| 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. |
| Antonym | A word that is the opposite of another word. |
| Characterization | The method an author uses to reveal characters and their various personalities. |
| Figurative language | Language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling. |
| 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). |
| Analysis | The process or result of identifying the parts of a whole and their relationships to one another. |
| Focus | The center of interest or attention. |
| 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.). |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Personification | An object or abstract idea given human qualities or human form (e.g., Flowers danced about the lawn.). |
| 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. |
| Satire | A literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness. |
| 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.). |
| 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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