Literary Terms
A hint or clue about something that will happen later in the story.
What is foreshadowing?
The combination of time period, location, and social conditions in which a story unfolds.
What is setting?
A comparison using “like” or “as.”
What is a simile?
Finding information that is directly stated in the text.
What is citing textual evidence?
A first-person narrator uses this word often.
What is “I”?
The attitude or feeling an author has toward a subject.
What is tone?
The moment when tensions reach their highest point and the outcome of the conflict begins to become clear.
What is the climax?
A comparison that does not use “like” or “as.”
What is a metaphor?
To briefly restate the main ideas of a text in your own words.
What is summarize?
A narrator who knows the thoughts and feelings of all characters.
What is third-person omniscient?
The feeling or atmosphere the reader experiences while reading.
What is mood?
A central insight or message about life that readers infer from a text.
What is theme?
Words that imitate real-life sounds, such as “buzz,” “crash,” or “splash.”
What is onomatopoeia?
Using nearby words or sentences to determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word.
What are context clues?
The difference between what is expected and what actually happens.
What is irony?
The difference between what is expected and what actually happens.
What is irony?
The series of events that occur after the climax and move the story toward its resolution.
What is falling action?
Giving human qualities or actions to nonhuman things.
What is personification?
The reason an author writes a text (to inform, persuade, or entertain).
What is author's purpose?
Descriptive language that appeals to the five senses and helps the reader create a mental picture.
What is imagery?
A reference to another well-known person, event, story, or work of art.
What is an allusion?
The part of a story that introduces the characters, setting, and basic situation before the main conflict begins.
What is exposition?
An exaggeration used for emphasis or effect.
What is hyperbole?
A conclusion you draw based on evidence from the text and your own background knowledge.
What is an inference?
A reference to another well-known text, person, event, or work of art.
What is an allusion?