SC PASS Literary Terms

the use of one thing to represent something else

where and when a story takes place

the rewording of an original idea from a source

a pause in the present action of a story during which an earlier event is described

a word's dictionary definition

the main lesson or message in a text

an alphabetical listing of words and their definitions in the back of a book

an exaggeration made to emphasize a point

a collection of articles on a variety of subjects

a personal, unfair judgment in favor of or against someone or something

words that mean something other than their literal meaning

a word or phrase used in place of a term that might be considered unpleasant or offensive

words that characters speak

situation in which the audience of a play knows something that a character does not

an educated guess based on evidence in the text and a reader's prior knowledge

a comparison of two things, using the word like or as

a clue about what is going to happen in a story

a narrator who is not a character in the story but knows the thoughts of only one character

when the expected results in a situation are different from the actual results

a word or phrase above a section of text that introduces the topic of that section

writing that is one-sided and biased and is distributed to large numbers of people

A list of sources used in a research report; includes titles, names of authors, etc.

the perspective from which a story is told

a metaphor used throughout a text that is central to the text's meaning

a regional or cultural expression that cannot be understood literally

the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks

a vague emotional apeal

a person, animal, or other creature in a story

a narrator who is a character in a story and tells the story from his or her point of view

a print source of information published at regular intervals

the author's attitude toward a subject, as reflected by word choice

giving human qualities to nonhuman things

a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

writing in lines with rhythm, figurative language, and often rhymes

a direct comparison of two things without using the word like or as

an article, book , or other source that provides information about a topic

the central or most important idea of a text

an all-knowing narrator who is not a character in the story

a specific type of writing with its own characteristics

descriptive words that appeal to the five sense and create a picture for the reader

a graphic that illustrates relationships and changes over time

when a character or narrator says the opposite of what is really meant

a phrase that combines two contradictory words

a struggle or a problem faced by a character in a story

a story meant to be performed

a diagram or table that may include columns, rows, and headings

a narrator who addresses the reader often using the word you