16. COMEDY
 Definition: A story that ends happily. NOT
NECESSARILY FUNNY.
 Example: Kung Fu Panda 2
 Memorization Tip: THINK about smiling
after something funny….think smiling
because you’re happy…  HAPPILY EVER
AFTER.
17. COMIC RELIEF
 Definition: Comic scene or event that breaks
up a serious play or narrative.
 Example: FINDING NEMO = when things get
serious, Dory makes a joke to provide COMIC
RELIEF 
 Memorization Tip:
A comedian makes you laugh…
to relieve you of stress.
18. CONFLICT
 Definition: struggle or clash between opposing
characters or opposing forces.
 Example: Harry Potter vs. Voldemort
 Memorization Tip: Conflict rhymes with convict
Imagine if a convict moved in with you…how
would that cause CONFLICT? He steals your
toothbrush! And your cereal?!?!?!? And dates
your mom!?!?!? NOOOOOO!!!
Language Activity # 6
Denotation of Fragrance:
_______________________________________
Positive Connotation
Negative Connotation
1.
1.__________________
2.___________________2.__________________
3.___________________3.__________________
19. CONNOTATION
 Definition: all the meanings, associations, or emotions
that have come to be attached to some words, in addition
to their literal dictionary definitions, or denotations.
 Connotation
 Think nation
 What do people think or feel about America?
20. COUPLET
 Definition: two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme
 2 Lines that Rhyme = a Couple 
 So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
21. DESCRIPTION
 Definition: type of writing intended to create a mood or
emotion or to re-create a person, a place, a thing, an
event, or an experience.
 Author DESCRIBES as if you, the reader, were there!!!
22. DIALECT
 Definition : way of speaking that is characteristic of a
particular region or a particular group of people
 DIAL the telephone = hear people talking = people talking
from different areas.
 Huntington Beach: Hey dude, what’s up bro.
 Southern: Ain’t your mama ever taught you nothin?
 Louisiana: New Orleans = Nawlins
23. DIALOGUE
 Definition : way of speaking that is characteristic of a
particular region or a particular group of people
 Conversation between 2 + people
 Ms. Tran: Will you guys please study for the CSTs?
 Class: Of course! Whatever you wish, Ms. Tran! I appreciate
all of your hard work and time put into helping us study so
hard! You’re the best ever!
 Ms. Tran: I love you, period __.
24.DICTION
 Definition : a writer’s or speaker’s choice of words (it is an
essential element of a write’s style)
 Think DICTIONary….what do you find? WORDS!!!!
 Writer’s choice of WORDS!!!
25. DRAMA
 Definition : story that is written to be acted for an
audience
 Story meant to be acted for an audience.
 We are reading Romeo and Juliet, but it is supposed to be
seen as a play.
26. DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE
 Definition : a poem in which a speaker addresses one or
more silent listeners, often reflecting on a specific problem
or situation
 Poem “From Mother to Son”
 Mother speaks to son through the poem
 Poem is directed to the son
 The son = silent listener (never says anything)
27. EPIC
 Definition: long story told in elevated language (usually
poetry), which relates the great deeds of a larger-than-life
hero who embodies the values of a particular society
 EPIC!!! WOW!!! LONG STORY!!! (about great deeds of a
hero)
 ODYSSEY = GREEK HERO ODYSSEUS’ QUEST
28. EPITHET
 Definition: adjective or descriptive phrase that is regularly
used to characterize a person, place, or thing
 Think Epithet – het- HAT
 Abraham Lincoln wore a top HAT
 “Honest Abe” –descriptive phrase for him.
29. ESSAY
 Definition: short piece of nonfiction that examines a single
subject from a limited point of view
 YOU WRITE THESE IN CLASS!
 PERSONAL = free write, informal
*quick writes, casual responses, journals
 FORMAL = serious, academic language
*literary analysis, response to literature, etc.
30.EXPOSITION
 Definition: type of writing that explains, gives information,
defines, or clarifies an idea
 EXPO = EXPLAIN = Writing in which you explain
Example: a cook book recipe tells you how to cook something
 Exposition in plot = Basic Situation
31. FABLE
 Definition: very brief story in prose or verse that teaches a
moral, or a practical lesson about how to get along in life
 A SHORT STORY THAT TEACHES A MORAL OR
PRACTICAL LESSON ABOUT LIFE
 The boy who cried wolf fibbed (lied).
 Think FIB – FAB. FABLE!!
32. FIGURE OF SPEECH
 Definition: word or phrase that describes one thing in
terms of another and is not meant to be understood on a
literal level
 Language that is not meant to be understood on a literal
level
 “Go figure!”  don’t literally go and figure out the issue
and solve problems.
 “It cost me an arm and a leg…” $$$$
 Worse comes to worst…
33. FLASHBACK
 Definition: scene in a movie, play, short story, novel, or
narrative poem that interrupts the present action of the
plot to flash backward and tell what happened at an earlier
time
 A camera FLASHES.
 Its pictures bring us BACK to past memories.
34. FLASH-FORWARD
 Definition: a scene in a movie, play, short story, novel, or
narrative poem that interrupts the present action of the
plot to shift into the future
 Forward = FUTURE!
35. FOIL
 Definition: character who is used as a contrast to another
character
 Foil shines.
 A foil character helps to make the main character SHINE.
 Batman = dark, mysterious, silent, strong
 Robin = small, obnoxious, funny
36. FOLK TALE
 Definition: story that has no known author and was
originally passed on from one generation to another by
word of mouth
 Tale = told
 Stories that are passed down through word-of-mouth
37. FORESHADOWING
 Definition: the use of clues to hint at events that will occur
later in a plot
 CLUES
 HINTS
38. FREE VERSE
 Definition: poetry that does not have a regular meter or
rhyme scheme
 You’re FREE to do what you want. WRITE what you want.
You still have natural rhythm, but no rules are applied.
39. GENRE
 Definition: the category that a work of literature is
classified under. Five major genres in literature are
nonfiction, fiction, poetry, drama, and myth
 A category of literature
 Just remember this…
40. HAIKU
 Definition: Japanese verse from consisting of three lines
and, usually, seventeen syllables (5 in the first line, 6 in the
second, and 5 in the third)
 Japanese verse consisting of 3 lines.
 HAIKU has 5 letters. It starts with 5 syllables.
 KU rhymes with two. Add two, the next line has 7
syllables.
 End back at 5 syllables.
41.. HYPERBOLE
 Definition: figure of speech that uses exaggeration to
express strong emotion or to create a comic effect
 He was as HYPER as the Tasmanian Devil.
 This bowl is SO hyper!!!!
 Think exaggeration for comic effect.
42. IAMBIC PENTAMETER
 Definition: lone of poetry that contains five iambs
 A line of poetry that contains 5 iambs.
 An iamb is a unit of measure for specific poetry.
 When you read a line of this poetry, the syllables are
UNSTRESSED then STRESSED.
but SOFT! what LIGHT through YON der WIN dow BREAKS.
U
/
U
/
U
/
U
/
U
/
Unstressed STRESSED pattern 5 times in a line = iambic
pentameter
43. IDIOM
 Definition: expression peculiar to a particular language
that means something different from the literal meaning
of each word
 Think IDIOM = IDIOT
 “That idiot was as dumb as a door knob.”
 Expressions that are peculiar…
44. IMAGERY
 Definition: Language that appeals to the 5 senses.
 CREATES IMAGES IN YOUR MIND.
45. INVERSION
 Definition: reversal of the normal word order of a sentence
 A VERSION of the writer’s word order.
 They write however they want for THEIR purpose or to
create a certain effect.
 THINK YODA!
 Hungry I am.
 Wonderful Ms. Tran is.
 Scholars you are. 
46. IRONY
 Definition: contrast between expectation and reality –
between what is said and what is really meant, between
what is expected to happen and what really does happen,
or between what appears to be true and what is really true
 Contrast between expectations and reality. There are 3
kinds.
 VERBAL IRONY: VERBAL = SPOKEN WORDS
 SITUATIONAL IRONY: You’re in situations that you
wouldn’t expect would happen.
 DRAMATIC IRONY: You’re sitting in a theater watching a
dramatic movie and you know what happens when the
characters don’t.
47. LYRIC POETRY
 Think lyrics from a song. This poetry is musical and emotional.
 The writer of a lyric poem uses words that express his state of
mind, his perceptions, or his feelings.
 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely
and more temperate.Rough winds do shake the darling buds of
May,And summer's lease hath all too short a date.Sometime
too hot the eye of heaven shines,And often is his gold
complexion dimmed,And every fair from fair sometime
declines,By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed.
48. METAPHOR
 A comparison FOR 2 unlike things without the words like,
than, as, or resembles.
 THINK ABOUT THIS MATH EQUATION:
METAPHOR (4)
TWO (2)
= 2 unlike things being compared
49. METER
 Patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.
 Ways people read poetry –they emphasize certain
syllables
 Think meter …measure…way to measure syllables.
50. MOOD
 Think moody = Feeling something?
 The feeling a story evokes!
51. MYTH
 Story based in a particular culture.
 Think mythical creatures.
 Think Lochness monster!
 Think Big Foot!
 Think werewolves!
52. NARRATION
 A type of writing where the speaker tells what happens.
 Think narrator who tells a story.
53. NARRATOR
 Voice telling a story/ Point of view.
 1st person
 Omniscient
 Third person limited
54. Non-Fiction
 Writing that deals with real people, real things, real
events, and real places.
 Think
NON-FICTION
NOT-FAKE
55. NOVEL
 Fictional prose narrative usually consisting of more than
50,000 words.
 WHAT A NOVELTY! HOW GRAND! WHAT A LONG STORY!
56. ONOMATOPOEIA
 ONO = AWW NO!!!
 SOUNDS. SOUNDS. SOUNDS!!!
57. PARADOX
 PARA= not normal, strange, wondering
 “The Gift of the Magi” – Della and Jim are the richest
couple on earth. (rich in love but not in money)
 Nobody goes to that restaurant, it's too crowded.
 Don't go near the water until you've learned to swim.
 The man who wrote such a stupid sentence cannot write
at all.
 If you get this message, call me; if you don't, then don't
worry about it.
58. PARALLELISM
 Repetition of words or phrases or sentences that have the
same GRAMMATICAL structure
“I came, I saw, I conquered.” – Julius Caesar
59. PERSONA
 Mask or voice assumed by the writer
 The author takes on another PERSON’s view point
60. Personification
 A kind of metaphor in which a nonhuman thing or quality
is talked about as if it were human.
 PERSON = HUMAN
 You are making something nonhuman HUMAN.
 The wind whispers.
61. Plot
 Series of related events that make up a story or drama.
 Plot = think of a chain. All of these events link together.
62. Poetry
 KEY WORDS: rhythmic, uses figurative language and
imagery to appeal to a reader’s emotions and imagination.
 Ex. Legal Alien
 “A handy token sliding back and forth between the fringes
of both worlds.”
63. POINT OF VIEW
 Omniscient = all-knowing (OMMMM = sounds like a
prayer…God-Like…knows everything!)
 1st person = 1st person pronoun “I” (Think 1 looks like I)
 3rd person = Third person pronouns He, she, they, it
(Number 3 rhymes with HE, SHE)
 Vantage POINT = POINT of VIEW
64.PROTAGONIST
 Main character
 PRO = YES the character you are rooting for.
65. PUN
 Play on multiple meanings of words.
 Pun rhymes with FUN. Think funny jokes.
 How do you make a tissue dance?
You put a BOOGIE in it.
Boogie – Booger
Boogie – Dance
66. REFRAIN
 Repeated words.
 “Hey, hey, HEY.”
 This phrase is repeated throughout
his song.
Think REfrain = REpeat
67. RHYME
 Repetition of sounds that are similar.
 End rhyme = rhyme at the END of the line
Ms. Tran’s scholars will score 858,
This will make our school so great.
 Internal rhyme = rhyme INSIDE the line
Once upon a midnight dreary while I pondered
weak and weary
68. RYTHYM
 Think rhythm, think music. MUSICAL QUALITY in
language.
69. SATIRE
 SATIRE – PUT SOMETHING UNDER FIRE (“put on blast”)
 Making fun of something 
70. SCENE DESIGN
 SCENE in a PLAY.
 What sets, lights, costumes, and props do they use?
71. Setting
 Where a story is SET.
 The real HOMS 
 “windows that can’t breathe”
 “swollen door”
72. SHORT STORY
 LOOK FOR THE WORD SHORT in the answer choices, and
you’ve got the right answer. You’re welcome.
73. SIMILE
 A comparison between 2 unlike things USING the words
like, as, than, or resembles.
 My scholars are as bright as the sun.
74. SOLILOQUY
 LONG speech given by a character alone by themselves.
 SOLO = alone
 SOLOlilquy…
75. SONNET
 Think of a woman who had 14 sons.
 She wrote a 14 line poem about how she had a net of sons.
76. SPEAKER
 Voice talking to us in a poem.
 You hear a voice over the SPEAKER.
 “Legal Alien” = voice of a Mexican American who is lost in
her culture.
77. STANZA
 GROUP OF CONSECUTIVE LINES IN A POEM THAT FORM
A SINGLE UNIT.
 Think STANZA, STANDS ALONE
 The chunks of a poem.
78. STYLE
 PARTICULAR WAY AN AUTHOR USES LANGUAGE.
 Just like YOU have a fashion style to wear clothes your
way, authors use language in different ways to create
style.
 Edgar Allan Poe = scary, moody, emotional, twisted =
represented through his repetition and varies short and
long sentences.
79. SUSPENSE
 ANXIETY the reader feels about the reading.
 SUSPENSE…what events will COMMENCE?!
 Someone thinks you’re a suspect for a murder..you get
NERVOUS...you get ANXIETY!!
80. SYMBOL
 SYMBOL is SOMETHING that STANDS for SOMETHING
81. TALL TALE
 That mountain is SO tall and SO far.
 A tale that is exaggerated and far-fetched (unbelievable).
 Paul Bunyan : giant, tall lumberjack
82. THEME
 CENTRAL IDEA OF A WORK.
 Usually a phrase
*Love conquers all.
*War tears people apart.
83. TONE
 Attitude a writer has towards a subject.
 Think of your mother saying, “WATCH THAT TONE OF
VOICE YOUNG LADY…”
84. TRAGEDY
 UNHAPPY ENDING
 OPPOSITE OF COMEDY.
85. VOICE
 Distinctive use of language in a text.
 The speaker may be a mother and her voice is motherly,
nurturing, caring, and loving.
 The author uses specific words (language) to create the
character of the mother.
 “Honey…” “M’am”
Term # 86. ARGUMENT
 Definition: a series of statements in a text
designed to convince us of something
 Example:
Persuasive Essay – you argue your opinion
 Memorization Tip: You get into an
arGUMent with your teacher on why you
should be able to chew GUM in class.
87. CAUSE and EFFECT
 HOW and WHY one thing leads to another.
 Do not study for the test  Poor score on the test
 Bad attitude in class  Parent conference
 Be rude and disrespectful in class  Receive a referral
 Drop out of high school  Earn minimum wage
88.CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
 TIME ORDER.
 CHRO
 CHROME…
 CHROME watches
 Watches tell time..
89. CLAIM
 CLAIM = OPINION
 CLAIM rhymes with LAME
 My opinion is that dogs are lame.
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)
ALLEGORY
 SYMBOLIC STORY (characters/events/actions STAND for
something)
 ALLEGORY RHYMES WITH STORY!!!
 “The Golden Kite, Silver Wind” (2 towns building walls
represent 2 countries in an arms race)