| Term | Definition |
| plot | Plot is what happens in a story. |
| onomatopoeia | words that describe what they sound like. |
| conflict (external and internal) | An external conflict is against opposing forces or characters, and internal happens in the mind. |
| foreshadowing | Foreshadowing is the use of clues to suggest events that will happen later in the story. |
| simile | comparing one unlike thing to another to describe it. |
| suspense | The anxiety that we feel about what will happen next in a story. |
| personification | Giving something human-like features. |
| irony | Contrast between what is expected and what actually happens. |
| rhyme | The accented vowel sounds of all sounds following them are separated. |
| theme | The idea about life revealed in a work of literature. |
| protagonist | The hero or usually main character of the story. |
| antagonist | The villain of the story. |
| end rhyme | The rhyme that occurs at the end of the rhyme. |
| rhyme scheme | Patterns of rhymes in a poem. |
| description | The kinds of writing that creates a clear image of something, usually by using details that appeal to one or more of our senses. |
| essay | A short piece of writing usually told by the author. |
| metaphor | Like a simile, though it doesn't use like or as. |
| setting | The time and place where the story happens. |
| figure of speech | A word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of something else that's different from it. |
| novella | A writing piece that has more depth then a short story, but is smaller than a novel. |
| short story | A small writing piece that has little depth. |
| point of view | A point of view is when a character sees something from their perspective. |
| dialogue | Dialogue is speech between characters. |
| mood | The character's attitude and emotions. |
| tone | The character's outlook on events. |
| flashback | The sudden moment when memories come back to a character. |
| allusion | A figure of speech that refers to a well-known object or thing. |
| hyperbole | A great exaggeration. |