Lit Terms
A comparison of two things using like or as.
Ex: She tip-toed through the room as quiet as a mouse.
What is a simile?
This is a clear stance a persuasive or argumentative essay must take, also called a side.
What is a position?
The punctuation that is missing from the following sentence:
Does anyone know exactly how many species of fish are in the ocean.
What is a question mark?
A statement that asserts something to be true, though it can often be disputed.
What is a claim?
A type of example that references an event in the writer's own life.
What is personal (or anecdote)?
Descriptive writing that appeals to the readers' senses.
Ex: “The flower garden is prim, the house a gleaming white, and the pale fence across the yard stands straight and spruce.”
-The Scarlet Ibis, James Hurst
What is imagery?
The very first sentence of an essay used to grab the reader's attention.
What is a hook?
The punctuation that should be included after an AAWWWUBBIS phrase if it begins a sentence and before a FANBOY in a compound sentence.
What is a comma?
In persuasive texts, this is often found in the conclusion where the writer or speaker urges the reader or audience to do something.
What is a call to action?
A novel by Harper Lee in which Scout narrates her experiences of her lawyer father, Atticus, defending an African American man, Tom Robinson, from false charges of rape in Alabama during the 1930s.
What is To Kill a Mockingbird?
When something - usually an object, but could be an idea or action - is used to signify a deeper meaning different from their literal sense.
Ex: A dove stands for peace.
What is symbolism?
These should be detailed in each body paragraph to help prove and support the writer's stance.
What are examples?
Punctuation that is part period and part comma. It's often used when needing to end a sentence, but there's more to say that's closely related.
What is a semi-colon?
This is how the writer or speaker feels about the subject or topic of their text.
What is tone?
A play in three acts by Reginald Rose set in a New York County Courthouse where a jury deliberates the trial of a 19-year-old man who has been accused of the fatal stabbing of his father.
What is Twelve Angry Men?
A comparison to two things without using like or as.
What is a metaphor?
A sentence that should answer the prompt, be clear, take a side, and explore reasons or broad ideas.
What is a thesis statement?
Punctuation that should always be used when either showing possession (with the exception of "its") or when contracting two words.
What is an apostrophe?
This is the way a writer uses and arranges words or forms sentences within their work.
What is syntax or style?
A play written by Shakespeare in which two teenagers face love and tragedy in the midst of their feuding families.
What is Romeo and Juliet?
A brief and indirect reference to another historical, literary, or cultural work within a text.
What is an allusion?
The first sentence of each body paragraph taken from the writer's reasons/ideas.
What a topic sentence?
Punctuation that can be used to introduce a specific explanation or list.
What is a colon?
These are the modes of persuasion that writers and speakers use. Good writing will strategically use all three - logos, pathos, and ethos - to persuade their audience.
What are rhetorical appeals?
The various novels you were allowed to choose to read and discuss from our last reading unit.
What are the book club novels?