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English 12/Adapted from Lemon
English 12 Terms and Devices
Below is the list of terms you are required to know and understand for this course. Here you will see which
units they fit into; knowing that language is malleable, most terms also fit in other categories.
Unit/Topic
Focus Terms
Short Fiction
Active voice, antagonist, atmosphere, character, characterization, character foil, climax,
conflict, contrast, denouement, dialogue, direct presentation, dynamic character,
exposition, external conflict, fable, falling action, first person point of view, flashback,
flat character, foil, foreshadowing, indeterminate ending, indirect presentation, interior
monologue, internal conflict, irony, juxtaposition, limited omniscient point of view,
mood, mystery, narration, narrator, omniscient point of view, plot, point of view,
protagonist, resolution, rising action, round character, setting, static character,
stereotype, stock/stereotyped character, style, surprise ending, suspense, symbol,
symbolism, theme, tone
(most of these terms
will also be employed
and explored during
other units as well)
Non-fiction
Antithesis, autobiography, bias, caricature, case study, climactic order, dialect, diary,
didactic, genre, graphic text, jargon, objective, objective point of view, propaganda
Drama (plays)
Archaic language, aside, blank verse, catastrophe, chorus, comedy, comic relief,
dilemma, drama, dramatic irony, dramatic monologue, dramatic form, epiphany, farce,
foil, frame story, hero, historical reference, iambic pentameter, melodrama, monologue,
paradox, parody, soliloquy, tragedy
Fiction (novels)
Allegory, comedy, epilogue, hyperbole, prologue, satire (& terms from "Short Story" unit)
Poetry
Alliteration, allusion, apostrophe, assonance, ballad, ballad stanza, cacophony,
connotation, consonance, couplet, denotation, diction, dissonance, elegy, epic, epigram,
epitaph, euphony, extended metaphor, figurative language, form, free verse, image,
imagery, internal rhyme, legend, lyric, metaphor, metre, myth, octave, ode,
onomatopoeia, oxymoron, pastoral, personification, proverb, pun, quatrain, refrain,
repetition, rhyme, rhyme scheme, rhythm, sestet, simile, sonnet, speaker, stanza
(many of these terms
will also arise during
play study)
Essays/Research &
Writing
Analogy, argumentative essay, anecdotal evidence, audience, case study, cause and
effect, chronological order, cliché, colloquialism, colloquial language, compare and
contrast, comparison, descriptive essay, editorial, emotional appeal, euphemism, expert
testimony, expository essay, formal essay, formal language, idiom, informal essay,
informal language, literal language, narrative, parallelism, passive voice, pathos, personal
essay, pro and con argument, purpose, question and answer, research, rhetorical
question, sarcasm, slang, stream of consciousness, statistical evidence, stylistic
technique, subjective, thesis, thesis statement, third person point of view,
understatement, voice, wit
All of these terms are subject to examination on the English 12 provincial exam.