CAHSEE PREP

Plot and Setting

100

The
 story’s 
most 
exciting 
or 
suspenseful
 moment, 
when
something
 happens 
that
 decides 
the 
outcome 
of 
the 
conflict


What is climax?

200

Scene 
in
 a
 piece 
of 
literature 
that
 interrupts 
the 
present
action
 of 
the 
plot
 to
 show 
events 
that 
happened 
at 
an
 earlier
time


What is flashback?

300

The
 use 
of 
clues 
to 
hint 
at 
what 
is 
going
 to
 happen 
later 
in
the
 plot


What is foreshadowing?

400

The 
arrangement 
of 
details 
in 
time
 order;
 that 
is, 
the 
order 
in
 which 
they 
happened


What is chronological order?

500

Problems 
that 
arise
 during
 a 
story 
that
 keep 
a 
character 
from 
getting 
what 
he 
or
 she 
wants


What are complications?

Characterization

100

The
 character 
or 
force 
that 
blocks 
the
 protagonist 
from
achieving
 his 
or 
her
 goal


What is an antagonist?

200

A
 character 
who 
only 
has 
one 
or 
two
 personality 
traits; 
he
 or
she
 can 
be
 described
 in 
a 
single 
phrase


What is a flat character?

300

The
 reasons 
for 
a 
character’s 
behavior,
 what 
he/she 
says, 
or
the
 decisions
 he/she 
makes


What is motivation?

400

A 
character 
who 
changes 
in 
an 
important
 way 
as 
the 
result 
of
 the 
story’s 
action


What is a dynamic character?

500

When
 readers 
have 
to 
put 
“clues”
 together 
to 
figure 
out 
for
ourselves
 what
 a 
character 
is 
like


What is a subordinate character?

Irony/Drama

100

When 
the 
reader 
or 
the 
audience 
knows
 something 
important 
that 
a 
character
 does 
not 
know


What is dramatic irony?

200

When
 a
 word, 
phrase, 
action, 
or 
situation
 can 
be 
interpreted
two
 or 
more 
ways, 
all
 of 
which 
can 
be 
supported 
by 
the
context
 of
 the 
work


What is ambiguity?

300

Long 
speech 
in 
which 
a 
character 
who 
is
 alone
 on stage
expresses
 private
 thoughts
 or
 feelings


What is a soliloquy?

400

In
 drama, 
a 
conversation 
between 
two
 characters


What is dialogue?

500

A
 poem
 or 
part 
of 
a 
drama 
in 
which 
a
 speaker 
addresses 
one
 or 
more 
silent
 listeners, 
often 
reflecting 
on 
a 
specific
 problem
 or 
situation


What is a dramatic monolgue?

Figurative Language

100

The 
use 
of 
words 
and
 phrases 
that 
appeal
 to 
the 
five
 senses


What is imagery?

200

Figure
 of 
speech 
that 
makes 
a
 comparison 
between 
two
seemingly
 unlikely
 things
 by 
using 
a 
connecting
 word 
such 
as
like,
 as, 
than, 
or 
resembles


What is a simile?

300

Figure
 of
 speech
 that 
makes 
a
 comparison 
between 
two
unlike
 things
 without 
using 
a 
connecting 
word
 such 
as
 like, 
as,
 than, 
or 
resembles


What is a metaphor?

400

Figure 
of 
speech 
in 
which 
a 
nonhuman
 thing 
or 
quality 
is
talked
 about 
as 
if 
it
 were
 human


What is personification?

500

A 
reference 
in 
a 
literary 
work 
to 
a 
person,
 place,
or 
thing 
in
history
 or 
another 
work
 of 
literature 
(often 
in direct 
or 
brief
 references
 to 
well‐known 
characters 
or
 events)


What is an allusion?

Random

100

The
 central 
idea 
or 
insight 
about 
human 
life 
the
 author 
wants
us
 to
 obtain 
from
 reading 
the
 author’s 
writing.


What is theme?

200

All
 the
 meanings, 
associations, 
or
 emotions 
that 
a 
word
suggests.



What is connotation?

300

A
 broad 
statement 
about 
an 
entire 
group


What is a generalization?

400

A
 statement, 
reason, 
or 
fact 
for 
or 
against
 a 
point; 
this 
is
what
 a
 writer 
tries 
to
 prove 
in 
an 
essay, 
especially
 a
persuasive
 essay


What is an argument?

500

The 
attitude 
a 
writer 
takes 
toward 
a
 subject, 
a 
character, 
or
the
 reader.


What is tone?