What is a Simile?
400
Works of this period included political statements, pamphlets, letters, and the like. Major writers during this time period, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, and Benjamin Franklin, were concerned with government and society.
What is Rationalism (Colonial Period)?
400

What type of writing includes an introduction paragraph, evidence, a counterclaim/rebuttal and conclusion?

What is an argumentative essay?

400

When an author asks a question, not to secure an answer but to move forward the development of an idea.

What is a rhetorical question>

500
In "Waldlen," Thoreau writes, "I am not as wise as the day I was born." This is an example of a rhetorical strategy know as a ____,which seems to contradict itself but suggests an important truth.
What is a paradox?
500
Author's use this technique when they reference something well-known that exists outside of the literary work.

What is an allusion?

500
A new type of poetry characterized by common speech, exact words, precise, clear pictures.
What is Imagism (Imagist poetry)?
500

A. Because of itsuse of a variety of livestock, cheese-making has been of primary economic importance for hundreds of years in the Netherlands, France, Italy, and Switzerland. B. Cheese-making probably originated soon after men first obtained milk from wild or domesticated animals. C. Hundreds of varieties of cheese are made from the nilk of cows, goats, sheep, water buffalo, mares, llamas, and yaks. D. Many years ago, humans discovered that cheese could be made from the curd formed when milk coagulates. From these details, what is the best thesis? A. In modern factories, cheese is mass-produced according to standardized recipes and techniques. B. Cheese is a highly nutritious food that can be used in a variety of ways. C. Cheese is a milk product that has a long history, a wide distribution, and considerable economic importance.

What is C?

500
Original sources of information; anything from firsthand documents, such as poems, diaries, court records, documents, and interviews to research results generated by experiments, surveys, etc.
What are Primary sources?
M
e
n
u