Summer Reading | Literary Terms and Associated Assignments | Pre-IB 9th Graders
Students entering Fairhope High School’s Pre-IB ninth grade English classes will prepare a glossary of
literary terms that each student elaborates through the application of and reference to the required
summer reading novel. This assignment is students’ first assessment, and other related assignments for
the novel will be given during the first two weeks of the school. This assignment will prepare students for
those assignments as well as for the novel test and literary terms test.
The glossary is to be set up using the Cornell note-taking method, which is a two-column system for
identifying key terms or questions in one column and providing definitions or responses in a second,
larger column. The following shows the set-up of a document for the Cornell method:
Key Terms
Definitions and Response
1. Identify the literary term
you will define.
1. Directly across from the term, write the definition. You may
use online references for the definitions or academic print
resources, and you are to identify the resource(s) that you
use on an accompanying bibliography that is in MLA
format. The definition is to be written using complete
sentences. NO CREDIT will be given for definitions that
are written as fragments or bullets or otherwise lack the
content, punctuation, and capitalization of complete
sentences.
Twenty of your terms have an asterisk after them.
Following the definition for these twenty terms, skip a line
and provide an example that serves as an illustration or
description of the term as it is applicable to the required
summer reading novel. This is to be your own
identification and elaboration. For this portion of the
content, you rely solely on your own reading skills. DO
NOT consult other people; DO NOT consult any outside
resources.
Example: The following provides an example of the way your document would look if allusion
and foil were on the list of terms:
Key Terms
1. allusion
Definitions and Response
1. An allusion is a reference to a well-known character,
place, or situation from history, music, art, or another work
of literature. The meaning of a reference to this other work
can be important to understanding the meaning of the
work that is being read.
In Walt Whitman’s poem “O Captain! My Captain,” there
are allusions to the Civil War and political pressures at that
time. Understanding these references enables one to
understand better the metaphors that compare the United
States at that time to a ship and President Lincoln to the
ship’s captain.
2. foil
2. A foil is a character who provides strong contrast to
another character, usually a main character, in a literary
work. The use of a foil enables an author to call attention
to developing characterization by showing these
differences.
In Romeo and Juliet, the Nurse is a foil to Lady Capulet.
While Lady Capulet is rather reserved, very refined, and
well spoken, the Nurse is quite warm toward others, even
affectionate, and humorous, sometimes in a bawdy way.
So that there is no confusion, I want to confirm that for all forty of the terms you will have
academic definitions related to literature. For twenty of those forty words, you will also have
descriptive short paragraphs that connect the literary term to the summer reading novel.
The required novel for students entering Pre-IB Honors English in August 2015 is The
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and translated and edited by Stanley Corngold. You MUST
obtain the copy that Corngold translated so that all students have the same translation from the
original German.
Typed Submissions: You may set up your Cornell charts on the computer using the table
function. Model your work from the spacing and numbering present for the example on the
previous page. Save your work on the computer used to create the document. Save one copy
also to a Google Docs account. No excuses will be accepted for “lost” work. Please have a print
copy of your work also for submission to the teacher.
1. antagonist*
2. protagonist*
3. allegory*
4. direct characterization
5. indirect characterization
6. character archetype
7. dynamic character*
8. static character*
9. round character
10. flat character
11. plot
12. exposition
13. rising action
14. climax*
15. falling action
16. resolution
17. surrealism*
18. internal conflict*
19. external conflict*
20. suspense*
21. foreshadowing
22. magical realism*
23. genre*
24. motif
25. imagery
26. metaphor
27. simile*
28. personification
29. onomatopoeia
30. setting*
31. setting as character
32. tone*
33. irony*
34. symbol*
35. novella
36. flashback
37. theme*
38. voice
39. point of view*
40. mood*
Academic Source for Definitions
There are many sources available for your definitions. If you are having difficulty locating terms,
consider the following:
Baldick, Chris. "The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (3 Ed.)." The Oxford Dictionary of
Literary Terms Oxford Reference. Oxford University Press, 2012. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.
Wheeler, Kip. "Literary Terms and Definitions." Literary Terms and Definitions. Carson-Newman
University, 23 Jan. 2013. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.
For help with citations, consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed. or the
MLA Formatting and Style Guide available through the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University.
While students’ definitions will certainly be like the definitions of other students since they come
from academic sources, all responses related to the novel should be original. Student work will
be submitted to Turnitin.com to check for plagiarism.