| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Alliteration: | The repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words. |
| Allusion: | An implied or indirect reference in literature to a familiar person, place or event. |
| Analysis: | The process or result of identifying the parts of a whole and their relationships to one another. |
| Antonym: | A word that is the opposite of another word. |
| Characterization: | The method an author uses to reveal characters and their various personalities. |
| Compare: | Place together characters, situations or ideas to show common or differing features in literary selections. |
| Context clues: | Information from the reading that identifies a word or group of words. |
| Conventions of language: | Mechanics, usage and sentence completeness. |
| Evaluate: | Examine and judge carefully. |
| Figurative language: | Language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling. |
| Fluency: | The clear, easy, written or spoken expression of ideas. Freedom from word-identification problems which might hinder comprehension in silent reading or the expression of ideas in oral reading. |
| Focus: | The center of interest or attention. |
| Genre: | A category used to classify literary works, usually by form, technique or content (e.g., prose, poetry). |
| Alliteration | The repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words. |
| Allusion | An implied or indirect reference in literature to a familiar person, place or event. |
| Analysis | The process or result of identifying the parts of a whole and their relationships to one another. |
| Antonym: | A word that is the opposite of another word. |
| Characterization | The method an author uses to reveal characters and their various personalities. |
| Compare: | Place together characters, situations or ideas to show common or differing features in literary selections. |
| Context clues: | Information from the reading that identifies a word or group of words. |
| Conventions of language: | Mechanics, usage and sentence completeness. |
| Evaluate | Examine and judge carefully. |
| Figurative language: | Language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling. |
| Fluency: | The clear, easy, written or spoken expression of ideas. Freedom from word-identification problems which might hinder comprehension in silent reading or the expression of ideas in oral reading. |
| Focus | The center of interest or attention. |
| Genre | A category used to classify literary works, usually by form, technique or content (e.g., prose, poetry). |
| Graphic organizer | A diagram or pictorial device that shows relationships. |
| Homophone | One of two or more words pronounced alike, but different in spelling or meaning (e.g., hair/hare, scale (fish)/scale (musical)). |
| Hyperbole | An exaggeration or overstatement (e.g., I was so embarrassed I could have died.). |
| Idiomatic language | An expression peculiar to itself grammatically or that cannot be understood if taken literally (e.g., Let’s get on the ball.). |
| Irony | The use of a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its literal or usual meaning; incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the expected result. |
| Literary conflict | The struggle that grows out of the interplay of the two opposing forces in a plot. |
| Literary elements | The essential techniques used in literature (e.g., characterization, setting, plot, theme). |
| Literary devices | Tools used by the author to enliven and provide voice to the writing (e.g., dialogue, alliteration). |
| Literary structures | The author’s method of organizing text (e.g., foreshadowing, flashbacks). |
| Metaphor | The comparison of two unlike things in which no words of comparison (like or as) are used (e.g., That new kid in class is really a squirrel.). |
| Meter | The repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. |
| Narrative | A story, actual or fictional, expressed orally or in writing. |
| Paraphrase | Restate text or passage in other words, often to clarify meaning or show understanding. |
| Pattern book | A book with a predictable language structure and often written with predictable text; also known as predictable book. |
| Personification | An object or abstract idea given human qualities or human form (e.g., Flowers danced about the lawn.). |
| Phonics | The relationship between letters and sounds fundamental in beginning reading. |
| Point of view | The way in which an author reveals characters, events and ideas in telling a story; the vantage point from which the story is told. |
| Public document | A document that focuses on civic issues or matters of public policy at the community level and beyond. |
| Reading critically | Reading in which a questioning attitude, logical analysis and inference are used to judge the worth of text; evaluating relevancy and adequacy of what is read; the judgement of validity or worth of what is read, based on sound criteria. |
| Reading rate | The speed at which a person reads, usually silently. |
| Research | A systematic inquiry into a subject or problem in order to discover, verify or revise relevant facts or principles having to do with that subject or problem. |
| Satire | A literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness. |
| Self-monitor | Know when what one is reading or writing is not making sense; adjust strategies for comprehension. |
| Semantics | The study of meaning in language. |
| Simile | A comparison of two unlike things in which a word of comparison (like or as) is used (e.g., She eats like a bird.). |
| Sources Primary | Text and/or artifacts that tell or show a first-hand account of an event; original works used when researching. |
| Secondary Sources | Text and/or artifacts used when researching that are derived from something original. |
| Subject area | An organized body of knowledge; a discipline; a content area. |
| Style | How an author writes; an author’s use of language; its effects and appropriateness to the author’s intent andtheme. |
| Synonym | One of two or more words in a language that have highly similar meanings (e.g., sorrow, grief, sadness). |
| Syntax | The pattern or structure of word order in sentences, clauses and phrases. |
| Theme | A topic of discussion or writing; a major idea broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary work. |
| Thesis | The basic argument advanced by a speaker or writer who then attempts to prove it; the subject or major argument of a speech or composition. |
| Tone | The attitude of the author toward the audience and characters (e.g., serious or humorous). |
| Voice | The fluency, rhythm and liveliness in writing that makes it unique to the writer. |
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