SOH CAHSEE TERMS
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English619 on February 2, 2011
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120 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Fiction | Writing that is invented material and does not claim to be factually true. |
| Nonfiction | Writing that deals with real people, events, and places. |
| Novel | A work of fiction that is longer and more complex than a short story. Setting, plot, and characters are usually developed in great detail. |
| Drama | A story that is written to be acted out in front of an audience. |
| Prose | The ordinary form of spoken and written language; that is, language that lacks the special features of poetry |
| Poetry | A kind of rhythmic, compressed language that uses figures of speech and imagery designed to appeal to our emotions and imagination |
| Satire | A type of writing that makes fun of human weakness in order to bring about social reform |
| Essay | A short piece of nonfiction that examines a single subject from a limited point of view (an essay usually includes the writer's thoughts or reasoning) |
| Article | A nonfiction composition usually dealing with a single topic (an article is usually part of a larger work, like a newspaper or magazine) |
| Memoir | A story of a personal experience |
| Autobiography | An account of a person's own life |
| Biography | An account of a person's life written or told by another person |
| Plot | The sequence of related events that make up a story |
| Basic Situation (Exposition) | The part of a story that introduces the characters and the conflicts they face |
| Complications | Problems that arise during a story that keep a character from getting what he or she wants |
| Climax | The story's most exciting or suspenseful moment, when something happens that decides the outcome of the conflict |
| Resolution (Denouement) | The last part of the plot, where the conflict is resolved and the story ends |
| Conflict | A struggle between a character and some force |
| External Conflict | A struggle between a character and something outside himself or herself |
| Internal Conflict | A struggle between a character and himself or herself |
| Cause | The reason that something happens |
| Effect | The result of an action, decision, or situation |
| Chronological Order | The arrangement of details in time order; that is, the order in which they happened |
| Flashback | Scene in a piece of literature that interrupts the present action of the plot to show events that happened at an earlier time |
| Foreshadowing | The use of clues to hint at what is going to happen later in the plot |
| Suspense | The quality in a story or play that makes the reader eager to discover what will happen next or how the story will end |
| Setting | The time and place in which a story unfolds |
| Protagonist | The character or force that blocks the protagonist from achieving his or her goal |
| Subordinate Character | Character who may be less important to the story than the protagonist or antagonist, but is still important to the plot and/or reveals information about the main character |
| Direct Characterization | When an author tells us directly what a character is like |
| Indirect Characterization | When readers have to put "clues" together to figure out for ourselves what a character is like |
| Static Character | A character who does not change over the course of a story |
| Dynamic Character | A character who changes in an important way as the result of the story's action |
| Flat Character | A character who only has one or two personality traits; he or she can be described in a single phrase |
| Round Character | A character with the three‐dimensional qualities of real people, with many traits and complexities |
| Stock Character | Characters who fit our preconceived notions about a "type" |
| Motivation | The reasons for a character's behavior, what he/she says, or the decisions he/she makes |
| 1st Person POV | The narrator is a character in the story. They use the pronoun "I" and can only reveal their own thoughts, not the thoughts of the other characters. |
| 3rd Person Limited POV | The narrator, who plays no part in the story, zooms in on the thoughts and feelings of one character. |
| Omniscient POV | The narrator plays no part in the story but can tell us what more than one of the characters is thinking and feeling as well as what is happening in other places. |
| Narrator/Speaker | The person telling the story (called the "speaker" in poetry) |
| Persona | A speaker created by a writer to tell a story or speak in a poem. |
| Comedy | A dramatic work that is light and often humorous in tone and usually ends happily, with a peaceful resolution of the main conflict |
| Tragedy | A dramatic work that presents the downfall of a dignified character or characters who are involved in historically or socially significant events. The events in a tragic plot are set in motion by a decision that is often an error in judgment. Succeeding events inevitably lead to a disastrous conclusion, usually death. |
| Tragic Hero | The main character in a tragedy who shows evidence of high rank and nobility of character, is marred by a tragic flaw or a fatal mistake in judgment, gains self‐ knowledge and wisdom, and comes to an unhappy end. |
| Dialogue | In drama, a conversation between two characters |
| Dramatic Monologue | A poem or part of a drama in which a speaker addresses one or more silent listeners, often reflecting on a specific problem or situation |
| Soliloquy | Long speech in which a character who is alone onstage expresses private thoughts or feelings |
| Aside | In a play, words spoken directly to the audience or to another character, but not overheard by others onstage |
| Foil | Character who serves as a contrast to another character |
| Scene Design | Describes what the stage should look like in order to make the audience believe the story is happening in a specific time and place (includes the set, or background; lighting; costumes; and props) |
| Props | Portable items that actors carry or handle onstage in order to perform the actions of the play |
| Stage Directions | A playwright's written instructions about how the actors are to move and behave in a play. They explain in what direction characters should move, what facial expressions they should assume, and so on. |
| Situational Irony | When what actually happens is the opposite of what is expected |
| Dramatic Irony | When the reader or the audience knows something important that a character does not know |
| Verbal Irony | When a speaker says one thing but intentionally means the opposite |
| Ambiguity | When a word, phrase, action, or situation can be interpreted two or more ways, all of which can be supported by the context of the work |
| Subtlety | When meaning is delicate, almost undetectable |
| Contradiction | A direct opposition between two things |
| Incongruity | When a piece of information does not seem to fit with the rest of the information |
| Imagery | The use of words and phrases that appeal to the five senses |
| Simile | Figure of speech that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlikely things by using a connecting word such as like, as, than, or resembles |
| Metaphor | Figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without using a connecting word such as like, as, than, or resembles |
| Personification | Figure of speech in which a nonhuman thing or quality is talked about as if it were human |
| Hyperbole | Figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion or create a comic effect |
| Idiom | A phrase or expression that means something different than what the words actually say |
| Symbol | Person, place, thing, or event that stands both for itself and for something beyond itself |
| Allegory | A narrative (story) in which characters and settings stand as symbols expressing truths about human life |
| Allusion | A reference in a literary work to a person, place, or thing in history or another work of literature (often indirect or brief references to well‐known characters or events) |
| Stanza | A grouping of two or more lines in a poem |
| Line | A sequence of words printed as a separate entity on the page in a poem |
| Alliteration | Repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together, especially at the beginning of words |
| Onomatopoeia | Use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning |
| Rhyme | Repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following them in words that are close together in a poem. End rhyme occurs at the end of the line. |
| Tone | The attitude a writer takes toward a subject, a character, or the reader. Tone is given through the writer's choice of words and details. |
| Mood | The emotional effect that a piece of writing evokes in the reader |
| Diction | A writer's or speaker's choice of words. Diction is an essential element of a writer's style. |
| Connotation | All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests. Connotations play an important part in creating diction, mood, and tone. |
| Denotation | The literal, dictionary definition of a word |
| Dialect | A form of language that is spoken in a particular place or by a particular group of people |
| Theme | The central idea or insight about human life the author wants us to obtain from reading the author's writing. |
| Inference | An educated guess; reading "between the lines" to make guesses about what's left unsaid |
| Analogy | Comparison made between two things to show how they are alike |
| Anecdote | A brief account of an interesting incident or event that usually is intended to entertain or to make a point |
| Main Idea | The writer's most important point, opinion, or message |
| Supporting Details | Specific information, examples, and facts that help a reader better understand the main idea of a piece of writing and make an argument believable |
| Author's Purpose | The purpose is the reason the writer wrote the piece. The piece was most likely written to entertain, inform, or persuade. |
| Audience | The particular group of readers or viewers that the writer is addressing |
| Argument | A statement, reason, or fact for or against a point; this is what a writer tries to prove in an essay, especially a persuasive essay |
| Evidence | Details that support your claims and make you appear credible |
| Thesis Statement | The central idea of an essay. |
| Logical Appeal | Argument that speaks to a reader's mind and/or common sense and requires him or her to be reasonable |
| Emotional Appeal | Argument that speaks to a reader's emotions; it may be powerful, but writers must be careful not to make readers feel manipulated |
| Ethical Appeal | Argument that appeals to a reader's sense of ethics or moral values; it establishes that a source is trustworthy |
| Counterargument | When a writer acknowledges the arguments of those who might disagree with him or her and then shows why those arguments are wrong |
| Hook | A sentence at the beginning of an essay that grabs the reader's attention and makes them want to keep reading |
| Bibliography | A list of materials used to research a topic and/or write a text |
| Synthesize | To combine information from a variety of sources |
| Compare | To identify similarities between two things |
| Contrast | To identify differences between two things |
| Research Questions | A research question is one that can be answered using facts found though research. The more specific it is, the easier it is to answer. |
| Primary Source | A firsthand account of an event |
| Secondary Source | A source that presents information compiled from or based on other sources |
| Generalization | A broad statement about an entire group |
| Opinion | A statement that reflects the writer's or speaker's belief, but which cannot be supported by proof or evidence |
| Fact | A statement that can be proved |
| Bias | A particular tendency or inclination that prevents fair consideration of a question; prejudice |
| Objective | Based on facts |
| Subjective | Includes a writer's personal feelings and opinions |
| Credible | Believable |
| Reliable | From trustworthy sources |
| Coherent | Logically connected; consistent |
| Logical Order | When a writer arranges his or her ideas (or steps in a functional document) in an order that makes sense and is easy for a reader to follow |
| Heading | The title or caption of a page, chapter, or section |
| Graphics | A picture used to illustrate the information presented in a text |
| Subtitle | A secondary, usually explanatory, title of a literary work |
| Chart | A visual representation of numerical data |
| Graph | A diagram representing a system of connections among two or more things with the use of dots, lines, bars, etc. |
| Diagram | A drawing or plan that outlines and explains the parts, operation, etc. of something |
| Context Clues | Hints or suggestions that may surround unfamiliar words or phrases in a piece of writing and clarify their meaning |
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