Literary Terms
What is theme?
Theme is the central message of a text.
What is a claim?
A claim is the writer's main argument or position
What does it mean to analyze?
Analyze is to examine in detail.
What is a subject?
A subject is the who or what a sentence is about.
What does the author’s use of imagery help the reader do?
Visualize what is happening
What is a simile?
A simile is a comparison using like or as (her smile is as bright as the sun).
What is a counterclaim?
A counterclaim is an opposing viewpoint to the main claim.
What does evaluate mean?
Evaluate is to judge or determine the significance of something.
What is a verb?
A verb is an action word.
What is the effect of the author’s tone being sarcastic in the passage?
A. It confuses the reader
B. It creates a calm and peaceful mood
C. It makes the topic seem serious
D. It shows the author is mocking the subject
D. It shows the author is mocking the subject
What is symbolism?
Symbolism is the use of a symbol (or something tangible) that represents an idea (something abstract).
What is bias?
Bias is a tendency to favor one side over another.
What does it mean to infer?
Inferring is to draw a conclusion based on evidence and reasoning.
What is subject-verb agreement?
Subject-verb agreement means that the number of subjects matches with the verb. For example, a singular subject requires a singular verb: The dog barks. (S is for singular when using a verb in present tense)
How does the author’s use of a first-person narrator affect the story?
A. It gives the reader a clear outside view of all characters
B. It makes the story less personal
C. It helps the reader understand the narrator’s thoughts and feelings
D. It creates confusion about who is telling the story
C. It helps the reader understand the narrator’s thoughts and feelings
What is irony?
Irony is when the opposite of what is expected happens.
What is evidence?
Evidence is the support in an argumentative essay (facts, examples, stats, et c.)
What does it mean to interpret?
Interpret is to explain the meaning of something
Which sentence uses correct subject-verb agreement?
A. The dogs barks loudly every morning.
B. My teacher give us homework every day.
C. The student walks to class on time.
D. They walks to the store after school.
C. The student walks to class on time.
Why might an author use figurative language like similes or metaphors?
A. To provide exact, literal descriptions
B. To explain the plot clearly
C. To create vivid images or deeper meaning
D. To summarize the main events
C. To create vivid images or deeper meaning
Foreshadowing is when the author drops hints or clues about what will happen later on in a text.
What is credibility?
Credibility is how trustworthy or reliable a source is.
What does synthesize mean?
To combine information from different sources
What is the best way to revise this sentence to correct the verb tense?
She walks into the room, looked around, and sits down.
She walked into the room, looked around, and sat down.
The author uses short, choppy sentences in a tense scene. What effect does this have on the reader?
A. It slows the pacing and builds suspense
B. It speeds up the pacing and creates urgency
C. It makes the passage harder to read
D. It gives more details about the setting
B. It speeds up the pacing and creates urgency