PSSA GLOSSARY
1. alliteration- the repetition of beginning sounds in the words of a line of poetry
2. antonymswords that mean opposite things
3. cause and effect- method of organization in which an action causes a result
4. climax- in fiction, the point at which the conflict is addressed by the main character(s)
5. conclusion- an overall opinion the reader forms after reading the passage
6. conflict- the struggle or problem faced by the characters in the story
7.couplet- two successive rhyming lines that appear together in poetry
8.dialogue- the spoken conversation between characters in a drama
9. drama- a type of writing that is meant to be performed , such as a play
10. fact- a piece of true information that can be independently proven
11.first person- a narrative style told from the viewpoint of a character in the book
12. homographs- words that look alike but have different meanings
13. homophones- words that sound alike but are spelled differently and mean different things
14. main idea- what a story or passage is mainly about
15. metaphor- an implied comparison of two different things without using the words “like”
or “as”
16. meter- a pattern of rhythm in a poem
17. opinion- a viewpoint or personal belief that cannot be proven true or false; opinions
often vary from person to person
18. personification- figurative language that gives human qualities to animals and objects
19. plot- the main series of events in a story
20. prefix- a group of letters added to the beginning of a root word
21.problem\solution- an organizational structure in non-fiction texts in which the author
typically presents a problem and possible solutions to it
22.resolution- in fiction, how the conflict is resolved and what happens to the character
afterward
23. rising action- in fiction, the events following the introduction of the conflict and leading up to
story’s climax; often the bulk of the story
24. root word- a base word that is used to make a bigger word with the addition of affixes
25. simile- a direct comparison of two different things, using either “as” or “like” as a
connecting word
26. stage directions- the writer’s instructions to the actors and those setting up the play. They
tell the actors what they should do before, during, and after they speak, and also
indicate music and lighting changes.
27. suffix- a special group of letters added to the end of a root word to form a new word and alter
the meaning of the root word
28. synonyms- words that have the same, or almost the same meaning
29. theme – the central idea or meaning of a story or article
30. third person- point of view of a narrator outside the story
MORE PSSA TERMS
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atlas- a book of maps
autobiography-a story written about a person’s life written by that person
biography-a story written about a person’s life
details- the specific words used by an author to support the main idea
generalization- a statement that expresses the general idea rather than
specific details
glossary- a dictionary at the back of a book
hyperbole- an exaggeration
index-a listing in the back of the book of topics and the pages they can
be found on
inference- what the author wants you to derive from the clues in the story
and from your own knowledge and experience(It will NOT be
written in black and white)
purpose- the reason the author wrote a story(entertain, persuade, inform)
setting- where and WHEN a story takes place
thesaurus- a book of synonyms