1.
act: major unit of a play
2.
alliteration: repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words
3.
author: the writer of a literary work
4.
author's purpose: the reason why an author writes a particular work
5.
autobiography: a form of nonfiction in which a person tells the story of his or her own life
6.
ballad: a poem meant to tell a story; can be sung
7.
biography: the story of someone's life written by a different person
8.
cast of characters: a list of the characters in a play
9.
cause and effect: two related events, one event happens and brings about the other event
10.
character development: the growth, change of a character in a story
11.
chronological order: events which happen in time order
12.
climax: the point of maximum interest in a story
13.
comic relief: a funny part of a story that occurs right in the middle of a serious part
14.
conflict: a struggle between opposing forces
15.
context clues: clues placed within a sentence to help the reader understand a difficult word in that sentence
16.
description: writing that helps a reader to pictures scenes, events, characters
17.
dialect: form of language spoken by a particular group of people in a particular place
18.
dialogue: words characters speak to each other
19.
exaggeration: overstatement of an idea
20.
exposition: beginning of a story where the setting is established and the characters are introduced
21.
fiction: writing that tells an imaginary story
22.
flashback: an interruption of the action which moves from the present into the past
23.
folktale: a simple story, usually passed from generation to generation usually by word of mouth
24.
foreshadowing: author gives you a hint about what may happen in the future
25.
free verse: a poem without regular lines, rhyme, rhythm
26.
inference: a logical guess made based on what you already know or some information that you may have
27.
lyric poem: a poem based on the thoughts, feelings of a poet
28.
metaphor: comparison without "like" or "as"
29.
mood: atmosphere or feeling a literary work conveys to a reader
30.
narrator: teller of a story
31.
non fiction: writing that tells about real people, events
32.
paraphrasing: telling the author's idea using your own words
33.
personification: giving human characteristics to non human objects
34.
play: form of literature performed by actors before an audience
35.
plot: the sequence of events that make up a story
36.
rhyme: the repetition of sounds at the end of words
37.
simile: comparison with "like" or "as"
38.
stage directions: instructions for actors, crew, director, etc. for a play
39.
stanza: the "verse" of a poem
40.
symbol: something that stands for or represents something else
