Academic Vocabulary
English
allegory
• Characters in a story represent a different
meaning
alliteration
• Repetition of sounds to create a mood
allusion
• Figure of speech which references another
piece of literature, art, history
anaphora
• Repetition of word or words at beginning of
sentence
antagonist
• Character who opposes or is in opposition to
the main character(protagonist)
asyndeton
• Omission of conjuctions
climax
• Turning point in the story
• Things change here!
conflict
• Disagreement between 2 or more
characters/forces in a story
Direct characterization
• Author tells us directly about a character
drama
• Literature meant to be performed by actors on
a stage with dialogue
Dramatic irony
• Audience knows something the actors do not
Dynamic character
• Character who changes throughout the story
epic
• Story involving a long journey, supernatural
hero, mythical creatures
Extended metaphor
• Author uses a comparison throughout a piece
fiction
• Writing from the author’s imagination
First person point of view
• “I” tell the story
Flat character
• Character with only 1 trait; not really
developed throughout work
genre
• Type of literature e.g. short story, poem,
drama,
hyperbole
• Figure of speech which exaggerates
statements
idiom
• Group of words which take on a totally
different meaning in context
Indirect characterization
• Author shows us about a character
Man vs. man
• Conflict where one man has a problem with
another man
Man vs. society
• Conflict where a man has a conflict with the
accepted ways of doing things
metaphor
• Comparison of unlike items not using “like”
or “as”
monologue
• An extended uninterrupted speech by a
character in a drama
mood
• How you feel while reading a story
nonfiction
• Writing which tells about real people and
events without changing facts
paradox
• Character with seemingly contradictory
qualities
parallelism
• Similarity of structure in a pair or series of
related words, phrases, or clauses
parody
• Style of a work is imitated for comic relief or
ridicule
• E.g.-Saturday Night Live
personification
• Giving inanimate objects human qualities
plot
• Sequence of events in a story
Point of view
• Angle from which story is told
polysyndeton
• Numerous conjunctions used in between
words and phrases
protagonist
• Main character of a piece of literature
pun
• play on words
Resolution/denouement
• End of the story where the problems are
solved
Rhetorical question
• Question which does not expect/demand an
answer
satire
• Author pokes fun of a group in hopes to bring
about change
setting
• Time, place, and situation of a story
simile
• Comparison of unlike items using “like” and
“as”
Situational irony
• Contrast between what happens and what is
expected to happen
soliloquy
• Dramatic speech where one character talks to
himself and reveals his thoughts
sonnet
• 14 line poem, 3 quatrains and 1 rhyming
couplet
Static character
• Character does not change throughout story
syntax
• The way words are grouped together
theme
• Central idea of a piece of writing, message of
truth about life, must be one sentence
Third person limited
• Narrator relates thoughts and feelings of only
one character in story
Third person omniscient
• Narrator reveals thoughts and feelings of all
characters
tone
• Author’s opinion or feelings toward a topic
Vernacular
• Common language of the people