Fiction
This is the perspective from which a story is told, often categorized as first-person, third-person limited, or third-person omniscient.
What is Point of View?
In an argument, these are the specific facts, statistics, or expert quotes an author uses to back up their claims.
What is Supporting Detail (or Evidence)?
This prefix means "again" or "back"
What is Re-?
This literary device occurs when an author drops subtle hints or clues about what will happen later in the plot to build suspense.
What is Foreshadowing?
This figurative language device compares two unlike things using the specific words "like" or "as."
What is a Simile?
Often the most exciting part of a story, this is the peak of the action or the major turning point where the outcome for the protagonist is decided.
What is the Climax?
This term describes how a text is organized, such as "Chronological Order," "Compare and Contrast," or "Cause and Effect."
What is Text Structure?
These prefixes all share the same meaning - "un-," "dis-," "im-," "in-"
What is "not" or "the opposite of"
This device creates a "waiting" feeling in the reader by using slow pacing, dangerous settings, or an unresolved conflict that keeps them turning pages.
What is Suspense?
Unlike a simile, this device makes a direct comparison by saying one thing is another, such as "the classroom was a zoo."
What is a Metaphor?
This is a recurring idea, message, or "lesson learned" that the author wants the reader to take away from the story, such as "honesty is the best policy."
What is Theme?
While a fact can be proven true, this is a person’s belief, feeling, or judgment that cannot be proven with 100% certainty.
What is an Opinion?
This prefix means "badly" or "wrongly," and it turns a simple "lead" into a "wrong direction" or a "take" into a "blunder."
What is Mis-?
When a story's timeline is interrupted to show an event that happened before the main story began, the author is using this to provide necessary background information
What is a Flashback?
This occurs when an author gives human qualities, emotions, or actions to non-human objects or animals.
What is Personification?
This is the primary problem or struggle between opposing forces; it can be internal (man vs. self) or external (man vs. nature).
What is Conflict?
This is the most important point the author is trying to make about a topic; it is the "umbrella" that all the other supporting details sit under.
What is the Main Idea (or Central Idea)?
This prefix means "against"
What is "anti-"?
An author uses this to plant a "seed" early in the story, such as a character mentioning a "bad feeling" or a dark cloud appearing before a disaster.
What is Foreshadowing?
When a poet says, "Hope is a tattered flag," the metaphor implies that hope has been through many these, suggesting it is worn out but still standing.
What are Hardships (or Challenges/Battles)?
Unlike physical appearance, these are the personality qualities—like bravery, greed, or kindness—revealed through a character’s thoughts, words, and actions.
What are Character Traits?
These are signal words (or transition words) to let the reader know the text structure is cause and effect.
What is therefore, because, since, and as a result?
This prefix means "under" or "below"
What is "sub-"?
Also known as prolepsis, this device takes the reader ahead in time to see a future event before returning to the "present" of the story.
What is a Flash-forward?
An author writes, "The sun smiled down on the valley." By giving the sun a human expression, the author is trying to establish a mood that is this, rather than threatening or gloomy.
What is Cheerful (or Peaceful/Warm)?