USA Test Prep Lit Response & Analysis Terms
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126 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Aesthetic | the beauty of something |
| Allegory | a story with two or more levels of meaning--a literal level and a symbolic level--in which events, setting, and characters are symbols for ideas or qualities |
| Alliteration | the repetition of initial consonant sounds at the beginnings of words |
| Allusion | the reference to a person, place, or event from history, literature, or religion with which a reader is likely to be familiar |
| Ambiguity | vagueness: the state of having more than one possible meaning which often leads to misunderstanding because the meaning is not clear |
| Analogy | a comparison based on a similarity between things that are otherwise not similar |
| Analyze | to separate a whole into its parts; to examine and think critically about something |
| Antagonist | the person or force that creates conflict for the main character in a literary work |
| Argument | one or more reasons presented by a speaker or a writer to lead the audience or reader to a logical conclusion. |
| Aside | This is a short speech delivered by an actor in a play which expresses the actor's thoughts. It is usually said directly to the audience and not heard by other actors. |
| Author's Background | This includes information essential to understanding the author. A reader's experience with a literary work can be enhanced by knowing about the author's life and culture. |
| Author's Purpose | This is the author's reason for creating written work. |
| Believability | This is the ability to trust something as true or credible. |
| Bias | This is a prejudice that is leaning toward a positive or negative judgment on something; a personal judgment or opinion about a particular person, position, or thing. |
| Central Idea | The key point made in a written passage; the chief topic. |
| Central Message | This is the theme of a story, novel, poem, or drama that readers can apply to life. |
| Character | This is an individual's mental or moral quality. |
| Characterization | This is the combination of ways that an author shows readers what a person in a literary selection is like. |
| Characters | These are the people or animals who take part in a literary work. |
| Climax | This is the part of the plot where the conflict and tension reach a peak. |
| Comedy | This is a work of literature, especially a play, that has a happy ending. |
| Comic Relief | This is a funny or humorous episode inserted in the midst of a serious literary work. It is intended to relieve dramatic tension. |
| Compare | This is a method of relating how two or more elements or texts are SIMILAR. |
| Compare And Contrast | This is a method of relating two or more objects in a piece of work. |
| Complex | something that is complicated, difficult, or consists of interrelated parts. |
| Conclusion | This wraps up a piece of writing and reminds readers of the thesis. |
| Conflict | the main problem in a literary work. |
| Controlling Idea | the author's opinion or the perspective he/she wants to convey expressed through the thesis statement for an essay, or through a topic sentence within an individual paragraph |
| Cultural Elements | This includes language, ideologies, beliefs, values, and norms. These elements help to shape the life of a society. |
| Dialogue | the words spoken by characters in a literary work. |
| Diction | the writer's choice of words, including the vocabulary used, the appropriateness of the words, and the vividness of the language. |
| Direct Characterization | when an author reveals a person in the story characterization by giving specific descriptions. |
| Drama | a story written to be performed by actors. |
| Dramatic Irony | when the audience or the readers know something that the characters do not know. |
| Dynamic Character | a person in a fictional work that changes during the course of the action. |
| Evaluate | placing a value, rank, or judgment on a piece of writing or speaking. |
| Evidence | information and support |
| Explain | to give extra information: to tell how, what, when, where, etc. |
| Extended Metaphor | This is a sustained comparison in which a subject is written or spoken of as if it were something else. |
| External Conflict | This is when a character has a problem with another character, nature, society, or fate. |
| Falling Action | This is the part of the plot where the conflict begins to be worked out and tensions lessen. |
| Figurative Language | This goes beyond the literal meanings of words to create special effects or feelings. |
| First Person | This is a point of view where the narrator is a character in the story and refers to him or herself with I. |
| First-person Point Of View | This is a point of view in which the story is told by one of the characters. |
| Flashback | This is a scene, a conversation, or an event that interrupts the present action to show something that happened in the past. |
| Flat Character | This is a person in a fictional work that is never fully developed by the author. |
| Foreshadowing | the use of hints in written works about what will happen later. |
| Fourth Wall | the imaginary boundary that separates the audience from the fictional world of a play. |
| Genre | the category or type of literature. |
| Hyperbole | extreme exaggeration used in a literary work. |
| Idiom | This is a phrase in common use that can not be understood by literal or ordinary meanings. |
| Imagery | This is the use of language that appeals to the five senses--touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight. |
| Imagery | This uses sensory images to help readers to picture a person, a place, or an event. |
| Indirect Characterization | This is when an author reveals a person in the story characterization through his/her words, thoughts, appearance, action, or what others think or say about him/her. |
| Internal Conflict | This is when a character has a problem within him or herself. |
| Interpretation | This is the explanation of the significance or meaning of a work. |
| Irony | This is the contrast between appearance and reality or what is expected and what actually happens. |
| Limited Third Person | This is a point of view where the narrator relates the inner thoughts and feelings of only one person. |
| Literary Device | A type of tool or strategy to enhance an author's style |
| Literary Elements | These are the components used together to create a fictional piece of writing. |
| Literature | This is the body of written works that includes prose and poetry. |
| Main Idea | the central and most important idea of a reading passage. |
| Major Conflict | the main problem in a literary work. |
| Metaphor | a direct comparison of two things, in which they are said to be (in some sense) the same thing. |
| Minor Conflict | This is a small problem in a literary work. |
| Monologue | a long, uninterrupted speech by a character in a play, story, or poem. |
| Mood | the feeling that an author wants readers to have while reading. |
| Motivation | the wants, needs, or beliefs that cause a character to act or react in a particular way. |
| Narrative Text | This tells the events and actions of a story. |
| Narrator | The person who tells the story |
| Novel | This is a long work of fiction. It has a complicated plot, many characters, a significant theme, and varied settings. |
| Omniscient | This is a point of view; the narrator KNOWS EVERYTHING about the characters and events, and describes the characters and action from outside the story. |
| Omniscient "Third Person P-O-V" | a point of view in which the narrator is outside the story and knows everything about the characters and events. |
| Omniscient Third Person | This is a point of view where the narrator relates the inner thoughts and feelings of each character. |
| Onomatopoeia | This is the use of words that sound like the noises they describe. |
| Opinion | This is a statement that reflects a writer's belief about a topic , and it cannot be proved. |
| Oxymoron | This is something which seemingly cannot be, yet it is; a contradiction. |
| Paradox | This is a statement that leads to a contradictory situation in which something seems both true and false. |
| Parody | This is a humorous imitation of a literary work that exaggerates or distorts the characteristic features of the original. |
| Person Vs. Environment | This describes the type of conflict that places a character against forces of nature. |
| Person Vs. Person | This describes the type of conflict when the leading character struggles with his/her physical strength against other characters, animals, or forces of nature. |
| Person Vs. Self | This describes the type of conflict when the leading character struggles with himself/herself; with his conscience, feelings, or ideas. |
| Person Vs. Technology | This describes the type of conflict that places a character against scientific advances, machines, robots,etc. |
| Persona | This is a speaker created by a writer, not necessarily the writer. It can simply be the narrator. It involves the characteristic speech and thought patterns of a speaker. |
| Personification | This is a type of figurative language in which human qualities are given to nonhuman things. |
| Plot | This is the series of events that happen in a literary work. |
| Poem | This is an arrangement of words in verse. It sometimes rhymes, and expresses facts, emotions, or ideas in a style more concentrated, imaginative and powerful than that of ordinary speech. |
| Poetry | This is the third major type of literature in addition to drama and prose. |
| Point Of View | This is the perspective from which a story is told. |
| Prediction | This is the act of forecasting something that may (or may not) occur later. |
| Problem-Solution | This method of structuring text focuses on defining an issue, then gives a possible remedy for the issue. |
| Protagonist | the main character in a literary work. |
| Pun | humorous word play that usually is based on several meanings of one word. |
| Relevant | This implies a thing closely relates to or is on the same subject matter; appropriate to the situation. |
| Rhetorical Strategy | This is a plan an author uses to effectively deliver the intended message in written work. |
| Rising Action | This is the part of the plot where the conflict and suspense build. |
| Round Character | This is a person in a fictional work that is well-developed by the author. |
| Satire | This is writing that uses humor to ridicule or criticize individuals, ideas, or institutions in hopes of improving them. |
| Sensory Details | These are images help the reader see or hear or feel things. These are details that appeal to the senses. |
| Setting | This is the time and place in which a literary work happens. |
| Short Story | This is a brief work of fiction. It resembles a novel but has a simpler plot and setting and fewer characters. |
| Simile | This is a comparison of two unlike things using the terms "like" or "as". |
| Situational Irony | This is when something happens that is the opposite of what was expected. |
| Soliloquy | This is a long speech expressing the thoughts of a character who is alone on the stage. |
| Sound Devices | These are the sounds of words that poets use to enrich their poetry. |
| Stage Directions | This is information written in the script of a play to tell actors where to go or how to speak their lines. |
| Static Character | This is a person in a fictional work that does not change during the course of the action. |
| Style | the way an author expresses ideas through the use of kinds of words, literary devices, and sentence structure. |
| Stylistic Device | This is a device that not only helps establish an author's style but also gives power and effect to the language. |
| Subplot | This is a secondary plot in a work of literature that either explains or helps to develop the main plot. |
| Subtle | This is something in a literary work that may be difficult to understand or distinguish except through insight and sensitivity. |
| Supporting Evidence | These are the facts or details that back up a main idea, theme, or thesis. |
| Symbol | a person, place, thing, or event that represents something more than itself in a literary work. |
| Symbolism | This is the use of objects or ideas that represent something other than themselves. |
| Text | This is the main body of a piece of writing or any of the various forms in which writing exists, such as a book, a poem, an article, or a short story. |
| Theme | This is the message, usually about life or society, that an author wishes to convey through a literary work. |
| Third Person | This is a point of view where the author uses pronouns like he and she in telling a story. |
| Third Person Limited Point Of View | This is a point of view in which the narrator is outside the story and reveals the thoughts of only one character, who is referred to as "he" or "she." |
| Tone | This is the attitude that an author takes toward the audience, the subject, or a character. |
| Topic | This is the specific part of a subject that is dealt with in a research paper or in an essay. |
| Tragedy | This is a work of literature, especially a play, that results in a catastrophe for the main character. |
| Universal Theme | This is the central message of a story, poem, novel, or play that many readers can apply to their own experiences, or to those of all people. |
| Verbal Irony | when someone says the opposite of what he or she really means. |
| Viewpoint | an expression of an opinion or standpoint. |
| Voice | This involves the author's unique way of communicating-of being heard. It is associated with the basic vision of the writer and reveals the individual quality that makes the author's writing her own. |
| Word Choice | This is another way of saying "diction." This can help reveal a) the tone of the work, b) connotations of meaning, and/or c) his style of writing. |
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