8th Grade English/Language Arts
“Must Know” Vocabulary Words
Act – a major section of a play; each may be further divided into smaller sections called scenes
Alliteration – a literary device; the repetition of beginning consonant sounds
Allusion – a literary device; figure of speech; a reference to something; a person, place, or event
from history or literature
Analogy – a literary device; helps to establish a relationship based on similarities between two
concepts or ideas.
Analyze - to study or find out about something
Anecdote – a brief story about something interesting or funny in a person’s life
Annotate – to add notes or remarks on a piece of writing
Antagonist – a principal character or force in conflict with the main character. The antagonist is
usually another character but sometimes can be a force of nature, a set of circumstances,
some aspect of society, or a force within the protagonist.
Audience – the reader/listener to a work
Author’s purpose – his or her reason for creating a particular work; the purpose can be to
entertain, to explain or inform, to express an opinion, or to persuade
Autobiography – a narrative writing that tells a true story about the author’s life.
Bandwagon – persuasive technique; persuading people to do something through the implication
that “everybody else is doing it”
Bias – supporting one side over another, prejudice
Bibliography – a list of sources that an author has included in his or her work
Biography – a narrative writing that tells a true story of another person’s life.
Censorship – the control of what people read, write, see, or hear
Character – the “who”, a person, animal, or imaginary creature in a story
Characterization – step-by-step process to introduce the character to the reader through words,
actions, physical features, clothes, habits, what other say about him/her, thoughts, etc.; the
act of creating & developing a character
Character traits – qualities that a character possesses
Chronological Order – arranged in the order of time
Cite – to quote as an example, as proof
Climax – third stage of the plot; the most exciting part; the turning point of the action; when the
reader’s interest is at the highest point
Concrete – real, based on actual experience
Conflict – a literary device; the problem or struggle in a story
Connotation – a complex literary device; the suggested meaning of a word or phrase; the
intended meaning is not stated clearly and is instead conveyed through covert, indirect
means
Credible – offering reasonable grounds for being believed
Denotation – the literal meaning of a word (dictionary definition of a word)
Dialogue – the words characters speak aloud.
Diction – choice of words in speaking or writing; the distinctive of an author’s writings; is not just a
writer’s choice of words but can include mood, attitude, dialect, and style of writing
Drama – a play
Dramatic Irony – this occurs when the audience or reader knows more than the characters know.
Dynamic character – a character who changes inside because of what happens to him or her;
undergoes a change in personality or attitude as a result of the events of the story
Evidence – material presented that gives proof
Explicit – so clear in statement that there is no doubt about the meaning
Exposition – first stage of plot; the beginning, introduces characters and setting; provides needed
background information
External conflict – literary device; conflict faced by a character; character vs. character; character
vs. society; character vs. nature
Fallacy – a false or mistaken idea
Falling action – the fourth stage of plot; how the conflict is solved
Fiction – one of two main categories of genre; tells a made-up story; drama, poetry, fantasy,
humor, fables, fairytales, science fiction, short story, realistic fiction, folklore, historical
fiction, horror, tall tale, legend, mystery, and mythology are examples
Figurative Language – literary technique; techniques authors use to create fresh and original
descriptions. Writers use figurative language to create effects, to emphasize ideas, and to
evoke emotions.
First person – literary device; the narrator is a character in the story; uses “I, me, we, us”; we only
hear what the narrator/main character is thinking
Flashback – a literary device; an interruption in the present action of the plot to show events that
took place at an earlier time. Often, a flashback interrupts the chronological flow of a story
to give the reader information needed for the understanding of a character’s present
situation.
Foreshadowing – a literary device; when a writer provides hints or clues to suggest events that
will occur later in a story.
Genre – a type of literature; two main categories are fiction and nonfiction
Hyperbole – a literary device; an author’s use of exaggeration for emphasis.
Idiom – literary device; An expression that has a meaning different from the meaning of its
individual words
Imagery – a literary device; the author uses words and phrases to create “mental images” for the
reader; it helps the reader to visualize what is being described; using metaphors, allusions,
descriptive words, similes, and many other techniques to help the reader picture what is
going on
Inference – a logical guess or conclusion based on evidence.
Internal conflict – conflict faced by a character; character vs. self
Internal rhyme – literary device; occurs within a line when two words have similar sounds; forming
a rhyme in only one line of verse
Irony – a literary device; a contrast between what is expected and what actually happens.
Literary Analysis – The study of a work of literature, involving close, careful reading and study of
the circumstances surrounding the work's creation (historical context, author's background,
etc)
Main Characters – the characters at the center of the story
Media – types of mass communication such as magazines, television broadcasts, and newspapers
Memoir – autobiographical writing that provides an account of a writer’s relationship with a person,
place, or event.
Metaphor – a literary device; a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that
are unlike but have something in common; a comparison without using the words “like” or
“as”
Minor Characters – the less important characters
Mood – a literary device; the overall feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader.
Descriptive words, imagery, and figurative language contribute to the mood of a work, as do
the sound and rhythm of the language used.
Nonfiction – one of two main categories of genre; tells about real people, places, and events; it is
not imagined or made-up; informational texts; examples are essays, biographies,
autobiographies, and narrative nonfiction
Objective Summary – summaries that are rely on facts and evidence outside of your own opinions
and thoughts
Onomatopoeia – a literary device; words whose sounds echo their meanings, such as buzz,
whisper, gargle, and murmur.
Oxymoron – a literary device; a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms
(ex: pretty ugly, jumbo shrimp)
Paraphrasing – the restatement of a text by readers in their own words or in another form
Personification – a literary device; a type of figurative language in which human qualities – such
as the ability to hear, talk, feel, make decisions - are given to an animal, object, or idea; a
comparison in which something that is not human is described with human characteristics
Persuasion – the process of convincing someone to do or believe something
Plot – the sequence of related events that make up the story
Poetry – a type of literature in which ideas and feelings are expressed in compact, imaginative,
musical language
Point of View – a literary device; position from which the story is told, who is telling the story;
refers to the relationship between a narrator and the events he or she describes; most
common are first person and third person; second person is rarely used in literature
Propaganda – ideas given out by people who want you to agree with their side of a story
Prose – language/writing that lacks the special features of poetry.
Protagonist – the main character in a work of literature – the character that is involved in the
central conflict of the story. Usually, the protagonist changes after the central conflict
reaches a climax.
Repetition – repeating a word, phrase, or sounds to add emphasis or rhythm (ex: Down, down,
down the spider went)
Resolution – the final stage of plot; the conclusion; final events; the action after the climax in
which the conflict is often resolved
Rhetorical Strategies - There are three types persuasive strategies used in arguments to support
claims and respond to opposing arguments. A good argument will generally use a
combination of all three appeals to make its case – the 3 strategies are Logos, Pathos,
Ethos
Rhyme – a literary device; two or more words with the same or similar sounds
Rhyme scheme – a literary device; the practice of rhyming words placed at the end of the lines in
prose/poetry
Rising action – second stage of plot; where the conflict develops
Scene – a section of a play presenting events that occur in one place at one time; each present an
episode of the play’s plot
Setting – literary device; time, place, and mood of the events of the story; can be real or imaginary;
can be a particular time of day, season, period of history, or even the future
Simile – literary device; a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things
using the word like or as.
Slogan – a favorite saying, phrase, or motto of any party, group, manufacturer, or person; catch
word or catch phrase
Stanza – literary device; a division or section of a poem; related chunk/group of lines in poetry
Static Character – a character who remains the same throughout the story
Stereotyping – a distorted, exaggerated, or oversimplified image applied to a category of people;
a generalization about a group of people. May lead to unfair judgments of individuals.
Style – the particular way in which a work of literature is written – not what is said but how it is
said. Many elements contribute to style, including word choice, sentence structure and
length, tone, figurative language, and point of view.
Subjective Summary – summary that allows you to interpret a topic in the way you wish, and also
allows you to bring into consideration your own feelings and opinions
Summarizing – the process of briefly recounting the main ideas of a piece of writing in a person’s
own words, while omitting unimportant details
Suspense – literary device; sense of excitement leading up to the climax in a work of fiction
Symbol – literary device; something that stands for something else
Symbolism – the use of symbols in art, literature, films, etc. to represent ideas
Syntax – literary device; the way in which words and sentences are placed together in writing,
usually in the English language, the syntax should follow a pattern of subject-verb-object but
sometimes authors play around with this to achieve a lyrical, rhythmic, rhetoric or
questioning effect (Ex of normal syntax: The man drives the car. Ex of awkward syntax:
The car drives the man.)
Theme – a literary device; the meaning, moral, lesson about life or human nature that is
communicated in a story. A work may have more than one theme, and in many cases,
readers must infer the writer’s message.
Third person point of view – literary device; the events of the story are reported by an outsider;
can be limited, objective, or omniscient
Tone – literary device; the attitude a writer takes toward a subject.
Verbal Irony – literary device; the contrast between what is said and what is actually meant
Voice – a writer’s unique use of language that allows a reader to “hear” a human personality in the
writer’s work.