Literary Terms
This literary element is the underlying message or central idea in a story, such as “Power corrupts” in Macbeth or “The danger of pride” in Antigone.
What is theme?
The punctuation mark missing from this sentence:
I wanted to go for a walk____however, it started raining.
What is a semicolon (;)?
A flaw in reasoning that weakens an argument.
What is a logical fallacy?
To make a logical guess based on evidence and reasoning.
What is an inference?
Giving human qualities to non-human things.
What is personification?
A politician describes a protest as a “riot” rather than a “demonstration.” Their word choice, or __________, was designed to make it seem worse than it was.
What is diction?
An incomplete sentence that lacks a subject, verb, or complete thought.
What is a sentence fragment?
A sentence that clearly states the main point or claim of an essay, usually in the introduction.
What is a thesis statement?
Hints in the sentence or paragraph that help you figure out the meaning of a word.
What are context clues?
What is the following an example of:
“Her mind was a hurricane of ideas.”
What is a metaphor?
When a poetic line flows into the next line without a pause or punctuation.
What is enjambment?
What does the following sentence demonstrate:
She likes hiking, swimming, and biking.
What is parallelism?
A _________ is a single statement of opinion or belief; a thesis is the central argument of an essay.
What is a claim?
The narrator describes the house as “cavernous” and “echoing" to create a cold, empty, or lonely ________.
What is mood?
A figure of speech comparing two things using "like" or "as."
What is a simile?
_____________ is the literal dictionary definition of a word; ___________ is the emotional or implied meaning.
Denotation; connotation
Fix this run-on: "He was tired he still went to school."
He was tired, but he still went to school.
Identify what is wrong with this sentence:
“My goals are to finish the essay, getting some sleep, and to study for the test.”
What is a lack of parallel structure or faulty parallelism?
You can infer that a character is _________ if they are pacing and biting their nails?
What is nervous?
Identify the type of figurative language in this line:
“The angry clouds marched across the sky, growling as they passed.”
What is personification?
What type of lines are used in the following:
The sun is high.
The day is bright.
The world is waiting for the night.
What are end-stopped lines?
The punctuation missing in this sentence is a ____________.
"She had one goal to win the debate at all costs."
What is a colon (:)?
She had one goal: to win the debate at all costs.
Which of the following is a correctly formatted MLA citation for a print book?
A) John Green. The Fault in Our Stars. Dutton Books, 2012.
B) Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. Dutton Books, 2012.
C) The Fault in Our Stars, John Green. Dutton Books, 2012.
D) Green John. The Fault in Our Stars. Dutton, 2012.
What is option B?
B) Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. Dutton Books, 2012.
A group of related words that share the same root work. For example: inspire, inspiration, and inspirational.
What is a word family?
An exaggeration used for emphasis or effect.
What is hyperbole?