Final Study Guide: Any and all of the items on this list are fair game for the exam. Study wisely young grasshoppers.
Important Lit. Terms
1. Alliteration - Repetition of an initial consonant sound in
poetry
Sally the snake slithered slowly.
2.
Irony - A striking discrepancy between what is expected
and what actually exists or occurs
a. Dramatic irony - The audience or reader knows an
important fact that the character does not know (For
example: In Aladdin, Jafar is tricked into the lamp and
captured)
b. Verbal Irony – Saying the opposite of what is meant.
This often sounds like sarcasm. Ex. On a rainy day
someone says, “Boy, it sure is a beautiful day.”
Note: There will be an example of dramatic irony and
verbal irony on the quiz.
3.
Imagery – Descriptive language that appeals to the senses
in order to create a specific effect. From Fahrenheit 451,
“He strode in a swarm of fireflies…the flapping pigeonwinged books died on the porch and lawn of the house.”
Metaphor - Speaking of one thing in terms of another
living thing so as to imply a comparison between the two
without using the words like or as. From F451, “…this
great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the
world.”
Onomatopoeia - Words that sounds like sounds or sound
like the thing or phenomenon they describe: boom, bang,
crash.
Paradox - A seeming contradiction which is nonetheless
true
Personification - Imparting human or lifelike
characteristics to an inanimate object: The sun is smiling
down on us
Simile - Comparison of two unlike objects that uses the
words like or as. Your love is like a red rose. <3
Symbol - A thing that represents an idea; an image,
object, or action with another (larger and more
important) meaning than itself. Ex. In “Noah’s Ark”, God
gives Noah a rainbow that represents their covenant to
never flood the earth again.
Oxymoron - A fusion of two contradictory ideas: jumbo
shrimp, civil war,
Antagonist - A character in conflict with the main
character in a piece of literature; not always the bad guy.
Climax - The high point of the plot; the whole story will
lead up to this central moment of greatest narrative
tension
Conflict - Opposition or tension between forces (man
versus man, man versus nature, man versus society, man
versus himself, man versus fate, man versus technology)
Denouement - The same thing as the resolution or ending
of a story
Falling action - The part of a story’s plot that takes place
after the climax and leads to the resolution
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16. Mood - The atmosphere or emotional reaction generated
by the author’s choice of words in a literary work
17. Point of View - The perspective from which a narrative is
told
18. Protagonist - The central character in a narrative; not
always the good guy.
19. Rising action - The part of a plot that leads to the climax
20. Setting - The time and place of a work
21. Pun – A figure of speech in which two words which sound
alike or resemble one another are substituted or
interchanged for some comic effect: “Two antennas met
on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony
wasn’t much, but the reception was excellent”
22. Hyperbole – Exaggeration for comic or dramatic effect.
“My sister wears so much makeup she broke a chisel last
night trying to take it off.”
23. Allusion - A reference to a well-known person or group of
people, place, or piece of literature or film. Ex. Judas
Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ, identifying him to soldiers.
Somebody who betrays his or her friend is called a Judas.
“I'm not going to leave that Judas alone with my boss
while we're competing for the same promotion.”
24. Eponym - When a name stands for an idea or
concept: Romeo = romantic, Satan= evil, Bill Gates= rich,
nerdy dude
25. Illusion - A misleading image which causes
misinterpretation, a mirage or hallucination
26. Analogy - A comparison of two things which are
essentially unlike but have similar properties: “Writing a
book of poetry is like dropping a rose petal down the
Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.” Don Marquis or,
at its simplest form: "MTV is to music as KFC is to
chicken."
27. Anachronism - Something that doesn’t belong in particular
time and place. Ex. The character Jack in the movie, The
Titanic, mentions about his ice-fishing on the lake Wissota
near Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
28. Assonance - The repetition of vowel sounds in a line or
lines of poetry: From the molten-golden notes/ And an in
tune/ What a liquid ditty floats
29. Theme - a message that the reader could glean from the
overall story; it is something that the author wants the
reader to learn or at least be aware of. A theme is also not
one word, like love. A theme must take a stand about an
issue – love sucks, love is what makes the world go
‘round, or it is better to have loved and lost than never to
have loved at all.
30. Epiphany - A sudden realization of a previously hidden
truth or concept; a “eureka” moment
31. Foil - A character whose personality traits are contrasted
with those of another character; usually a minor
character who “sets off” a major character: Pen and
Teller, for example.
32. Flashback - A plot trick in which the forward-moving flow
of the plot is interrupted to show what happened before
as if the story were taking the reader back in time to show
previous events
33. Foreshadowing - A plot trick in which the author hints to
the reader suggesting or implying what will happen next
34. Character - A person in a story. There are basically two
types:
a. Static character - A character who stays the same and
does not change
b. Dynamic character - A character whose personality
undergoes significant change
35. Motif - A recurring theme or verbal pattern in a single text
or a number of different texts. For example, the motif of
fragmentation (of a family, for instance) could come from
several symbols that appear in a book: shattered glass, an
unfaithful spouse, a runaway (pet, teen, car)
36. Euphemism - The substitution of a pleasant word or term
for one considered impolite, blunt, or offensive: “passed
away” instead of “died”
37. Stereotype - An oversimplified conception of a person or
group, a cliché idea about a group or race: all blondes are
dumb, all women with glasses are smart
38. Cliché – A saying or phrase or idea which becomes so
widely repeated that it becomes boring and meaningless.
Ex. “Live and learn” and “What goes around comes
around.”
39. Anthology - A collection of selected literary pieces
40. Autobiography - A story of a person’s life written by that
person
41. Biography - A story of a person’s life written by someone
else
42. Essay - A factual prose composition dealing with one
subject
43. Genre - The distinct type or category into which a literary
work can be grouped
44. Novel - An extended fictional prose narrative
45. Poetry - Concentrated writing with condensed images and
focused language which makes heavy use of imagery
and/or other devices such as meter, rhythm, and sound to
create an emotional effect
46. Prose - Written work which is not a poem
47. Short story - A fictional prose work with (usually) one
central character and one major conflict; it is usually brief
(5000-10,000 words) and can be read in a single setting
48. Tragedy - A serious word featuring a protagonist whose
downfall is brought about because of his tragic flaw (a
serious personality problem; usually hubris: excessive
pride or self-confidence, arrogance)
49. Satire - A type of literature which makes fun of people’s or
society’s vices or hypocrisies so as to drive home an
underlying point about human nature
50. Myth - An ancient tale created to explain natural
phenomena or religious conflicts within a society
51. Allegory - A type of literary work with two or more levels
of meaning (literal and symbolic); the characters stand for
ideas or concepts
52. Anecdote - A short history of a humorous or interesting
incident; secret or undivulged particulars of history of
biography
53. Farce - A play containing very broad humor, slapstick,
mistaken identities, missed connections, and other oftused tricks to get laughs
54. Parable - A brief story that allegorically provides a moral
or illustrates a central truth, usually religious or spiritual in
nature
55. Free verse - Poetry written without the use of rhyme or a
regular metrical pattern
56. Fable - A short allegorical story that teaches one
important moral or lesson and uses animals to dramatize
the lesson being taught
57. Plagiarism - Copying someone’s words or ideas and
putting them into one’s own work without giving credit to
source
58. Aside - A statement delivered by an actor to the audience;
other characters on stage do not hear of this
59. Connotation - The implied meaning of a word, how a word
“feels”
60. Denotation - The literal or dictionary meaning of a word
61. Couplet - A pair of rhyming lines
62. Refrain - A group of words repeated at intervals in a poem
or song, usually at the end of a stanza
63. Chorus - A character in classical drama who observes and
comments upon other characters’ actions
64. Soliloquy - A speech given by an actor while alone onstage
(as opposed to a monologue, which is a long character’s
hidden thoughts or inner conflict)
65. Cacophony - Pronounced “kuh-KAW-fo-nee” this word
means “harsh, discordant, or grating sounds
66. Dirge - A poem lamenting death, sometimes sung at a
funeral
67. Elegy - A poem lamenting death written in a very specific
poetic form
68. Carpe diem - Latin for “seize the day”- that is, live and
party now because life is too short to sit around
69. Inversion - Transposition or switching of a sentence’s
normal word order, often in order to rhyme or for poetic
effect: I knew him not instead of I did not know him
70. Archetype - An original model or type after which other
similar things are patterned; a classic
Subject and Predicate of a sentence
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The subject of a sentence is the person, place, or
thing that is performing the action of the sentence.
The subject represents what or whom the sentence is
about.
The man (subject) builds a house.
The predicate expresses action or being within the
sentence. The simple predicate contains the verb and
can also contain modifying words, phrases, or
clauses.
The man builds a house (predicate).
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The word “its” is used to show ownership, for
example: the bird spread its wings.
The word “it’s” is a contraction for “it is.”
APOSTROPHE!
I came to the party 1st (I, me, my, mine)
You came to the party 2nd (you, yours)
He came to the party 3rd (he, her, his, hers, them,
theirs they)
Subject/Verb Agreement
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Its or It’s
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1st, 2nd, and 3rd Person (Hint: Don’t be tardy for the party!)
When writing, the subject of your sentence must
match the verb with regard to number
The boy reads his favorite book (correct – singular) vs.
The boy read his favorite book (incorrect)
The boys reads their favorite book (incorrect) vs.
The boys read their favorite book (correct - plural)
Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
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A singular pronoun must replace a singular noun; a
plural pronoun must replace a plural noun.
Mrs. Ochoa looked at her book (correct) vs.
The student looked at their book (incorrect) –
singular subject
The students looked at their books (correct) vs.
The students looked at his’s books (incorrect) – plural
subject
Parts of Speech
Noun: Name for a person, place or thing
Also know PROPER NOUN
Pronoun: Alternate name for a noun
Adjective: modifies a noun or a pronoun
Verb: expresses action or existence
Adverb: modifies a verb, adverb, and adjective
Conjunction: Connects words, phrases or clauses
Preposition: Precede acts as a modifier or noun.
Interjection: expresses emotion.
Article: Something classified as an adjective (a, an, the)
Ex: This is my dog
Ex: She is beautiful
Ex: I have two dogs
Ex: I like English Club
Ex: my dog eats quickly
Ex: I like dogs and cats.
Ex: we went to school on Monday
Ex: Ouch!
Ex: A boy liked the cake and ice-cream
MLA /Research Rules/General Guidelines
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Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever font you choose, MLA
recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough that they are recognizable one from another. The font
size should be 12 pt.
Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your instructor).
Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.
Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the Tab key as opposed
to pushing the Space Bar five times.
Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush
with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor may ask that you omit the number on your first page. Always follow your
instructor's guidelines.)
Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.
If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page. Entitle the section Notes
(centered, unformatted).
Formatting the First Page of Your Paper
 Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested.
 In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be
sure to use double-spaced text.
 Double space again and center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in
Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters.
 Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text: Fear and
Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play; Human Weariness in "After Apple Picking"
 Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
 Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number;
number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right
margin. (Note: Your instructor or other readers may ask that you omit last name/page number header on your first page.
Always follow instructor guidelines.)
Basic in-text citation rules
In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using what is known as parenthetical citation. This method
involves placing relevant source information in parentheses after a quote or a paraphrase.
General Guidelines
 The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1.) upon the source medium (e.g. Print, Web, DVD) and
(2.) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited (bibliography) page.
 Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More
specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text, must be the first thing that appears on
the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry in the Works Cited List.
Works Cited Basic rules
 Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. It should have the same one-inch
margins and last name, page number header as the rest of your paper.
 Label the page Works Cited (do not italicize the words Works Cited or put them in quotation marks) and center the words
Works Cited at the top of the page.
 Double space all citations, but do not skip spaces between entries.
 Indent the second and subsequent lines of citations by 0.5 inches to create a hanging indent.
 Alphabetize all sources.
 List page numbers of sources efficiently, when needed. If you refer to a journal article that appeared on pages 225 through
250, list the page numbers on your Works Cited page as 225-50. Note that MLA style uses a hyphen in a span of pages.
Additional basic rules new to MLA 2009
New to MLA 2009:
 For every entry, you must determine the Medium of Publication. Most entries will likely be listed as Print or Web sources, but
other possibilities may include Film, CD-ROM, or DVD.
 Writers are no longer required to provide URLs for Web entries. However, if your instructor or publisher insists on them,
include them in angle brackets after the entry and end with a period. For long URLs, break lines only at slashes.
 If you're citing an article or a publication that was originally issued in print form but that you retrieved from an online
database, you should type the online database name in italics. You do not need to provide subscription information in
addition to the database name.
Capitalization and punctuation
 Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc, but do not capitalize articles (the, an), prepositions, or conjunctions
unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle: Gone with the Wind, The Art of War, There Is Nothing Left to Lose.
 New to MLA 2009: Use italics (instead of underlining) for titles of larger works (books, magazines) and quotation marks for
titles of shorter works (poems, articles)
You must also view the two PowerPoint slide shows on the different persuasive techniques and the CEW essay format.