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What is a setting?
Where the story takes place and the time it takes place.
Ex: Outdoors, the basket (The Village of Left-behinds), Africa, 2 pm on Tuesday
What is a main idea?
The most important part of the story. The overall meaning of a story.
Main Idea: The main idea of Owen and Mzee is that a tortoise and a baby hippo become unlikely friends and help one another.
Describe the text structure "description"
The author describes, or tells about, a topic and its characteristics.
It will include details about a topic
What is a simile? Can you give an example?
A simile is when two unlike things are compared using the words like or as.
-Ex: The boy is as brave as a lion.
What is a stanza?
A group of lines in a poem.
What is a conflict in a story?
A problem or struggle between two characters in the story or a character and the environment.
*It can be external or internal.
Ex: Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, Eugene and Mr. Lincoln
What is the mood of a story?
The feeling you get from the writer's words in a story.
Ex: dreamy, silly, hopeful, suspenseful
Describe the text structure "problem and solution"
The author describes a problem and then explains how this problem was solved.
What is a metaphor? Can you give an example?
A metaphor is comparing two unlike things without using like or as.
Ex: The tree is a skyscraper.
What is the speaker?
What is tone?
The speaker is an imaginary voice assumed by the writer of a poem, the one describing the events in a poem.
Tone is the speaker's attitude towards the events, characters, subject, etc. in a poem.
What is the climax of a story?
This is the most exciting or intense part of the story. It is where the main character begins to solve the conflict.
Ex: Eugene leads the ducklings to the pond. He becomes a kind and caring person and teacher.
What is the theme? Give an example of a theme.
Theme is the central idea that the passage or paragraph is talking about.
It it a truth about life!
Examples: Money can't buy happiness, Don't give up on yourself
Describe the text structure "sequence"
This structure is also called time order or chronology. The author tells about events in chronological order, the order that they happened.
What is personification? Can you give an example?
Giving human characteristics to non-human characters.
Ex: The cup sparkled and danced in the dishwasher.
What is a symbol or symbolism?
Anything that stands for more than what it is, or represents something else.
Ex: The flag is a symbol of freedom.
What is a flashback?
The story breaks the sequence of events to go back to an earlier time.
Ex: Ivan thinks back to when he was a young gorilla playing with his sister, Tag, in the rainforest.
What is point of view?
The perspective the author uses to write. There are two main types.
Ex: Think about the point of view of the kitten, Polo, in "Hiding Out."
Describe the text structure "compare and contrast"
The author explains how something is similar to and different from something else.
-To compare means to explain how things are similar (alike)
-To contrast is to explain how they’re different.
What is a hyperbole? Can you give an example?
A hyperbole is an extreme exaggeration.
Ex: I'm so hungry, I could eat a whale!
What is repetition?
The repeated use of words or phrases in order to emphasize a point.
Ex: merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.
What does foreshadow mean?
This is a warning or indication of a future event.
Ex: "The storm clouds gathered on the horizon"
This description could foreshadow a devastating storm to come.
What is first person point of view? What is third person point of view?
First person- The writer tells the story from his/her point of view or the main character's POV. Words used: I, me
Third Person: When the narrator tells about the characters what they do in the story, yet they are on the outside. Words used: he, she, they, them, character's name
Describe the text structure "cause and effect"
- A cause is something that makes something else happen, or the reason something happens.
- An effect is something that happens because of something else (a cause)
What is an idiom? Can you give an example?
A word or phrase that means something different from what it says.
Ex: I'm so tired I am going to hit the hay.
What is irony?
A situation where the opposite of what is expected to occur or exists, does occur or exist.