Literary Terms
True stories and real information
What is non-fiction
Position: High schools should teach basic financial literacy.
When I was in high school, I wasn't taught the basics, and I struggled as a young adult. Do we want our kids struggling?
What is ethos?
The character that starts the conflict.
What is the antagonist?
A set of lines separated by a line break. Like paragraphs but in a poem.
What is a stanza?
To explain, to entertain, to describe, to persuade...
What is author's purpose?
The final outcome of a story
What is resolution?
Position: Schools should eliminate long summer vacations in favor of a year-round calendar?
Long summer breaks are famously associated with relaxation so extreme that it verges on sloth, as students sleep until noon and spend hours lounging with friends.
What is pathos?
Why a character does what he or she does.
What is motivation?
A stanza with two lines that rhyme.
What is a couplet?
These can be supported with details, description, and explanation.
What is a main idea?
It contains the focus or main idea of an informative text and can be found at the end of the introduction.
What is a thesis?
Position: Companies should not be allowed to market products to children.
Advertising research suggests that children have difficulty distinguishing between product advertisements and entertainment content.
What is logos?
A character that changes because of the conflict in a story.
Who is the dynamic character?
The rhyming patterns at the end of each line. It often is referred to as ABAB or AABB.
What is rhyme scheme?
Facts that prove the claim and reasons of an argument.
What is evidence?
A life story of a person written by that person.
What is an autobiography?
Position: Americans place too much emphasis on self-reliance and not enough on community.
Like most suburbanites, I live in a house with its own yard and fences between my neighbors' properties and mine, which effectively discourages the use of shared space and frequent communication.
What is ethos?
The type of characterization that you must infer from the characters' thoughts, actions, or interactions with others.
What is indirect characterization?
What is enjambment?
The feelings or emotions associated with a particular word, beyond its dictionary definition
What is connotation?
The highest point in a story
What is Climax?
Position: Companies should not be allowed to market products to children.
Companies ruthlessly take advantage of the naïveté of children by using bright colors, catchy music, and engaging characters to advertise their products.
What is pathos?
This character is the opposite of the main character and helps us see the main character differently through the contrast.
What is a foil?
The use of details related to the five senses that helps the reader experience what the narrator is experiencing.
What is imagery?
What is tone?