Literary Devices
A comparison using the words "like" or "as." (She runs like a cheetah.)
What is a simile?
The beginning of a story where we learn the setting, characters, conflict.
What is the exposition?
To break a text into parts to see how it works.
What is analyze?
The author's attitude toward a subject (formal, informal, serious, nonchalant, etc.).
What is tone?
Explaining how two things are alike and different.
What is compare/contrast?
A direct comparison that says one thing is another. (She is a cheetah)
What is a metaphor?
The series of events and obstacles that build tension.
What is rising action?
An educated guess based on text evidence and your background knowledge.
What is an inference?
The feeling or "atmosphere" a reader gets from a text (excited, scary, romantic, tense, etc.).
What is mood?
Putting events in the order they happened.
What is sequence?
An extreme exaggeration ("My chores took ten years to do.")
What is hyperbole?
The most exciting part or "turning point" of the story.
What is the climax?
Rewriting a text in your own words while keeping the meaning.
What is paraphrasing?
The reason an author writes (persuade, inform, entertain, reflect emotion).
What is author's purpose?
Explaining why something happened and what the result was.
What is cause/effect?
A reference to a famous person, place, event that most people would know ("He's a Scrooge about money.")
What is an allusion?
The events that happen immediately after the climax.
What is the falling action?
Information (like theme) that is stated directly and clearly.
What is explicit?
A phrase that means something different than its literal words ("It's raining cats and dogs.")
What is an idiom?
Identifying an issue and providing a way to fix it.
What is problem/solution?
An object or person that represents a deeper idea.
The end of the story where the conflict is settled.
What is the resolution?
Information that is hinted at or suggested, but not stated (like theme).
What is implicit?
When the opposite of what is expected happens. There are 3 types: verbal, dramatic, situational.
What is irony?
Ordinary writing (sentences/paragraphs) NOT Poetry.
What is prose?