Alliteration
 The repetition of
consonant sounds at
the beginning of words.
Example:
Marilyn Monroe was a
model and a movie star.
Antagonist
 Usually the principal
character in opposition to the
protagonist, or the main
character of a narrative or
drama.
 Sometimes the antagonist is
not a character, but
something else like a force
of nature, some aspect of
society or an internal force
within the protagonist.
Example:
In Batman, his rival or
opponent is the Joker.
Batman is the protagonist.
Joker is the antagonist.
Aside
 Dramatic device in which a
character speaks his or her
thoughts aloud, in words
meant to be heard by the
audience but not by the
other characters.
Example:
Act 4: Scene 1
Romeo and Juliet
Friar Laurence [Aside] “I
would I know not why it
should be slowed. –
Look, sir, here comes the
lady towards my cell.”
~ William Shakespeare, from
Romeo and Juliet
Author’s Purpose
 A writer usually writes for one
or more purposes: to express
himself or herself, to inform or
explain, to persuade, and to
entertain.
Example:
Guy De Maupassant’s purpose
for writing the “The Necklace”
was to entertain.
Comedy
 A dramatic work that is light
and often humorous in tone,
usually ending happy with a
peaceful resolution of the
main conflict.
 Example:
• The Comedy of Errors (an Early
Comedy)
• The shortest Shakespeare play
by number of lines (1777)
Dialogue
 Written conversations between
two or more characters.
 Writers use dialogue to bring
characters to life and give
readers insight on the
characters’ qualities,
personality traits, and reactions
to other characters.
Example
“Do you like watching American
Idol?” asked Andrew.
“Of course,” replied Jermaine.
Epic
 A long narrative poem
about the adventures of
a hero whose actions
reflect the ideals and
values of a nation or
race.
Example:
The Odyssey
Antonym: Haiku or
a short poem
Fiction
 Works of prose that have
imaginary elements, such as
novels and short stories.
 The basic elements of fiction
are plot, character, setting
(time and place) and theme.
Example: “The Necklace”
by Guy de Maupassant
Figurative Language
 Language that
communicates ideas beyond
the ordinary, literal meanings
of words.
 Thinking outside the box.
Example: The cow jumped over
the moon.
Content Words
• Metaphor
• Simile
• Alliteration
• Personification
Iambic Pentameter
 Metrical line of five feet, or units,
each of which is made up of two
syllables, the first unstressed and the
second stressed
 Most common form of meter used in
English poetry
 Used in blank verse and sonnet
Example:
Let two more summers
Wither in their pride
Ere we may think her
Ripe to be a bride.
Stress =
Unstressed =
but SOFT what LIGHT through
YONder WINdow BREAKS
Imagery
 Descriptive words and
phrases that re-create
sensory experiences for the
reader.






Usually appeals to the 5 senses
1. sight
2. hearing
3. smell
4. taste
5. touch
Example:
"Behind him Juana’s fire leaped in to
flame and threw spears of light
through the chinks of the brush
house wall and threw a wavering
light out the door."
~ Excerpt from John Steinbeck’s, The Pearl
Explanation of use of imagery:
This fire shows Juana's dedication
to the family. She gets up early and
cooks everyday and this fire of hers
lights their whole house.
Interpret
 To bring out the meaning of a
dramatic work or character.
 The theme is the core of
meaning in the story.
 Interpreting a piece of text, a
novel, short story, a poem, etc.,
we must read it carefully, often
several times, and then ask
ourselves
 What is this really about?
 What is the author's real
intention with this text?
 Does the text have any
general message, a 'deeper'
meaning, indicating
something 'beyond'?
In
Steinbeck's Of Mice
and Men we meet two
farm hands, George and
Lenny, and follow them
through their life and
problems at a Californian
ranch.
Just writing a story
about these two guys
was obviously not
Steinbeck's main idea.
Rather, he was
motivated by the daily
life of mid-western farm
hands.
What is Of Mice and
Men really about, then?
 What is the theme?
Literal Language
 Language that
communicates ideas in the
literal meanings of words.
 Basic message of a word or
text.
 Simple in an unimaginative
way that sticks solely to the
facts.
 Antonyms: figurative,
fictional
Example: Stenographers take
literal recordings of court
trials.
Metaphor
 A figure of speech that
•
•
makes comparison between
two things that are basically
unlike but have something in
common.
Similar to simile but does
not use like or as .
Figurative language
Sandra Cisneros’s “My Name”
Esperanza, the narrator, describes her name.
“It means sadness,
it means waiting,” she says.
“It is like the number nine.
A muddy color.”
She also says it is like the
records that her father plays,
“songs like sobbing.”
Monologue
 A long speech by one
person in a group.
 A part of a play in which
a single character
speaks alone.
ROMEO AND JULIET
A monologue from the play by William Shakespeare
ROMEO: But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou her maid art far more fair than she.
Be not her maid, since she is envious.
Her vestal livery is but sick and green,
And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off.
It is my lady; O, it is my love!
O that she knew she were!
She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.
I am too bold; 'tis not to me she speaks.
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!
Myth
 A traditional story, usually
concerning some
superhuman being or
unlikely event.
 Example:
The myth of the judgment of
Paris describes the event
that led to the Trojan War.
Narrator
 A character or voice
from whose point of
view events are told.
Example:
In The House on Mango
Street, the narrator is a
character in the story.
Consisting of 44 short stories,
The House on Mango Street is
a powerful book told by a
young girl named Esperanza
Cordero.
Non-Fiction
 Prose writing that deals
with real people,
events, and places,
Examples
 Autobiographies
 Biographies
 Essays
Parable
 A brief story used to
teach the truth or moral
lesson
 Often illustrates a
religious principle
The Pumpkin Patch Parable
This charming story for children
illustrates how a loving farmer
can turn a simple pumpkin into a
simply glorious sight. In the same
way, a friend or family member’s
love can fill each of our hearts
with joy.
Personification
 Human qualities are
attributed (given) to an
object, animal or idea.
Example
 The gray-eyed morn
smiles on the frowning
night.
Plagiarism
 The process of copying
another person’s idea
or written work and
claiming it as original.
Synonyms
 Stealing
 Copying
 Claiming as your own
 Illegal use
 Breach of copyright
 Bootlegging
Point Of View
 Refers to the method of narrating
a short story, novel, narrative
poem or work on nonfiction
 Usually either first person or third
person
 First-person point of view –
narrator is a character in the
story (omniscient vs. limited)
 Third-person point of view –
story told by a narrative voice
outside the action, not by one of
the characters
Related Words:
• Author’s Perspective
• Narrator
• Style
• www.studyzone.org
Protagonist
 The central character or
hero in a narrative or
drama
 Usually the one with
whom the audience
tends to identify
 Main character
Antonym: Antagonist
Example: Harry Potter in the Harry
Potter series.
Rhyme Scheme
 The pattern of end
rhyme in a poem
 The pattern is charted
by assigning a letter of
the alphabet beginning
with that letter in each
line.
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
~ Robert Frost
Rhythm
 The pattern or flow of sound
 Created by the arrangement
of stressed and unstressed
syllables in a line of poetry
 Regular pattern of rhythm is
called meter
Example:
O what is that sound which so thrills the ear
Down in the valley drumming, drumming?
~ W.H. Auden, from “O What Is That Sound”
Sensory Language
 Language that consists
of descriptive words
and phrases that recreate experiences for
the reader
 Appeals to the five
senses





Sight
Hearing
Smell
Taste
Touch
Example: We played until the
pans slid from the kitchen
shelf.
Appeals to sight and sound
as you can imagine the pans
sliding and crashing on the
floor.
Simile
 Figure of speech that makes
a comparison between two
things that are otherwise not
alike, using the words like
or as
Example:
 1. Playing chess with Ashley is like trying
to outsmart a computer.
 The activity “playing chess with Ashley” is
being compared to “trying to outsmart a
computer.” The point is that Ashley can
think in a powerful manner that
resembles the way a computer operates,
not that she is like a computer in any
other way.
 2. His temper was as explosive as a
volcano.
 His temper is being compared to a
volcano in that it can be sudden and
violent.
Soliloquy
 A speech in which a
character speaks
thoughts aloud
 Generally, character is
on stage alone, not
speaking to other
characters
Example:
Act Two, Scene 3
Romeo and Juliet,
Friar Laurence has a
long soliloquy
Support
 To give something greater
credibility by being
consistent with it
 Providing evidence
 Providing examples from text
or real life
 Provide facts, statistics, or
quotations
Synonyms
• Strengthen
• Verify
• Confirm
• Bolster
• Prove
Symbolism
 Representation of
thoughts or feelings
made by symbols
 To represent something
abstract like love with
something concrete like
a chocolate heart
 Related Words


Imagery
Representation
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Theme
 The main idea in a work
of literature
 Perception about life or
human nature that the
writer shares with the
reader
 Generally not stated
directly but must be
inferred
Related word
* moral
Theme can be revealed by
•A work’s title
•Key phrases and statements
about big ideas
•The ways the characters
change and the lessons they
learn about life
Thesis
 Expresses a paper’s main




idea
May be woven into both the
beginning and the end of
nonfiction writing
Clearly states the main idea
writer will develop in essay
or report
Indicates the organizational
pattern writer will follow
Reflects writer’s tone and
point of view
Tragedy
 A dramatic work that




presents the downfall of a
dignified character or
characters who are involved
in historically or socially
significant events
Kind of play in which events
turn out disastrously for the
main character or characters
Most often, the hero or
heroine dies
Events are set in motion by a
decision that is often an error
in judgment
Succeeding events are
linked in a cause-and-effect
relationship and lead
inevitably to a disastrous
conclusion, usually death