Literary Terms
antagonist:
central character’s opponent
antonyms:
two words that have opposite meanings
(hot, cold)
atmosphere/mood:
reader’s emotional response to a text
(scary, sad, happy, uplifting)
author’s purpose:
the reason the author wrote the text
autobiography:
a nonfiction text about a person’s life written by that
person
bias:
occurs when someone makes an unfair judgment based
on a strong opinion; person judges someone else or
something else unfairly
biography:
a nonfiction text about a person’s life written by another
person
characterization:
how an author develops a character and reveals the
character’s traits; description of how a character acts,
feels, thinks, and responds
characters:
people, animals, or things in a work of literature
conflict:
a struggle between two opposing forces in a work of
literature, a movie, etc.
direct characterization:
the author writes direct statements to describe a
character’s traits to the reader
editorial:
a person’s written opinion about a topic; usually found in
a newspaper or magazine
explicit text:
The word "explicit" means clear and fully expressed. If
something is explicit, there is no question as to what it
means. If a fact is explicit in a reading comprehension
passage, it is stated outright. For example, if the first
sentence of a story is "It was a dark and stormy night,"
that is an explicit fact. There is no room for debate; the
reader cannot be confused and think that the story is set
on a sunny morning.
fable:
fictional story whose characters are usually animals; it
teaches a lesson (moral)
fact:
something that can be proven true or false; it can be
proven for accuracy
fiction:
text that is not true
first person point of view:
story told by one of the characters; the character uses
words like me, I, we to refer to him/herself
flashback:
occurs when the author tells about an event that happened
before the time of the story
folktale:
fictional story passed orally from generation to
generation; story changes as told; it is eventually written
down
foreshadowing:
suggesting beforehand what is going to happen later in
the story
homonyms:
words that sound the same but have different spellings
and have different meanings
(here/hear, ate/eight)
implicit text:
If something is implicit, it is not expressly stated, but the
reader understands it through other clues in the text. For
example, if a story begins with "The trees were swaying
wildly outside Lisa's window as she prepared for bed,
and the gutters were overflowing," the reader can infer
that it is probably dark, stormy, and at night. Implicit
facts in reading comprehension also often involve the
motivations of the characters.
indirect characterization:
requires the reader to infer information about a
character’s traits
inference:
drawing a conclusion based on information or clues from
the text
main idea:
the most important concept/idea of a text
major character:
character who has a large role in the story
minor character:
character who has a small role in the story
multiple meaning words:
a word that has more than one meaning
nonfiction:
a text that is true and factual
opinion:
someone’s personal feeling or belief that can’t be proven
personality trait:
description of a character’s inner qualities or behaviors
(ex. brave)
physical trait:
description of a character’s appearance (ex. red hair)
point of view:
who is telling the story (narrator)
prefix:
letters added to the beginning of a root or base word
which change the word’s meaning
(e-, ex-)
propaganda:
the use of information to convince the reader to agree
with a certain point of view; often distorts facts or create
false truths; usually intended to alarm readers
propaganda techniques:
methods people use to make what they say or write more
convincing
protagonist:
central character in a story
second person point of view:
places the reader in the story; uses the pronoun you
setting:
time, place, and atmosphere of a text
suffix:
letters added to the end of a root or base word which
change the word’s meaning
summarize:
to retell the most important parts of the text in the
reader’s own words (Must be much shorter than the
original text!)
two words which have similar meanings
(tiny, small)
synonyms:
theme:
a lesson about life that the reader learns; usually the
reader learns the lesson through the character in the text.
third person point of view:
(omniscient/all-knowing)
the story told by a
narrator who is not a character in the story; narrator uses
pronouns such as he, she, they
tone:
the writer's attitude toward the material and/or readers.
Tone may be playful, formal, intimate, angry, serious,
ironic, outraged, baffled, tender, serene, depressed, etc.
Author’s Purpose
1.) What is the author’s purpose for writing an informational (expository) text?
Answer: To provide information about a topic or person
Example: Biography, Autobiography
2.) What is the author’s purpose for writing an instructional text?
Answer: To teach you how to do something; to give you instructions
Example: Recipe
3.) What is the author’s purpose for writing a narrative text?
Answer: To entertain you; to tell a story; to describe an experience
4.) What is the author’s purpose for writing a persuasive text?
Answer: To convince you to think or act in a certain way
Example: Commercial, Advertisement, Propaganda
5.) What is the author’s purpose for writing a poetic text?
Answer: To appeal to the senses and emotions
Types of Conflicts
1.) Character vs. Self (internal conflict): problem a character has with deciding what to do or think
2.) Character vs. Character (external conflict): problem with another character (ex. protagonist vs.
antagonist)
3.) Character vs. Nature (external conflict): problem with a force of nature (blizzards, hurricanes, etc.)
4.) Character vs. Fate (external conflict): problems that seem to be uncontrollable
5.) Character vs. Society (external conflict): problems with the laws or beliefs of a group
Plot
1.) Plot: action or series/sequence of events that make up a story
2.) How does a plot diagram help you?
Answer: helps you keep track of the story
3.) Initiating Conflict: the problem/struggle that begins the story
4.) Rising Action (Complications): author describes the conflict or problem; important details leading to the
climax
5.) Climax: turning point of the story; highest point of suspense; an event in which the character has to
choose a way to settle the conflict; problem is at its worst
6.) Falling Action (Denouement): important details after the climax and before the resolution; details in
which the author describes how the problem is solved
7.) Resolution: brings the story to a satisfactory ending; the ending
Figurative Language
Figurative Language:
* refers to the language an author uses to add
or clarify the meaning of his/her writing
* used to add humor to a story
* can’t be taken literally
Types of Figurative Language
1.) Simile:
a comparison of two unlike things that includes the words like or as
Example:
Her eyes are as blue as the sky.
2.) Metaphor: a comparison of two unlike things that does not
include the words like or as
Example:
Tom was a walking encyclopedia.
3.) Hyperbole:
the use of extreme exaggeration; stretch the truth to
get your point across
Example:
The new member of the basketball team is taller than a giant sequoia tree.
4.) Idioms:
Idioms are phrases that have a special meaning. They can not be
understood by their literal meanings. The meaning is different from the
usual or dictionary definition of the individual words.
Example:
Ms. Kolb has a green thumb.
This phrase does not mean that Ms. Kolb’s finger is the color green. The idiom
green thumb means that she is a good gardener.
5.) Imagery:
* words or phrases that appeal to the senses and
gives you mental images (pictures in your mind)
* makes reader imagine sights, sounds,
smells, tastes, and feelings associated with a
character’s or author’s experiences.
6.) Personification:
giving human characteristics to something that
is not human
Example:
The colorful flowers happily turned their faces
toward the bright, warm sunshine.
7.) Symbolism:
something concrete (object) that stands for
something abstract (idea)
Example:
dove (concrete) – peace (abstract)
A red rose (concrete) – love (abstract)
8.) Alliteration:
the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of several
words
Example:
Kayla cooks calamari in the frying pan.
9.) Onomatopoeia:
use of words that sound like the noises they describe
Example:
bang, beep, blink, boom, ring, rattle, moo, moan,
drip, fizz, ping, plop, quack, munch, hum, honk,
crack, crackle, rip, roar, bow wow, buzz, chirp,
chug, clang, clap, clatter, click, cough, crash,
cuckoo, crunch, grind, gurgle, hum, honk,
meow
Boots make splishes, sploshes, and sloshes. These are exactly the sounds made
when someone splashes through slush with boots.